BMI under 27 - Off Label/less to lose

[ritala]

I am mid 40’s and just can’t lose the weight like I used to. I’m fed up of losing and gaming the same two pounds. I’m about a stone and a half more than my happy weight (where I would be approx bmi 23).

I have tried to find a thread for people who have been approved ‘off label’ Wegovy or Mounjaro with less to lose but couldn’t find one, so thought I’d start here. I have a BMI higher than 25 but less than 27 with a couple extra health conditions. Hoping to start after Easter. I’d like to stay with a very low dose if possible. Half a pound a week loss would be good for me. I really want to avoided side effects.

Anyone who is in a similar boat and wants to share experiences or ask questions, please join! X

not sure I want them looking at my tummy! But good to know!

@Hoppity80 I didn't either, and didn't expect it - I had heard of other people going through the process and just being asked to show their face for ID and then get on the scales so I was a little taken aback! I was relieved when they did prescribe, I was BMI 26 so I'm not sure what they were expecting to see, it's not like I was claiming to be very visibly overweight.

I got mine from Voy, bmi 26 (weight in evening with clothes) and peri/meno, did you tick that box?

I used the app so could take a live photo of myself, they didn't want video consultation.

I had my second jab last night and first weigh in this morning, I’ve lost 1.4kg so quite happy with that. I’ve had no side effects so far and hoping that continues. Food noise has switched off - it’s been brilliant just to eat normally and not constantly snack. Just ordered my next pen, hoping for good things!

Well done @Fourkgtogo (do you need to change your username? 😁)

I decided to take some measurements to track, as I don't want to just rely on the scale. I remembered I had kept measurements a few years ago when I was focusing on the gym, and I discovered that throughout 2022-23 my bust was the same, my hips were 2 inches smaller and my waist was 3.5 inches smaller! No wonder my clothes aren't fitting! It also means my memory isn't accurate as I had convinced myself this was covid weight gain and clearly it wasn't.

How did everyone get on over the bank holiday? I had two meals out, enjoyed them though didn't finish them, and didn't really drink either. I didn't feel I missed out though, was nice to socialise.

Hi all, back from my 2 week holiday. Haven’t jabbed in 3 weeks after struggling with SE abroad when I couldn’t hydrate or eat well enough with the level of walking we were doing in the heat. Have to say it was lovely feeling ‘normal’ in the second week and just eating and drinking what I wanted!

I have weighed today and thrilled to see I have actually lost another lb since going on holiday (no doubt due to barely eating while doing 20,000+ steps a day in the first week!) I have delayed jabbing because DS had a sickness bug on the weekend and I didnt want to mix the 2 if I was to pick it up, touchwood I haven’t so far.

So I’m just going to jab 2.5mg for the foreseeable, I’d like to lose another 5lb (have extended my target a little…) and my aim still is to maintain on 1.25mg.

That sounds successful.

It was too hot to really feel like eating. I had a meal at a pub with friends but unfortunately it wasn't very nice so didn't struggle to not over eat. Was out at a country fair type thing yesterday, I took food because it's always pastry products on sale so had chicken legs and salad in the sun.

I'm def starting to fancy sweet carbs again although not too difficult to ignore. I jabbed this morning going up to 0.5mg.

I did a bit more reading around SE and there's recent research to show that certain genes affect how you get on with wli. 1% of the population have a gene which means they get extreme side effects. And there's a gene which means they don't work for you.

Explains why some people get terrible side effects whilst doing everything right.

I’ve stalled a bit on weight loss over last week. Terrible sleep - I think due to letting my HRT prescription lapse which I’ll rectify - and this has impacted eating. Just being too tired to plan healthy meals and craving for sugar and carbs for energy.

Went up to .5 on Friday and felt quite nauseous Saturday with low level nausea Sunday and Monday too. Digestion also slowing - I’m normally very regular and that’s changed.

I’ll take .5 again this Friday and then decide whether I want to reduce my dose after that if I’m still getting side effects.

@NinthBestOption I follow a lot of American fitness podcasts, they've used GLP-1s for weight loss for longer and I've heard the same - some side effects can be mitigated, but for some people how they impact, or if they impact, is genetic.
I usually have quite a strong reaction to any meds I take, (positive or negative, ie needing lower dosing) so I was very pleasantly surprised to not be one of the unlucky ones!

I have had some sweet treats this weekend, but mini ones - trying to be realistic as I'll have to try and manage this myself in future (unless by then it's possible to get maintenance/micro dosing)

Hi all, I have been reading and meaning to reply for a few days! Glad most of you are doing ok and hi to new joiners on the thread. The safe space thread!

I started my new Wegovy pen yesterday. I managed to get six doses out of pen 1 (microdosing) and I’m continuing to microdose on pen 2. I’m not reducing the dosage by a lot - still doing 3/4 (which is about 28 clicks on the pen). I’m still having the effects of reduced food noise and getting fuller quicker, so I feel happy on this dose. I am tracking my weight on happy scale and have lost around half a stone over six weeks, which I’m really pleased about.

I have pretty much ditched alcohol, just not really enjoying it and can’t tolerate it as much. I seem to have developed a bit of a sweet tooth though and now have a little bit of chocolate after my evening meal. It doesn’t seem to have affected weight loss.

@kljdhs877- hope you had a lovely holiday and yes, I can imagine it felt quite nice being back to normal on week 2 and enjoying a drink. I must admit, I do kind of miss that ‘buzz’.

Still, I’m enjoying the process and luckily don’t have any of that awful insomnia which I had from the full dose. I am pretty sure my body would be able to handle the full 0.25 dose now, but I’ll stick to microdosing and at least save a few pounds.

No other side effects to speak of… I do feel more tired now but hard to say if that’s the heat! Onwards and (weight) downwards for us all!

Did my 6th jab today. I’m down a little over 4kg and want to lose 6-7kg overall so getting there.

Suppression still strong, especially on days 3-5 where I really struggle to eat anything at all.

No SE and I’m now looking a lot slimmer and have dropped a dress size so fitting back into all my clothes that had become way too snug to be decent!

I’ve decided to switch to a pen (as opposed to pre-filled syringes) and going to count clicks so I can start to titrate back down in 2kg’s time, whenever that might be.

Ahh well done @Beachforeveryou must be so pleased! Yes, pen and click counting will work out much cheaper and you have more control over dose too.

I weighed at 69.9 this morning - the first time I’ve weighed below 70kg since before I was pregnant with my son five years ago. 😁

Congratulations @ritala and @SandwichesAndGingerBeer !

I'm in the middle of my second week, on Mon/Tues I was wondering if I had any effect as I've felt very 'steady' - then realised that there's no way I would have eaten so well without the jabs so I must just be getting used to what it feels like! And lucky re no side effects. Yesterday it kicked in more though, I really didn't feel hungry at all and it was a bit of a struggle to eat, as we went out for the evening (only to a streetfood place, but the portion was still bigger than I expected)

I've realised I'm very lucky in that my DH eats like a bird, he has a really small appetite and no concern about leaving food he's not bothered about eating. I found that hard when previously trying to lose weight, but now I'm on WLI I've realised it means that he doesn't notice/care if I do the same because to him it's 'normal'. I think if he was wanting me to join him in eating to excess it would be much harder.

@Proteinpudding I’ve also had the “is this really working or is it just placebo effect?” doubts. The effects are really subtle a lot of the time, however what I come back to is:

• I’ve never been able to lose this weight before.
• It’s the first time (since my twenties) that I’ve been able to stick to any form of calorie restriction for a sustained period. (By which I mean more than a few days without then falling totally off the wagon!)
• It’s the first time I’ve ever consistently turned sweet treats when I’ve wanted them.
• I think I’m also losing weight at a pace that wouldn’t have happened with similar calorie restriction previously

I figure the medication has tipped the just balance enough so that something that wasn’t previously achievable is now - with some effort! - achievable.

Well done on the losses it really does feel unreal to finally see the scales dropping doesn't it😁

@SandwichesAndGingerBeer I've thought the same as it is subtle for me too but when I think about it, it's clear I'm far far less focused on food and less bothered generally about eating particularly sweet things which I barely touch now. And TBH, even if it is placebo effect, if it's working who cares!

SW 12st2
CW: 11st 6
TW: 9 stone 10
5 jabs in!

@SandwichesAndGingerBeer I feel exactly the same, especially about falling off the wagon. I think because I (thankfully!) haven't had side effects, I feel pretty 'normal', but usually if I was eating 1300 calories a day I'd be inhaling chocolate by evening! Last night though the suppression was very noticeable, I had a small bowl of katsu curry and was picking at it for an hour, it tasted nice I just felt full after a few bites.

When trying a calorie deficit in the past I'd always doubt if I was trying to go too low, if I needed it because I exercise etc and then I'd cave. I'm hoping this will be key for me in future* to know for sure that I can function perfectly well on less, I still have enough energy in the gym, and that 'listen to your body' doesn't mean it actually needs pringles.

*Assuming I'll have to come off at some point, I'd love a small maintenance dose but not sure if that will be possible (the only place I've seen that does genuine maintenance, rather than over ordering and click counting, charge ££££s)

@lechatnoir I have this little voice in the back of my head telling me maybe there’s something wrong with my scales! I can definitely feel a difference in quite a few of my clothes but I can’t really see much of a visible difference yet so it’s hard to trust the numbers.

@Proteinpudding I will be coming off after my 3 months subscription - I might add a 4th but I can’t afford ongoing maintenance.

I’m telling myself that:

• I won’t be trying for restriction or loss so hopefully that will be easier.
• Once the weight loss is over I will really be focusing on fitness and strength - I am still running but I just can’t push fitness gains at the same time as losing weight, it’s too hard.

I’ve heard the hunger returns quite strongly 4 weeks out from stopping jabs but if you can ride that out for 6 weeks then it settles again. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

Relate to this, I have lost nearly 20lb and now have a BMI under 22, but when I look at photos I don’t think I look much different! I’m not sure if it’s my age, I’m more wobblily generally than the last time I was this weight. I need to focus on some toning now.

Me too, I need to focus on toning.

The way I see it with maintenance is that I haven’t put any weight on for a couple of years. I just couldn’t lose that 1 stone I put on in my very early 40’s.

So surely if when I stop MJ I go back to eating what I was before I started MJ (which was already healthy), then I should be able to maintain my new weight.

I wish there was an injection for tonight 🤣🤣

Alas my weight had been creeping up so I definitely will need to still eat less once I'm off them. Im trying to focus on good habits though, eg dealing with stress without chocolate/wine, and being in the habit of small portions/lots of fruit and veg. I know it'll be hard with the hunger, but I'm working on the psychological!

I have strength trained for a long time though you wouldn't know, I'm hoping a bit of weight loss might reveal some muscle underneath! @kljdhs877 do you have any photos to compare? I'm sure 20lb would be enough to see a difference though it's much harder to see it when it's gradual.