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?

This is my progress every week for a month since starting. I am shocked that I have lost an inch in most places in just 1 month. The only downside is I only lost 2 pound the last 2 weeks so a bit gutted there considering how much I lost in my first and second week. I have already ordered and received my second pen which is 2.5mg so I still have that for the upcoming month, but would you now recommend that I increase to 5mg if I only continue to loose just 1 pound each week? Or is loosing 1 pound a month still good and should stick to the 2.5 if I am having very little side effects from the low dose?

@Biosblbay I wish I had started by taking measurements! Maybe I’ll do it tonight if I remember.

@WombatCowgirl also at work today although we only have much shorter lessons for today- which is an inconvenience all in itself as there’s so much to get done!

@Blushingviolets it’s still not too late to start! take progress photos too! It’s just the best way to keep on top of your progress. Sometimes you can see progress more in photos and measurements than the scales!

@Biosblbay I think that’s got to be personal choice whether to go up to 5, although bear in mind that according to the manufacturers, 2.5 is considered a starter dose, not at therapeutic levels.

The die is cast for next months as you’ve already ordered the pen, so you have a few more weeks before you need to decide. But I would definitely order a 5mg pen next, even if you use it to continue giving yourself 2.5mg, or an intermediate dose. You would need to get extra needles and swabs if your provider gives you 4 with each pen, as mine does.

I'm also back to work today, after a month off recovering from injuries. I'm terrified 😨

As I mentioned earlier, I decided to do 2 months at 0.25, and i still have 3 weeks to go. But I can feel the hunger suppression isn't as good now, so I'm definitely going up to 0.5 next time. Hoping I can stay on that dose for a while.

I've lost a stone in 5 weeks, but some of that was due to being in hospital and not being fed! I can't see any difference in my body whatsoever 😕

@Belladog1 dont worry about not seeing it in the mirror yet. I was saying the same just a couple,of days ago, could see no difference despite being down over half a stone. Then yesterday I suddenly noticed my crop trousers were loose on the waist, and this morning caught sight of myself in the mirror at the gym, and thought…. yes, there is a difference.

Don’t just rely on the scale, or on your own perceptions. Take photos, take measurements, find a pair of “progress jeans” which are do-uppable but too snug to wear comfortably. Look for changes in those as well. But most of all - recognise that you need a permanent lifestyle change to reach and maintain a healthy weight long term, whether you continue with the WLI long term or not.

I have a pair of progress crop trousers, which I bought in the spring of last year just as I reached my lowest weight in 30 years. They were too snug for comfort on my bum and tummy, but I was doing great and thought it would t be too long before I got into them. Unfortunately that coincided with the beginning of my relapse into old ways, and before I knew it I was up over a stone. I steadied the ship in August last year by joining Overeaters Anonymous and had since lost over half of that regain, but just couldn’t seem to get any further. But now there is Mounjaro, and today I am just below where I was when I bought them. Hopefully I’ll get at least one chance to wear them before summer entirely disappears - we are due a September heat wave, aren’t we? Cos next year, they’ll be too big!

You are completely correct. I do have clothes that I bought last November which I could try. I was going to Paris, and before I left I spent months getting my weight down nearly a stone, and treated myself to some new non-elastic waisted skirts. They fitted perfectly and I felt quite good about myself.

I went back to Paris in April this year, tried the skirts on .... and I couldn't do them up. Went online and bought a load of baggy jumper dresses instead. I must dig those skirts out again and see how they look. Could come in handy for this Autumn 😉

Jab #2 done!
Start: 97.8kg
Current: 95.6kg

2.2kg down, I'm quite surprised - I've been much more sensible in terms of avoiding snacking and not having another slice of pizza just because it's there etc, but not really done anything different to usual otherwise. No side effects to speak of really - I've had a bit of stomach crampiness but honestly that's not unusual for me anyway.

The weirdest thing is actually a bit of spotting/bleeding, which is very strange. It's far from an actual period, but I've had a mirena coil for years, I'm out of practice! I don't remember seeing that one on the side effects list 😂

1 pound a week every week I personally will stay with the dose I am. But order the dose up and count clicks to make sure you have the option to go up when you need it.

I think I’m finally feeling appetite suppression. After a morning at work, I stopped at the supermarket to get berries for my breakfast and something quick for lunch. I was physically hungry and my stomach was rumbling, but it took SO long to find something I felt like eating for lunch.

Sandwiches and wraps and bakery bread and prepared fruit would normally have interested me. But I felt nothing! I ended up with a fresh beef ramen bowl thing and couldn’t finish it.

It’s an odd but exhilarating feeling!

4 days in and I can’t say that I’m noticing much difference, I don’t feel hungry but I could still fancy eating it’s just willpower stopping me snacking g at the moment. But I’ve just read the note above that 2.5 isn’t a therapeutic dose - I mistakenly thought that it would still have an effect, does that mean I have to go to 5 on MJ for any appreciable effect?

Hi

during my first week I was hungry after the first few days but tried not to over eat. Some of the first injection will stay in your system when you take the second one so you should notice more appetite suppression next week.

5 is considered the lowest therapeutic dose by the manufacturers, but many people do experience appetite suppression on 2.5.

I think it depends what you think it means…… for me, feeling hunger less intensely and being satisfied with a smaller portion means appetite suppression is happening.

Some people seem to think that if they ever feel hungry at all and can eat more than a few spoonfuls then they’re not having appetite suppression. Personally I think if that’s what someone is experiencing then their dose is too high for them.

"feeling hunger less intensely and being satisfied with a smaller portion means appetite suppression is happening" That's how is it for me too. I kind of like that it is like this vs total lack of hunger all the time.

Yeah, I’m not sure I’d like never feeling hungry! I like to feel hungry, enjoy the food, and then be satisfied.

I only lost 1/4 pound this week - our DD was away so we did go out for dinner on Saturday and also had a steak.

Overall I have been really pleased with how I’ve done and I guess we will have weeks where we don’t lose much.

Overall I’ve lost 10lbs so am now 10st 7 (am 5ft 2).

One thing that has been really mad is that I have struggled with binge eating and emotional eating for years and years and it has all completely evaporated for me - has anyone else had the same? I have found that if I get stressed at work I can just shrug and have some water or a cup of tea whereas before I started stress would have me reaching for the biscuits or eating my daughter’s sweets.

It is so interesting because I always thought I was eating to control my feelings whereas clearly I can cope and it was to do with my appetite. Anyone else?

I've been a binge / emotional eater since my teenage years. I have always had a thing for shop bought sarnies, and i remember when I was about 15, buying about three sandwiches and scoffing them in my bedroom at night. I was the same with the chocolate tin. Mum would buy little clubs, twix etc to pop in my lunchbox, and i would sit on the kitchen floor when home alone and eat them until I felt sick, then hide the evidence.

Even as an adult, if I felt stressed or lonely, food was my crutch. I'd go out and buy a pizza, eat it at home for lunch and hide the evidence from my husband so he didn't see it when he got home from work.

My relationship with food has always been bad. It's wonderful not thinking about food all the time. I have food in the house, but I'm not even considering eating crisps or chocolate, even after a bad day. It's totally liberating.

@Belladog1I feel exactly the same! Food was always an issue when I was little, my mum was a typical 90s always-dieting type. She hated us snacking and one of my sisters says she also remembers being hungry - our portions were small and being fat was a total no-no.

I’ve had so many behaviours like you describe - secret eating cheesecake slices upstairs in my bedroom and hiding the wrappers, eating an entire enormous bar of chocolate my DD was given, eating the replacement too… so many things I wish I hadn’t done. Yet I haven’t done any of that for the last month.

I am hoping I can start to plan some new routines and structures so I keep going with the progress long term…

W1 -2.5kg
W2 -2.4kg
W3 -1.3kg

6.2kg in 3 weeks. I know the first few are eat ride but last week I do feel I had to work for every bit of it. 21 days of consistently doing strength 💪 and 50 minutes walk every morning. I have got my protein and fibre goals. I have eat healthy whole foods no junk - one minor exception. I have meal prepped and brought my own food anywhere I go.

I feel great

Easy ride, not eat ride!

If I lose 1% of my changing weight weekly I will be healthy BMI by mid February. That would be amazing. I am 90.8kg this morning abs at 1.7m I have a lot to lose. As mentioned before I know that initial honeymoon period won't last months and I am trying to make most of it - get myself off foods that dont work for me, develop sustainable exercise habits, basic but consist meal prep etc so when the honey moon is done I hope some of those behaviour habits help me.

And I have been trying sane for years so it is great I found something 💉 to help me do that.

@getawayfromme @Belladog1 completely agree that the 'need' to snack and overeat after 'a bad day' or 'because I'm tired' or 'for a treat' has completely gone and it feels great.
The diarrhoea since jab 2 is next level. Thinking of halving my next 2.5 dose as really don't want to stop. Trying dioralyte and immodium today as have eaten v little for the last 3 days and feel rubbish.
Anyone else halved the starter dose and still felt benefits?

Sustainable eating and exercise habits are the key, that’s for sure.

For me, so far, the MJ is taking the edge off hunger and cravings which were undermining me sticking to my new habits 100%. I was able to stick to them 85-90% and that was enough to get me a very long way, but weight loss had slowed to a glacial crawl. It could have taken me another 2-3 years to get from BMI 30 to 25…… with MJ it will likely be 4-6 months.

Then the consolidation phase begins….. but the eating and exercise habits remain essentially the same. I won’t need to do therapeutic levels of fasting once I’m a healthy weight. But I will need still not to snack and not to eat crap ultra processed sugar laden food. And that’s OK!

It’s only when I get off it for a while and then dip my toe back in the water that I notice just how bad it makes me feel. No thank you! But it is so seductive, that if I don’t listen to the how bad it makes me feel right away, it has wormed its way back into my affections.

"It’s only when I get off it for a while and then dip my toe back in the water that I notice just how bad it makes me feel. No thank you! "

for sure!!! you have done brilliantly before the medication, well done for that.

Does anyone get little nervous before talking to your GP for next dose. It's not like I am not doing well, and they will cut me off - I am so far from healthy bmi. Completely irrational - of course a gp will want me to continue without side effects and good progress. Why wouldn't they?

euughh....burps!
I went up yesterday to just over 3mg by adding 10 clicks of a 2.5 mg pen, in order to bridge the gap....
Feeling a bit pants today, but that might also be down to it being decidedly autumnal, and a tough weights based class at lunch time ..
Hope everyone else is feeling good!