August 2026 starters (Thread 2!)

[chocolatecoveredpretzels]

Hi everyone and thanks for the bestowed honour of starting the new thread, Puzzled!

It’s so lovely to have all of you along for the ride on here. Thanks for keeping me company! I love reading how things are going for you and being able to ask questions or share things.

Yesterday, I tried on a fleece top I bought last year. It fit me so snugly last year, I looked like a burst sausage in its casing. Now it’s actually loose. My rings are starting to feel a bit loose too- I wear my mum’s engagement and eternity rings and on the cold mornings, they’re starting to slip down my fingers.

I’m down 1.9kg this week and, although I’m still feeling hungry, it’s not an all-consuming hunger that leads to binging. I’ve actually needed to add more food as what I’ve eaten today and yesterday ended up being 1300 calories and 1100 calories. Given that my watch is still estimating approx 3000 calories burned on a typical day at school, I know I need at least 1600 to have enough oomph. Is anyone else finding the same?

I’ll link this thread in the old one so everyone can find their way here.

Just taken jab 9 today - can't believe how long I've been taking this now! Still on 2.5mg. I've stayed the same this week 94.4kg, down from 104kg 8 weeks ago and 110kg at my heaviest last November. 9.6% off and 10kg down in 8 weeks seems pretty good to me but I also wish I'd just wake up skinny tomorrow!

Oh well - let's keep going! A mum at school mentioned that I'd lost weight this week which really surprised me as I can't see a difference and my clothes don't feel any different but something must be happening.
🤞

That’s really interesting….. What I’ve gleaned from my reading and listening so far is that the drugs work on multiple systems in the body, including directly in the brain on the appetite control centre. Maybe you are sensitive to that action, but not so much to the hunger control part? Just listened to a podcast which include a bit about people who don’t respond to e.g. semaglutide. The guy said, if someone doesn’t respond to that, there’s a good chance they will respond to tirzepatide. And if they don’t, then there’s this other thing (Amylin?) we can add, it’s super expensive, but some people need it.

iOW, we are all different (presumably genetic factors at play), he reckoned that in time they will be able to do genetic testing and prescribe exactly the right compound for each person.

Until then, there’s trial and error.

I’m back from holiday. A mixed bag really. I jabbed on the Wed before I went with a view to leaving the next one until I got back the following Friday.

However, mid hols I decided I needed a bit more time sitting in the sun doing naff all so I changed my flight and stayed another two nights! Didn’t even think about the MJ if I’m honest. So ended up with an 11 day gap.

I think I still had suppression - I only ever ordered one course and didn’t finish it. Maybe suppression, maybe body getting used to smaller portions?

Had long internal conversations with myself - so what IS food noise? Do we mean by that just hunger, or a preoccupation with food and eating, or a combination of the two? I rarely felt hungry, but I thought about food a lot. Am I hungry? Do I just want to go out for dinner because I’m on holiday?

Anyway. Gained 2lb - didn’t eat loads but was very lazy and sank a fair few glasses of wine. Will not be beating myself up as holidays.

Jabbed last night. Cautiously optimistic I’ll drop a lb easily as post-holiday bloat, but a whoosh week would be lovely. Need to restock the fridge tomorrow with the good stuff. New pen to be ordered - sticking at 5mg.

For me the suppression works, starting to wane a bit but having lost a stone the motivation to see this through is keeping me going. Last night went to Thorpe Park and there were so many nice food smells, didn’t feel the urge to buy anything though (mind you, at £13 for a tiny macaroni cheese I wouldn’t anyway!). Daughter bought a pack of doughnuts and left 2, I just had a piece of one of them. In the past I’d have eaten both despite not wanting them really, I no longer push past discomfort and really think about what I’m having.

@TinDogTavern here’s what I think: food noise is not the same as hunger. When you are hungry, eating fixes it, and then you are satisfied and don’t think about food for hours.

With food noise, I suppose being hungry will make it stronger, but it will be there anyway. Constant thoughts about food, urges to eat, arguing with myself about what and when and how much to eat etc, Hunger is physical, food noise is mental.

I got a lot of relief from food noise by switching to a low carb real food diet and avoiding specific foods which trigger me -the addictive ones, basically. And I got a lot more when I joined Overeaters Anonymous and worked the 12 steps. MJ has pretty much snuffed out the little that remained, but also reduced my appetite/hunger.

When you are hungry and need nourishment, it is appropriate to think about food. When you are well fed, it isn’t - unless for the purpose of planning the shopping etc. Food noise is the constant intrusive thoughts about food which come when you are not hungry and not planning the shopping!

Jab #9, moved up to 7.5mg this time. 0.8kg lost this week, that's a bit of a surprise as my weight has been absolutely rock solid all week and has dropped just in the last couple of days. Weird!

Start: 97.8kg
Now: 88.8kg
Not far from a nice round 10kg difference now. I think I can feel the change now too - so much easier to keep up with my kids walking now. That was a key thing which made me commit to this whole thing tbh - I am unlikely to ever have the fast-swimmer can-do-chin-ups physique of my youngest, but I CAN regain the ability to walk at her speed and have a conversation easily at the same time.

@PuzzledObserverthat makes a lot of sense thank you.

That’s a really good reminder to look at how clothes are fitting and how you’re feeling, not just the scales. If you’re regularly ending up around 1100–1300 calories while being that active, it makes sense to pay attention to getting enough food and protein rather than feeling like lower is automatically better

SW 97
W1-2.5kg
W2-2.4kg
W3-1.3kg
W4-0.9kg
W5-0.9kg
W6+0.2kg - holiday
W7-0.5kg
W8-0.9kg
W9-1.4kg
W10-1.3kg
CW-85.1kg

Sticking up 4 as dose. This will get me 5 weeks from my 5 pen and to be honest its working, I will move when I am ready. How time flies, it has been 10 weeks already! I wonder what stage and how further I will be in another 10 weeks!

Everyone is being so consistent! That has to be the difference mounjaro gives. I'm being consistent despite no loss on the scales for 2 weeks. I no longer feel like the Hulk in my work jackets though.

I'm also not sure of the difference between food noise and hunger/ appetite @PuzzledObserver I wonder if it's the emotional eating side rather than the big portions side? I know mounjaro works on both. It's almost like an alcoholic needing to know where and when their next drink will be.

@WombatCowgirl well the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous talks about alcoholism as “the allergy [abnormal response] of the body plus the obsession of the mind” and that strikes me as a pretty good description of what I experience as food addiction or compulsive eating.

Been a while since I posted and I cannot believe my progress! Mounjaro has changed my life. So still get anxious jabbing even after being on it for 3 months almost, especially now I have increased to a 5mg pen but only doing 45 clicks to make it 3.75mg, but after the side effects of diarrhoea and nausea just from that small increase I think I will stick to this dosage!

I started at 14 stone 7, this morning I weighed 13 stone 3! I have lost inches as well which I have shown in my progress. This stuff is magic! After having my second child back in July 2025, I have really struggled to lose the weight without MJ.

Would love to see more progress photos and others start weight/ measurements VS their current weight/ measurements! Hope everyone is doing well! X

I weighed in on Monday, and I had no change again, well 0.4Ib. Hardly worth mentioning, so I didn't.

But I weigh myself every day, which keeps me in check. On Monday I was 13st 5.6Ibs. I was disappointed, but I had a good 6 weeks when it didn't move at all, so I'm used to the disappointment 😉 I didn't weigh myself yesterday as I was working from home and in a meeting early. But this morning I got on the scales and it has dropped over a 1Ib. Now 13st 4.3Ib. I was so baffled, I stood on them 4 times as I thought I was hallucinating.

No idea how or why as I felt I had eaten more over the last couple of days as I bought sweets and I 'treated' myself to a petrol garage wrap thing on Monday afternoon as I was starving and getting petrol. I also ate the worlds biggest jacket potato on Monday evening.

But hey - a win is a win. I would love to drop another Ib by next Monday, as I go on holiday then for a week. It would be nice to feel pretty in my dresses.

My main thing is being able to get into skirts that used to be too big and then got too small and uncomfortable. I can now wear everything in my wardrobe, and some items look a little, dare I say ... big now. I love it.

Jumping on to share a non scale victory today. At a water park with my kids and my eldest wanted to go on one with a combined weight limit of 130 - last November I was 110kg so wouldn't have been able to do it with her as she is 25kg. Today I had the anxiety for a moment as I stood on the scales with her but so happy when the light pinged green! 93kg now and able to join in and spend that happy time with my daughter. This is the thing that gets me through the plateaus.

Amazing consistency from this thread - thank you all for sharing and keeping me motivated with your achievements!

Weighed today on my PT’s good mechanical scales, and I’m now 70.4 kg, which is a loss of 1.4 kg since my last weigh just before leaving for the US (October 6th, 71.8 kg). I am absolutely astonished I kept losing weight, especially given I missed a shot due to being away. The second week still had a small amount of suppression (although week one in the US was completely normal wrt suppression—I ate modestly & drank very little).

Still on 2.5 mg & staying on that dose for the foreseeable.

[Also all my conference clothes including my bespoke evening dress at the reception fitted beautifully—massive NSV.]

Ah that’s lovely! Must have been a good feeling. 😀

That's so nice! A proper real-life win 🥰

I'm definitely feeling the suppression on 7.5mg now - took me by surprise that I didn't want to finish my whole breakfast (which was already a small portion of granola). A teeny tiny bowl tomorrow, I think. I've not found it anywhere near that noticeable before.

This is what it’s all about! What a lovely little story and update to hear from one Mum to another ☺️ well done, keep going!

I am so unmotivated to do any exercise. We have dog, so my steps are consistent about 13000 steps on average. Some day more some day less but that's the solid average for the last 10 weeks.

I am going to start with only one track (2 basic lifts, 2 sets by 8 reps) from body pump heavy every morning to try to get in the zone again. I don't enjoy the dark mornings but I don't have much choice - I can sulk all I want, it will be another 5 months at least of this.

Love the improved family time @Mamatriesmounjaro.
Yes, this is what is it all about

Thank you all for such lovely comments! Now for a day at a theme park and getting 50k steps in 😂

Hope everyone is having a good week!

13,000 steps 😳Wow, that's a lot.

I have a desk job, so I am sat on my arse all day. I do walk the dogs in a private play field every day, but I generally only do about 4k steps maximum. If it's raining, that drops to about 100 😅

All this talk of steps is mystifying to me 😂 my watch just tells the time.

Another real-life win: I've just been to my local pharmacy for a flu jab. There I was filling in the form, and did not have to tick the box that said "are you in the higher risk category of BMI ≥40" 🎉

I feel I wishing my days away, waiting for the next day and next weight in. I need to figure out how to snap out of it - but it's so nice to be confident in the direction of how things are going. I am going to the doctor today. Please, no remarks about getting free medication! I am not, it's not covered at all in Ireland - I pay for both the doctor and the meds! Even if I was, I find remarks on the topic very off. Surely people who can't afford it and need it should be also able to get it? Not the case in Ireland, but it isn't a good thing.

Anyway, I will have my blood tests and script for 3 or 6 months and I am looking forward chatting to him as I know he will be very happy with the result.

@MiaN I relate to waiting for the next day and the next weigh-in. I am always impatient to get to the next mini-milestone, if I get on the scale and haven’t quite got there yet, I feel a bit disappointed, but then encouraged that at least I am closer to it. So I gird my loins and think - right, another few days, or a week, or a couple of weeks. At the back of my mind, I recognise this isn’t entirely healthy and it would be better to focus on other things…… because what happens when I get there? Where will all that getting-there energy go instead?

So, as an antidote, I try to focus on the here and now. I look at all the good things in life - and notice how many of those have come or got better because of my past weight loss. I am down over 6 stone, my body is radically different and can do so much more now. On the other side - I only have just over a stone and a half to go to reach my nominal target weight. That will still be a noticeable difference, I expect - but not a radical one.

So really, all the things which motivated me to lose the weight, all the things I wanted to be able to do, I can pretty much do now. So I may as well get on with enjoying them. I am no longer waiting for my life to start….