September 25 starters - new year, new trousers.

[outofofficeagain]

We won’t make it to Christmas without a new board.

Well done to everyone for getting this far and thank you for your company.

Here’s to a healthy and happy 2026.

Same! However my provider almost baulked at selling me another 5 mg pen because of the long gaps between ordering and disapproving of our personalised under dosing, so I think I will now go up to 5mg this week, at week 23. And hopefully stay there to shift the last 2 stone ….

Have you noticed that your providers are getting stricter with renewals? I’m with WePrescribe, and since December they’ve asked me to upload a new photo of the scales and a body photo each time. Previous i just had to manually confirm my weight and total loss. For my latest order, they also asked me to confirm GP details, and you couldn’t get past that screen otherwise. It also says that all new customers need a video consultation. None of this is a problem for me, but it does seem like the ordering process has now more checks, which is probably a good thing.

Week 20 results:

SW: 12st 3lb
CW: 9st 3.9lb
GW: 9st 1lb

Week 1: -6lb
Week 2: -2lb
Week 3: -1lb
Week 4: -2lb
Week 5: -3lb
Week 6: -2lb
Week 7: -0.5lb
Week 8: -1.2lb
Week 9: -1.4lb
Week 10: -3.6lb
Week 11: -3.1lb
Week 12: -0.3lb
Week 13: -2.9lb
Week 14: -1.8lb
Week 15: -3lb
Week 16: -1.7lb
Week 17: -1.7lb
Week 18: -0.4lb
Week 19: -3.1lb
Week 20: -0.4lb

Total Loss: 2st 13.1lb

A pound off this week (well, just under). Cant lie, a little disappointed after two weeks of decent losses but the trend is down and I’m in the next kg bracket down. I’ve lost 6lbs over the last three weeks so that’s averaging about 2lbs a week which is good and where I should be, I guess.

Had a rare and minor wobble yesterday. Popped my head into a new cafe and ended up staying for coffee (black, so that was fine) and a pecan and chocolate cookie, which wasn’t even that nice.

Going to go up to 7.5 today. Got a new pen to start.

SW: 109kg
CW: 92.7kg
interim GW: 86kg

Oh, but I’m forgetting a NSV. Also went into TK Maxx and tried on a pair of size 16 jeans with a button up fly. They fit! I didn’t get them as they didn’t suit me but it was pleasing. Have ordered a pair of size 16 cords from Joe Brown to see how I get on with those.

I noticed on my last order from cloud they’ve now implemented a video photo system where you need to take Live Photos front and side. Previously it was just uploading your own front facing photo only and it was only required at sign up and one every few months.
I don’t know if these Live Photos will be every order or just periodically.
They’re not as strict as some though who ask for scales photos etc

There was a notification saying they had to be more strict due to changes in rules. Not those words but that was the gist of it.

So I posted a while back saying 5mg wasn’t working as well and I jabbed on day 6 for 2 weeks, increased protein and exercise and all week suppression was back. Having moved back to 7 day jabbing it hasn’t been as effective so I’m going to make the assumption that jabbing early was what helped.

However I have switched my exercising from cardio HIIT to dumbbell hiit and I feel like the additional muscle work is making me want to eat more. Not junk or sweet stuff but my ability to eat bigger meals has returned where as before I’d get full quickly.

I wonder if the providers are getting stricter about the evidence submitted because they’re worried about getting sued by someone who is taking WLI who doesn’t really need them?

So anyone already slim who fancies losing a stone to go from BMI 25 to a BMI of 18? Maybe someone on the verge of developing an eating disorder?

I think I should be ok as my GP provides my (private) prescription and she told me at the beginning that I might need to stay on WLI for life. So the Northern Irish pharmacy simply fulfils the prescription without query. (So far!)

I don’t know if you can get a private prescription from your own GP in the UK but it could be worth checking as this would cover you for ongoing maintenance doses.

In other news, I’ve lost 2lb this week. 💃

Just realised I ‘under jabbed’ yesterday. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I’d made a green mark on the 5mg pen at 30 clicks for 2.5mg initially when I started the pen and then another black mark at 36 clicks for 3mg. When I dosed yesterday, I only went to the 2.5mg mark without thinking and I know I didn’t feel any suppression in the evening when I had a piece of chocolate about 9pm. I definitely didn’t over eat yesterday though, thank goodness.

Decided to jab the extra 0.5mg this morning. No idea if it will make any difference though. 🤔😳

Plateauing still. 13 stone for week number 6! I've increased calories to 1500 a day so we'll see if that has any effect. Thinking I might have reached a 'set point' here!

Meantime I will continue to try to enjoy the gains so far, and once more being able to wear my North Face arctic parka and old Levis. This too shall pass... you have to hope.

I thought it was time to update you on my knee replacement surgery. It will be 7 weeks on Tuesday since the procedure and life is slowly getting back to normal. It’s not been an easy time, not as painful as I expected it to be thank goodness, due I think to me still taking strong painkillers for my other arthritic knee. I have had some setbacks which prevented me from starting essential physio to get my knee working again. First of all my coccyx bone became very painful and at two weeks when I had to go back to hospital to get the staples removed I could barely walk with the pain so a porter had to get a wheelchair for me. Then my wound was not fully healed so I had another week with steri strips and a new dressing which inhibited movement. And to cap it all, at 4 weeks I developed a UTI with blood in my urine so ended up at the out of hours doctors at 1 am to get antibiotics!

However, despite everything, I have made good progress and the consultant was really pleased at my 6 week check up and was happy to discharge me. It’s all about how well you can bend your knee and how straight you can get your leg. I still need to do the exercises ( some of which are very painful) in order to walk long distances without pain and not limping but I’m no longer using two crutches, just one outside and none around the house.

Weight wise I’ve not weighed myself but I suspect I have put on a little weight! At first I was not hungry and ate very little but for the last 4 weeks I have been starving and have eaten some fattening foods as it’s been difficult to stand up to cook and I’ve been too tired as well so have eaten too many sandwiches, crisps and chocolate! But I’m now back on track and have gone back to intermittent dieting which I successfully did prior to starting on Mounjaro so I’ll start weighing myself in a couple of weeks.

I am not sure if I will go back on Mounjaro or try something else as I really cannot face the violent diarrhea I had every week, I need to discuss it with the pharmacist I used to get my prescription from. It’s not worth me starting on any WLIs now anyway as I have just booked my second knee replacement for the 5th May and I’d need to stop taking them 6 weeks beforehand.

I am driving again which is fantastic as I can restart my social life, it’s been rather boring confined to the house for weeks! Not that the weather has encouraged me to go outside, crutches and ice do not mix well!

I had another 1lb off this week. 2 stone off now and about about half stone to go until I get into the start of healthy BMI.

I also under- jabbed this week, I’ve been doing 50 clicks from a 5mg pen so I ended up with a slightly weird amount left which was 0.4ml when I took it out with an insulin syringe on Sunday . Which I think is about 3.33mg (rather than 4.16mg). I meant to go and get my new pen and top up but didn’t get around to it so that’s been my dose this week! I was fine up until yesterday but definitely noticed less suppression and more food noise then. I ate five slices of pizza for dinner whereas I usually feel really full after three now! Anyway only got 24 hours until I jab again…..

@Ihateslugs I was just thinking about you this morning and wondering how you were getting on. Thanks for keeping us updated and I hope you continue to make good progress. Good luck with the driving and getting out and about. I’m sure the weight loss will start again now you’re more mobile.

Maybe when the next wave of weight loss jabs/tablets come out, you’ll have more success on them?

@OneDayIWillLearn That’s interesting! Yes, I just did the maths myself and agree with your calculations. How are you finding 4.16mg normally? You sound like me wanting to move up the doses very slowly. 😁
Did you move up from 3mg or 3.75mg to 4.16mg?

@SerafinasGoose Yes, I’m sure upping your cals for a week will help shift things up a bit and get your metabolism moving again. 🤞

I'm in a similar position to you, @Chopsy123 in the slowly moving up club. I moved up to 3mg in December but had a bit of a post-Christmas wobble and increased to 3.3 which is where I'll be staying for the time being. I think I might be about to hit a set point, though, so I'm expecting slow loss or even a plateau for the next month or so - I've just reached the weight I seemed to settle at post-children, pre-perimenopause so I suspect I will have up my exercise and nutrition game.

After my asking for advice from you all earlier this week about whether to move up to 4mg, 4.25mg or 5mg, having been on 3.75 since early Nov, I decided to just go the whole hog and took 5mg on Thursday evening. Felt weirdly guilty about it and like I had failed by not being able to stay at lower doses the whole time. Stupid really, I am on week 22 and have only now gone up to 5mg, so it's still a win. However, whilst I'm definitely feeling more suppression and less food noise, I'm not mega suppressed. So I actually think 4.25 would've been a mistake.

Stayed the same weight this week after my 4lb loss last week, but I was actually expecting to gain this week so I was relieved. So I am still at 40lb down but feeling very confident about getting to that 3 stone milestone on weigh day this coming Friday. Feeling a bit of a new lease of life and even went back to the gym this morning for the first time since December 🤣

A couple of NSVs this week. My manager at work commented that I was looking 'very trim'. People at work vaguely know I'm dieting but no one has said a thing until this week. Before Christmas someone asked if I'd lost much weight on my diet and was visibly surprised when I said I'd lost over 2.5 stone, so that made me feel a bit shit tbh!

I also ordered a jumper from Next in a my usual Large size, but also ordered a Medium, 'just in case'. Tried the medium on first and it fits easily, with room to spare. Didn't actually like the jumper, but still a win!

Hope you're all having lovely weekends x

@Chopsy123 yes we sound similar. I did a month on 2.5mg, then went to 3.75mg until the last week of November when I went to 5mg for a week but found it too strong. So after that I started on the 50 clicks from 5mg - first week of December - and I’ve done that since. I was thinking of going up to 5mg again at the start of Jan but then thought I would let things settle down again post Christmas before making a decision to move up. And actually 4.16mg (!!) has been fine all through January and I’ve kept on losing a pound a week and haven’t struggled with food noise etc. Apart from this week on days 5 and 6, but it hasn’t been too bad and I was on 3.33mg so makes sense!!

I’m actually really happy with the lower doses, I’ve had no side effects at all really and my loss has been a very reliable 1lb a week. I really didn’t like the very strong suppression I got on my week of 5mg and this means I can carry on eating pretty normally with the rest of the family/ socialising etc, still drink a bit of wine and beer. I’ll go up if I need to though.

@wodantimbercoaster Definitely don’t feel guilty about whatever dose you’re taking to reach your goal. We all want success and you don’t get extra kudos for losing on the lowest dose. 40lbs down is MEGA!

In your shoes, I’d assume that the person looking surprised probably has no concept of what a 2.5 stone loss looks like and probably wouldn’t register your weight loss unless you dropped to a size 6 looked seriously gaunt in the face. 😂. Feck ‘em!

@wodantimbercoaster you definitely shouldn’t feel guilty though I know what you mean! When I started it seemed the threads on here were full of people who had never gone above 2.5mg and had lost 5 stone and I just assumed I’d be the same. But it was very clear to me after a couple of weeks on 2.5mg that it wouldn’t be enough for me so I went up to 3.75mg but yes definitely felt guilty!! I also feel a bit guilty about taking part doses though and not strictly using the medication as you ‘should’ so perhaps you can’t win. I will definitely go up again as soon as I feel the need to though, I only haven’t because of dislike of strong suppression. But most people have lost faster than me so I’m sure that’s the trade off.

@Ihateslugs really good to hear from you, I’d also been wondering how you were getting on. Good news on the next surgery. When is your son’s wedding again? It would be interesting to hear what the pharmacist says about whether you might fare better on any of the alternatives.

SW 18 stone 6lbs (19.11 pre MJ)
CW 14 stone 8lbs
GW 11 stone 6lbs
loss 3 stone 12lb (5 stone 3lb)
Ive got 3 stone 2lbs to go, it’s the first time I’ve got less to lose than I’ve lost so that’s a big milestone for me.

My plan this week is to make sure I’m eating lunch, I’ve been a bit unhealthy and skipped lunch a lot recently because I’m not hungry and I’m so busy. What that’s led to is me feeling tired and headachy in the afternoon and by the end of the week I felt burnt out because of the lack of breaks. I shouldn’t rely on the appetite suppression to get me through a busy day. So today I’ve planned out my lunches, bought the bits which won’t go off and made sure I’ve got containers for it all. I’m also starting a new exercise class tomorrow and heading back to my old classes on Tuesday and Thursday. When I started losing weight (pre MJ) I was exercising but I developed an issue with my knees which stopped me. I’ve lost enough weight to start gentle exercise again I think, so I’m trying it this week.

I’ve always been unsure of moving up the doses, but mainly because of the potential side effects. I don’t feel any guilt at all about having to move up, I think it’s a very personal decision based on what our bodies need to lose the weight, it isn’t really in our control. I think we punish ourselves around food habits enough without adding to it.

I wish 2.5mg would be enough for me, because of the cost, but I’d be reaching for the biscuits. I do think I need to work on my habits out of fear that they’ll return if I don’t have high suppression. I’ve moved up to 7.5mg, my losses have been consistent and the only time I hit a plateau was over Xmas as I was consuming more caloric food choices. I’ve been on 7.5mg for 3 weeks, I’ve just had a 5mg dose for this week as I’ve been ill and I didn’t want to put myself off eating, I’ve been relying on high suppression but didn’t eat enough last week at all. So hopefully the 5mg will be enough this week.

I know what people mean about feeling guilty about moving up. I did 9 weeks of 5mg and it was working fine but also felt like I was having to work harder, particularly the second half of the week.

I thought about moving up to 6.25, but wondered if such a small increase would make much difference so moved straight to 7.5mg. All good so far, no ill effects and suppression feels strong, no hunger or food noise. Was at a birthday party last night and didn’t even look at the food.

Also, my new size 16 velvety black cords fit! I wore them last night and felt great. Also, I don’t actually hate how I look in the party photos that are being shared round today.

Not for Asda. I had a voucher so ordered two more pens about a week after ordering another pen, and they approved it almost instantly!

Well done everyone! I've not updated here in a couple of weeks but I'm now at 114.1kg, which is 17.5kg (39lb) down since starting MJ in September. Suddenly starting to feel a bit more in shape, although I still have a lot to lose. My legs and arms are starting to look a bit more toned from swimming regularly and weight loss. I started as a fairly tight size 22 and now easily fit in my size 20 jeans, and a size 18 dress fit me nicely the other day. :) I'll definitely need to go shopping when the weather gets warmer as I'm still living in baggy winter clothes at the mo!

Been reading a lot about people regaining quickly when they come off the jabs, but I don't have any set concept of whether I will or won't have to jab long term. I'm 37, and if I'd gone into my 40s at the size I was I imagine I would quickly run into serious health issues, so I'll jab forever if I can avoid that. Hoping to get down to either a low maintenance dose or a higher but less often dose, but we shall see.

I think I need to move up to 7.5. I’ve lost 2.5 stone so far, 2 more to go but don’t feel it’s having much effect recently. This feels like a maintenance dose but I’m still hungry and getting a lot of food noise.

The expense is worrying me though, but so is paying £150 for no results

That's interesting, I put my order in with Asda the other day and I had to resubmit photos. It also gave me a message of how I may want to start tapering down now as i'm at a healthy BMI. As soon as I resubmitted my pictures, they approved instantly 😅 happy to see i'm still wobbly enough for thr jabs lol

Down another 1lb this week. That puts me at 9 stone 1. Aiming for 8 stone 7 so only 8lbs more to go 🥳 things have definitely slowed down though and I don't feel like 3.75 is doing anything anymore but it's testing my will-power 🫠 I may have to move up to 5mg soon.