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?

End of first week on MJ for me. What a week! I was very lucky and had no side effects, apart from feeling like food was stuck in my throat if I ate too fast (which a helpful poster up the thread pointed out was actually silent reflux).

I had a gentle reduction in appetite pretty quickly, which made it easy and painless to stick to healthy meals on day 1 and 2. By day 3 I had this incredible feeling that there was no ‘urgency’ to eat, which gave me the thinking time to decide what I actually wanted to put into my body at each mealtime. Someone else talked about the Tesco meal deal and I had that too! Suddenly had no craving for the unhealthy sandwich and crisps, it felt no hardship at all to get the salad and fruit pot instead, and they felt just as enjoyable. No hunger, and no feeling of being limited or wanting more. I felt almost euphoric on days 3-5 it was so easy!

Then days 6 and 7 the drive for food started to creep back in. Nothing awful, but I had to work again to stop myself snacking, and when we had family takeaway on Friday I finished my small healthy option and wanted more after. But after my second dose the “day 3” feeling was straight back, so it’s obviously building up in my system. Ive lost 9lb since 1 Jan, which is incredible. I know its mostly water, but it feels great 😊

For me, MJ is a bit of a miracle really. I haven’t lost enjoyment of food, it’s just that I’m in charge of the food, rather than the food being in charge of me, and it is wonderful!!! For the first time I feel completely in control of what I eat and completely confident that I will be able to lose weight if I want to (or not if I don’t).

I know it’s a different journey for everyone, but hope this is encouraging for those nervous about starting. And for those who had a tough week 1, fingers crossed week 2 will be easier!

@Onbdy

Day 4 of second injection.

Yes. I haven't had as much appetite suppression on the second injection, but the taste of food has changed, definitely.

So, am feeling hungry but no urge to eat, as taste is gone wonky 🙃

I took my 2nd jab last night and felt a little bit queasy while eating breakfast this morning but it passed quickly.

Being on MJ is making me realise just how much mindless snacking I was doing before, like eating the children's leftovers (because I hate food waste. Now I'm just accepting that it goes in the bin). I haven't really had any desire to eat the 'naughty' foods I was eating before and I do think the cost of the medication in itself will keep me on track and help me make smarter choices - I dont want it to be for nothing!

I have a few friends on MJ - one has lost 3.5 stone, one's lost 6 stone, and the other has lost a whopping 8 stone. They've all experienced different degrees of hair loss. They all lost weight really quickly and advised me to take collagen (which I do anyway) and to eat little and often to get up to around 1,200 calories per day - they said they weren't eating anywhere near enough and believe that this was a contributing factor.

The thing I'm most looking forward to is being less camera avoidant and being able to buy fashionable clothes because I like them rather than buying them because they fit.

I think all suppression i had in the first week is gone. I had a pretty rough awakening but it's early days. I hardly ate in the first week and it's like my body wants to take everything now it didn't get then. So I'm going to eat normally whilst I need it but sans the mindless snacking.

Its like I need to learn the same things with every intervention on my weight. For me it's best to start eating as late as possible in the day, but then have a filling meal and that means carbs and protein. I figured this out a million times before but get misled by some instagramer showing their food which doesn't actually work for me.

Suppression is still strong here, but the evening of my 2nd jab my back started to feel a little achy at the sides halfway down and it progressed yesterday and is still like it today - I didn’t sleep well at all. It doesn’t seem to be an official side effect however I’ve read of multiple people on another forum having the same thing.

I took my second MJ last night at 9pm and I definitely feel my appetite is much more suppressed than this time last Sunday. Last week I felt I had to work at reducing what I was eating to an extent but this feels much more like what I had been expecting. Hope it continues like this, will be much easier. Last week was good for getting my head into the right mental state which I’ve always needed in the past to lose weight.

@Blandpedant I felt the same last week, still enjoying what I was eating but also enjoyed being more in control and taking time to make healthier choices.

@glutenisthedevil thanks for the advice about hair loss and collagen. I’ve seen this mentioned but not really taken it on board.

Regarding hair loss, I thought I’d post this here as it’s a common side affect and this explains the reasons.

It will help if you take collagen, biotin, iron and zinc - I didn’t start taking these until the hair loss started to happen which maybe could have been prevented if I’d taken them earlier.

The thing to remember though is once you’re maintaining and eating properly again it will grow back (I really panicked and was very upset and nearly stopped taking it)- it’s just that your body goes into shock with the fast weight loss. But eating sufficient calories and getting the right nutrition should stop it from happening in the first place - it’s just so tempting to move up the doses and get the weight off fast but if I could do it again I’d have stayed on 2.5/5mg and gone slower, eaten more and really focused on nutrition.

Ps. When I say:

Regarding hair loss, I thought I’d post this here as it’s a common side affect and this explains the reasons.

I mean it’s a side affect of rapid weight loss, not of taking MJ. It’s happened to me in the past also when I’ve lost a lot of weight quickly by other methods.

@Dollyflossthat's exactly what my friends said, that they wished they'd taken it slower. I guess it's tempting to move up through the doses quickly when you're excited by the weight coming off fast, especially if nothing has really worked before.

I'm due my second dose tomorrow and I definitely feel more hungry today!!!

That’s exactly it - and also for those who are planning to come off it once they reach goal there is the financial aspect.

I moved up to 7.5mg simply bc I got a bit addicted to the feeling of not being hungry I suppose (this has happened to me in the past also when I’ve done fasting, keto etc) I always have a period of taking it a bit too far. I went down to 8 stone something but that was too low looking back. I’m now at 9.10 after stopping taking it for a month at Christmas and I’m happy with that and am hoping to now maintain on 2.5mg.

So, 24 hours since my first jab. Normal appetite last night, had a decent dinner. Was hoping it would kick in today but I’m getting rumblings of hunger for lunch so it seems not... Guess I’ll have to wait for my second dose next Sst and hope it starts then.

I wasn’t expecting it to work this fast as such, it’s just that it seems to have done for some so a bit of me was hopeful.

Hi all, haven’t been on here for most of the week and it’s great to come back and read about all your losses - amazing results.

I had my second jab last night and first weigh in - lost 3lb this week. I am happy with the loss but a small part of me is also a little disappointed which is ridiculous especially as I’m taking it easy with exercise - my knees are buggered and I had a hysterectomy a few months ago so still taking things easyish.

Luckily I don’t seem to have had any side effects. Maybe a headache but that could have just been a headache 😂.

My water intake has improved a bit but I still need to make myself drink more. I normally survive on a cup of tea, a glass of water and a DrPepper a day 🙈

Are many of you going to take the ‘golden dose’ from your pens? I think I’m going to give it a go - that’s a lot of money left in the pen.

Yes I will be taking the golden dose and did last year
Hopefully pharmacies dont start sending out smaller pens 🙈

Why do they put an extra dose in there that you can't get at? (unless you get a syringe to extract).

Its extra liquid for priming

It’s in case of mistakes - surplus for doing the prep plunge. But you can easily buy little syringes to extract it from Amazon - a large packet is about £8. Otherwise it’s literally throwing money away!

Thank you! I think perhaps we aren’t always so focused on every twinge that goes on in our bodies and I am hoping I will get calmer about the whole thing…

Have no appetite today (first day after second jab) but forced myself to have a smoothie this morning and going to do one of the Marks & Spencer nutrient dense meals tonight. Don’t feel like eating but can’t do another week of hardly any food - so need this to be about learning a healthier way of living.

Another personal training session this afternoon - feel like I won’t be able to fit much else in my life while I am doing this 😂😂

I should have jabbed last night but can’t do it until we get home today and my appetite has come back with vengeance! I am ignoring it and trying to get home asap 😂

Always fancy the idea of a smoothie, what do you put in yours? I like the berry type?

Well I wasn't sure if it was working properly but I'm due to jab tomorrow and I feel like it's worn off. I want crisps, chocolate, takeaway, wine. Running on just willpower until in the morning!!

Frozen berry mix, almond milk, banana, dollop of Greek yoghurt and a bit of frozen cauliflower. Can add protein powder if you wanted.

Almond milk, frozen cherries, frozen cauliflower, vanilla protein powder, handful of oats. Sometimes tahini or a nut butter. If I have something like spinach in the fridge I’ll throw some of that in too. Doesn’t usually affect flavour.

@intentionals I'm at the same point as you - first day after my 2nd jab. I just ate the smallest amount of a roast dinner, easily a quarter of what I'd have normally eaten, and I feel like I've had a 3- course meal! I'm absolutely stuffed. I was definitely never this full during the first week.

2nd dose done!

@Blandpedant i feel the same as you with regards to enjoyment of food

I don’t feel at all hungry but I am genuinely looking forward to creating small healthy meals each day for myself

I am also cooking for the family and have a daughter who has food challenges so often end up cooking three different meals - thank god DS and DH are eaters!

Looking forward to week 2 - so far this week my MIL and also my husbands step mum have both started conversations with me about mounjaro - entirely unprompted!

They both separately have friends who are taking it - my MIL is very very against it - trying to keep a passive face during these conversations is hard! I have a very honest face! 😂