January 2025 starters - goal weight era

[HeidiLite]

New thread!

Hello all.

@Polkadotdash that is a tough one. How did you do on 2.5? Would it be worth trying that with the credit to see if it has any impact? I have been reading a couple of articles re the impact of heat on weight and the advice was very much to take weigh ins in heatwaves with a pinch of salt so I hope it’s that and will settle.

@tinyemmy I am on about 5mg now down from 12.5 and I think I am seeing a few more inflammation markers creep back (but again could be the heat, it’s really messed with me). I am thinking of possibly doing a higher dose less frequently maybe.

@HeidiLite I love frozen fruit ice cream! I do without the protein powder but mango, banana, blueberry or cherry all lovely. Bit of Greek yoghurt and/or kefir added in and it’s a health food!

my plummeting weight seems to have subsided which is a relief tbh. Really am struggling to drink enough though despite my best endeavours.

I am obsessed with the protein fluff - and it really fluffs up to a massive bowl. I struggle to eat enough protein, but this way, it's actually delicious. Tonight will do strawberries with matcha protein powder.

Morning all!

Protein fluff sounds rather tempting. How much milk do you add? Do you think a dairy free milk might work? I’m thinking almond…

Weight seems to have settled a bit around 8st 5 which is ok and skincu seems to have significantly reduced the crepey skin so I’m feeling good! It’s a body oil but I’m tempted to try it on my face. 🤣

Had a big chat with DH last night surrounded by paperwork and calculators in hand. Worked out that we could just about manage if he retired now. That was a shock! In a rapid turnaround he’s decided that however pissed off he is with his boss and the general chaos of his ‘management’ he’s going to carry on part time for at least another year. I’m happy either way tbh. I know from experience that leaving a job is relatively easy but retiring from a ‘profession’ can be a jolt.

I’ve got the tent and camping stuff piled up ready for Sunday and it’s staggering how much space it takes up just for a very basic set up. So glad we have a caravan now. I’m almost looking forward to the Wurzels after the reassurance from @myladyjane but I will need to be quite tipsy 🤣

@jins yes we only use plant milks, have done it with both oat and almond milk. about half a glass for one portion of protein powder (about 30gr).

Must be nice to see you can manage if DH retires - even if he has decided not to, it must be reassuring that he could, if he wanted to.

I’ve been annoyed for months by wrap tops that are now too loose and flap forwards. Finally got around to spending all of £7 on a pack of ‘modesty pins’ from Amazon. 60 arrived! They work great - I will be modest forever!

Hi all

@MJallthewaysounds like you’re going through the mill. Hope you get seen soon and confirmation all ok. Congrats to DH too! Exciting planning for retirement!

@cloudjumper, the camping talk made me chuckle, I’m the same but I’ve done it ( not as a leader) for beavers, and school stuff and it’s fun ( but I was v pleased it was just 1 night!!) Def need a new tent though!! Re hydration, and leg cramps, I’ve started taking magnesium as I was having cramps and jiggly legs. It does seem to have helped but k also make sure I have at least 2l of water a day. In terms of maintenance, I have no strict plan 🤣. I’m currently at 6mg every week ( when I remember) but I’ve had munchies recently and went up to 7.5 and have been known to go 2 weeks without jabbing. When I get back from holiday I am going to try to be more consistent but atm can’t see myself being able to drop to below 5. It’s a struggle..:

hope ds enjoyed his camp @HeidiLite!! Love hearing about the clothes you’re wearing now and how much confidence you have! What is protein fluff? Never heard of it but interested…

@myladyjanegood to hear you’re ok and hope tests come back clear and it’s just heat related.

@Jinsi continue to be in awe of your sewing ability, the dress looks fab! Tell me more about skincu, where is it from? I may have to look into… I’ve been much better over the past couple of weeks with body moisturising ( normally rubbish!) and it does seem to be helping a bit… Hope your afternoon at the coast was lovely and how reassuring knowing DH can retire if he wants to, that must make work better knowing it’s a choice to stay!!

@Polkadotdashso sorry to hear about your ongoing issues. Did you speak to the GP to check not anything else? I think Lotus legally have to refund you as the pen was faulty? But I get you’re fed up of the whole thing. Have you been off MJ while it’s been sorted out? If so wonder if it’s worth a 2.5mg? Or possibly trying a different wli? Good luck..

Well done @tinyemmy, glad things are going well and hope you have a lovely holiday. Did MJ help the inflammation last time?

@BreezyPeerhappy new job week, hope it’s going well!

@WtafmakeitstopI've never heard of modesty pins but they sound brilliant!!

im back at 10 6 1/2, a week until holiday and I’d love to lose another pound and a half to give me some leeway. I plan on jabbing on Saturday and Thursday then leaving it for 2 1/2 weeks. Job market v quiet but I’m being pragmatic, been contacted about a few things and enjoying long walks and catching up with friends. DS was back from a school expedition for 5 days and is now at Boardmasters, he gets back Monday eve, we have a day in London to do some non examined coursework for his geography a level on Wed and go away on Thursday so v quick turnaround! We did the first day this week in 32 degrees bright sunshine, it was exhausting!! Counting the days until holiday, cannot wait!! Trinny elevator and collagen definitely helping with my turkey neck and my target of at least10000 steps a day ( still can’t do any other exercise post surgery) definitely helping with fitness levels.

Enjoy the rest of your weeks/ holidays and festival Jins, can’t wait to hear about the Wurzels!

edited for typos!

Argh! I’m having issues with pharmalous who, after 2 weeks of going to and fro have now told me despite my stockpile I need to start at 2.5. They’re not cheap so if I have to do that I’d rather go elsewhere, does anyone have any suggestions who to use? So annoyed with them…

@26inprogress the fluff I saw on Tiktok. frozen fruit or berries pus a few ice cubes blended with protein powder and milk (i use plant milks but I think normal works too). You need to blend it a few minutes and the frozen fruit will make it fluff up, so you get a big bowl of low calorie high protein fluff that tastes like ice cream. I am trying all kinds of combos, yesterday mango with coconut milk, vanilla protein and some lime, today I am planning frozen strawberry with matcha protein.

It's still holiday season so it's very positive that you are already being contacted. Enjoy the little break before it ramps up for sure.

@26inprogress try WePrescribe. I’ve moved over to them with no problems. Just sent a photo of my stockpile and clarified in the video call. They don’t do click counting though but are quite positive about dose spacing as long as it’s within the 30 days.

Thanks for the compliment about the dress but that one is a ready made one from the charity shop. I do intend to attempt making a pattern from it.

Skincu is something I hate myself for promoting as it’s viral advertising at its worst. It was all over my socials along with wonderskin and smooche and I’m a bugger for falling for things like that. At its basic level it’s a mix of oils, contains vitamin E and cannot do what it claims because scientifically it’s impossible. Nonetheless it has made a big difference to skin texture, it’s pleasant to use and it doesn’t sit on my skin and feel sticky. On the official website it’s £28. I bought 3 bottles on eBay for £12 so it’s probably fake which is quite funny. Do I believe in it? No!!! Will I keep using it? Definitely.

I’m currently trialling refillable deodorants after buying a travel sized Wild in Tesco to keep in my bag. So I have wild, fussy and make waves on the go. I am an advertisers dream but luckily I’m a real skinflint so they get the clicks but not the sale.

I’m not eating very well at the moment. I’ve skipped Hello Fresh for a couple of weeks and I just can’t be bothered to think up meals. I’m going to dig out some of the meals I have frozen for the rest of the week which should give us some freezer space. Weight still hovering around 8st 5 so the unexplained loss has settled.

Thanks @JinsI don’t have any lens left ( well 1) but could send photos of my orders, it’s just so annoying. I wish I’d bought more pens to be honest!
thanks@HeidiLiteim def trying the mango and coconut one, yum!

Obviously I meant pens not lens😛. Avoid Pharmulous, they’ve been so unhelpful and are charging me £10 because prescribing had already started?! I’m raging… have told them I don’t agree to this and waiting for their response before I write an awful Trust pilot review. In better news I had a voucher for IQ Doctor who I last used a year ago, they’ve prescribed 5mg as I’ve had a gap ( I haven’t but can’t prove otherwise) with no video call or anything! Will look at who I go to next and guess I’ll have to hope I’m ok on 5mg for a while!!

@26inprogressI'm sure mj previously helped with inflammation, but I think that was caused by lowered estrogen, where as my current inflammation is caused by hypermobility and repetitive strain. I hope the job market picks up for you. Holidays are wonderful!

I was considering Get a Drip, you can buy 3 pens at a time which makes it a bit cheaper. They also (eventually) sorted out my broken pen. I went through Eli Lilly and then one day, many months later I had a call from them and they sent me a new pen. I've also looked at monj so I might try a few more pharmacy hops to get cheaper deals, although not everyone will take me because of my hypothyroidism and also BMI below 25.

I got my returning pen with IQ Doctor, it was very simple. I'd stay with them if they weren't so expensive - I got a deal because of being a first time customer.

I'm also thinking of sticking to 5mg pens but jabbing 2.5 to make them last longer which will mean I will need to bulk buy essentially and then every now and again go to 2.5, didn't someone work out how best to do this?

@JinsI will need to check out this cream, anything that works despite it not supposed to I'm up for 😁

Sometimes the nhs can be very efficient! Blood tests at 9, first results are in. They did quite a bit - diabetes, thyroid, liver, kidney, calcium and fbc. FBC is the one that’s back already and is normal albeit all the white blood cell levels are right at the bottom of normal. Dr google tells me this could be related to stress (tick), auto immune issues (possible tick - it’s been suggested for plenty before) or vitamin deficiencies (hmmmm, possibly). However good news is everything is in range. Let’s see what the next ones bring……

Morning all. Checking in from our holiday. We have a beautiful sea view, and it’s been lovely sleeping with the balcony doors open to hear the waves lapping. Miss having a pool though, that daily swim really helps make a restful holiday…I tried to get in the sea the other day but there were so many jelly fish! Didn’t seem to bother the people already in the sea, but couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.

For maintenance am on 2.5mg weekly at the moment to try and get me on or just below 60kg, and it’s brought back a noticeable appetite suppression which I haven’t felt in a long time. Have been opting for soups and salads (amongst the seafood), as I think my body is craving veg. But I think I’ll go back down to 2mg when we’re back home. No scales here, so will see how I’ve done when I’m back. Crazy to think I’ve been in maintenance mode for over a year now.

DH is still on 5mg and his weight has been static for a couple of months, he’s around a 26BMI so isn’t far from his goal, but also isn’t that bothered about how long it takes to get there. His confidence has grown massively since losing weight, which has helped with his new job this year.

@myladyjane so far so good on the blood test results. Did you end up titrating down to steady your weight loss?

@HeidiLite protein flurries sound delicious! Reminds me we need a new blender when we get back, the food processor broke and the stick blender makes a terrible screaming noise!

@tinyemmy the heat definitely increases inflammatory aches for me - it’s mainly gone on 2.5mg but when I’m on 2mg a hot night can bring it back in the morning. I also use 5mg pens for 2-2.5mg doses. I’ve left it too late to order another 5mg from Oushk, so I’m going to leave it till I’m halfway through my last pen before ordering a 2.5 and a 5mg. Might wait for a free delivery promo.

@Jins congrats on your DH’s ‘could retire if I want to’ milestone! I think having that burden removed of needing to work definitely gives you a fresh sense of perspective and can make a job easier to do if you’re not worried about losing it. We paid off our mortgage last year and I’ve got a year’s worth of expenses saved up, not quite at retirement stage, but definitely got my ‘fuck you’ pot if my job was to turn toxic.

I love the idea of the protein flurries, although I worry that my elderly/still perfectly functional food processor might break if I put ice cubes in it. I know I could buy a ninja or nutribullet or whatever, but I’m not quite ready for yet another piece of equipment in my kitchen. I bet there’s a chat somewhere on MN with a deep discussion of blenders!

Holiday sounds fab @DGmaintaining - enjoy!

Having strawberry matcha protein fluff for lunch and as I suspected, it is indeed delicious. About 150-200 kcal and 25 gr protein.

I might have just ordered a new food processor (ninja), as old was ancient, some parts broken and to buy spares is almost as expensive as new.
Not the best timing for shopping as immediately after I managed to also break my phone - luckily also several years old so due an upgrade, but OMG what a pain it is to set up a new phone when old is not working! Oh you want to transfer your accounts? Sure no problem, please confirm on the device you have registered. Guess what the problem is if you are transferring because the registered device is not working..

I live in absolute fear of having to replace my phone…

@myladyjanegrear news on the blood tests. For thyroid they often only test TSH which is only half of the story, they should also test T4 and T3 and thyroid antibodies, particularly if you're concerned about autoimmune. They rarely test for any of these even when I ask them to put T4 and T3 on the list - I have autoimmune hypothyroidism (hashimotos)

@DGmaintainingthats good to know, as it is very warm here. I noticed today my hand is really sore and I've also realised that it's nearly a week since I jabbed - I would be due to jab tomorrow morning, so I think it has been having an effect just not taken the pain fully away. Sorry to hear about the jellyfish, that would keep me out of the water too! Could you find a public pool you could visit? Some places have them, or you can buy a drink and use them. Enjoy your holiday!

oh @DGmaintaining jellyfish are annoying and while it's mostly fine to swim with the regular kind, if you get stung, that really hurts.
Aren't beach holidays just so much more fun when slim? I am enjoying the hot weather so much more than I did 20 kilos ago. Still super hot here, 36 degrees most days next week, up to 39 some days and i don't even mind that much. My outfits are getting miniscule though 😁

@DGmaintaining are they the little white jellyfish? We swim with those around as the sting is like an ant bite. I don’t swim with big tenacly ones and I am hard core when it comes to things in the sea.

we have a nutribullet and use it way more than expected. May try the protein fluff in that.

most test result back now. Biggest relief - no diabetes. In fact my number was pretty good so that was a huge result. I have a couple of liver/kidney ones which are out of range but not massively and again from a google, when aligned with the low fbc results do seem to indicate stress/inflammation. This is potentially interesting when it comes to the mj and may point me in the direction of higher dose less frequently. Only thyroid left now -@tinyemmy it is only tsh at this stage. I do have auto immune antibodies so get tested fairly frequently - typically I bob around 3 - 3.5 so am on a watching brief and they will do t3 and t4 if they go much higher.

do you feel OK with THS around 3.5 @myladyjane ? I have Graves and had a thyroidectomy many years ago, and I start feeling funny when TSH climbs to 3ish, and I feel best when it's slightly below 1. Luckily my GP is very knowledgeable and happy to adjust my dose also based on symptoms and not just values.

Sounds like good news @myladyjane .
I'm another hypothyroid person - no symptoms until it was thrown up by a routine blood test

I’m falling rapidly now. Which Ninja have you ordered @HeidiLite ? I’m eyeing the Blendboss although still concerned about kitchen clutter

I got the Detect Pro 3-in-1. Will let you know if any good (better be for that price)

@HeidiLiteyou are so lucky! My TSH was suppressed for years because of T4 conversation issues and then I was exploring adding T3 they did a DEXA scan and found osteopenia so no T3 and TSH now needs to be in range, but ideally below 1, definitely 2 for me. They also say it should be below 2 to get pregnant so I feel like that's a good ceiling for me. I can definitely tell when my thyroid is out of whack but they're not keen to treat based on symptoms and they refused to retest bone density until at least 3 years had passed since the previous one, grrr (I'm keen to see if all my strength work is having a positive impact, although I've also added calcium and HRT during that timeframe)

So many of us with thyroid issues - I think also telling... Just adding thyroxine does not make us whole again. @Wtafmakeitstopmine was found aged 19 when my periods stopped, I was lucky that my GP at the time tested for it along with the antibodies, although I was very slim at the time so I think she thought hyper.

@myladyjaneI'd push for getting T3 and T4 tested now. My kidney ones are often slightly out, I limit ibuprofen these days.

I quite fancied the ninja ice cream maker, but so far have kept it out of the basket... I've also stayed away from the nutribullet so far, although could be easily swayed 🤣 I definitely could not live without my ninja air fryer!