Nov 25 starters - thread 2 - the one where we don’t eat everything in sight this Christmas!

[Springbaby2023]

Hi everyone, starting a second thread as the other one is almost full. We made it through month one, now here’s to a happy, healthy and lighter 2026!

I'm still hoping that there will be other, more affordable options in the near to medium future for maintenance. Some people are looking to go to wegovy for maintenance I believe? That's somewhat cheaper.

I think it will be trial and error re maintenance doses for us all if we go down that route.

Once again, I am so surprised by this thread

I have barely deviated from a very strict plan since I started on the 7th of November. I do eat more than the suggested food plan, there seems to be a suggested food plan on offer with all providers, and I am eating more than that. But their food plan does not look like enough. I'd actually be interested to know how many calories it is.

On Christmas Eve, in addition to my normal days food, I had two mini sausage rolls and a mini mince pie.

I've had a couple of meals out where I've eaten fish and vegetables and I managed to not eat much on Christmas Day because I was bustling around cooking, so that was easy

I have had one glass of Prosecco That was also a Christmas - because I was also advised that it's a very bad idea to drink alcohol on this

And somehow you've all lost way more weight than I have! What am I doing wrong?! Are you eating very low calories on your normal days? Does anyone know how many calories they're eating?

There is a thread for slow losers. I've lost track of it because people don't post very often. Hardly anyone loses slowly, basically.

There is one lady there who said she was in the same position as me, didn't eat badly in the first place and didn't really understand why we gained weight and people often comment on how little we eat / yet we still gained weight

This week hasn't been quite the horrible experience that previous weeks have been. Maybe my body is finally getting used to it in month three.

I have what's left in the current pen and a spare 5 mg pen

I don't know whether to carry on with 2.5 or cut down because it may be that a microdose is better for me

I took it on Thursday night, felt it immediately, Friday and Saturday it was good that we didnt have to go anywhere due to the headache and general unwell feeling but I was okay by Sunday

I might now have another two week gap

See if that still loses me my weekly pound!

Are you tracking calories against your TDEE (minus the deficit of your choice). Also not forgetting it will be lower than it was before you loat weight.

I am tracking calories and staying around the recommended amount for the loss I want.

My TDEE is low as I'm not tall so the miserable fact is that I need very few calories to maintain let alone lose, hence why MJ is the only way I have been able to lose weight over this last couple of months, usually I can do a few weeks but then there is a celebration and I think oh just one big meal will be fine but that turns into a week long sabotage.

@RoundandSad apologies if you are doing all these things but are you also weighing your portions. There is a thread at the moment, maybe on AIBU but the OP doesnt seem to understand why she isnt losing weight but isnt tracking calories and isnt sure what calories she should be having.

When I did Weight watchers many years ago there were several ladies, who had a lot to lose, but weren't losing. When the leader asked them to bring in the portion of cereal, an example of the size potato they were having they were hugely more than what they were logging. Portion sizes are often the issue, restaurants are out of control and plates we generally have at home are massive.

Due to the appetite suppression I cant eat big portions currently but even with small portions I easily log 1000 calories. No way could I sustain that without the jabs. Luckily when in maintenance I will be able to have probably 500+ more so food choices will be vital.

I was thinking about wegovy for maintenance as a few people have suggested this, esp as it will give the appetite suppression but not the change re insulin which i imagine I wont need at that stage. I need to investigate.

I’m eating around 1200 give or take. I’m still eating normal foods, just smaller portions but nowhere near as small as when I first started. I drank loads of wine and had a bit of chocolate over Xmas and managed to lose 4lbs so for me I def haven’t calorie counted or modified my nutrition at all since I’ve started, the weight has literally just fallen off. That may change. when I get closer to target but for now it’s working for me and I’m happy so will continue.

I did want to use the time to put better eating and exercise plans in place but I def haven’t done that which is stupid.

The thing is, as long as you're in a calorie deficit you'll lose weight. If that 1200 was actually 1700 because you were actually having a bigger portion than you thought etc then you wouldn't lose anything but clearly you're spot on with what you're eating. PpI haven't calorie counted since xmas as I wanted a break and was still losing, I am starting again today as back exercising so really want to focus on protein more.

If I wasnt losing weight then I would definitely calorie count as I would want to ensure I wasnt inadvertently eating more.

@SexyFrenchDepression Yes I completely agree, I mean more that I seem to have found a natural rhythm with the medication, my appetite etc. That 1200 also is an average because on Friday I ate nothing until dinner time and then had sausage and mash but Saturday I had lunch then Nando’s and a few glasses of wine for dinner - so the bigger days seem to be balancing out with the smaller ones.

That isn’t how I want to do it though. Before Mounjaro I had a food and exercise plan done by a PT which I followed for about 8 weeks before getting bored and sabotaging myself. I was losing weight and the food was all whole food, healthy, high in protein etc. If I could follow that plan now I could be recomping alongside losing the weight but I cannot do it - it’s so frustrating!!

TBF when i was maintaining before I had days where I would eat not much then would eat more at weekends so it would even out to an average of probably 1500 cals a day so I always stayed roughly the same, my PT said its not a bad way of doing it as long as the high cal days arent too many. Gradually though I would eat too much for a week on holiday (or through the whole of lockdown) and then wouldnt make up for eat in the days following, 3 stone later I was in a rut.

@SexyFrenchDepressionOh yeah I was the same. I would spend Mon-Thurs on some stupid restrictive diet before finally caving on Friday and using it as an excuse to eat crap and telling myself I would start again on Monday. Then it would take 3 or 4 weeks to get back into the mindset to start another stupid restrictive diet. Rinse and repeat over the last 6 years.

Its such a relief to be out of that negative spiral

Yes, I am doing all of the things weighing food, etc , I could probably go down to 1100 cal, but I don't really wanna do that

I suppose if this stuff didn't exist, I wouldn't be looking at anyone thinking oh wow, they're losing weight so fast - it would be the usual people on slimming world or Weight Watchers losing 1 or 2 pounds a week

And I am losing weight just very slow

I suppose I've got a good foundation for stopping and continuing to lose weight
Without taking anything

I think metabolism is very individual and still not fully understood. I believe in the mounjaro trials the characteristics that were associated with larger weight loss were female gender, lower age and being non diabetic. Interestingly, how much you had to lose in the first place wasn’t an indicator.

The endocrinologist on the fat science podcast has episodes where she talks about why someone might be on a low calorie diet and exercising, and still not lose weight. Often it’s because their body has adapted over time to restrictive eating and of excessive exercise. But it’s more complex than that, eg some people have insulin resistance or other hormonal disturbances, which could be genetic. Obviously then there’s also menopause, thyroid etc etc.

You may need a much higher dose of GLP to overcome some of these things, which is going to be a problem if you can’t tolerate the medication.

I think that 1-2lb is what most people are losing though. It was the 1st 2 or 3 weeks I lost loads but since then 1.4-2lb a week, that first few weeks is what mostly makes it sound more. 0.5-1% if bodyweight a week is what is recommended as the top end of weightloss. You are losing and you are eating healthily so you are doing the right things.

To lose 2lb its a 1000 calorie deficit generally, thats loads and not sustainable for most people.

The Happy Scale app has me at a 1lb 1 average weekly loss. I did have bigger whooshes at the beginning but generally the pattern has had me stalling for 10 days then losing 3/4lbs overnight.

Yes statistically I realise most people are losing the same as me

The Reddit page is actually more useful the UK one

I definitely won't be going back up to a higher dose, no way.

I stupidly didn't take my measurements at the start of this but my pyjamas are now far too big. They're flapping about. My gardening tracksuit bottoms are far too big. My home clothes are loose and all tops are hanging straight instead of draping over my stomach. My work trousers are roomy. But they were a bit tight and my jacket was covering that up a bit.

I'll go in the storage at the weekend and see what the deal is with the jeans and the nice tops. And the next size down in pyjamas! I'm pretty confident those will fit.

i'm glad I typed that out. It's not as bad as I thought is it? I didn't post on here for awhile or even look on here because people kept saying oh I've lost 4 in a week.

Yes sounds like great progress when you put it like that, your hard work is paying off!

Comparison is the thief of joy and all that, eh

@RoundandSadSounds like your doing great! And when I am back here in a few months moaning that I have a saggy turkey neck or that I cant keep the weight from coming back on you will have the last laugh - doing it slowly and sustainably is much better.

@TaffyTabby you're right about comparison

@Fifiellz I'm sure you won't end up with a turkey neck!

I'm just thinking that actually by the time we have our summer holiday, I may not look half bad - that's exciting

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. I really appreciate it. I've just done a quick plan for next week's meals. We've got to do the supermarket order so it makes sense to do that anyway. Helps me stick to my guns. To plan ahead.

@RoundandSad I had a bit drop the first week, but then have been on 2lb loss per week and since Xmas 1lb per week. Last week I didn’t lose anything! If your clothes are loose you’ve dropped a dress size and that’s something to be proud of! Carry on and imagine where you’ll be by the summer!

For the first time, I completely forgot to jab last night! Going to attempt tonight!

I did that on Friday! I remembered Saturday afternoon. Will you move your jab day or just go back to your usual day next week?

@RoundandSad thats amazing progress, its lovely when the clothes feel looser!!

I was back at my sports club tonight after over a month away and a few people noticed he weightloss which was lovely and made me feel really confident. I felt so much better running around and actually played better, probably helps being lighter.

I’m just about to use a syringe to get my next 5mg dose as I’ve not enough clicks left (did 3.75mg x 3) so could I check that 0.6ml is 5mg? Thanks!

Yes 0.6ml is 5mg if it’s from a 5mg pen.
You’ve probs already jabbed now!

@RoundandSad I’m a relatively slow loser too, I did lose 5lb this week but 2lb of that I’d put on over Christmas. Some weeks I don’t lose at all, most weeks 1lb, 2lb is a great week for me. If we lose 1lb a week between now and the start of June, we’ll have lost 1.5 stone! Slow and steady really does make a difference. I think it just feels so frustrating because of the money you’re spending. My calories are around 1600 a day, I could get it lower but I’d need a lot of willpower on current dose (I’m increasing dose next month). But I don’t think higher calories is necessarily that bad as I think / hope we will find it easier to maintain. Remember 5mg is the lowest actual therapeutic dose as well, lots of people have to go to a lot higher dose to feel the impact.