Ozempic - For those of us a few months in

[Lndnmummy]

Hi all, thought I would create a designated space outside of the newbie zone for those of us who are in it for the long haul and are a few doses, stone, months down the road.

@Karmakamelion We mainly have green chef meals atm, so have a meal plan by default, but even when we don't I do meal plans. I've learned over the last few months just how convenient something like Green Chef is and how far I'd previously strayed from having healthily portioned food. So on non-GreenChef weeks I try to replicate it. I adjust any recipes for 2 people then put into a wordpress file (or you could use a word doc), I make shopping lists from the recipes and then use those mesh food bags, put the ingredients int them pre-measured and put them in the fridge. Then in the day all I need to do is open up the recipe, pull out the right bag and cook. It sounds a faff but actually after the first couple of weeks doesn't take long and saves time of time in the evenings.

As the weather gets warmer we'll do our usual of changing to eating protein/leaf salad/anti-pasti/dressing which is kind of a perpetual meal plan in itself.

I did my first 1mg on Sunday and have felt hungrier this week?! I’ve found it easy to stop eating when full but have been waking up hungry which hasn’t happened much when I was doing 0.5mg twice a week. I have been more active, been doing about 12,000 steps a day with being out and about with the kids. Weigh day tomorrow so we’ll see!

Have you tried the Glucomannan complex . It really helps me as the injection starts to wear off I take two as soon as I wake up and two at lunchtime and it staves off the hunger on days. 5 ,6 and 7. Price is good with the half price offer.

I forfgot to say you need to drink lots of water with the Glucomannan complex and manual Say both e Ozempic and Glucomannan have a tendency to cause constipation.
I have found as long as you drink lots of water it regulates and there are no loose motions that others report.

@Beenalongwinter thank you I take the glucomannan from Holland and Barrett which does help but it’s just weird feeling hungrier again. I get hungry but get very full when eating very quickly so it is working in reducing my calorie intake.

How have people found the support group done by Manual? Is it useful?

The support group is very helpful, as is this group. My coach talks about the steady state your body reaches after a couple of months, very interesting.

Thanks @Beenalongwinter I like the thought of the coach/support.

Trip Report!
It's the end of my 7th week on Ozempic, my 8th injection is later tonight. I've lost a total of 7.6kg, of body fat (I've increased my muscle a little too after an initial decrease in the first 3 weeks). As bonus there's 7cm off my waist + other measument loses🤸🤸🤸

I'm eating lowish carb (80-150g/day), high fibre, lots of fish, SEA stuff, curries, soups, laksas etc and veggies/salad and around 1200-1400 calorises/day. I IF 16/8 but not rigorously. All not too different from how I'd normally eat but smaller portions.

The biggie for me is no bread other than flatbread bacon sarnies for a weekend breakfast. I bloody love good bread and had fallen into the routine of baking it twice a week and eating it daily sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, it's like crack to me 😞

Yoga, swimming and walking for exercise. I've rediscovered my love for yoga which I've done for 30+ years, I'm now back to doing an hour Ashtanga a day and it's making a huge difference to my wasted leg muscles (ACL, PCL & meniscus damage a couple of years ago; the start of my weight gain). I feel much stronger and much less stiff than I did 7 weeks ago

So for 6 months BO (Before Ozempic) I managed to average a scant .2kg/week with iron, and unsustainable discipline, Ozempic has allowed me to lose .8kg/week with a modicom of discipline which I think is sustainable long-term. I'm really happy with my progress.

Well done @mumwheresmyribena that's brilliant progress!

Has / is anyone experiencing any light-headedness? I am when I bend down then stand up. I'm week 4 at the moment and the 0.25ml dose is working amazingly. I've lost 10lbs and for quite a few meals am actually having to force myself to eat. This morning I woke up feeling hungry but by the time I made some breakfast (2 scrambled eggs on 1 piece of toast) I couldn't finish it. Wondering if perhaps I'm inadvertently restricting my calories too much? Anyone else experiencing this?

That's amazing progress! I definitely need to start adding some exercise in!

Excellent progress @mumwheresmyribena. I really need to add in exercise. Any exercise!

@pinkorchid1 - yes I’ve been lightheaded a few times. Haven’t tracked it to anything in particular but assume is blood sugar related.

@pinkorchid1 The only time I've felt lightheaded was when I'd been swimming, got carried away and did my first 100 lengths. I got really shaky and lightheaded and had to break out my emergency babybel on the way home 😂 Have you tried eating more regularly but smaller, even tiny amounts to keep your blood sugar level, I sometimes just have a babybel, a banana, a handful of blueberries or some almonds for "lunch". You could also get yourself a blood sugar monitor and see if you're dropping too much/too quickly????

@pinkorchid1 I was getting light headed on the tube home from work. I'm sure it's because I hadn't eaten enough, so I started taking an apple with me which sorted me out.

@peridot @mumwheresmyribena
Yes of course it must be blood sugar related . Not sure why that didn't occur to me. I was thinking low blood pressure or something. I definitely will start eating more regularly. I've pretty much cut out snacking completely as the cravings have gone, but will try adding in little snacks like Babybel and almonds as you suggest. Thanks!

That's great. I just want to mention that mine are not snacks, I don't really snack except for emergency babybels after gym. The babybel, banana etc IS my "lunch" or whatever. I put it in inverted commas because I know it's not a real meal, but it's in there because I need to eat something. I'm not starving myself I do eat (and eat well) but I don't usually need or want to eat 3 actual sit-down meals a day so the banana IS breakfast or lunch as long as it isn't a high GI carb or something overly sweet like a meal bar (even if they're low sugar, they make me want sweet things) and doesn't make my blood sugar swing it's fair game to me.

I’m quite often light headed, it’s definitely a blood sugar thing. I lost 4lb this week! Not expecting that every week but I’m now just overweight not obese! 1st 9lb to go.

@Prettybubblesintheair wow 4lbs that's great! Yes after 3 weeks I've now dropped to the overweight from obese category! Feels good

Well done! Definitely feels like a new milestone. I’ve gone from morbidly obese this time last year and now I’m “just” overweight!

I'm sometimes light headed when I stand up too quickly. I feel great otherwise so not concerned.
I think this is blood sugar related or not drinking enough which is causing a slight postural drop.
You could try adding some electrolyte drinks and/or eating more regularly.

That's fantastic progress. Well done!
You sound similar to me and I pretty much eat and live the same way!
I couldn't fast at the beginning but now four months in I've gone back to fasting and feel great.
I follow Mindy Pelz (Fast Like A Girl) and only fast at certain times of the month for hormone health and this has really helped with energy levels.
I started on December 28th and have lost just over 2 stone. I was only just in the obese category and I'm now at the end of the normal weight category.
I'm staying on this a bit longer (as recommended) to install behaviour change but I'm not far off at will stop in June or before if needed.
This has been a total game changer for me. I'm so happy.

Weigh in day, and I've lost another kilo this week, making 7.5 in total in just over a month. I'm so happy, I know you all get it.

Thanks to PP who recommended the Zoe podcast, I found it really helpful. I also read something on Reddit the other day about the idea of being on this drug indefinitely along the lines of...you wouldn't have a problem with taking heart medication or anti depressants long term as they are treating a long term condition, so why have a problem with using semaglutide to treat obesity, which for many is a long term condition? It made me think slightly differently about it.

@Cozytoesandtoast00 That's a great result. A 2 stone loss would take me quite a way into the overweight category, for which I'd be very grateful.
I've never heard of Mindy Pelz, I'll look her up. I just realised m that the "must eat breakfast" message was working against both weight and well-being for me. So I reverted to the pattern I had from my late teens to my 40s, eat dinner, don't eat afterwards and don't eat until mid to late morning or later. It just seems to suit me and my lifestyle.

I totally agree with you. The "installing behavioural changes and patterns" part of Ozempic is very important. And although I've only seen a couple of references to it, I personally I believe it can help reset your personal set point too; I'm a big fan of Andrew Jenkinson's Why We Eat (Too Much) book. So I will come off Ozempic when I reach my goal and hope that keeping my current regime will keep my within a normal range

That being said, I must certainly won't be afraid to restart it if my weight starts to climb again despite my best efforts. @SilkySuky This last couple of years of ill-health have taught me that I can't afford not to.

Exactly!
Thinking about what works for you behaviour wise will really assist in keeping the weight off. I'm reviewing my relationship with sugar as this was a real problem for me and the main reason I put on so much weight. I also feel so much better when I cut out the sugar.
I really resonated with Why We Eat To Much too. It makes complete sense. I pretty much follow his recommended way of eating whole foods and restricting sugar. I just need to keep it up when I stop Ozempic!
I won't fear going back on it though. Just hoping I won't need to.