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?

@ReneBallard from what you’ve written it sounds like we are responding quite similarly to it. You’re happy you did 2 months on 2.5?

Hey all!

Lovely to see everyone's weight loss. I have been reading all your updates in the background thought I wouod check in 🥰

Had my 4th jab on friday night so I am 3.5 weeks in!

Starting weight 11st 13
1st week - 11st 9 - 4lbs lost
2nd week - 11st 6 - 3lbs lost
3rd week 11st 5 - 1lb lost
Cheeky midweek weight in this morning - 11st 2 - 3lbs lost

At 5'5 my current bmi is 26

I am over the moon. My face is thinner and my waist i am starting to feel so good in myself 😍 I won't stay on mounjaro for too long. With my ibs /stomach issues and the side effects I get albeit they are now mild i do not feel brave enough to go up to 5mg as i think it will make me really unwell. I have another pen at 2.5mg so will see how it goes closer to the end of that to decide whether I will get anymore or come off it and go it alone. I wanted to be back in the 10 stone bracket by 28th sept and I am hopeful I will hit that goal with 1.5 weeks and 2 weigh ins left.

What is everyone's plans for the week? Xx

@Blushingviolets yes absolutely because the side effects have been minimal and it didn’t ruin my holiday - I was due to go up to 5 the day before my holiday if I’d followed the titrate after 4 weeks approach, but GP thought was worth waiting as I was responding well and he didn’t want me to be struggling on holiday.

a bit worried if I go up to 5 I won’t eat enough as not really eating much now! That said, whilst I’m losing weight and inches everywhere, I’m not losing any inches from my waist!

W1 - 2.5kg
W2 - 2.4kg
W3 - 1.3kg
W4- 0.9kg
W5- 0.9kg

I am very happy and yet I do wish it's quicker. 8kg down in 5 weeks is amazing, and 0.9kg is exactly the recommended 1% a week. I count calories, and I know eating any less will be not good idea for me at all

But I do wish it's little quicker and calories, and I am making a lot more effort then the first few weeks and with 1% of current rate per week I am not going to hit healthy BMI this year and it sucks.

Anyhow, tanks for allowing me space to vent - it is really incredible that I am 5 weeks in and I feel so much happier and healthier. Apart from the occasional irrational I want it all and I want it now moment :)

Have a healthy week all. Week 6 - including trip abroad, here I come!

@MiaN I think that 8kg down in 5 weeks is incredible, I think you might be one of us doing weights too? So that’s 8kg down whilst hopefully also maintaining and perhaps building muscle. Definitely an achievement to be proud of!

You know @MiaN , next year will come whatever your BMI is. Does it really matter if it’s still 26 rather than under 25, when it used to be 3x.x?

I understand the desire for it to be normal, I do. Today, for the first time, my weight on the official averaging system is under 13 stone. 12-13.8, to be precise. And I have been trying for that for so long….. closest I got before MJ was 13-3.2 in May of last year. I have wanted under 13 stone for soooo long….. and it’s finally here! But today is just another day, I need to go about it in this body, which is immeasurably healthier than it was, but still imperfect.

It will still be imperfect when it’s under 12 stone, and when I get close to, or even under, 11 stone. But it is healthy and fit and can do the things I need to do, and enjoy.

It’s a mental battle, for sure. The victory, I think, lies in doing the right things for ourselves day by day by day. Follow your eating plan, do your exercise - and engage with LIFE! The people, the activities, the places - that’s what makes life worth living. That’s why we need a healthy body - not as an end in itself, but as the vehicle to enable us to engage in life in the best possible way for as long as possible.

Enjoy your holiday!

@PuzzledObserver perfectly said.

I try not to focus too microscopically on the kgs. I was the same when I had my first stint on MJ and I lost over 20kg in approx 7 months which I felt was amazing. It was over 20% of my starting weight. I also lost over 20cm off my waist and more off my hips. I was only just hovering near the healthy BMI. I have probably mentioned before that I stopped with 10-15kg to go based on the availability issues last Sept when the pricing changed suddenly.

I have just done my measurements for the start of a new pen. Since starting this time I am just over 2.5kg down. 6cm off hips, 4cm off waist. (that waist number matters to me as I have a zip to do up in Jan!)

Once you get in to working out the percentage of starting weights lost as you go along I am sure that most of you will see how much you have lost in comparison to any previous weight loss attempts. The % changes on these meds seem way above any other methods. But because some losses are really very dramatic indeed I think it can be hard to resist a bit of 'number chasing'. (I saw a lot of this last time). Cutting even more calories becomes the only option and therefore compromising nutrition. Working out your TDEE (and updating it as you lose weight might be helpful). Consistency then becomes the key to it all - sticking consistently to the recommended calorie deficit for your TDEE - and then updating this as you go along/lose weight/look to maintain. I am really trying to set everything in place for how to maintain and avoid regaining and rightly or wrongly I do believe that a steady loss will help me do that. Oh and this time I am exercising - consistently!

In order to sustain a healthy weight, look good, and remain strong and fit beyond MJ I know that I have to eat well, hydrate and exercise. I definitely won't be focused on BMI beyond being happy if I do get in to healthy zone. At my height 49kg would still be considered healthy....but I certainly wouldn't look it or feel it probably!

Keeping focused on consistency is at the front of my mind this month, as I too have a week away coming up!

@HappyNewt did you manage to titrate down last year, or did you stop abruptly? Do you mind sharing what that experience was like? I’m sure everyone’s seen reporting of that study in which people who stopped MJ gained back most of their weight at 4x the speed, but they all just stopped. The recommendation for anyone trying to stop is that you don’t do that, but reduce gradually over time.

I just measured my waist, it is almost exactly half my height. Unfortunately it’s just above exactly rather than just below. But vanishingly close. Another prompt to keep on doing the right things, day after day.

After all, this is the rest of my life. I don’t count calories, I stick to certain types of food and place limits on some which I know don’t serve me well when taken in large quantities, Since starting MJ, my portions have reduced mainly by the dropping away of the little extras at the end of the meal, plus it has been easier to fast, which I have been doing regularly and intentionally. Once I reach goal (or whatever I’m happy with) I hope to maintain a through a combination of my eating and exercise regime, having those “little extras” become occasional rather than daily, and some fasting, but less than at present.

I hope to eventually titrate off of MJ….. but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Complicating factor is my blood glucose - I’m wearing a CGM at the moment, and my numbers are so boringly normal I feel like I’ve wasted my money buying it! But that’s due to the MJ. If I come off it, the numbers will go up somewhat, but not back to where they were as I’ll be over 2 11/2 stone lighter. There’s only one way to find out whether they go up too much…

For my 4th jab last Saturday I did a 2nd week of 1.25. I could not deal with a repeat of the side effects after the 2nd 2.5 dose and 1.25 had kept most of the food noise at bay.
I definitely feel a little more hungry this week but get full very quickly. Still no desire to snack, which is usually my downfall.
New 2.5 pen arrives this week. Still deciding whether to go back up to 2.5 on Saturday with the extra dose left in my 1st pen.
WL continues. 9lbs in total, with 1lb so far this week.
The support and info in this group is fantastic. Keep going everyone. Incredible progress all round.

I used the final 3 doses of the pen that I was on to sort of titrate down and stretched them out a few weeks. It was back when all pens had at least 5 doses so there was more flexibility. I did not have a 'stockpile' and once it got weird I could not risk ordering more as the dispatch and delivery, which had been totally predictable until that point, went crazy and it seemed to be taking an unknown amount of time - I was away a bit this time last year so could not risk ordering and then it arriving when i wasn't here. My supplier did not have a multi pen purchase option like others, so it seemed my only option was to stop. I have seen posts on here referencing that people are just finishing their 'stockpile' which shows just how much some people were able to pre purchase, and why stock disappeared for the rest of us.

I put on 3kg over the year after coming off - but I was also measured at my GP so discovered/realised that I am 2cm shorter than I thought....

I believe that, for me, MJ is a aid. It has helped me stop snacking (which I had started again). I find the pricing, compared to what it was, pretty annoying so I have come in to it with a plan this time.

I joined a small class, weight based gym, before I started again and that is going well. I have gone back to the start of a C25K as I like the accountability of going with the group and I know that it works to take it slowly. I am motivated to come off MJ. I aim to purchase 5 or max 6 pens in total. 2.5, 5 (which I am now on), depending on how I feel and how I am losing I may go up to 7.5 next. If I do go up to 7.5 in Oct, My 4th pen will be mid Nov and that will be the start of coming down, possibly using a 7.5 pen to get more doses...that depends on the price - which does seem to be coming down a little at the moment based on the MM pricing strategy.

I know that my weight is up to me to manage. I was underweight (although a healthy BMI) or a healthy slim until my mid-late 20s when my weight crept up to where I am back to now by my late 30s early 40s but then, some time in the last 10 years it steadily went up by 20kg or so....which is not great on a shorter (even than I thought!) person. I was lazy, over indulged, my portions were to large, I snacked, and I wasn't 25 anymore....hardly any wonder that my weight kept going up. I am also aware that it isn't as simple as just under eating, so I need to think of food as fuel, and to also be able to enjoy eating too.

I was lucky when I was younger that I did not get hungry, my weight was pretty stable and I could miss a meal and it would pop back to its set point. I did not appreciate that at the time, and I now know that I have to make the effort to stay slim and healthy when I get there!!!

MJ is the tool to get me to what I see as the starting point in many ways, I don't want it to be how I maintain...

Hope that is helpful

@HappyNewt it is, thank you. What did you notice when you went off the MJ? More hunger, more snacking…. What I’m getting at is, were you aware you were eating more and couldn’t help it, or did the weight just seem to appear without you realising you were eating differently?

I didn't notice any catastrophic adjustment.
I wasn't suddenly finding myself absent mindedly eating loads more and I wasnt hungry all of the time

For quite a while I carried on pretty much as I had been with the MJ

I think by about spring I had stopped weekly weigh ins...note to self carry on this time!
And I guess I just stopped bothering to bother...I let my portions get bigger and then in the summer I started snacking more in the day. The biggest thing for me is caring enough for myself to do what I know I need to do and not to self sabotage. I have had a bit of help with that in other areas of my life since the new year. And I believe that the difference now is that I do believe that I deserve to be the person I want to be.

But, I also believe that it is up to me to mske it happen. MJ is magic. I think it does way more than just stop you feeling hungry. But, I don't want to be on it long term. I believe that I can maintain my weight at a healthy number and that I have to be committed and honest with myself in order to achieve that.

Having a jan date to get married gives me the short term focus...and made me be really honest with myself a month or so ago when I decided to go with MJ again for the final push.

I feel lucky that at the beginning, whilst I was clearly obese, I was about 5 stone over what my body should be, so i had less to lose than many whose relationship with food and journey with MJ may be longer.

Week 5 jab over here. 10lb down since starting which I'm happy with. 24lb to go.

But this jab has seriously knocked me sideways. So so tired today and awful nausea this morning.

Took me by suprise as week 4 was a breeze, no side effects, same dose.

I need to start doing weights. This sounds silly but ... I felt to fat to do them. Too uncomfortable. Also got no space in my house to do much. Can anyone recommend anything easy to start with?

@MTKWhite

Squats - any variety, including split squats/lunges

Wall sits

Pressups (from the knees or against an inclined surface)

Planks, front and side

Tanks for the wisdom and kindness shared yesterday ladies.

I feel better today. I got myself 6 recordings of classes I like for the week - 2 short stretch and breathe, 2 yogalates - can be done on chair and one upper one lower body band. So all I need is band. They are very beginner friendly and 20 or 30 minutes only.

To be honest if you tell me 6 months to get to healthy weight fast but no good routine or year and half but great exercise, activity, eating for health and energy routine I will of course opt for the second but the mind has its moments

I am very grateful to be here, it's so helpful to have space I can come and get support from people who get it.

The mind has its moments, absolutely. Good to acknowledge those and own them - but also see them for what they are. It’s that mindfulness concept - notice the thought, but be detached from it, don’t identify yourself with the thought. A thought is something you have, it’s not who you are,

The thought will come… the thought will go.

@HappyNewt so hopefully with more vigilance over both weight and eating, and a determination to nip things in the bud when they start to creep, you will be able to contain it. That’s what I hope for myself as well.

Yes, exactly.
For me, it is about being able to live a happy, full, and healthy life and doing what it takes to ensure that happens.
Believing I am worth it and that I can do it might sound a bit woo woo, but without the belief, it won't happen.

How are those that moved up to 5 or anything over 2.5 getting on?

I have been taking 5 weeks.. last week took my first 5mg dose.
have about 10kg to loose and have lost 3😄
I am 150cm tall and am happy to loose 10 kg.. don’t want my BMI <25 ..when you are 61 I think a bit more fat looks better.
Main issue I have is constipation.. trying get through lax sachets .. taste awful!

It’s 5 weeks today since I took my first jab. I’ve since shifted my jab day to Sunday, but still worth a look at the weight situation.

If I go by trendweight, which is the more sensible thing

SW 13st 11.3
CW 12st 13.2
GW 11st

12.1lb lost, 1st 13.2 to go

If I go by raw scale weight then it’s

SW 13st 8.4
CW 12st 10.4

12lb lost, 1st 10.4 to go.

And with both of them, I am UNDER 13 STONE!! For the first time in more than 30 years. A few more pounds and I will have rolled the clock back 40 years, to a weight I was at/under for less than a year after a massive weight loss and before the regain.

The journey continues….. this time with confidence about keeping the weight off (well, most of it at least)

Had my second " official " weigh-in at Well Pharmacy when I picked up my new 5mg pen for my 5th week. I started on 21/8 at 102.4kg and today was 101.8kg, so a grand total of 0.6kg or 1.32lbs for 28 days!

Obviously, not great and significantly less than my weight monitoring at home. Hopefully the 5mg will start to kick in soon and give me more appetite suppression so I can reduce my cals per day by more than the 150-200 that this weight loss indicates.

Weigh in day

SW. 12st 12
CW. 12st 4 (4th jab so week 3 lost 8lb total)
GW. 11 st

i decided to go up to 5mg MJ on reorder as haven’t had side effects, possibly becoming slightly constipated as used to be a once-a-day girl but now not always, though last couple of days I haven’t drunk as much.

feeling amazing, no huge difference in size yet although jeans are fitting better, feeling so good might also be the fact I started HRT at the same time. I’m determined to lose the weight and keep it off without having to go back to the jabs, if I feel as good as I do now that should be a little easier.

took youngest out to eat today and I didn’t clear my plate - ate the fish, left most of the potatoes and half the veg. This must be what slim people do naturally! Though I’m of an age where you got kept in at school dinners if you didn’t eat it all, so clearing a plate is what I’ve always done whether hungry or not.

good luck everyone for next week and let’s hope we all get to where we want to be x

Hi @MiaN I’m on my second week of 5mg and third jab is on Sunday. The suppression is much stronger for me than it was on 2.5. I’m much more gassy, especially at bedtime, and (sorry if TMI) burp as soon as I sit up in the morning, like it’s been waiting to bubble up my windpipe! Never had that before.

Weight-wise, I’m now 10.5kg down since I started this attempt towards the end of July. 7.8kg down since starting mounjaro. 14kg lighter than I was this time last year. I’m the lowest weight I’ve ever recorded on MFP, which I first started using in 2012. That feels completely crazy to say.

Some days, I’m struggling to eat enough. I have to make sure I’m drinking too. I used to always have a cold drink on the go and now I can go for hours without thinking about it and prefer room temp water.

Overall, I’m really happy with my progress. I am still SO much heavier than all you lovely lot, but it feels more like a sustainable life than a diet plan.