Brand new January 2026 starters

[BG2015]

Hi, my first WG pen is in the fridge ready to start on 1st January.

Im 56 (57 in Feb) post menopausal and cancer survivor in remission 5 years nearly. still taking cancer prevention medication that I believe that is hindering my weight loss. I just can't seem to lose it no matter how much I try. It took me 5 months to lose 10lb earlier on in the year.

Im 5' 8" so carry my extra weight well.
CW 13stone
TW 11 stone

Whose joining me on this weight loss journey?

@Ralphiesaurus I took mine around lunchtime but I think on Thursday (2nd jab) I'm going to take it early evening. I've read since that people recommend eating before you do it. I think everyone reacts to it differently.

Ooo the nausea is fun isn’t it.

I am now on day 6 following my first dose, so due to take the 2nd tomorrow.

I have a nice free day today but a very intense work day tomorrow and I'm seriously debating taking the 2nd dose a day early. My concerns is that once I start faffing about with the days it will end up all over the place.

Thankfully, I woke up feeling more like my old self today. No nausea, no disgusting eggy burps, and I've managed a banana and a cup of tea for breakfast without feeling queasy.

Hope everyone has a good day.

Hi all - I’ve been on MJ for a year now and have lost 4 stone. Consider myself to be a bit of an expert so feel free to ask any questions 😂

Ive had a 4 weeks break over Christmas as I wanted to really enjoy my food and I’ve gained about 7lbs but I’m really not bothered about this as I felt I’d lost a little too much anyway.

I’ve now started again and jabbed 2.5mg of a 5mg pen at the weekend and plan to stay on this to maintain my weight.

Stats: 5”8”
SW: 13.7
GW: 11 stone
actual lowest weight: 9.5 (too low for me)

Am currently 10.2 and happy with that.

Im with Oushk btw whom I love 🥰

@Dollyfloss

Hi dolly 👋,

Well, I've loads of MJ questions for when you've a min.

• What is a typical day of eating for you?

• Was it slow or fast weight loss the first few weeks?

• Does staying on 2.5mg dose depend on if you've an appetite/too much of an appetite?

• Will you stay on monjaro for life? Are you worried about gain if you go off it?

• Any tips at all?

Thank you!

Thank you! I’d be interested in what your meals look like while on MJ. There seem to be some people eating barely anything, and someone above who posted about eating more food than I ate pre MJ!

I’m trying to work out the best diet going forward, and whether I should be eating more to get to a certain number of calories. I’ve read threads previously where people not on WLI have been told they have eating disorders if they eat 1000 calories a day, yet it seems to be acceptable if you’re on WLI, which is confusing…

Just realised I forgot to add my stats.

I’m 5’6.
SW: 14.5 (I’m still shocked by this - I’ve gained weight since starting HRT 1.5yrs ago)
Current weight: 14.0
GW: 10 stone (I was 9.10 for many years, but will be happy to get to 10!).

@Ralphiesaurus

The medical advice I got was:

• Eat a more protein heavy dinner on day of injection.
• Take it in evening, couple hours before bed.
• That people usually inject on a Thursday/Friday, to have suppression over the weekend (most people fall off the wagon). Day 3 is apparently the highest day of appetite suppression. The level of suppression then falls the nearer you get to your next injection.

I chose to inject into addomen, as I'd read it's place least likely to get sick.

But, as said, everyone seems to be having different reactions. Some taking it and wouldn't even notice it. Some taking it and getting v&d.

I don't know how true or accurate this is, please do your own research/ask medical person, but that people who have a strong reaction are those who may have pancreas problems later. And that's not to divert anyone from taking it, it's just to be more vigilant on symptoms.

goldylock

Typical day: breakfast is either nothing (I’ve never been a big breakfast person even when fat!) or a slice of toast or sometimes boiled eggs.

Lunch is either soup or chicken/ham salad sandwich (I have whole grain bread)

Dinner can be literally anything - last night was a few slices of dominoes veggie pizza as the shopping hadn’t been delivered bc of the snow and we needed food! Most of the time though it’s generic stuff like spaghetti Bol, chicken casserole, salmon & veg/potatoes. We also eat out quite a bit and my favourite is something like a Greek chicken skewer with salad and rice. I find I eat a lot of meat/fish with salad and rice or potatoes as I really can’t eat much oily/spicy/heavy stuff on MJ.

I have indulged over Christmas but didn’t binge or go mad. I find it hard to drink much on MJ and can only ever manage a couple.

• Was it slow or fast weight loss the first few weeks?

Fast for me - I think I lost 6lbs in the first week (had only ever lost 1 or 2 pounds a week with every other diet methods before) and then between 2-4lbs a week after that. It took me from beginning jan 2025 to about September 2025 to lose 4 stone - I’m not sure what that averages as.

• Does staying on 2.5mg dose depend on if you've an appetite/too much of an appetite?

Id say definitely - it’s always best to stay on the lowest dose possible, partly for your pocket but also if you’re losing why move up?

• Will you stay on monjaro for life? Are you worried about gain if you go off it?

I plan to stay on it. My thinking is it’ll come down in price at some point anyway or there will be pills etc. I’m currently buying 5mg pens (think it’s about £165 with Oushk) and doing half doses which is working well for me, and that works out about £16 per week. I know if I come off it il gain it back so it’s a no brainer for me.

Tips are: nutrition, nutrition, nutrition. When you are only able to eat a small amount you really need to priorise the good stuff. As much calcium, healthy fats, protein as possible. Also supplements and collagen powder will help: I take nutrigeeks collagen powder, iron, B12, vit d and vit B.

I lost quite a lot of hair and my nails turned to shit bc I didn’t listen to my own advice at first! but that’s all growing back now.

I’d say you should be aiming for at least around 1200 - anything lower than that could be dangerous. But everyone should work out their individual tdee (there are free websites for this and it’s very simple) and stick to at least what they need for “cutting”. Then once you’re at goal you obviously need to work out your maintenance calories.

Forgot to add I also try to snack on fruit but don’t eat nearly enough in the winter! I love satsumas and have had a lot of those but they’ve been really hard to find this year sadly.

Thank you @goldylock and @Dollyfloss , that’s really helpful.

I know someone who had side effects and was sick multiple times after going up to 5, and they did go on to develop the pancreas issues and had to stop WLI, but that’s just a sample of 1! It did stop me even considering WLI for a while, but as my weight has continued to go up, I’ve decided that I need to take the risk and try it for myself.

on day 2 & feel ok so far! Yesterday I had waves of nausea which I did not enjoy at all, & really bad stomach cramps which i think was trapped wind. Realised I was hungry this morning & had a slice of toast with 2 eggs & I don’t feel super full so not sure if it’s working fully yet. I do feel exhausted though

• What is a typical day of eating for you?

I dont do breakfast normally, i might have an egg. lunch will be a protien and usually a salad or rice, dinner is protien and rice.

• Was it slow or fast weight loss the first few weeks? i started in december and lost 1.5lbs a week without excercise on 2.5. i am on my first 5 and no real side effects apart from a high suppression. I do need to remind myself to eat, but eating too rich meals sits badly in my stomach now and isnt nice.
• Does staying on 2.5mg dose depend on if you've an appetite/too much of an appetite?

This seems to depend on the reason for being on it, i automatically went up as 2.5 wore off quite quickly, next week i will assess if i want to go up to 7.5 next month but it depends how long the suppression goes days wise. Also if i am struggling to eat i will stick on 5

• Will you stay on monjaro for life? Are you worried about gain if you go off it?

its a temp solution to lose backlog of weight so once this is done i am hoping the changes i made before the jabs will be fine to maintain. I started the gym, walking and eating higher protien. I didnt stop the eating out and wine 😂which needs to be managed. I lost 5lbs before my holiday in nov, and then maintained it on a 2 week all inclusive so am hoping i can do this.

• Any tips at all?

research and know that regardless of others experiences everyone is different, its easy to get anxious about the step up etc . Stock upfor acid reflux and probiotics etc, gives you piece of mind.
Also decide what type of loss do you want, you can lose weight slowly and minimal changes to lifestyle or the opposite. good luck

Pen arrives tomorrow so I’ll inject tomorrow evening for my first dose!

I’ve actually started calorie counting and a bit of intermittent fasting this week to prepare for the mindset shift and some water weight is coming off already.

hoping I react okay!

Well this is the first morning and the only side effect that I am experiencing so far is hunger! I have had 2 slices of wholemeal toast for breakfast, this due to my Tesco order (full of healthy food!) being cancelled due to the weather, I won't be eating toast going forwards. Toast is only what I would usually have for breakfast but I am more hungry than usual and can't wait for my lunch!

Day four - started badly with an early morning dash to the loo but nothing after that fortunately!

just had half a plain chicken sandwich for lunch. Going to put the second half to one side to see if I can eat it for dinner. I wasn’t feeling “hungry” as such for lunch but I had a sense of “ok I could eat now” so I did. Before this I really struggled to eat anything. So let’s see how the next couple of hours go.

I emailed my provider boots earlier to ask what to do if I get to Friday and it’s time for my second jab and I am still having the diarrhea and finding it hard to eat.

Day 2, had no side effects. Not sure if my appetite has been suppressed or it is in my head haha. I had an omelette for breakfast and some left over chilli with veggies for lunch. Been drinking lots of water.

That's mine been dispatched now
I'm so excited to get back on it and hopefully make it stick this time around
My partner is taking me to New York next month as a Christmas and birthday present and I'm so excited to be IN photos and not just the one taking them!

@IamSmarticus same here. Woke up starving this morning. And feeling really hungry at meal times too. But definitely haven't had enough water so I am sure upping that will help. I also wonder whether the hunger is normal as essentially yiu are now more able to respond to your body's signals rather than your mind's?

I am now 24 hrs in and so far haven’t appeared to have any side effects. Fingers crossed it stays like that.

I haven’t added my stats so here goes.

Stats - 5ft 2”
SW - 15st 11lbs
GW - 10st 5lbs

I’ve got some lbs to loose and haven’t been in the 10st area for nearly 20 years so would be happy with that. To be honest - would be happy with anything. 🤣

Day 2, feel starving! Just waiting for my dinner to cook. I'm hoping it satisfies me and I don't want to snack later.

I had a NSV today. I managed to go to Tesco on an almost empty stomach and wasn't even remotely tempted by any foods I didn't need/my typical go-to snacks.

Today I've eaten a banana for breakfast with s cup of tea, turkey steak with a spoonful of roasted veg mash and some baby leaf salad for lunch, and turkey meatballs with mediterranean veg for dinner. Drinking lots of water and I've rediscovered peppermint tea.

I had a slight headache this afternoon but I'm putting that down to caffeine and sugar withdrawal.

Stats!

Height: 5’2”
Starting weight: 12 stone

Goal weight…undecided. My healthy BMI range is between 7st8 to 9st4.

I ate 1 chicken fajita yest eve around 6.30pm, and Omg, I went to bed at 11.30pm so full and struggling I felt so full.

I slept in till 9.30am (Off work/normally my stomach would have woken me well before then) and was still full.

I wanted to do some exercise today/gym, so forced a bowl of coco pops into me around 11am. Did gym and a walk. Then appetite came back. Had a bagle with cream cheese.

Appetite back again now for dinner. Chicken curry. Will be mindful not to eat so much this time (altho was only 1 chicken breast!).

First day (sorry for tmi) of constipation.