i lost 10 stone on Mounjaro. Here’s my advice for what it’s worth. First understand how the drug works, if you understand that then you can work with it rather than against it.
1 - it increases the amount of insulin your body produces in response to high blood sugar
2 - it increases your sensitivity to the insulin it has so it can break down sugar more effectively
3 - it reduces the amount of glucose produced by your liver
4 - it slows down your digestion so you have more time to process the sugar. This also helps you feel full for longer
Better processing of sugar helps to reduce spikes which can cause cravings for sweet stuff and feelings of hunger. Our bodies have a mechanism to move excess sugar from your blood and convert it to fat, this is to protect your nerves and organs from damage due to excess sugar but the impact is you store more fat.
Now you understand how it works you need to choose your food and exercise.
1 - calculate your TDEE and set a calorie goal approx 500 below that. This is your daily target. Some people average it over the week so they have a couple of days that are lower targets and a couple of days that are higher. Do what works as long as on average you have a deficit over the week.
2 - make sure you have plenty of protein - protects your muscle, hair, skin, nails and helps you feel full. You also need plenty of fibre and good fats.
3 - make better choices on carbs. Go with ones that have fibre in like seeded bread and limit your portions so they are a smaller part of your meal rather than the focus point.
4 - loads of water. Your body uses it in the chemical process that breaks down fat, it also uses it to heal muscles that are sore from exercise, if you don’t drink enough your body will retain water to ensure it has what it needs.
5 - get as much sleep and as high a quality of sleep as you can. If you don’t then certain hormones are released that increase hunger and slow down weight loss. This is a protective mechanism to give you more energy.
6 - do some exercise. A 20 min walk after a meal helps break down sugars, weight/resistance exercises build muscle. Both improve your metabolism.
7 - carefully count your calories, even if only for a couple of weeks. You need to know exactly what a portion actually looks like. It can be really easy to make mistakes when guesstimating especially things like nuts, a portion of walnuts is about 5 halves, which is pitifully small and no where close to a handful. A portion of cereal is 30 g which is a very very very small bowl, think of the diddy little kids bowls they use when first starting solids.
Do not
1 - set your calorie target so low you feel miserable, deprived and lacking in energy
2 - exist on a diet of crackers and an apple. You need protein, fat, fibre and carbs unless you particularly want to end up with bald patches, brittle nails and weakened muscles. Remember the goal is to be healthier, not skinny and unhappy.
3 - expect to lose every week or expect to lose it all in a month. It took years to gain the weight, losing it is a long term project too. Your weight loss graph will be zig zaggy and inconsistent not a straight line, you’ll do absolutely everything right one week and still gain 2 lb because hormones, or heat, or stress, or Jupiter was in the 5th house serenading Madonna or some other whacky shit no one can make sense of. It’s just the way it is so mentally prepare for it, be consistent in sticking to your diet, exercise, water, sleep and medication and it will sort itself out. Attached for reference my whacky graph showing the ups and down day by day but the overall downwards trend