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.

@threescoops Oo, that’s a brilliant NSV! Well done you!! 🎉

I’m booked in to see my GP next Wednesday and she’ll do my bloods too. I’m really hoping my results will be much better this time, especially my cholesterol level. My usual GP hasn’t seen me since September as I got my last MJ prescription in November from a different GP in the surgery so I think she’ll be really pleased with my progress. 🤞

This is brilliant! It’s so good to hear success stories like this, there are so many people talking about the negatives of the ‘skinny jab’ and ignoring the massive health benefits. You must feel amazing!

SW 18 stone 6lbs
GW 11 stone 3lbs
CW 13 stone 12lbs

Had a breakthrough today when I weighed myself as I’ve moved another stone ‘down’. It’s been years since I was anywhere near 13st 12lb, so I’m really pleased. I also went on a coach today and it wasn’t the usual squashed up and uncomfortable journey it usually is, I had room to move around in my seat! It’s nice to notice all the small things.

@threescoops I’m happy to report that I can join you with the same NSV. I had my annual blood test this week and I have also lowered my diabetes risk. HbA1c has gone down from 42 to 35. Well done us 👏

I was diagnosed with fatty liver a year ago, all the tests results look very positive now. I’m just waiting for a follow up appointment for a scan or at least to find out if I even need one.

I have had a horrendous week, all caused by myself. I think it all started last Thursday with some extra bits of milk chocolate. I had quite a stressful day at work and ended up raiding the sweet drawer between the meetings (I honestly hardly ever do this!)

On Saturday night I had a burger, followed by Chinese on Sunday evening, a few glasses of wine, and a little bit more chocolate as it was Mother’s Day. I woke up starving on Monday morning, and the cravings for sweet and fatty foods were absolutely horrible over the next few days.
I jabbed on Sunday morning, so there was no top-up available either, and I had to really use my willpower to keep me focused on protein and my normal diet. Then the constipation arrived, and I had to take Dulcolax last night. Today I’m feeling much better and back to normal: no hunger, no cravings.

A lesson learned again: stick with the low-fat, high-protein diet without too much chocolate, or pay the consequences 😄

That's amazing! Go us. I wasn't expecting that much of a dramatic reduction in diabetes risk. Also my dodgy arthritic knees feel better and, if it's not TMI, my chronically leaky bladder is dramatically improved. Not having all of that lost 50lbs pressing down on everything from above I suppose! Very satisfying

A better loss this week of around 2lb, or a bit more, I got two different readings on the scales this morning depending on the position on the floor (I live in a house of uneven floors). I shall give the lower reading for this post 😆

So I’m down to 86.3 kg (or 13 st 8ish) meaning I’ve now lost 50lbs! Woohoo! Nutracheck set me a target of 86.1 kg by mid March so I’m a little late but only a whisker away. I should be there in another few days. Then need to reset my goals. Be good to get out of the 80s and out of the 13s, and, by BMI, get out of obese and into overweight. The lowest weight I remember being as an adult was about 13 stone so will be great to get below that.

SW: 109 kg
CW: 86.3 kg
interim GW: 86.1 kg

@GhostOrchid well done, that’s great!! If I lose another 7lbs it’ll be the lightest I’ve ever been as an adult, it’s quite mind blowing!

I’m having a weird week for appetite. I went up to 5mg the week before last (from 4.16mg) because I was starting to get food noise. Going up has certainly stopped the food noise again and I’ve got no side effects like nausea or diarrhoea etc. But all I can really think of eating is plain, carby food!! It reminds me of being hungover or early pregnancy. I’ve got all this lovely protein rich food in the fridge like smoked salmon and cottage cheese and tzatziki, but I can’t really face eating the thought of eating anything strong tasting. I’m having a hot cross bun now for lunch and I had a toasted bagel with butter yesterday….because they were the only things that the thought of didn’t slightly turn my stomach! Plain crisps is the other thing I’m contemplating with feint repulsion.

Anyone else had anything like this? Hoping it’ll fade soon!

Official weigh in day again! I do weigh myself daily as I want to see the fluctuations during the week but Saturday is the official day.

SW 19st 3lbs BMI 44.3
CW 13st BMI 30.4
GW1 15st (03/01/26)
GW2 13st (21/03/26)
GW3 12st 8lbs
GW4 11st 11lbs

6st down! The greatest NSV this week was the results from my blood tests as I said. HbA1c has gone down from 42 to 35 and all liver results are now on green. I was diagnosed with a fatty liver last year but unfortunately NHS doesn’t provide a new scan as I don’t have any symptoms (I didn’t have any symptoms to start with) and the bloods were good so diagnosis will remain as “fatty liver”.

But feeling really good now. I’m running 3 times a week as part of C25k course and walking in between. I have decided to try Pilates after I have mastered the 5km challenge but one thing at the time.

@OneDayIWillLearn one of the reasons why I try to stay away from bagels/bread/hot cross buns etc is the reality that when I start eating them, I can’t stop because the cravings towards carbs is much stronger than cravings towards protein.

but sometimes my body does need the carbs overload, I have noticed more of this as I have increased my exercise. But it needs to be “good carbs” and I do need to be careful. How much are you exercising? Could it be that your body is just asking for more fuel?

I’ve decided an occasional small portion of beans on toast is necessary, for fuel and bulk to keep things moving through the digestive system, and it IS protein

I also try and avoid refined and processed carbs as much as possible. Oats I eat quite a lot of, either porridge or overnight oats for breakfast two or three times a week, or oatcakes with cottage cheese or hard boiled eggs is a good lunch. Everything else, potatoes, chips, rice, pasta, bread, is more by exception but I haven’t given anything up (I’ll have a piece of cake if the occasion demands it but I’ve lost my taste and desire for it). I try to go with the unrefined version and keep portions limited. I try to stay away from shop-bought sandwiches although I do my own wraps at home and I’ll have the odd wholemeal pitta bread, with say scrambled eggs inside. I haven’t missed it at all. I’ve not had pizza since I started MJ.

Eggs, fish (particularly oily fish like salmon and sardines), chicken, turkey (red meat I try to keep as more of a now-and-then treat, same with bacon and sausage), avocados, Greek yoghurt, soup, lentils, beans, nuts and of course fresh fruit and veg. These are my staples now, particularly eggs. I ate all these things before but the balance has totally shifted. Kind of amazed how much my eating habits have changed.

@threescoops I do like beans on toast. Old me always added lots of grated cheese on top but that’s now replaced with cottage cheese.

@GhostOrchid your list of foods is pretty much mine too. I’m surprised as well how much I have managed to change my habits. Only thing I don’t get on with are lentils. How do you use/cook them?

@OneDayIWillLearnI have noticed I am having some carb cravings recently too. I think maybe I have been too strict with myself and my body is nudging me to remember that I don’t have to aim for carb-free. I have bought some more expensive bread every so often, so something I feel is healthier than the white flat ‘plastic’ slices of old, and I have that with poached eggs or peanut butter.

I guess we are 6-7 months in and maybe our bodies don’t want to become deficient in something, hence the cravings?

I've been adding tinned lentils to home made vegetable soups I seem to have a lot of in the the freezer, for added protein, they're useful to add instant protein to anything actually, cooked rice, curries, pasta sauces....

@SnowWhiteisMyFavourite I can rarely be bothered cooking dried ones, although we quite regularly do a nice lentil soup which is just 250g (I think) of dried red lentils cooked with onions, carrot, garlic, a few herbs and a load of stock, finished with red wine vinegar. I tend to use tinned lentils or those ones you get in pouches - as @threescoops says easy to add to things like curries. You can make a nice salad if you added chopped tomato, cucumber, pepper, red onion and some nice fresh herbs (parsley, mint, dill are all good). Or sometimes I’ll just sling a few on the side with an omelette. A squeeze of citrus can liven them up. Green ones are my favourite.

Thanks for the tips ladies. I have added lentils to my shopping list, I will start with the tinned ones.

My cravings this week have been awful, yesterday I ate so much and things that I haven’t wanted for months. I honestly felt like I wasn’t on MJ any more. I’ve been on 7.5mg for around 7 weeks and I’m wondering if I need to increase to 10mg. I’ve jabbed this morning, which is a day early as I ended up being a few days out when I mixed up my weeks and ended up with an empty pen. But I’ve never felt this desperate for my dose.

I have come on my period today which explains a lot, I’ve posted before about this but I’m on the progesterone pill and up until October I’d not had a period for years. MJ has affected the absorption and it doesn’t work now, so I’ve gone back to the horrific periods of a few years ago. Since MJ is temporary I’m just making myself deal with it but I feel horrible today and everything hurts.

I’m logging everything I’m eating so I can keep track of my calories, it’s showing me how dependent so am on the jab. Planning on a lot of veg today and just plain chicken or salmon to try and get me back on track.

Not the best way to be heading into a new week, but my weight is lower than it’s been in 10 years so I’m focusing on that.

Thanks for the lentils info, they’re not something I typically use but I’m going to get some and incorporate them into my diet.

@familyornot Periods and hormones are such a bugger! So glad I’m past that now as I used to regularly get hormonal migraines at my TOTM.

Chances are that your mega carb cravings will subside now and you’ll be fine on 7.5mg again for the next 3 weeks.

Are your periods regular? You could try increasing your dose around the time of your next period but then dropping back to 7.5mg if during the rest of the month you’re not particularly struggling?

Six months! Wow.

Well, I lost 2st between early September and late December. Then I plateaued. Scales have settled at 13 st and they will not budge.

I lost 1 lb around 3 weeks ago. It's gone straight back on and stayed static ever since. So - no change since December. I've been varying my calorie intake to try to shift the plateau, to no avail. And it's pointless reducing to less than 1200 a day for a temporary period because this isn't recommended and would be unsustainable in the longterm.

So I'm still stuck on a plateau I've been on for 3 months. But I'm mobile, fitter, feel healthier and my old clothes fit me. Even if this is it and I'm stuck where I am, I'm still on this journey and won't be getting off it.

I am not going back to where I was when I started. No way.

Little update from me…
I’ve taken 3 weeks of 7.5mg now. So far it hasn’t improved my weight loss or suppression compared to 5mg.
I have now plateaued for 4 weeks.
The last 3 weeks on 7.5mg have been from a 5mg pen taking an extra half a dose. I have an actual 7.5mg pen to start tomorrow. Will be interesting to see if the dose feels any different although highly doubt it- same dose but less liquid but I’ll report back.

Cravings are a challenge again and I no longer get full quickly from meals.

Someone took a photo of me yesterday and I was shocked at how wrinkly my face looked. I’ve always looked quite young in the face (47 and people used to think I was in my 30s before) but the weight loss has really aged me. 6 months of taking collagen has sadly not lived up to the claims.

Bit of a shock weigh in this week as I’m down 3 1/4lbs from last week and weighing in at 10 stone 13lbs! I haven’t once weighed anything starting with a ten for over a decade so this is an amazing milestone. I’m now only 3lbs off a total loss of 3 stone and 6 lbs off my target weight which feels strange and a bit disorienting if I’m honest!

@SnowWhiteisMyFavourite @Pinkbox thanks for your replies and I think you are probably both right. I have been exercising more this year and have also had a very busy few weeks at work involving a lot of physical work and time on my feet. Plus I think going up to 5mg has created a bit of food aversion, so the combination is probably what is pushing me towards carbs. It isn’t a feeling of craving as such. It’s more like I get to the point where I know I need to eat (empty tummy, tummy rumbling etc) but when I think of the options it’s only plainer things I feel I can stomach. Weirdly they are filling me up though and not creating that carb hangover which I’ve definitely had before! Which makes me think maybe it is what my body ‘needs’. Work is quietening down now again so I’ll see if it changes with that.

Unfortunately they’re all over the place, I think this is because I’m still taking progesterone so it’s hit and miss as to whether my body absorbs it. I think if I stop taking progesterone things might even out, I’m going away next week so I’ll do it when I’m back - I don’t want to make anything worse for my holiday.

Thanks for the suggestion - I hope things will become more regular and then I can definitely dose up or down depending on the week. Hormones are awful to me! My cravings are subsiding a bit but the damage is probably already done for this week.

You could try the patch @familyornot, I switched when I started MJ

Saw my GP today and she’s very pleased with my progress. I had my bloods taken and should get the results in a fortnight. Blood pressure was normal.

One think she said this time that I thought was interesting was that she’d read that at around 9 months is when your body gets used to MJ and the weight loss slows considerably.

I wondered whether this might also be due to the fact that a lot of users will have lost over 20% body weight and possibly nearing their goal weight?

I have another 2 stones to go so I really hope it doesn’t slow down too much at this stage as I’m already averaging less than a 1lb a week, so it’s not exactly rapid. 🙁