August 2026 starters

[chocolatecoveredpretzels]

Hello everyone, I'm due to start on MJ in the next few days, and I'm feeling nervous!

I've been above size 20 since I was about 14/15 years old. The highest weight I've ever logged was 134kg, about 14 years ago. I'm currently 117kg. I also have issues with my heart caused by Cushing's, type 2 diabetes and PMOS.

In the past few years, I'm yo-yo'd between 125kg and 110kg three times. I know how to lose weight and can do it... but as soon as work gets busy or stressful, I fail and give up. I also have an issue with binge and secret eating.

I went for my annual diabetic review yesterday and the nurse basically used the whole time telling me about going on MJ, because my BMI is over 40 (well, as of yesterday's weigh in, I'm 39. something) and because of my other health conditions. I didn't have to fight for it, or request it.. they're just giving it to me.

Now I'm doing as much reading/ video watching as I can to clue myself up.

On my on-track days, I eat:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with some flavouring- chilli flakes or marmite or 15g cheddar.

Lunch: Chicken thigh fillet in some kind of seasoning mix, salad made of lettuce, pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, sugarsnaps, carrot. Sometimes 3 cream crackers and a laughing cow triangle as well.

Dinner: Varies- roast chicken dinner/ 5% fat mince spaghetti bolognese with wholewheat pasta/ beef burger without the bun with cheese, salad on half the plate, usually without chips, noodles with chicken and stirfry veg.

Snacks: Usually a portion of berries/ a nectarine/ cherries/ 25g peanuts at 4pm.

How does that sound?

I have a treadmill and run/walk at 6.5/6km/hr pace for 30 mins three times a week. The nurse said I should do some weights for my arms too.

Any recommendations for which day I should inject?

I love the chats here too, I am finding it very helpful to have space to share with people who understand. We all have different plans but there is very welcoming and supportive vibe - we are good tribe!

I have at least 5 stone to lose in total but 3.5 will get me in healthy BMI.

I am amazed by the lack of head food chatter! And I didn't realise how much head space food, shopping for food, cooking, trying to come with food for the family, recipe searching & books, diet books & plans - all seem to be not going near me lately. I hope this lasts, it is so freeing

@puzzledobserver please be mindful of fasting on the jabs. From everything I have read, you might end up losing muscle and not fat, plus if you lose too quickly, that's when hair loss can occur.

But welcome to everyone new on here. I love reading all your posts.

I still can't do any exercise due to my surgeries, but I am trying to stick to a good diet. My weight hasn't moved this week which is slightly disappointing, but my partner commented that my face looks slimmer and I have rediscovered that I have cheekbones. Yey.

Thank you all for your kind welcomes! the lack of food noise must be so refreshing. Not sure about you all but i am a very odd mix of utterly exhausted of trying to loose weight at the moment and extreamley excited to tackle that final hurdle and go onto maintain. I do not hold excess weight very well all on my boobs and belly (a bit like a weeble if anyone remembers them|). My recent ventures into strength training i am hoping will also help. The one odd thing is you lovely bunch are the first i have told, i have told no one at all - not partner, sister, work colleagues, random person at pool etc - and thinking of ways to keep it that way until i am confident. I love all your posts and thank you again

@Belladog1 thank you for sounding a note of caution, but please do not worry. I am part of an online fasting programme, scientifically based with tons of clinical experience, and they now offer guidance on use of GLP-1’s alongside fasting.

I have no intention of losing too quickly. The fasting programme sets out a range of therapeutic fasting regimes which include enough nutrition to avoid things such as hair loss, and I will be using the minimum effective dose to help me stick to one of those, and no more. I’m ensuring adequate protein and lifting weights.

Hi again everyone, I am finally taking my first dose tonight! I am being mindful of not eating too much fatty food today and will have a smaller portion of fajitas/fajita rice bowl tonight.
Would you all recommend jabbing before or after dinner?
Also does anyone use an app to track their injections etc?

I actually jab on a Saturday morning, but having read previous threads before taking the plunge, a lot of people jab just before bed, so I'm guessing after dinner.

I've been housebound for 3.5 weeks but on Sunday evening I'm going out for dinner, a curry. Do I plan on going for the healthy option? Hell no. Chicken tikka massala, get in my belly 🤣 hopefully I'll be ok 😬 I've been one of the lucky ones with zero side effects so far.

I’ve been having some very interesting conversations with AI about mounjaro and all related subjects!

It didn’t object to me fasting while on MJ, but told me to watch out for hypoglycemia in the later stages of the fast. Normally glucagon would prevent BG from going too low, but the GIP part of mounjaro inhibits glucagon. So that’s useful information to me. Plus, of course, the need for absolutely top notch nutrition on eating days.

The other thing was about dose escalation, when I said I didn’t automatically want to increase the dose. It said: ignore what happens to your weigh in the first couple of weeks as there is always a lot of water weight lost to start with. If weeks 3 and 4 show an average loss of 1.5-2.5lb, that is indication to stay on 2.5mg. If losing more than that, definitely stay on 2.5mg. If the average in weeks 3 to 4 is a pound or less, move up a dose.

The other thing which interested me was that the gradual return of appetite on days 6 and 7 is no bad thing. For one thing, it gives you the opportunity to practise mindfulness of your body and the ability to handle some hunger without caving and eating everything in sight ( my words!) which is a good skill for long term maintenance. But it also means that the bowel, which has been made sluggish by the effect of the jab, has a chance to speed up. Almost like your bowel is having a workout to keep it in shape…. Again, my words.

I took my first dose an hour before dinner. That’s not long enough for much of it to get into your bloodstream, so dinner was unaffected. I was definitely feeling appetite suppression the following day, though.

So...I have bitten the bullet and i am back to finish what I started back in oct 24.

I lost around 20kg between oct 24 and Aug 25, no side effects (that i know of). And steadily, such that people hardly noticed.
Mainly people asked if I'd had my hair cut!!!

This time last year the pricing, availability and delivery went crazy...and I stopped...working my way down the pen I was on.
I put on 2 or 3 kg depending on the day/week.

I finally started weight sessions at a gym a couple of weeks ago, and building up to getting back into some running now that the heat has broken.

Getting married in Jan, so HIGHLY motivated to shift around 10kg, which would put me into healthy BMI, possibly a kilo or two more if I look ok on it. Ideally keen to look toned and strong, and keep to the habits I put in place over the next 5 months....

I went back on with my old supplier, but may switch around to make the current prices more palatable.

Found the group chat helpful last time.

Word of encouragement, based on my first stint.... don't be put off when you see some people recording really significant fast losses.... everyone seems to loose at a different rate...so stick to your plan.

Focus on good habits...
Eat....eating too little will lead to malnourishment
Protein....and fibre are your friends
Hydrate....it keeps everything inside working!!!
Exercise....it is important to build/maintain muscle

And if necessary play around with the numbers for the feel good factor...
Kilo/stone/pound/bmi/cm/inches....record them all as one of them might make you feel good when another doesnt

Good luck

I am in for 5 months then as the motto says....
Success if it is to be is up to me!

I can't wait i get so frustrated with myself sometimes! I'll be so good all day and then just snack in the evening and ruin it all!

Has anyone had any nasty side effects? I'm so nervous to take it later not going to lie 😬 not the injection bit but the possibility of side effects

Has anyone had any nasty side effects?

Not me. Possible suggestion of a slight headache, maybe felt a bit tired on the day or two after injecting….. but that could equally well have been down to the heat, travelling, and sleeping away from home. If I hadn’t just jabbed for the first time, I wouldn’t have thought twice about those symptoms, just put them down to one of those things.

I feel great now. Just jabbed for the second time.

I have, you can check out my previous comments on this thread if you search my for my user name.

Jabbed this morning again and opted for the thigh over the stomach. No side effects yet this time, but last time they appeared 24-48 hours after injection, not the same day.

Hi everyone - nice to see some new faces. @xxx200 i use Shotsy app to track - just the free version but I have been thinking to sign up for the premium trial to see what other features are there.

I jab on a Sunday - after breakfast usually - if I am going out for lunch I may do evenings. This works for me as if I am going to catch up with friends etc it tends to be on a Friday or Saturday.

First week done at 2.5 after 2 weeks on 1.25. Not going to lie - I have had an increase in appetite this week - and a peek on the scales (weigh in tomorrow) is showing no movement. Will see tomorrow!

On the plus side I have felt quite energetic this week and sleep has normalised. Joint pain also improved!
Will see what tomorrow brings on the scales.

@VanillaSunsetVibesGood luck! A bit of tiredness was my only side effect!

@CatMonjhow was injecting into your leg? I have only done it into a belly roll!

Hi to the new joiners! I’m a Sunday mid morning jabber as well. It seems to be working for me.

I have two more injections left on my 2.5 pen, and my 5 pen is ready to pick up. The nurse did say that I could try the 5 dose once my current pen is done but if the side effects were bad, I could just do 30 clicks, which would give me a half dose/ 2.5 instead.

I had two slices of pizza last night and ended up with really bad cramps and an upset stomach in the early hours, so that’s definitely put me off! Not sure if it definitely was the pizza (I had 30g prunes and accidentally added 18g chia seeds to my breakfast Greek yogurt instead of 8g) so it might have been tge combo. Would NOT recommend that many chia seeds. It was like an I’m a Celebrity food challenge, frogspawn wallpaper paste.

Thanks everyone, I done my injection then had my dinner but I am still feeling very full now (this might just be my brain thinking this after taking the injection)
Hoping it will calm down soon so I can get some sleep.
I have downloaded the Shotsy app so will use that to track thanks for the recommendation @Mamafromthebeach

@getawayfromme I found injecting in my thigh didn’t make me feel nauseous, but I’ve not felt as much suppression as the first week, which was belly. I’m going to try belly again this Sunday.

@xxx200 i use the GlucoPal app to log my jabs, jab sites and side effects. It should ‘talk’ to the apple health app and transfer my food too, but doesn’t seem to work. I log food and weight on myfitnesspal which then registers with my health app.

I'm sorry to laugh at your description 😆

Last Wednesday I ate a massive amount of pizza with no ill effects. Hadn't eaten pizza in many months, so when my partner turned up with two family sized ones, I couldn't stop eating it. Ate about 3/4 of a meat feast 😋

Got to the end of yesterday and realised I hadn’t snacked at all. Considering I spent a lot of the day in the house and snacks were available I’m amazed. That’s usually my downfall, like others, but I didn’t even think about them.

It’s great to hear everyone’s experiences, tips and even the cautionary tales. Although sorry about those ones!

Fat was a bit problematic for me at the start, but I’ve heard that can settle after the first month or two. The only thing that really bothered me was a Greek rice bowl I used to get with chicken, vegetables and feta, as I felt they were quite heavy-handed with the feta and dressing.

I am really just trying to eat in a way that I genuinely want to eat, which happens to be a way that also agrees with the jabs. I’m trying to use the medication as a tool to help me stick to the healthy eating plans I’ve wanted to follow for years. I literally woke up every day thinking, “Today I’m going to eat healthy,” and then didn’t. It’s honestly so nice to feel like I can actually do that now.

I know everyone has different plans, goals and ideas about what healthy eating looks like, but I’d love to get back to how I was pre-2020, when I was genuinely happy eating well and it didn’t feel like a constant battle.

I’ve been more tired this week. I’m still doing my two strength exercises every morning — 8 reps, 3 sets. I have a Les Mills subscription, so I’m using the BodyPump Heavy programme and usually just doing one track. I’m also walking for around 50 minutes every morning with my dog, and then more during the day so I am keeping active.

I’m trying to maximise the nutritional value of everything I eat, so I’m focusing on protein first — around 30g at least three times a day, and ideally another 20g from a snack. Getting 25g+ of fibre feels pretty easy without having to think about it because I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.

My food is very simple: eggs, chicken, fish, beef, Greek yoghurt, vegetables, fruit, oats, rice and potatoes. I usually dress salads with olive oil and vinegar. I’ve also discovered high-protein mozzarella balls, which are great with fruit if I need an easy way to get a bit more protein and I don't feel like Greek yoghurt.

I’m deliberately keeping things simple. My hope is that if I spend the next month or so consistently eating healthier foods, it will not only support my weight-loss journey but also reinforce the way I actually want to eat. And honestly, eating this way makes me happy.

I don’t and I won't fast, it's not for me long term. I just have my first meal when I’m at least a little hungry and sometimes this is later in the morning. I do wonder whether, on this medication, hunger can sometimes show up more as tiredness than actual stomach hunger. I’ve definitely been more tired this week, although I also think some of that is simply what you would expect when you’re consistently in a calorie deficit, medication or not.

I read somewhere that the first 12 weeks can be the “honeymoon period”, so I’m going to make the most of it, but I do plan to increase my minimum calories afterwards. I’m perfectly satisfied with what I’m eating at the moment — I just don’t love having quite as little energy as I’d like.

I got carried away this morning. I could write as much on the head space impact but will keep this for tomorrow. I reward myself reading here after my strength training in the morning.

Have a fabulous, healthy, side effects free day all!

I think you’ve articulated really well how I am hoping to approach this @MiaN

@MiaN good morning! What a useful post! It has really made me think about maximising nutritional values, thank you! My favourite foods are similar - very fresh, well seasoned salads chicken etc and I’m going to focus on them and not get sidetracked with quick fixes especially during week work lunches.

on other news my wegovy is out for delivery!!

Week 3 weigh in for me:

I've been stricter this week (other than last night's wine, curry, nan bread etc!) and I've been lifting weights - just 4kgs- and using my very dusty gym ball. Six pounds loss today but the scale has been up and down like a yoyo. Sending support to other intermittent fasters too!

My biggest non scales victories are the two flights of stairs at work being walkable without shortness of breath or stopping at the top, and my more fitted / tailored size 18s that I tentatively tried on, actually being a bit flappy and loose!
SW 20 stone 6 lbs
CW 18 stone
GW 10 stone ish

@chocolatecoveredpretzels interesting that your nurse recommended click counting to use a smaller dose - is that NHS? What did she say about how long you should use the pen for if only using half the dose?

I’ve heard that pharmacies don’t encourage it, although why is unclear.

@MiaN

I am really just trying to eat in a way that I genuinely want to eat, which happens to be a way that also agrees with the jabs. I’m trying to use the medication as a tool to help me stick to the healthy eating plans I’ve wanted to follow for years.

Yes, this. Absolutely this.

In the last couple of years I have finally become successful in doing that the majority of the time, which is why I am over 8 stone lower than my all time high and not immediately piling it all back on. But there have been sufficient “just a little bit” or “just this once’s” to prevent me reaching a truly healthy weight. MJ is the extra bit of oomph I am hoping to get me there.