How has losing weight changed your life?

[alittlebitofjoy]

I’ve been on MJ for around 11 months and have so far lost 3.5 stone. I’ve still got a couple more to go but for the first time in a long time I feel like a ‘normal person’ not a ‘fat person’.

It’s a feeling that’s hard to describe but for me it’s about stuff like…

1. Wearing jeans and not needing a big, long top to cover my belly overhang.
2. Discovering that if someone drops something on the floor I can actually get on my knees and pick it up, get back up again and not have to haul myself up using furniture or a person (I can just do it!)
3. Getting ‘second looks’ from men in public when previously I was invisible.
4. Trying on ‘thin clothes’ from the bottom of my wardrobe and being totally shocked to discover they actually fit.
5. Genuinely enjoying clothes shopping and dressing my body rather than shopping in order to disguise my body.

In a feminist sort of way I dislike the fact that so much of my identity has been changed by a reduced body size but at the same time, I’m really enjoying all the benefits!! I feel ‘normal’ for the first time in my life.

Wondering about others who’ve lost weight and how it’s impacted your life?

My DH has ordered MJ and it's arriving any day now. I've been considering joining him and you've convinced me ladies. I'm breathless after walking for 5 minutes, DH can manage 10 mins before being breathless. I'm hoping it will ease my asthma too.

Lots of the positives mentioned above, I'm feeling so much better.

Last weekend I hiked up a mountain and didn't get out of breath at all.

And a small but significant thing - I can cut my toenails easily now I don't have a vast belly getting in the way.

Good luck, I onky wish I could have started sooner, I feel really lucky. I actively look forward to getting dressed for the day or going out.

I make a point of wearing something lovely, every day, I don’t keep clothes for good as such, unless it’s like a formal dress/grousers/shirt, I literally put something lovely on every day.

i go to the gym and it takes a lot to make me out of breath now. I can see the muscle lines on my body and I recently went on holiday and it was the first time in years I felt confident in my swimwear. No lumps or bumps. I didn’t need to cover my arse when I went to the loo or the beach bar, I wasn’t wearing swimwear to try to shrink or hide my tummy, and as I am on a low maintence dose, I ate and drank as I pleased, desserts, ice cream, cocktails etc, only gained 4 lbs, tweaked my dose uo when I came back and two weeks later was back as I was.

It all helps our mental health, to not have to hide away, to feel in control. And that’s on top of the physical benefits already mentioned. Very few of us enjoy being fat, it takes a toll on us every single day, and it is so freeing to not have that any more.

What a fantastic thread. 51 weeks into mj here 4 stone down (more to go!) and it's changed my life in so many ways I'm grateful every day for this miracle medication. And alot of the benefits I've found aren't even to do with weight as they happened too quickly there's definitely something else about mj not just working on weight loss.

For me...

Heavy, debilitating periods that needed prescription painkillers so I could leave the house were lighter in month 1 of mounjaro. Barely need painkillers now.

Plantar fascitis disappeared in month one (after I spend hundreds at podiatrist!)

Excema that months of steroid cream couldn't shift..gone in month one.

Minor bowel issues gone in month one I can see a pattern here 😂

I now need less levothyroxine for underctive thyroid because there less of me!

The mental peace is amazing, like a warm soft blanket coating my brain, my head feels calmer, I'm less anxious, I can focus and concentrate more.

I can walk up the stairs! Even one flight of stairs at home would have me gasping for breath at the top, now I can literally run up and down.

Possibly the best....I can pick my child up now. I couldn't do that before 😭 ironically I've now lost what my child weighs (4 stone) I can't believe I was lugging that around all day.

I no longer worry about carpark spaces being too narrow for me to get out. Dh used to let me out first before he parked incase I couldn't fit out

Clothes are a joy now, I'm finding my style again. I was solidly a 20 in trousers and always stretchy waistbands, a bit frumpy tbh. I've recently bought some non stretchy work trousers in a 14 and they are a bit big!

Loads more confidence. No guilt over eating or worrying what people think of me eating.

Absolutely life changing. Wish it had been around years ago. Mounjaro has done in a year what I tried to do for 25 years.

Actually I've just realised that I haven't had an eczema outbreak since starting Mounjaro, where I used to get flare ups regularly. It may be that it's the significant change in diet or something about Mounjaro itself, or a combination. Either way it's a definite win.

I think it's because they're easier changes to see or recognise. I can feel smaller clothes fitting far more easily than I can feel my HBA1C levels dropping. And while I imagine my mortality has improved the only way to really rest that is to die or not die!
I love that I'm not out of breath walking short distances now but I also love that I don't hate what I see in the mirror and am enjoying dressing this body that I finally don't hate.

A lot of people , myself included, didn’t like our appearance when fat. We dressed in clothes to hide the fat rolls. It impacted our confidence and our mental health,

now I wear beautiful clothes, I look good, I am no longer in dark stretchy clothes, I no longer sweat trying on 4 outfits before I go out, working out which one fits me and hides the fat.

so yes, it is life changing from a mental health perspective, and mental health is imoortant too. Physical health was number one for me, but absolutely being confident in our appearance, wearing beautiful clothes, being able to wear whay you want, not what fits, what hides you, is life changing.

I'll be honest, my primary motivation for losing weight was vanity. How I look and what I wear.

I’m plateaued at 22 kg down and have been for some time. For me it’s the lack of joint aches, the ability to move with so much less effort, and no horrible swollen ankles or feet.

That and routinely wearing size 16 clothes. I’m hardly skinny but I do have a big frame so I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get below this. I think I look nice, I like the way I look. It’s a kind of mental peace.

Mostly now I’m just so relieved I’m out of the health ‘danger zones’. My motive for taking it was to lose weight and reduce risk factors due to family history.
It’s changed my life for the better and I’m so grateful I could do it.
Even when I was overweight I was active, swimming, gym and spinning. I’ve added reformer Pilates in the last 9 months and my goodness what a change it’s been. Not sure I’d have had the confidence to try it at my heaviest weight but I’m the most toned I’ve ever been in my life right now and I feel so strong.
Regarding my health, I’m aware that I can’t protect myself from everything but what I have done is significantly reduce risks. I can’t control the future but I have given myself a better chance at not dying young.

Can cut my toenails without getting out of breath. Constantly looking at my clothes and for a split second wondering who they belong too as they can't possibly fit me. Keeping up with my team mates at the sport we do. My knees don't ache anymore.

It's great, wish I'd lost it all years ago!

I’m only 1 stone and 2 lbs down, so I’m now 10 st 9 but already my lower back ache has vanished, I’m able to walk more easily and clothes look better on me.

The home truths on this thread are enlightening.

Nobody is ever really happy fat, even if some of us don’t realise it until we see what we’re missing.

For me it's freedom around food. It's the ability to eat to appetite and eat in a way that nourishes me rather than the much more emotional and cravings-driven hunger that used to dominate my life. Feeling relaxed about food, not feeling fear and shame for eating carbs and not being on a cycle of slumps and mid afternoon fatigue that leads to a sugar boost and then another slump ad infinitum. It's completely transformed my life. I also love wearing jeans and casual clothes - I was always dressing up and trying to look well presented when fat to compensate for my body. Now I have the confidence to be myself.

This is such a great thread.

Loads of the ones already mentioned count for me too but one I’ve not seen - my knees don’t creak as I’m walking down the stairs first thing in the morning now!
I can go up multiple flights of stairs at a decent pace now without stopping.

the ability to do exercise and enjoy it is a huge one - I find I miss it when I can’t, and that I really appreciate being able to burn off some steam. I do a lot of YouTube workouts and for those who are early on in this who might be doing the same, I’d really recommend saving the ones you’ve found particularly challenging into a playlist and then trying them again in a few months time as every time I’ve done that they’ve suddenly seemed so much easier. It’s a wonderful thing to realise how much you’ve improved your stamina!

I’ve been considering WLI and this thread has been the boost I needed to get started.

If you calculate the cost saving to the NHS from health improvements on this thread alone the cost savings to the NHS must be staggering and whilst there will be side affects for some, the overall benefits for the majority must surely outweigh the risks. It’s mind blowing - diabetes reversed, thyroid issues, sleep apnea, joint issues, improved mobility, better mental health, pain gone, increased productivity not to mention the unseen benefits like heart health. Well done everyone ❤️

I have never met anybody who is genuinely happy being seriously fat.

It is miserable.

I think some people just get so fed up with being picked on that they dig their heels in and fight back with fat positivity, which I completely understand.

I can actually look in mirrors now, which I hadn’t done for years.

I don’t mean obsessively in a vain way but as I have built in mirrored wardrobes (came with the house) I had perfected the art of sort of blurring my eyes and never catching full view of myself.
I had even considered putting a frosting film on them so I couldn’t see myself at all.

Now thanks to mounjaro I check my outfit in the mirror before I face the day without dread and depression.

I also don’t think anyone is happy being fat. Not just seriously fat. Just fat. I think nearly everyone wants to be slim or a healthy bmi. And it shows how hard it is to not just achieve that but maintain it.

we see lots of silly comments about how fat is more youthful, or how people look haggard slim, but it’s just self soothing, anyone who has been fat and is now slim knows the truth of it, as does anyone who sees a fat person who is now slim,

it only looks bad in my opinion is when people continue to wear over sized clothes, their old clothes.

my husband also uses mounjaro, he’s lost 2 and a half stone, mainly on his tummy it looks like, and when he wears clothes that fit him, he looks fantastic, really fit and healthy, but he does that thing where he often wears his old clothes and he just looks shrunken and not good at all.

We haven’t even started to get into the cost savings and life benefits of using these drugs to treat addictions, but that is the next stage.

So many!
Feeling relaxed on a morning knowing I can wear anything in my wardrobe, I don’t need to have washed my few things that fit and hid me.
Actually feeling excited about getting dressed.
Not having to adjust my clothing constantly. Every movement was followed by pulling my top out of my fat creases or pulling it down etc.
Never worrying about being seen in public, no anxiety about bumping into people.
That comforting feeling of blending in rather than sticking out for the wrong reasons.
My full personality coming out and being me again. The fatter I got the more tiny and hidden “I” became.
Amazing sex, dates, connections, feeling attractive, feeling like a sexual being without embarrassment
Reconnected with old friends
Not feeling hatred for slowly killing myself or ruining my happiness
Running for a bus easily without sweating
Not feeling controlled by food. I’M in control and that is a powerful feeling
Clothes shopping is fun now, not dread. I know any size 10 will fit
Can enjoy summer now instead of feeling hot all the time, hiding in baggy clothes. I felt so hot because of the fat insulation plus clothes, now I can wear little light things
Don’t dread medical appointments
Feel proud to be my kids mum instead of embarrassed for them
It helped me do better at my job
I just don’t think about my body anymore whereas it was always on my mind
Everyone treats me better and respects me
I can deal with anything life throws at me because I have confidence and feel in control, even things like grief
If I have a spontaneous outing after work, I know I can just pick something up in a charity shop and it’ll look great
Exercise is enjoyable now
Life is just easier in every way.

I could easily triple this list.. there is nothing good about being fat. Well actually 1.. being able to eat whatever I wanted. But it is dwarfed by everything else. Just go for it!! 🖤

I was your usual weekend drinker - hey it's Friday, let's open a bottle of wine, then another on saturday, few beers on top..I rarely ever drink nowadays and even then only on social occasions and limit myself to a glass or so.

Not worrying where I sit on the tube(or cinema or theatre), increased mobility, choice of shops for clothes, cheaper work outfits available that don’t look awful on. Less pain. So many big and small things.

I no longer feel ashamed of my size; I fit into clothes that make me look good.
I have more energy and I’m more active, my arthritis has improved significantly so I may not need surgery.
I am paying for it myself and I’m wary of stopping so it is affecting my bank balance however improved health and quality of life is worth it.

TBH, not massively. I just know that I'm now at lower risk of various health problems, and enjoy not having food noise so much these days. I had been aware for a few years that I was creeping towards a problem, so it feels good to know that I've now taken steps to alleviate it... but now I have taken them and have a healthy BMI, I don't think too much about it day to day.

That being said, I had probably a different experience of obesity from some, as it was relatively recent and I was low 30s. Society had not made me feel the way about my body as it had some posters, in which I know I was fortunate, and I'm quite combative anyway. But even without feeling it has changed much of my life other than my health and risks of serious problems, it's still been really worth it.

Lowered my average BP
Took 15 mins off my 5k run time
Able to now run 10k
I just feel so much better in what im wearing
I wore a bikini on holiday for the first time in 20 years
Happy to be in photos
Plane seats and my works stupid meeting room seats are much more comfortable
I feel like I am a better example to my kids

I went from 108kg to 75kg. (108kg- 100kg diet & exercise, 100kg - 80kg with WLIs the rest with diet & exercise). I've maintained this weight for 18 months, I would like to get to 68kg as this would put me at the top end of 'healthy' according to my BMI but I'm not sure its possible!