January 2025 starters - goal weight era

[HeidiLite]

New thread!

Morning all, not been on for a while what with holidays, work stress, DD stress and now I'm on a bloomin 2 week pathway for a referral for something. Absolutely not worried at all that it might be something sinister but being sent all the literature about why you're on the 2 week pathway telling you not to worry that it's cancer just makes you worry! 🤦‍♀️
Holiday was lovely though, put on 1 kg by the end of it which wasn't bad. Struggling a bit to get back on track afterwards. Meals are lovely and healthy then I scoff a load of chocolate in the evening. I'm still jabbing 5mg at the moment.
DH has started new job after garden leave, all going well so far but a bit of a shock to have to go back to getting up early! That along with all the shenanigans going on at my place has really cemented that we want to take early retirement in a couple of years time. Hopefully as soon as youngest finishes school.
Whoop whoop for bikini @26inprogress! And love a Vinted bargain. I have so much to sell on there though, really need to get some stuff listed!
@HeidiLite im a huge fan of massage in general but never tried a lymphatic drainage one - how is it different from a normal massage?

The two week pathway referrals do nothing to allay fears do they @MJalltheway? The literature really doesn’t promote calmness. Hope all goes well and well done on the very small gain.

I loved hearing that another of our group has ventured into bikini territory @26inprogress Such a big shift in our acceptance of our bodies.

I succumbed to viral social media advertising a few weeks ago and fell into the skincu rabbit hole. It arrived yesterday (bought on eBay so may be fake) and OMG did it deliver on its promise. I did both arms, neck and décolletage and there was an instant improvement in the crepey skin. Now I know deep down that it cannot do what it claims to do but I’ll take the temporary effects.

Weight still dropping. 8st 4.8 this morning. Just going with the flow at the moment. Will buy chocolate if it drops below 8

@MJallthewaycrossing everything that the tests come back with nothing! I’d be worried too if they put me on the 2-week pathway, what do they expect?!?
I’m with you in the early retirement- all the shit with work atm has made this a really attractive goal, whereas I had never really considered it before. In fact, I’m talking to a financial advisor now who is putting together some scenarios for me that could make that possible. I do need to decide what adjustments I can/want to make, though. But according to him, retirement at 60 is not impossible at all.

@BreezyPeerI’d go for reading and weights 😉
Im also not a fan of camping, but I’ve just become a leader for my kids’ Scout/Explorer group, so will have to bite the bullet there 😆 They are talking about doing a winter camp, of all things!! Lord help me. I will need a new tent pronto - I joined a camp for 1 night back in June and took DH’s (very very old) tent, which turned out to not be waterproof anymore 🙄

I’m struggling to keep hydrated, which worries me - one of the MJ effects I’ve struggled with all along is that not wanting to eat unfortunately also extends to not wanting to drink anything either. And now I’ve started to get leg/foot cramps at night, which could be due to low magnesium, but could also be caused by dehydration! Really need to watch this…

@MJalltheway indeed, all the talk about how you should not immediately worry would certainly not calm me down. Likely nothing, but always better to get any concerns checked.

The massage concentrates on lymphatic system and not so much kneading the muscles. They gently massage areas where you have most lymph nodes and then guide the lymph from all over the body that way, to help to get rid of toxins. Give it a try.

@cloudjumper for someone not fond of camping, scout leader is a brave choice 😁Not a fan either, told the rest of the family they can go, I'll wave and enjoy my nice comfy bed and hot showers. DS is going to a camp next week where they need to build a den in the forest and sleep there for one or two nights, he wanted to. He is not exactly a tough resilient child so we will see how that goes..

Firstly good luck @MJalltheway. These things are stressful but fingers crossed it brings resolution.

@cloudjumperi am the same. I have been feeling pretty grotty in the heat and I do think I am dehydrated for the same reason - I just get too full to drink.

weight wise it’s kinda stable. Had another big drop but then it stabilised back in a sensible place. So I do think it’s partly heat/dehydration related. My blood tests are next week so hopefully nothing untoward although I do still have my sneaking diabetes worry.

MJ wise I’m down to 6mg every 10 days. I did check my stash today and I have 3 full pens of 12.5 so if I am taking less than 30 clicks a dose, I still have enough to see me to the end of the year so am contemplating pausing my order and using up my stock then restarting my orders next year.

@Jins I have seen the Wurzels headline a small festival and not gonna lie, they ROCKED. The rave version of I’ve got a brand new combine harvester was incredible

Can I ask what folks on maintenance are doing injection/dose-wise? Weekly with a low dose, longer gaps with a higher dose? Trying to decide how to best taper down, I’m still doing 7.5 mg weekly atm. Wondering if I should drop to 5 mg or space out 7.5 mg injections

I'm doing 2.5 - 3 weekly from 5 pen

my aim is a weekly 2.5 - not there yet but my titrating down as been swifter than I expected so I hope I’ll get there.

that said, interestingly I went 10 days between doses this time and I have noticed I have slept a bit better and not felt quite so dizzy (mj has always given me very minor side effects like this) so I think still up for a bit of playing about.

I’m between 5 and 6.66 from a 10mg pen. Hoping to get lower but not trying very hard. I’ll probably play with spacing before dropping dose as I really need to see where the anti inflammatory effects stop

Weight continuing inexorably downwards but as BMI is still just under 21 I’m not too bothered. Just surprised.

NSVs abound. Yesterday I decided that I hated working with Mardi Gras colours and glittery fabrics so popped into my favourite charity shop. I found a purple lace stretch mini dress with a ruffled hem, grabbed it and came home to hack it into something else. Well it looks amazing. Even DH was blown away. I’ve got a purple crop top bra that matches perfectly and I’ll wear the green sequinned tutu I’ve just made over it and I’m good to go. This is a see through tight fitting lace dress we are talking about and I’m seriously going to wear it! Second NSV is that after 4 days of skincu body oil usage I’m far less concerned about the arm crepiness. Temporary effect or not this has transformed a few problem areas and I’ll definitely be continuing with the trial.

In other less positive news I’m giving Nivea Q10 wrinkle filler serum a thumbs down. It’s been heavily advertised on TV and as it’s Nivea and they aren’t known for wild claims I bought it on clubcard price last night. The claimed improvement in appearance of wrinkles after 5 minutes did not deliver.

Negotiations with BT are still ongoing and I now have 3 routers and WiFi discs in the hall to return. No sign of the new SIM card though and my new contract details haven’t updated. So annoying.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

@jins the dress sounds amazing! It's so much fun to wear things I never even considered, my mini skirt and hotpants collection is getting ridiculous. I never wore anything shorter than knee length even as a teenager. How sad, really.

Also agree on moisturizing - when I slather myself in body lotion, it makes a massive difference to how my skin looks. Can recommend Nuxe ones, and the new Sol de Janeiro ones are really nice and lightweight.

Here’s a pic.

It’s perfect for Mardi Gras theme with a few tweaks and additions. Can’t believe that at 62 I’m going to wear this 🤣

ooh so cool!

hm scale is creeping up again - but to be fair, I have been eating more and less healthy things. There's a big box of chocolate in my line of sight at work, and I am always on seafood diet - see food, eat it. 59.9 kilos this morning, so have to rein it in a bit.

but in happier news, a really cute fit and flare mini skirt arrived from Vinted. If you have sturdier legs (I do), that cut is just miraculous.

It’s gone very quiet around here. Hope everyone is doing well, happy and healthy.

Skirts are where I have the most trouble. They have to be mini or maxi and must definitely not finish on the knee. I have scrawny hips and my legs are always thinner than the rest of me however much weight I’m carrying. I’m tending towards mini this year because I can 🤣. I’ve become a big fan of shorts as well but the ones I’m currently wearing aren’t especially flattering as they are last years and a bit big. I need to make another pair before Malta in September.

We’ve had a quiet weekend catching up with things and we’re off down the coast this afternoon as a reward. It’s jab day and I’m down to the bonus dose (which is two doses at current usage) so will try to split it evenly.

yes same, maxi or mini. opposite reason though as my calves are sturdy and will never look slim and elegant. Thanks, farmer ancestors, yes I can carry an oxen under each arm, up the hill. 😁
Thighs are not so bad though, so mini is fine, long is fine, knee lenght really looks the worst.

I’m going against the grain here, midi skirts for me all the time 😂 I always stumble over maxi skirts, and feel drowned in them, like wearing a tent. And the last time I wore a mini skirt was at uni, so a good 30 years ago, and I have zero desire to ever wear one again - I want my cellulite to stay undercover 😂
I’ve also always had chunky calves @HeidiLitestill do, despite having lost all that weight.

I don’t wear skirts or dresses where the hem ends mid calf, it’s very unflattering on me.

Most of mine are knee length or just above knee. Or maxi.

I am eating too much sugar. It isn’t affecting my weight yet but it will catch up with me eventually…

Morning all. Just catching up with you while my dd gets her nails done as a birthday treat. I’m continuing to pile weight on. 5lb in a week, which seems to be some sort of medical miracle since I’m not eating any more than I was when I was on MJ. It’s been a month since my last jab. Eli Lilly collected the pen that went wrong two weeks ago and I haven’t heard anything since. Lotus finally emailed me on Friday last week (only 6 weeks after I first contacted them) to offer me £120 credit with them. I’m annoyed about this because it means that I have to go back to them to order anything to use that credit. And probably spend more to top up. It’s a win win for them. I also don’t know what strength jab I’d need since there has been such a gap. But then there is a big part of me that just wants to close this whole thing as I’m fed up of the admin. And I’m gaining weight which is a big downer for me. I can see it in my face and my waistbands on anything that’s a generous 14 is getting tight. What should I do?

oh that's not fun, @Polkadotdash - I get you're fed up and would like to tell them just to take a hike, but 120 clredit is still 120 credit. I would maybe use that and then move to another place? 5 pounds a week is a bit worrying indeed, if yu haven't changed your eating.

Checking in from holiday and final official dose was done the evening before we went. In the three weeks on mj I lost half a stone. I'm not jabbing whilst away so it will be nearly two weeks and I will stick to 2.5mg weekly for now. It's interesting as I had started to put on a bit of weight when I was maintaining on 2.5 last year (although I was smaller than I am now). I was worried it wouldn't work if I restarted, but it's been great. I've got a 5mg pen from my pen issues so I will be doing 2.5 from that when I've had the golden dose from my other pen.

Oh yes and the other thing is inflammation, I'd really hoped that my going in mj that my knee and arm pain would go, but it hasn't. It's just as bad as it's always been... So perhaps not something mj can fix or I need a larger dose?

Morning 🌅 everyone, just popping on to say ‘hi!’ New job started yesterday so just getting my head around that. Still at the very top of my weight limit. 4mg every 10 days at present but the sugar and the poor choices are creeping in. I need to rein it in! Xx

only consolation that DH has gained a bit of a spare tyre during holidays as well, so nothing to do with me being on jabs :D So yes, a little more control needed.

Recipe recommendation - to get enough protein while cutting calories, protein powders are a good solution but I can't stand the floury taste in shakes. But - try protein powder, flozen mango, ice cubes and a bit of milk in a food processor and you will get a super tasty high protein fluffy ice cream. I'm obsessed!

Just jabbed - and realised that my current pen is a new one, no more golden dose! 😫