Mounjaro -10 stone or more to lose - Thread 11

[TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne]

Thread 11?

How did we get to this point?

Ah well. We're doing so well. Do join us.

The comment below came from the previous thread and is worth discussing:

Reading all your posts, you all sound so calm happy and in control emotionally

I don’t feel like that. I feel stressed, obsessed, scared, numb, sad, panicked, anxious

Overwhelmed

I'm quoting this because I myself have had a major wobble this week.

I'm in size 10 jeans.
I'm in size 8 - 10 jumpers.
I've lost 9st. I weigh 11st 2lb.

I'm about 6lb away from being what the NHS says is a healthy BMI.

BUT

I saw two photos of myself this week and thought I looked fat. I mean, really hideous. Nothing like I thought I looked like in the mirror.

Also, I went out to dinner and wore a dress for the first time in forever. I had to wear tights obvs.
My legs looked horrible. So awful.
I used to have gorgeous legs. It distressed me to see what they're like now.

Why do I see photographs of me and still visualise a fat woman?

For the last two days, I've obsessed about this.

Talk me down.

Hi all thanks for new thread
I was @anotherstressedmother,on last thread ,and before that @Autumnflowers2...I had to rejoin on a different email because I got locked out twice of my account..,and lost my previous user names ..
I will try to stick to this one for rest of the time on this weight loss thread . apologies if I'm causing confusion,I'm sorry x

Thanks for the new thread @TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne.

The process of losing a very large amount of weight can throw up a lot of emotional challenges and also gain a lot of attention which is the part that I don’t like. I had the same awkward conversation about 4 times with different people at an extended family meet up recently. It was fairly excruciating to be forced into making some kind of comment about it when I’d rather not talk about it at all.

Maybe it takes our brains time to catch up with our bodies..
Us humans are complicated creatures

What's weird is that I can look in the mirror and see a thin woman, yet see photos of me and see a fat one.

Thank you for the new thread @TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne

This whole weight loss thing has such a huge impact on our mental health, I think it’s really important to recognise and acknowledge that. I always knew I might struggle as I have a history of anxiety and depression (haven’t had any episodes in years though thankfully). I’ve been quite careful about looking after my mind as well as my body on this journey. Alongside the exercise classes, running etc I’ve also taken up lots of mindfulness practices, including yoga, meditation, forest bathing and sound baths:

I know this sort of thing isn’t for everyone (just mad hippies according to my mother! 🙄) but I find it has helped so much, kept me calm and helped me feel in control and relaxed throughout the process.

I must say I’m finding maintenance harder than the actual weight loss, not because I’m gaining weight or anything, just because I always got such a rush from seeing the numbers on the scale go down, I can’t help feeling disappointed when they stay the same; even though that’s what I want! It’s very strange.

I am coming out from hiding on this new thread.

I have been too embarrassed to post here for weeks because I was struggling.

@TragicMuse your post made me cry!! And then everyone else's posts agreeing with you made me cry even more!!!
BUT.... I realise now You are all the same as me!!! So I thought I would come back and be amongst people that understand what I am feeling. I will come out from my shell once more.

This is so confusing. I have lost nearly 4.5 stone in 6 months and have been feeling good.
I managed to navigate Christmas without too much trouble and was chuffed with myself. Mistake made!! I was so pleased with myself I relaxed too much. I then went away for an annual get together weekend with some "girls" that I started my nurse training with many moons ago. A weekend of over indulging and my head was a mess weight wise.
I have been home a week now and I feel more grounded and seem to be getting back on track.

When I stood on the scales after my indulgent weekend I would not have been surprised to see my starting weight back again. I felt as if I had regained it all!! Obviously, that's ridiculous and I hadn't done as much damage as I had dreaded.

As soon as I walked into the room to meet my friends when I was away, I was met with the "oh you look so well, you have lost so much weight" comments. These are my best friends who I can say anything to, but I did find their over enthusiasm a little uncomfortable.
The conversation moved on, as it does. Then out of the blue one of the ladies said "are you doing the jabs?" - now, we are all nurses or ex nurses and I absolutely 100% thought I was being asked if I was doing flu vaccine clinics. I know, that sounds mad, but a few of them are now doing that job and my brain was not in gear, so I said, "no way!" It then became obvious that I had miss understood the question and it was too late to back track as they were now all discussing how bad the jabs are for people. It was a very awkward conversation for me to listen to and I had so much I wanted to say, but just kept quiet. 🙄

Anyway, I have loved catching up on all your positive news. Some of you have done amazingly well.
I swing between thinking there is no way my body will comply and actually succeed this time, to starting to believe that I can follow your amazing journeys and can have the success you have all had.

I will try and be here more regularly this time round.
Welcome to some new faces here. 😀

@PositiveAttitude I know the feeling. I've also lost 4 and a half stone so far and keep thinking after a bad day that all my weight will have returned. Just difficult to process how much we have lost I guess.

Hello @PositiveAttitude

Do you mean that your nurse colleagues were discussing how bad the WLIs are?

I'm surprised, if that's the case. Surely it's a good thing if people get to a healthy weight?

When you look at the photograph does it look like you? And can you look at it long enough for the thinner you to appear? Like a magic eye picture.

I suppose what I mean is are you overlaying something on to the photo because it’s a static image so your brain just glitches because it doesn’t recognise you without the cognition of knowing you + mirror = true you?

not sure that makes sense outside of my mind!

Yes they were. They have other friends on them and they were discussing their side effects etc.
I am the biggest of the group by far! The biggest of them is a size 16!! We are a very opinionated group of ladies!!
One vivid memory of my nursing days was when we were all weighed in class and had to stand in line from heaviest to lightest. I was the heaviest then at about 9 stone 3!!! I was traumatised by that lesson for months and it has always stuck with me.

They are lovely ladies and I know they would not have discussed how they feel about them if I had told them I was using mounjaro. It would have been a totally different conversation, but it was too far down the road before my brain caught up to what was being said. - in my defence I had just driven for 9 hours to get there!!

Well that's interesting @PositiveAttitude

I'm also a nurse (now retired) but the ANP at our village surgery is a friend of mine, and I am pretty sure that she disapproves of my using MJ.

If I have an appointment for anything she always asks if I'm having any side-effects (after two years) and she seems a bit disappointed when I say No.

🤣

I believe that those people on the planet who are thin need the fat people to remain fat.

The thin people can't feel superior otherwise.

Sorry to derail the conversation but I wondered if anyone feels physically sick anytime they take the jag? I've been taking it since april last year, lost nearly 6 stone and been fine until the last month. Whenever I think about taking the jag or take it I feel so sick. I'm still obviously taking it but it's driving me mad feeling like this.

I am no longer a nurse either. I retrained as an accountant 10 years ago. My theory being that figures can't argue with you and will always make sense! 🤣🤣

I have never suffered from sickness, but my daughter, who is also on mj, suffers from nausea every time just for about 24 hours after having hers and is sometimes sick. She also has very itchy skin all over too.

Hi everyone, thanks for the birthday messages! I've had a lovely weekend with DW, got the go ahead to stay in the hotel with her so I was officially on leave from the hospital. It all went really well and now hopefully will start on a discharge plan this week.

I've gained a kilo but it's worth it for the food I've eaten this weekend!

@TragicMuse that was a great post. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I agree with lots of what you've said.

@TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne our brains are unkind to us. And I can't see what others can see, my brain eyes are still fat. I'm sorry you didn't feel good about yourself, just remember the facts; you are the size you are now and you fit into those little clothes.

Oh I am glad you had fun @PearlTeapot what wonderful progress!

That's great news @PearlTeapot.
So pleased you had a lovely weekend and now have a plan to get home.
I really admire your resolve to have stuck with the weight loss through all this time of being away from home and in difficult circumstances.

Can I join you all for a bit of encouragement from those who've gone before me?

I'm in my second week of mounjaro and have 10+ stone to lose. I started at 130 kg, around 20 stone. I have no goal weight as I've been overweight so long I can't imagine ever being a normal weight.

Welcome @MrTiddlesTheCat
You're starting at about the weight I started at.
All the very best to you!
How are you doing so far?

Wowee, thread 11 already, we are a chatty bunch 🤣

I'm sad to hear so many of us are struggling at the moment. I think when we start on our journeys, we think losing weight will solve all our problems, and our lives will be perfect. But along the way, we realise that not only are many of the original issues still there, but we now have a whole host of new problems to deal with too. Losing a lot of weight isn't just a visual thing, it goes much deeper than that, and can really knock us off our axis. I'm not sure if I'm making much sense, but I get it, it's tough sometimes. Sending love to anyone needing it right now ❤️

@PearlTeapot so lovely to hear you've had a good birthday and weekend with your DW. I hope you're home and back with your family real soon x

@MrTiddlesTheCat hello and welcome, you've found the right place, we have encouragement in bucketloads here

So far so good, although it's very early days. I've had some minor nausea but that could be my anti-cancer meds. I already feel totally in control of my eating, for the first time in so long I can't remember. I finally feel free to make the choices I want instead of being compelled to eat rubbish I didn't want. Losing weight is almost secondary to that.

I lost 3.2 kg the first week, around 7 lbs. I'm well chuffed.

Thank you so much @tragicmuse and everyone else who has shared their struggles and mental health issues. It really does help to know I’m not alone in the messiness in my head. I can relate to all you’ve said. Thank you for saying it! Tragic muse can I ( or will you?) post your post on this thread too? I think it’d be great if it was more visible.

@TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne I think it was you that asked why I’m anxious (apologies if it was someone else, I’m finding it hard to get the previous thread to load)

Why am I anxious?

I’ve given it some thought and I feel anxious about many interconnected things at once. I am anxious about my health, mobility, and long-term joint pain, and about what will happen if I don’t lose weight, but I am also anxious about the process of losing weight itself. I feel distressed by the constant vigilance involved — calories, scales, monitoring, and self-surveillance — and how mentally exhausting and destabilising that feels, especially given my history with disordered eating. At the same time, I am also anxious about the opposite risk: slipping back into denial or avoidance if I let go of monitoring altogether, and losing momentum or putting my health at risk by not facing reality. I feel caught between these two fears, neither of which feels safe. Alongside this, I am anxious about being seen and judged as my body changes, while also feeling anxious about being invisible and unsupported by friends and family ( too ashamed to tell anyone) and by doctors (not ill enough to be prescribed) . I worry about the pace of change — wanting improvement quickly while also feeling frightened that it’s happening too fast — and about the idea that this level of effort and focus might be required indefinitely. I am anxious about relying on medication and what it would mean if it stopped working or I couldn’t afford it anymore, and about losing parts of myself in the process, including my creativity, joy, and sense of ease because this has got me feeling so depressed and stressed. Underneath all of this is a deep anxiety about trust: trusting my body, trusting myself, and trusting that I can care for my health without either constant surveillance or complete avoidance.