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.

@GhostOrchid Well done on losing 5.5 stones. You’re still consistently losing and that’s not easy after all this time. Definitely go easy on the Chinese next time though I suspect we’ve all done similar since jabbing. 😂

One of my favourite treats used to be fresh battered fish and chips from the beachside cafe and sitting eating them outdoors enjoying the amazing views. There’s no other buildings nearby so it’s just a very long stretch of beach with sand dunes and it’s never overly busy on the beach. However, I haven’t been there this summer at all as I think I’d better not risk it. 😂

@JustPickleRick Presumably you didn’t stuff yourself silly on holiday so you won’t have gained 4lb of fat? It’s probably mainly water retention from holiday eating and flying. It will all go in a week. Bet you had a fab time showing off your svelte new figure. 💃

Yes, I can’t believe it’s almost a year since we all started this malarkey. I remember saying to DH last August that I’d probably hit goal and come off the jabs by Easter…. Neither appears to be true!

Now, I’ve no idea how I’ll manage without them when I do finally hit my goal. 😳

😅 you're right, i didn't stuff myself silly and I naturally gravitated more towards the meat than carbs. I ate what I wanted but it wasn't a lot compared to what I'd have packed in on previous holidays 😅 it's also my time of the month so that usually makes me heavier too. Intrigued to weigh over the next few weeks to see a realistic number.

Just weighed myself again this morning (6 days since returning) and it says 8 stone 4 so definitely must have just been my period / retention! Happy days 🤩

@Chopsy123 yes it was when I was on holiday this time last year that I ordered my first MJ! It took the best part of a month to actually come because of all that malarkey with the price increases but it’s a year since I went for it and placed the order.

And actually being on holiday this week has made me realise what a difference there is. We went up the Empire State Building last summer and I hated the photos we took at the top (not least because my clothes are obviously too tight and I look uncomfortable in them!). This year/ this week we are in another city in a different country with a viewpoint and I actually liked the photos we took. I’ve been enjoying getting my swimmers on, enjoying shorts, not hating my face in the odd selfie.

God yes, awful holiday photos!

Last year, we went on a lovely holiday to celebrate a big birthday and I’ve got a pic of me standing next to DH in a very pretty garden and all I can focus on is how enormously round I look, whilst DH is his usual handsome, tall slim self. 😩

However, that was summer ‘25 and the photo will serve as a useful reminder to me, although, I really need to take some new photos too. I’ve spent years hiding from the camera so it’s not easy to ask for my photo to be taken.

Yesterday, I bumped onto an old friend I hadn’t seen in ages and I was wearing a nice outfit and a bit of make up and she was shocked at my transformation and said I looked 20yrs younger. That felt nice. 😁

Hello 👋 and happy Saturday! One year on and 5 weeks off Mounjaro for me today!

Exactly a year ago I took my first jab and I’ve now been off Mounjaro for the last five weeks. I was 122kg with a BMI of 44.3, wearing size 22-24 clothes. Today I’m around 75kg, BMI 27.2 and a size 14 and -47kg. I’m still technically in the overweight category but I feel like a completely different person.

I got down to 74kg just before our holiday, then gained 3kg over two weeks, plus all the BBQs and considerably more alcohol than usual. Thankfully that’s gone now and I’ve settled around 75kg. Although my weight can fluctuate by 1-2kg during the week, particularly after alcohol or even after a long run.

I’ve set myself a target of 72kg (that would be -50kg) and if I get there, then further target is 68kg. This is partly to give myself a bit of a holiday buffer and also to support/aid my running.

The biggest change though has been my mindset and habits. Portion control is now under control, I focus on protein and fibre, plenty of vegetables, lentils, fish and chicken and I allow myself a small amount of treats each day. I’ve also completely changed my approach to exercise. I went from being very inactive to walking, then starting C25K in January, joining a running club and now comfortably running 10k. I strength train twice a week too and feel so much stronger and healthier.

Being off Mounjaro for the last five weeks has been an interesting experiment. I’m definitely hungrier than I was on it, although the increased exercise probably plays a part, but I’m managing it. The food noise and cravings are still under control, which I’m really pleased about. And, sorry if TMI 😂, the constipation has disappeared and I’m back to being regular!

One thing that has really hit home is how much my calorie needs have changed. At 122kg my daily burn without exercise was around 2,400 calories; my BMR has gone down from 1850 to approximately 1,300. So maintaining (and especially losing further) is going to require a lot more attention to calories and activity.

I’m looking forward to the year ahead and hoping I can keep these habits going long term. I might move over to one of the maintenance threads while I work on those last few kilos, but I’ll definitely keep checking in here too. Well done us, hope you’re all doing well and getting close to the goals ❤️🎉

here is an AI photo of me from me360, before and now 😄

Lovely to hear from you @SnowWhiteisMyFavourite and congrats on losing all that weight and going it alone. That’s a great achievement.

Your exercise regime with running and weights sounds amazing too!!

👏👏

Amazing job @SnowWhiteisMyFavourite🎉

It’s very helpful reading your experiences now you’re off the medication. I’m still try titrating down by myself but I’m worried about what’s going to happen when all the hunger comes back. I do already see glimpses of it now.

I was at a reunion thing last night and had more wine than I would normally have and definitely more carbs. Feeling quite rough this morning, including some sort of ringing in the ears which I’m putting down to being hungover 😵

Sticking to yoghurt and fruit for awhile today… and hopefully can face some protein later!

Great stuff @SnowWhiteisMyFavourite! Very best of luck in maintenance. What dose did you go up to?

Nearly 50kg is an amazing weightloss in a year and your exercise regime is inspiring. Although I have joined the gym I am struggling to make myself go more than once a week. I’m fine once I’m there, it’s just the getting up and going I have a problem with.

I’m down to 74kg now (BMI around 27.5) and want to lose about another 8-10kg, which will probably take me to Christmas at this rate. I’ve stared to get the “don’t lose any more weight” comments although I’m still a pretty sturdy looking size 14/16. I have a 12.5mg pen now from which I’m taking an intermediate dose (11.25mg).

Does anyone recommend a current maintenance thread for people trying to come off the jabs? I mean due to reaching goal weight and not being able to fund it long term. Or even a general one?

I'm planning on coming off over the next two months, sand I'm on the 5 stone or more alumni maintenance thread. They're isn't really anywhere I've seen for people trying to go out without drugs.

It's my 1 year anniversary today! I've lost 36kg so far and have a mere 650g to go to hit my ultimate target weight, so I'm pretty pleased with how the year has gone.

@UnimaginableWindBird I saw that you were coming off MJ because of the Gallstones. However, you’ve made major changes to your diet and fitness regime so it sounds like you’ve got this in hand.

I saw my Consultant on Thursday and apparently I still have gallstones (they were initially diagnosed when I had a hernia op in 2016 and I refused the option to gave my gallbladder removed at that point).

My MRI scan revealed small lesions on my Pancreas but he doesn’t think they’re going to be a problem so will ask the GP to do regular bloods checking for x levels (?) and he’s booked me in for an internal ultrasound just to check the lesions in more detail. I asked about MJ and he didn’t think it was actually causing any problems so I’m fine to carry on. 😁

I took my 52nd Jab on 6th August (4mg) as I’d started taking it every 6 days a couple of months ago. When I’ve lost the final half a stone I plan to titrate down and stretch out the doses.

@GhostOrchid

In other news, I joined a gym. It’s called Body Active and they run fitness classes with 6 attendees to 1 instructor and you do a series of exercises for 45 minutes using weights. I survived the first session yesterday although my thighs ache a lot today. Each person adapts the exercise so some will be lifting much heavier weights. There were 3 lads and 3 lasses in the session and a mix of ages. I’m guessing I was the oldest one there. But so what?

I’ve signed up to 6 weeks of 3 sessions a week and I can book into whatever slots I choose/are free. You pay for 6 weeks in advance and I’m hoping that will make me turn up as I’d definitely wimp out if I wasn’t going to lose money. I’m hoping that by the end of 6 weeks I’ll enjoy it and actually want to go… 😩🤣🤣

That gym sounds great. My friends husband joined something similar and went from hating exercise to making new friends and not renting to miss a single class.

Hi @Chopsy123 and good luck with your gym class. It sounds great. I’m only managing to do once a week. I quite enjoy it when I get there it’s just the getting there I struggle with. I also have quite an intense job that often requires rapid reaction in the moment to sometimes external and unpredictable events, so it’s difficult to make time in the working day, even in a relatively meeting free day something always happens that requires urgent attention. I’m also bad at switching off my work head, particularly when wfh.

Anyway, I’ve put weight on. About 1.5kg. I’d got down to 73.5kg just over a week ago but have landed back up at 75kg. My eating last weekend wasn’t great. A combination of poor choices and some consecutive social engagements/visitors. I ate a lot more bread than usual. I was expecting to have maintained or maybe gained half a kilo so it was a bit of a shock to see a 3 and a half pound gain. Bit of a wake up call.

Yes, I keep going up and down the same couple of pounds since June so I’m debating moving up to 5mg or higher (?) for a final push to get the last half stone off.

But I don’t want to be cold in winter! 😭

Heating oil prices have doubled since last March so were going to have to eke it out even more than usual. We never have any radiators on upstairs anyway so to save oil, I think we’ll have to use the log burner a lot more this winter. We do have a fair bit of wood in our shed so won’t have to buy much.

I’m wondering if I can maintain on a lower dose then give it a final push next spring? I know I need to prioritise MJ in our budget as I won’t be able to manage without it. What to do?? 😩🤔

Wow, you’ve never gone up to 5mg? Or have you been titrating down? I’m taking 11.25mg now.

Having jabbed again on Friday, and whinged yesterday, the (water) weight is falling off me and I’m almost back to where I was. Went to TK Maxx yesterday to look for a tweedy short jacket to wear for these chillier autumn days. Found the perfect thing, but it was a small (size 10). Thought I’d try it on anyway and, bloody hell, it fit perfectly. I don’t actually believe this is a size 10 even if that’s what the label says. If it is, it’s cut very generously. Also got a pair of green trousers (size 14), a bit too loose but I loved them and a little short sleeved chartreuse jumper which I also got in the small. Together they make a great autumn outfit. So after the disappointment of my gain it was nice to be reminded how far I’ve come. I still gravitate to the L and XL rails. It’s really hard to undo that conditioning.

No, the max I’ve ever taken is 4mg as I really want to manage on as low a dose as possible, primarily to save money and also enable me to maintain for a year or so on a very low dose too.

However, I am dosing every 6 days so I’m now on my 58th jab since starting last September.

I’ve read quite a few posts from people going into maintenance who are still losing the odd pound as they titrage down so I was hoping I could lose another 7lbs gradually over the next 6 months?

I’m mostly a size 12 and don’t really want to get thinner as I’ll start to look too wrinkly in my face and neck. My sister is older than me and a size 10 and is very wrinkly looking, especially on her neck. She’s never been obese though. I think the largest she ever got up to was a 14/16 in her 30’s.

I'm down to 2.5mg every 10 days and am still managing to lose weight (albeit very slowly) but that's partly due to the knowledge that I'm coming off completely for the time being so I really need to be able to maintain without drugs for as long as I possibly can. I'm currently 300g above my target weight, so I'm hoping to get there by the seems of next week. Then I'm going to see if I can lose another 2kg which would put me at the bottom of my target range and then hard work of long term maintenance will begin.

@GhostOrchid Sounds like you’ve got your Autumn wardrobe sorted. Well done. 👏

Unfortunately, the current crop of burgundy, greens and browns are not my colours as I’m more bright jewel colours, so I’m struggling to find anything I want to buy at the moment. 😩

I still gravitate to the L and XL rails. It’s really hard to undo that conditioning.

Yes, it’s a hard habit to break, isn’t it? I wander to the XL rails and hold something against myself and only then realise it’s baggy and shapeless and will likely swamp me. 🫢🤣

@maz99
@Somethingsnapped
@outofofficeagain
@OneDayIWillLearn

Hi guys. 👋

It’s been a year since we all started Mounjaro and as you’ve not posted recently, I wondered how you were getting on?

Are you all on maintenance plans now?

…Yes, I am that nosey and chatty in real life! 🤣🤣

hi @Chopsy123 !! No still not on a maintenance plan, though think I’m getting towards a plan.

Things went slightly off course because I got a stomach bug while I was away (just after I posted last) and had horrible stomach cramps and diarrhoea for 10 days. So obviously I had to have a break from MJ while that was happening! I saw a GP once we were back from holiday who didn’t see any reason to think it was liked to WLI and just said to wait until it had passed to restart, so I ended up with a 16 day gap. I barely ate anything while I was ill so did lose a bit more weight.

It was a sobering experience though a) because although there doesn’t seem any reason to think it was WLi related, it still made me think about what would happen if I did have to stop and b) because the last couple of days before i restarted, once I felt better and my appetite was back, I was absolutely RAVENOUS and there is no way I could live with that without putting weight back on soon.

So my plan now is to start really slowly reducing the dose with the aim of having lowered myself from 5mg to 2.5mg in over a year, and meanwhile to work really hard on habits, diet quality and exercise, and managing stress and mental health better. I’m thinking drop 0.25mg every other pen i.e 2 pens of 4.75mg, 2 pens of 4.5mg etc etc. Hopefully a very long, slow titration down will help, and if I start struggling I will try and stay another month on that dose. Hopefully too my body will have a chance to get used to being thinner before I come off the jabs (if I do get to a point where I think I can manage that).

Next task is to order a pen from a different provider though as I’ve used Oushk all the way pretty much but I don’t like their maintenance plans or their user platform. I did order one pen from Cloud so I might try them. I have a bit of a longer gap than usual due to illness but hoping they will accept my explanation.

@OneDayIWillLearn Yes, lots of posters on these boards have mentioned a ravenous appetite when they stop WLI, although I think it’s usually when they’ve gone cold turkey rather than titrating gradually. It will be interesting to hear how you get on.

I’ve upped to 4.5mg and will try 5mg next week as I really want to lose this last 7lbs or so. 🤞