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.

hiya!
No I just decided a wanted to enjoy Xmas and also not to give the game away to those who know how much I love my food.
thats why I had a break.
In the past on Slimming world I’ve gained 4lbs in one week so I was happy with 4lbs over 3 weeks.
So last Monday I took the 2.5 dose (I’ve never gone up through the increases) and then totm hit so I’m not sure if my starting weight was accurate.
Im going to start a fresh next week 😊

Finally saw it this morning. 83 point something on the scale. Feel like I’ve been stuck at 84 point something for ever. Easter plus my birthday feels like it’s really slowed down my progress this month but looking at my stats I’ve lost 4lbs since the start of April which I guess isn’t too bad. Also feel like I might need to raise my dose soon. Been feeling much hungrier than usual with some strong cravings. On Monday at work I just couldn’t resist the burger and chips they were serving as the hot option. Normally I don’t give it a second glance and head straight to the salad bar. Been better the last couple of days - high protein and low carb.

I’ve still got a couple of doses in my current 7.5mg pen but I ordered a 10mg pen so have the option of increasing.

So that takes me 4 stone lost exactly since I started 7 months ago.

SW: 109 kg
CW: 83.8 kg
interim GW: 76kg
my BMI is now 31.2, down from 40.5.

Next challenge is a holiday. We head to Italy in a few days. The pen is coming with me. Should be doing plenty of walking, which will help but also want to enjoy the food. Hoping I can strike the right balance.

How will you be packing your pen @GhostOrchid? I've been wondering what the restrictions are on needles, liquids etc - will you take it in hand luggage?

@namechange0998776554799000 I wouldn’t over think it, to be honest.

I took my pen plus a syringe on holiday last week as I was nearing the end of the pen and didn’t want to risk a broken pen after trying to force it past the point of no return.

I put them both plus a normal needle and wipe into the supplied packet with my details on (taken from one of the spare pens in my fridge) and kept them in my hand luggage.

I mentioned it to the lady on security on the way out but left the package in my handbag. I didn’t take them out of the bag to put them in the grey trays. She said that was fine.

On the way back, I didn’t even bother mentioning it at security and again, no issues.

I think if you use the original box packaging that has your name on, even if they look in your bag, they won’t be interested.

@GhostOrchid 🥳🎉🌟🌟🌟💃

4 stones and counting…!!! Well done. That’s a fantastic achievement. You’re so close to be just overweight.

You clearly know what you’re doing now so don’t let the odd burger and chips or bowl of pasta make you feel guilty. 😁 I ate pizza out twice on holiday last week plus lots of salad the rest of the time and I still managed to lose a pound and I’m now officially only ‘overweight’ bmi - 29.8. 🎉

That's good to know @Chopsy123, I guess there must be loads of people travelling with them now

Woo-hoo! Well done @Chopsy123 only overweight. What a fantastic achievement!! 💐🎉🙌👏 Hopefully I’m not too far behind you.

And thanks for the advice re travel. I have a little travel case and I was just going to take that with a couple of needles and wipes and put it in my hand luggage. I’m just not quite sure what to do with the used needle as I don’t want to take my sharps bin. I suppose I can just wrap it in something, leave it in the case and bring it back.

Well done everyone 👏

Holidays are going to be the challenge over the next few months but we'll all be feeling much better than we did last year 🤩

Been digging out some summer clothes ahead of the packing. A dress I’d got too big for (I love it, black with a rose print and some beading for sparkle) now fits easily. Probably a little loose.

Annoyingly, my swimsuit (a green seersucker two-piece) is too big. Well, the top is fine (it was probably too small before, I had to squeeze myself into it) but the bottoms are hanging off me in a way my husband judged was probably indecent. 😂

Hi everyone! Been a bit slow weight loss for me lately as I started weight training and you retain more water, but I finally had the "whoosh" loss and I'm down 27.8kg now (4 stone something I think).

Speaking of holidays, we just recently got back from Nice (DD's first trip abroad - she's 6!!) and did a LOT of walking, about 15-18k steps a day! I ate what I wanted but MJ kept me in check nicely, so I actually lost about a lb while away! It was nice to get some smaller dresses and shorts to wear, after years in a bigger body. I'm still big but feel so much healthier already.

I didn't take pen, but I've read that you can get little insulated containers for them if that's useful?

Well done everyone. We will be enjoying our summers in healthier bodies!

Another week without losing :-(

Still weighing 10 stone 12 lbs, the last time I had a decent loss was 5 weeks ago, which is when I first dipped below 11 stone and weighed in at 10 stone 13lbs. So only a pound lost in 5 weeks.

It isn’t a huge surprise I suppose in that I’ve had a lot of entertaining/ guests/ meals out etc in this period but I am also starting to think that 5mg isn’t going to be enough to get me down through the last 5-7lbs to get me to my target.

Annoyingly I have just ordered another 5mg pen but this does seem to be a good maintenance dose for me, so maybe I’ll just save that one and order a 7.5mg pen to use when my current 5mg one runs out in a couple of weeks.

Can I ask, what did people step up to after 5mg? So far I’ve done:
2.5mg - 5 weeks
3.75mg - 9 weeks
4.16mg - 14 weeks
5mg - 5 weeks

So thinking going straight to 7.5mg full dose might be too much of a jump?? Would be interested to hear what jumps up people have done from 5mg and how it felt….

Hi, I first increased my 5mg dose by taking it every 6 days which provided a high (8.07) level of medication that was lower than taking 6.25mg every 7 days (9.03).
I did that for the 1st couple of weeks in January after the xmas period and then stayed on 5mg for a total of 20 weeks.
I've since been on 6.25mg for the last 9 weeks - will be taking the last 6.25mg dose toady and will be moving to 7.5mg next week.

I've just come back from a long weekend (Fri-Mon) where I was totally off plan - loads of alcohol (spirits) and higher carb meals and I've only put on 1lb..!

I’ve recently started dosing every 6 days (3.5mg) and it’s definitely increased my losses that had been very slow from Christmas.

I used the glp-1 calculator website to look at the options of different dosages and dosing periods and I think not having it drop too low in your body by day 7 seems to be helping.

I might look at dosing every 5 days rather than increasing the dosage next time I’m thinking of moving up.

this is interesting! because I too have been stuck for about 5 weeks BUT haven't been hungrier, or noticed appetite suppression being any less on days 5 and 6. I've been on 5 mg for a few weeks so have been wondering what the point would be of increasing the dose when I'm not seeking greater appetite suppression. That's all it's going to do, make me eat even less, it can't magically melt fat. Maybe I'm gradually started eating slightly bigger amounts than I was, although I haven't changed my healthy eating habits. I did have a bad cold that prevented my usual exercise for 3 weeks, and that can't have helped. Hadn't thought of dosing the same amount every 6 days. Wouldn't that only help if you had been really hungry a day or two before the next dose is due? I haven't. I don't know whether to continue on 5 mg every 7 days and have faith the plateau will pass, increase the dose, or increase the frequency. I have a feeling my provider might be suggesting buying a 7.5 mg pen when I fill in the online form next time I order a 5 mg and report little or no loss! But I am three quarters of the way to goal, and hoped I'd get there in the next two to three months on 5mg. 7.5 mg is much more expensive, might give me side effects, and means I would be coming down from a higher point

I went to 6.25 mg for months too @OneDayIWillLearn. It felt much stronger than 5mg for me.

@SoUncertain that's interesting. I had thought of going up to 6 mg, or 6.25 mg. That's a bit trickier from a 5 mg pen than from a 7.5 mg pen, involving precise use of a syringe for a single jab, or 2 injections using clicks. So maybe I'll order a 7.5 mg next time and underdose, at least at first. (Providers disapprove of us playing fast and loose like this, we have to pretend we're following the methodology in the way they're licensed to prescribe!) Thanks for the idea

I'm insulin resistant, so I can't expect a low dose to manage it effectively.

So, I will continue to increase my dose... very slowly and monitor.

I will use 2 of the five 15mg pens I have stashed for 20 weeks to take 7.5mg and then review.

@threescoops I think the MJ does help to dissolve the fat as well as suppress the appetite. (Probably not the right terminology 🤪

I wasn’t overly hungry by day 7 but my losses were very slow so I’d been contemplating moving up to 5mg but then after playing around on the glp-1 plotter website, decided to try injecting every 6 days and it’s definitely made a difference. I’m back to losing about 1.5 - 2lb a week, up from 0 to 0.5lbs a week.

@threescoops I would mostly say I’m similar I.e. it’s not like I’m noticeably hungrier or eating bigger portions. That said, I don’t track (I did for the first 6 weeks but I loathe tracking food with a passion and - until recently - have been losing fine anyway).

So I think it’s possible it’s just lots of slightly bigger portions/ the odd snack/ the odd extra alcoholic drink all adding up. We’ve had lots of guests staying over the last 6 weeks and I do think that makes me more likely to have a glass of wine or put out snacks in order to be sociable/ hospitable. One of my many bad habits around food and drink, I’m sure, but a tough one to break!

By taking a dose every 6 days instead of 7 will increase the amount of medication in the body - the same as taking a higher dose

I created a spreadsheet to help me decide how to increase my dose.

I'm going to start taking 7.5mg every 6 days - it's a larger increase than I would like, but I've been taking 6.25mg every 6 days (high = 10.09) and the high for 7.5mg every 7 days is 10.83.

Note how big the high is between each dose (yellow rows)

Am getting excited as I am now just 2lb off the green zone of the BMI chart (the last half stone has been taking forever). I am wondering how low to aim for, as I have read others leave some wiggle room for maintaining. My initial target was just to get to a healthy BMI for my height.

Congrats that's so exciting!! My target is also a healthy BMI for height, but a long way to go still. Maybe go a little under just to give yourself the wiggle room, like you say. They recommend you don't drop back down the doses too quickly either.

My official weigh-in day is tomorrow, but as I weigh myself daily, I can report that my weight continues to zigzag. I should be pleased that I’ve lost 3.9 lbs in total since 1st April, but it definitely hasn’t been linear. I really wanted to start May in my 79s instead of 80s 😄

I guess I’m now at the stage where my weight loss has slowed down, it’s hard to adjust mentally to be honest. I increased my dose to 4.75mg two weeks ago. I’m weighing my food regularly again to make sure that my 100g hasn’t crept up to 120g by accident. On the days I run or go to the gym, my calorie intake is around 1600, and I’ve dropped it to 1300 on my rest days (I was averaging 1500 daily). I’m still walking 10k steps on my rest days, so the deficit should still be enough.

I’ve lost 42kg out of the 47kg I want to lose, I’m almost 90% there. My suppression is good, I don’t have cravings and I eat protein heavy food. I don’t want to eat less, so is my only option to increase my exercise even further?

It’s tricky isn’t it @Pinkbox ! For the last decade I’d have killed to just be anywhere near the healthy BMI boundary, and when I started on MJ that was really what I was hoping for - if it worked at all - and anything beyond that seemed fantasy land.

My ‘official’ target was 10 stone 7lbs though which is 10lbs below my BMI threshold, slightly plucked out of the air but it was the lowest I’d ever got on Weight Watchers, when I was in my late twenties. I actually maintained at around 10 stone 10lbs-12lbs for 4 or 5 years so yes the ‘wriggle room’ idea does make sense based on my experience.

Now I’m back around the 10 stone 10-12lb zone though I’m as confused as ever! I still have a pretty wobbly tummy/ upper arms and from that point of view as well as ‘wriggle room’ I’d like to get to more like 10 stone 5-7lbs (a little under my target in other words). But I feel great in clothes now and I’m aware of the dangers of mission creep too! And partly I think I haven’t really got my ahead around my plan for maintenance so still having a good half stone left to go in my head is weirdly reassuring (I am aware as I’m writing this that it isn’t very logical though).

Weigh-in day for me too. 13 stone exactly today. Which is what I've been since December.

I'm not too despondent, though, because I'm also now in a zig-zagging phase. And this actually beats never seeing the scales shift. For weeks I fluctuated between 13 st and 13 st 2. Now I'm fluctuating between 12 st 12 and 13. So clearly something is shifting and weight is still coming off (or redistrubuting), just very slowly. I can live with that.

But my best NSV of all is that all my old clothes now fit me again. I'm absolutely, definitely, a size 14. People are commenting on lovely old clothes I haven't been able to wear for a while: it's like having a whole new wardrobe but of favourite items I've already collected. Also I wore bulky dresses to hide the weight gain and am now finding I wear separates a lot more again.

Quite pleased with that!