Anyone still want to eat junk on Mounjaro- not through hunger but habit and for comfort?

[Itstartedinbarcelona]

I started on MJ in October 2024 ago and gave up after 3-4 months because although I lost weight (2 stone) I was having lots of side effects, most probably because my diet still wasn’t always great. I actually like healthy food but find low carb impossible have intense cravings still for bread, crisps and chocolate. A lot of people say it was like a switch turned off these cravings but this hasn’t worked for me. I’m now 2 stone down and back on MJ after going up about half a stone over the year I was off it but my weight loss is slow with gains some weeks and I can’t get my head back in the right place. I definitely snack less and mostly eat better on MJ and my weight is overall lower still but am not sure whether to continue. I’m about to go up to 5mg but am nervous of side effects. I’ve never got above this dose before. Anyone similar? All the threads I read are people losing huge amounts of weight quickly with no problems! I have another 4-5 stone to lose to be a healthy bmi.

You have to do the work.

WLI make making healthier choices easier, but you have to make those healthier choices consciously.

If you're choosing not to change your diet and habits, then you'll likely repeat the cycle of negative side effects, slower weight loss and gaining when you stop. I'm aware this sounds harsh, but it is the reality.

Maybe invest in 6 weeks with a therapist to understand the psychology of your eating habits? Knowledge and understanding is power. I often think these things are linked to unhelpful responses to dopamine and the reward centre. But I'm no expert.

I think it is, I’ve always associated food with comfort and reward. I just like the feeling of eating. It’s probably self soothing, especially high fat/ sugar food. Trying to remove snacks from the house and kept older teen DC to keep their snacks out of sight. Had amazing motivation in early 20s and lost 5 stone but can’t seem to recreate that 30 years later.

My provider includes coaching so am trying to re-engage with that to help.

I have been on Mounjaro since July 2024, and mainly find that I am not interested in junk or carby snacks. But, I find that if I do eat something like that, for example over the Christmas period, then that can take a while to reset and get back to how it was before. I have to use a lot more focus and control to avoid the snacking, but after a few days then it all calms down.

If you can make the effort to eat really well for a few days, no junk, no refined sugar/carbs etc then you might find the urge to eat that sort of thing calms right down.

Thanks I’ll commit to that this week and hope it sets me back in the right track.

I think I do too. I mean, you don't get to my 17st11 start weight without having psychological issues around food.

I've just had to abstain. I'm now 6 months without sugar ir carbs. It requires discipline. Mounjaro has made it easier, and stopping the glucose spikes makes it easier - but I 1 million percent could sit right now and eat a full packet of biscuits, or a litre of Ben and Jerry's, or a massive bar or Dairymilk... Or indeed all of these in one afternoon.

What stops this happening is my own discipline. I have decided that being slim and healthy is a greater reward. I still want these unhealthy things (in excess, I don't just want them, I want lots of them). I know that I can't have them and be slim and healthy. So I make a conscious and deliberate decision that I choose health first.

I have found it very difficult not having food as comfort. I don't know why eating quelled difficult feelings and thoughts but it seems it did because when I first started taking mounjaro they flooded in and I wasn't able to control them. Awful. I would not have said I used eating as an emotional crutch before that. I've had loads of therapy and everything in my life. Things feel better now 6 months in but jeez that was an unpleasant ride. Not sure what will happen when I stop taking it. I am thinner but I hope not as the cost of my mental health - doing this without support felt very dangerous actually. I do think that is an aspect of wlj that people are not talking about, or is it just me being a freak? There is so much moral judgement about all this stuff isn't there. Hideous.

Thanks @amberline,I was a similar weight to you at the start. I think it is trying to make my brain kick in to focus on my longer term goal. It’s like my rational brain switches off and I sleep walk into having comfort food. I read brain over binge and found that helpful but challenging to put into practice.

Personally no. It switched off the obsessive cravings - so I still like the look of the food sometimes, but it doesn't consume me in the way it used to. That allows me to exercise control and say no, which I find next to impossible without the jabs. They make me able to eat sensibly.

I would often eat things while thinking 'I don't even want to eat this, I want to lose weight', I just had no control at all over my eating and didn't know how to gain it back.

Maybe you need a higher dose to make the lack of cravings kick in? You could always count the clicks to move upwards at a slower rate?

Could it be that your dosage isn't high enough to quieten those cravings?

Yes, that was exactly what Mounjaro stopped for me. It allows my rational brain to make decisions.

Thanks @PoppingbyI’m glad it’s not just me. I hope maintenance is manageable for you. I started the thread because I haven’t seen anyone else sharing the same feelings. I had 3 very close bereavements in a row and I think I used food to shut down the feelings and carry on.

Im moving up to 5 tomorrow so maybe that will help. Just nervous about side effects!

I might try 3.75 to start with and see how it goes.

Good luck with going up the doses. 3.75 is a good idea.

I still want everything- but I'm emetophobic so the fear of making myself feel sick is usually enough to stop me. I haven't had a single takeaway in 8 months for example purely because I worry it'll make me feel sick!

However I can still eat a whole bag of chocolate and then think why- but 9/10 I can resist it. It does still require willpower for me, it hasn't been the magical fat eating jab people seem to think it is.

3.75 is a good idea. I've had minimal side effects anyway, and pretty much all were right at the start, but did 3.75 for a few weeks before 5 and it was a painless transition.

It hasn’t stopped me being tempted to comfort eat, it’s just helped me to say no to the urge when it comes. Or to replace the crap I would have eaten with something better. I still have to consciously resist, but that doesn’t feel impossible any more.

Annoyingly I’m still comfort / emotionally eating (and drinking wine). The rest of my diet is better, but there are a few snacks I can’t seem to kick the cravings for. I’m going up to 7.5mg and I hope that will help. I know I need to overhaul my eating habits for the weight loss to stick but it’s hard when cravings are so strong and it’s such a set in habit. I’m trying not to beat myself up and remind myself that it’s not an overnight process, just like the weight won’t come off overnight, the new habits won’t magically form overnight.

No. Mounjaro has put me right off. If I get a small craving for sweets I just eat a sugar free tictac. They are delicious.

Carbs are not the devil but you need to lead with Protein and those screams will be quieter! Perhaps introduce clear flavoured protein water (MyProtein) between meals to ensure you are on a good level of satiety through the day and not crashing and spiking all day long.

Seriously Low Carb are brilliant if you want to still have bread, wraps etc. and they even do pizza bases. These will help reduce the carbs, which in turn lowers the spikes that makes your body scream for more carbs!

My daily carb swap are chips - Sweet Potato Fries
Mashed Potato - Cauliflower Cheese
Pasta - Courgetti

Unfortunately I dont think there is a clear swap for crisps but I find cheese, pickled onions and an apple satisfy the moments you need to mindlessly eat.

Thanks for the great tips all. I’m on 3.75 from today so hoping it will help. Suppressing has already kicked in so just need to prioritise the healthy stuff.