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?

Hi all

wow @RaspberryRoad and @WombatCowgirl those are amazing first week losses!!! Massive well done!!

my first week has been a bit underwhelming it has to be said, still got food noise and a couple of nights this week I’ve been quite hungry but I’ve been using myfitnesspal to track my protein and I’m managing to stick to the protein target. But tempted to look at Joe Wicks

2nd jab is tomorrow night and I’ll weigh myself tomorrow morning. I don’t work Mondays and I do enjoy nice food at weekends so would rather have my suppression wear off towards end of week.

@Biosblbay i had some drinks last night - a couple of white wine spritzers and a rum and coke and other than drinking quite slowly and feeling quite bloated, I’m fine.

I’ve also bought some 2kg dumbbells so I can start strength training as well as that’s something that has been drummed into my sister who is a GP. Protein, water, fibre and strength training.

been a bit constipated as well but had a sachet of laxido and that sorted me right out

well done to everyone

I’m going to be joining you all from tomorrow morning, finally! Picked up my needles this morning, then lunch out with a friend today, so I’m jabbing tomorrow mid morning!

I am so impressed by all your losses and loving the food diary posts too. I’m really enjoying my Greek yogurt, fruit, walnuts, honey and chia breakfasts at the moment, after a long time of having just eggs. I think I might need the fibre from the fruit, chia and nuts to keep my digestion going.

Any tips on increasing fibre with a scrambled egg breakfast?

Yay @chocolatecoveredpretzels ! Look forward to seeing how you get on. Last week I saw a reel by a dietician I follow on socials who put a tbsp of chia seeds in her scrambled eggs. She just folded them in as the eggs started to set. I am going to try today (morning here).

weigh-in day for me - 1.5kg down ( around 3 lbs). I am happy with that as I haven’t really felt much suppression at all and my diet has been ok but not much different to normal. I have lost around 10kg before I started.I also only started on a 1.25mg dose after speaking with my doctor. My main priority is to see if this helps my inflammation / joint pain - if it does I will be on the drug for a long time so she wanted me to start slow. I also had not great gastro side effects with Wegovy, so trying to avoid those. Will step up to 2.5 next week if all goes well this week at 1.25.

SW 103.7kg
CW 102.2kg (week 1 -1.5kg)
GW 85 ( goal 1 - not sure from there)

Hello @weightlossmed welcome! This may be too late but I would hold off until your virus passes.

i also only did a half dose this week. I had a not great experience with WG as I stepped up and I just can’t take time off work atm. However, I had no side effects at all - just a little bit of suppression at 1.25mg.

let us know how you get on!

Very inspiring results, looking forward to my first dose next week - provided all my tests comes back ok and my doctor is happy to go ahead with it. Which I am fully expecting it will.

Listening to Diet, Drugs and Dopamine by David Kessler and I have another book to listen to

@Mamafromthebeach I’m a bit clueless about the mechanics of the injections. I’m not planning on doing so, but how do you take a half dose? Do you just turn it until you guess it’s halfway or count the clicks?

I’ve done my first ever injection this morning! I was a bit nervous about doing it, but it was easy. I took it out of the fridge 30 mins early, I had a good protein breakfast about 2 hours before and I sipped a litre of water before too. I went for a bit of a walk straight after and then did some housework.

Not really sure what signs to look out for. Did anyone feel anything straight away if you got side effects? Or does it take hours or days?

glad you have started @chocolatecoveredpretzels hope you have no side effects at all only weight
loss.

yes to dose a smaller amount, you don’t click all the way to the 1 - there are lots of charts about. I didn’t mention it earlier as although I really do need to lose weight I am at the moment focussed on joint pain and this is how my doctors have asked me to start. There is absolutely no reason for most to start lower than the recommended 2.5 ( which is already a low dose!). I will be back at a normal start dose in a week or so I expect.

anyway - hope you have a great first week!

@Mamafromthebeach thank you for explaining. Sorry for being nosy!!

I hope everyone else is having a great weekend and feeling good.

I made plans with friends for a trip in October, and we’re also talking about a trip abroad at Easter. I am excited about the idea of flying without the fear or discomfort of being too fat to fly! I’m also hoping I’ll be able to plan theme park trips without worrying about fitting on the rides.

I didn’t feel any different until later that night when I realised I had eaten too much. Felt bloated and very full all night. I’d eaten a Chinese meal but only about 1/3 of the meal and 1/2 the boiled rice.

you are doing the right thing by drinking water. I have to remind myself to do this as MJ suppresses thirst signals as well.

eat cleanly the first couple of days and avoid fatty or spicy food until you see if you can tolerate it.

for the first couple of morning after dose 1 I woke with a headache. Felt like a hangover but improved after drinking water before getting out of bed.

i felt a little queasy a couple of days after my second dose but now fine.

another symptom I noticed is my heart rate has been higher than normal and this affected my sleep for two weeks. I took magnesium glycinate last night and slept very well. Heart rate is more normal now.

It's a hot one today, so even more water needed than usual! I have a huge drinks bottle that hold 1400ml, so drink my way through that and try to do it twice in a day!!

I wondered if anyone would like my VERY easy recipe for making Greek Yoghurt? So much cheaper than shop bought and very thick and creamy. I've made it for years now but am really eating my way through it at the moment!

You need a slow cooker, a couple of big spoonfulls of a starter yoghurt (so one with live bacteria - after then, like sourdough, you just use a bit from the last time you made it) a big 4 pint bottle of whole milk and some kind of muslin / net straining bag to strain (the longer you strain it the thicker it gets) and a couple of old towels. I also use a little straining frame/ stand, but you can just tie the net to the tap over the sink!

1. Tip the whole bottle of milk into the slow cooker and put the cooker on high for three hours.
2. Turn the cooker off and leave it as it is for 2 hours to cool
3. Stir in a couple of really big tablespoons of your live yoghurt
4. Leave the cooker off and wrap it in a couple of towels to keep it warm.
5. Leave it overnight
6. Come down in the morning to semi-set yoghurt!
7. Strain it by hanging it over the sink or a bowl - the yellow whey should come out, leaving thick creamy yoghurt in the straining bag!
8. Jar it and will last in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

It makes about a litre of yoghurt!
You may have to play around a bit with timings depending on your own slow cooker. I start making mine about 4pm, so that the stage where it needs leaving is ready for overnight. Sometimes when I add the starter I do another quick 5 min boost if I think the cooker is too cool, but no more or you will end up with grainy cheese!
If it doesn't look like a semi-set yoghurt in the morning, don't bother straining and just eat it as a runnier yoghurt!

So first week weighing - have lost 1.1kg (2.5 lbs). My 2nd jab is tonight.

my husband who isn’t on the jabs but eating same food as me has lost 4kgs!

slightly miffed about that

@purplepie1 I’m the same as you- headaches for a day or 2 after jabbing. Also I did 2nd jab Friday night and am feeling a little nauseous and lightheaded today but nothing I can’t handle.

Hi all, I did my second jab yesterday and I have to say I am actually hungry all the time. I guess the food noise is a bit less but I wake up hungry and also now I am hungry (I will have dinner in one hour). Last time I was taking MJ (from April until end of June) I didn’t feel any hunger at all.
btw, in week 1 I have only lost half kilo so ridiculous. Why is not working?

I have a second appointment with my private GP tomorrow but I have ummed and ahhed so much that I don’t actually need another Kwikpen for two weeks 😁

still haven’t actually told my DH that I’ve started taking it…

@getawayfromme Do you think he’d be judgey about it?

I haven’t told any of my friends. I’m not sure I want them to know right now. I guess part of me is doing it as protection just in case it doesn’t work for me so I don’t feel like a failure.

Thank you! I ended up waiting until today as whatever virus it was seems to have passed thankfully. I took my first dose of 1.25 mg about 2 hours ago. I've been trying to stay busy so I don't over focus on every bodily sensation. Hoping to wake up tomorrow feeling ok, planning on having plain porridge for breakfast.

@MabelMoo23 I think if we all ate how we did on MJ we would still loose the weight like your husband has, but the MJ is for those who struggle to make it through the day eating/ snacking less. Don’t beat yourself up over this, some of us need that extra help to stop eating. For me, I’ve gone from drinking wine daily (awful calories), to going completely off alcohol. Without MJ I wouldn’t have been able to stop. I was having half a bottle every night and more at the weekends! Plus there’s other factors to it as well, does your husband have more to loose? We have hormones that slow down weight loss, periods, menopause etc. having children makes things harder too! I have 2 very young children so lack of sleep wasn’t helping me with weight loss. So many factors! You might loose more next week than your husband, things can change :) x

Weigh in day.

SW 14 st
CW 13 st 10.2lbs (-3.8lbs)
GW 12 st

A loss of 3.8lbs - very happy with this. I haven’t see 13 st on my scales for a very long time.

I’ve been dieting since the end of May this year and at most lost 2lb per week but a lot of weeks there was no change at all. I started at 14st 10lbs.

NSWs so far - down one cup size in my bra and two notches on my belt. Also the huge one today was I walked downstairs in bare feet and no pain. For a long time I have had to put on shoes before walking downstairs but still had a lot of pain.

my doctor's appointment is today. I have been tracking and focusing on protein (on and off for long time) but consistent last two days. I had a lot of walking this weekend and very sensible calorie deficit and high protein, fibre food - yet day 3 I am absolutely drained and starving. I am looking forward if the meds can take the edge off the hunger for me - although I probably won't get to start until later this week

On what dose are you @MiaN? If you are starving you have not much suppression?

I haven't started yet, my appointment is today. I am trying to give myself head start by counting for few days ahead sp or so be good to compare with any without the medication

I understand. I hope all goes well with you your appointment! It was a revelation for me when mounjaro kicked in and all the food noise and constant hunger vanished.

Hi! Can I join too? I took my fist dose of 2.5mg last Thursday.

SW 13 stone 4 lbs
GW 10 stone

I've been trying to lose weight for a while. I got down to 12 stone 9 lbs last year but it crept up again, although no idea how!

I've definitely noticed appetite suppression which I'm pleased about. But I'm a bit frustrated as I've realised I already ate pretty well - a typical day would usually be -
Breakfast: Poached egg and avocado on sourdough toast with spinach, garlic and sriracha sauce or Smoked salmon omelette again with spinach or Greek yoghurt with oats, chia seeds and berries.

Lunch: Either sardines on toast, Cottage cheese on rice cake or Tuna sandwich

Tea: Salmon and Mediterranean Veg (sometimes with some type of potato on the side), Lentil chilli, Ginger beef or Peanut Chicken with veg and brown rice/wholewheat noodles, Home made pizza, Spaghetti bolognaise, Fish pie with filo pastry and green beans

Snacks (Usually in the evening) Two squares of dark chocolate, nuts, sometimes some raisins. Mug of milk (sometimes hot cacao)

I gained most of my weight after having my daughter and she's 3 now. What I struggle with most is I have hypothyroidism and ME so my metabolism struggles with the thyroid and I'm too exhausted to exercise most of the time. If I can get a good week in where I make 30 - 40k steps then I tend to lose a few pounds. But those weeks are rare as we always seem to have a virus! Like now! But I still took the MJ as I didn't want to put it off any longer. I feel pretty rubbish energy wise but I can't tell if that's still the virus, MJ side effects, eating less or ME!

So far I've been able to just have scrambled eggs with no accompanying toast and smaller portions/no snacking so I'm hoping it's enough to make a difference. But I think I'll have to try and increase what I'm eating to be able to function on the my office day and day with my daughter. So I'm a bit worried. This is my last hope!

Forgot to say I'm also going to try and use the MJ to intermittent fast and so far it's been much easier to stave off eating until about 12pm. But then I seem to need to eat urgently and it doesn't seem to enough to stop an afternoon energy crash.

Welcome @Friedscrambledpoached!! I think for some people 2.5mg is an introductory dose and maybe your body needs to adjust?

Did you put you food into a calorie tracker like My Fitness Pal or Nutra Check, Yazio - to see how much protein you get to in a day? I think with Mounjaro you should aim for 1 gram of protein per kilogram of your bodyweight.