I'm starting saxenda this week.

[Saxendastarter]

I'm 33.

I'm 1m68 (5ft6)

I don't actually know what I weight and I got rid of my scales last year when getting on them just made me cry every time and I was just too depressed to even try and start loosing weight - I have ordered scales and will weight myself tomorrow.

However last time I weighed myself nearly a year ago I was 94kg (14st 11) and I know that I have gained since then.

I started gaining weight the beginning of covid, before 2019 my very highest weight had been 68kg ( 10st10) and my normal weight had been round 62kg for most of my adult life, so I have massively put on weight over these last four years. (Separation, depression, stress at work, and just general giving up).

My body is ruined by stretch-marks and my boobs that used to be great are now just swollen and saggy and stretch marked.

I'm really depressed by my weight and have decided its time to do something about it.

I have an office job and I'm not at all active.

I've tried to start making small changes, walking to the underground instead of getting the bus, getting the stairs up the one flight to my office instead of the lift but everything feels like a struggle and I have such awful thigh chaffing that walking is often excruciatingly painful.

I how I need to make a change because on top of it being so unhealthy being so over weight just makes me so upset. I've stopped going out as much and have just retreated into a shell.

I also have an appointment with a psychologist tomorrow.

I decided last month that enough is enough and I need to do something about it all.

I've started using face cream, and am finally having laser on my very very hairy thighs and - the point of this thread - I'm going to start saxenda tomorrow.

I thought I'd journal here.

Hi @Saxendastarter , don’t beat yourself up . It’s done and in the scheme of things it wasn’t even that big a binge. The silhouette outline picture you posted the other day was lovely and this little fall of the wagon isn’t going to change that . Don’t let it be a reason to carry on bingeing as is alway tempting once you blown it for a day . Your job sounds so hard , mine is too but in a different way so I know how being stressed at work can affect what we eat . I’ve filled my face more than once in an angry rage over work . I hope you find a solution , keep up the good work to loose the weight you want to make you happy , and to continue to keep us all enthralled at your rather beautiful life. We are all invested in you . 💐

So many spelling errors in that post ! I’m peeking at MN between patients and posted in a hurry . 🤦‍♀️

@Saxendastarter that doesn't sound too bad in the great scheme of things. I'm a real binger too and when I'm heading for a binge I do a deal with myself and allow certain things such as the low sugar/low carb chocolate bars you can get here. I think they're called grenade bars but not sure if you get them in France. Or a big bowl of raspberries and whipped cream with sliced almonds sprinkled over the top. That way my blood sugar is less affected as the carbs are pretty low and it doesn't lead to further cravings.

Weigh in today as I have been on it a week. I didn’t think it had made much difference to my appetite, but I’m down 2kg compared to this time last week.

Couldn’t eat my dinner last night and vomited due to reflux pain, was having this before I started Saxenda though, though it won’t be helping. So have been taking some reflux meds to help.

I am not calorie counting at the moment, more eating with my appetite and trying to make healthier choices. I have done calorie counting before and I find it makes me obsessed with food. I’m hoping the Saxenda makes my appetite smaller though in order to lose the weight.

Don't beat yourself up OP, it's happened, you're still with us and tomorrow is another day. You have really inspired me with your weightloss so far and I love reading about your life. Thank you for sharing with us - we've all had off days, they don't have to define us.
Your job does sound so very full on.

My first day on the jab and I feel drained but I reckon that's probably down to the hideous hayfever I've battled all day. I only left the house to do the nursery run and have felt rotten all day, not even 3,000 steps achieved. Old me would have been reaching for unhealthy snacks but since I started focusing on avoiding UPF more I've improved my snacking game and went for some cherries instead - I refuse to let hayfever wreck my weightloss attempts this year. I had yoghurt for breakfast and then wasn't hungry again til 4pm, had half a cup of tomato and lentil soup to tide me over until spaghetti bol at 7pm, smaller portion than I'd usually have as sense of taste has been poor today so didn't feel the usual desire to eat more as it's so tasty.

Have checked my measurements for the first time - been avoiding it as I know I won't like the figures. 38 under bust / 40 waist / 48 inches hips - depressing but there we are, hopefully will measure a bit smaller by the end of the summer.

@upanddownandupanddown I'm like you, calorie counting / logging food makes me obsessive so I'm just focused on reducing my portion sizes and making better choices - I have to accept I can't have biscuits or ice cream in the house or I'll scoff them.

Day 59

Binged some more after my last post so today is just bad bad bad. So angry with myself. So fed up and frustrated with work and angry at myself for taking it out on food and harming myself and sense of self even more.

Tomorrow is another day.

Thanks all for your support but today is just too much for me, I'm just out of my last meeting and the next one is in 7 hours so I'm going to shower and try and sleep.

First two meetings of the morning down.

Thanks all @Everdecreasingcircumferences @Pineapplepansy @Footgoose for your support yesterday! I was having a rough day... I'm working from home today and will try and take the time to go for a lunchtime walk to clear my head. And then this evening is fete de la musique but I'm honestly so exhausted I don't know if I'll make it out.

I'm also missing FPOTM more than I thought I would and realizing that he is my sounding board for a lot of work related issues too as he intrinsically understands them. Another 2 people have resigned from work so as of 20th of September FPOTM and I was be the last (wo)men standing apart from our CEO from the original team. I'm trying to be kind to myself and treat this as proof that I'm not a failure for feeling so exhausted and overwhelmed at work but that it is genuinely a shit/toxic environment. There is this whole sort of thing of being proud of my company and being utterly exhausted at the same time. It's just too much. Since starting Sax I've been taking weekends off which is nice but also means that I just feel like I'm having to sprint through the whole week and makes Mondays particularly horrific because I have to everything I used to do on Saturdays and Sundays ...

I have a dinner party on Friday ( cooking at a friends but not hosting at mine) and a plant sale ( excited about this - its Paris city gardening department that sells off all their spare plants for tiny tiny prices but you need to enter a lottery to get a ticket and this year after 7 years of trying I got three tickets :-) )

Other than that I don't have plans for this weekend so I'm going to try and catch up with a backlog of personal paperwork I've got to do and work on updating my CV. I think once I've done that and spoken to some recruiters I'll start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

@Everdecreasingcircumferences well done for the first day - hay fever is so rough I suffered awfully as a child but it just sort of stopped round 22/23 ish. I hope the exhaustion gets better.

@upanddownandupanddown Good luck with the relfux! 2kg is great going.

@Pineapplepansy Thanks, the shop was my downfall, I just picked up loads of shit ( nutella bars, marshmallows, biscuits, abricot juice etc etc I think as sort of rage shopping after leaving the office) - I normally don't have any processed food at home ...I've never been a fan and only eat plain dark black chocolate or chocolate from actual chocolatier store so no chocolate bars here but ... from time to time I just want artificial sweet carbs and go crazy even though I don't actually like the taste.

@Footgoose You're so right about it being rage eating! Thats exactly it. I have to be so controlled and polite and proper at work and spend quite a bit of time internally screaming ... and yesterday the rage came out during the shop and the rest of the way home, I didn't even wait to get home to start stuffing the marshmallows into my mouth ...
Also as a dentist/hygienist/dental nurse/orthodontist/someone who wears dental scrubs and is I imagine quite close to peoples mouths .... how on earth do you deal with people with really bad breath ? It's something I really can"t stand. What are your little tricks?

@Saxendastarter . I’m a hygienist . On a course today so bit of a chill day for me . How I deal with bad breath? Weirdly , I don’t mind the smell at work , almost like it as I know I’m going to get stuck in . Outside of work , it makes me want to get my tepe brushes out and hand them over to the offender but I can’t because I’m usually related to them . 😂

@Footgoose I have no issues telling people they should brush their teeth if they're family ;-) ! It's meetings with smelly breath dudes that really get to me . In France we also have the cheek kiss habit which means you have to get up close and personal to far too many people on a daily basis. And being opposite someone with bad breath in the metro is soul destroying!

So good news - I haven't managed to hold of Saxenda - but I've just managed to order Victoza ( a rose by any other name would smell as sweet... ) which should tide me over until Saxenda is back in stock - hopefully mid July here - I've reserved at a pharmacy I know here now I have a prescription and the pharmacist said he would text me as soon as they managed to get some but that he has honestly no hope before second/third week of July.

I think a lot of my angst yesterday was also related to realizing I only had one pen of Saxenda left in the fridge... I'm not ready to do weight loss without the help of Liraglutide/semiglutide whatever yet ... maybe one day but not yet. Feeling a lot more positive now knowing that the pens are en route.

Glad you have managed to restock @Saxendastarter . Re bad breath guys, carry round a packet of tepe brushes ( interdental brushes ) , next time you meet one , drop them a brush and smile and say they will thank you later … I wish I had the nerve to do this outside of work .

Wow, lucky I'm working from home, there has been a massive explosion ( gaz ) in Paris just next to my campus, colleagues are slacking photos, no one from our part hurt but transport back would have been a pain because the secteur is being shut off ... it's crazy!

Posting a lot here today but posting instead of binging - the craving hasn’t passed yet.

about to head out for summer solstice fête de la musique and practising trying to accept what I look like in pictures.

Love the dress! You look great!!!

Hola!! Back from Spain and feeling rather tired! May or may not brave the scales tomorrow.

@Saxendastarter I love your dress. And you carry your weight very well. You don't look half as big as what the scales tell you and that's a plus!

I've skimmed every post but I'm so tired I've already forgotten what I wanted to say :(

Some of you are having amazing losses. It's all very exciting. I haven't lost much (it was 4 weeks yesterday) but I've had two holidays so I won't fret just yet. I've decided I'll move between 0.9 and 1.2 and see how I get on because staying on 1.2 was driving me crazy with constipation and I can't live like that! I'm scared of going higher and never going to the loo again!

Thanks @Sotiredmjmmy ! Welcome back @CiderJabs !

I made a lot of bad food choices yesterday again - I'm honestly feeling very down and exhausted and trying to snap out of it but it's just hard. I just want to go to bed until the end of the week. At least I've now finished all the nutella biscuits so none of them are left.

Day 59

Breakfast
Black Coffee
Orange juice
Nutella bars

Lunch :
Massive amount fo Chicken and Feta, some salad

Snack
Nutella bars
Marshmallows

Supper:
1 white wine spritz
1 rosé Piscine
Cheese crepe

Happy Thursday everyone, though I thought yesterday was Thursday and was a day out with a Birthday.

@Saxendastarter The colour & shape of that dress is beautiful, and really suits you. Sorry to hear you are having a few down days, hope today is better- 1 day and its le week end! I was told once that you need to think of your body as a fine luxury car, if you had a flat tyre- you wouldn't go round and puncture the other three. You make a little detour, put your new tyre on and head back onto the road. Sending you best wishes & all my positive thoughts.

@CiderJabs Welcome home- hope you have had a lovely holiday.

@Footgoose That made me laugh. It reminds me about having to have a difficult conversation with a team member about awful BO & personal hygiene. I hope never again.

@Everdecreasingcircumferences Good luck for your first week. the symptoms do get better.

@upanddownandupanddown Congratulation on the loss.

Have a great day everyone.

I'm back from holidays! Got back yesterday morning. This morning I braved the scales. Before I left I was 15st 12, and today was 16st 0.5 so I'm pretty pleased with that.
I did eat what I wanted - but what I wanted was lots of chicken and salad. I did also eat a lot of chips too 🤣 and ice cream! I found I was eating when not hungry simply because that was eating time. I definitely ate a lot higher calorie stuff anyway.
Now I'm back, I'm back to normal in terms of appetite, so this morning I didn't want to eat, yesterday came in around 1200 cals. I've managed a mugshot and tangerine for lunch and feel full from that. So I'm happy that a week of higher cal foods hasn't broken the saxenda spell for me. I was prepared to increase the dose, but I don't think I'll need to as I've been able to switch right back to my old "new" way of eating 🙌.
Will be interesting to see the scales over this next week. I've very swollen feet thanks to being bitten and the flight. I reckon they weigh a pound a piece 😆.

Hi everyone! Sorry I've had a bit of a break, but just caught up on everything

@Saxendastarter sorry about the binging episodes, that feeling after a binge is just the worst. I feel your pain and I'm sending you a big virtual hug. Binging is what got me to my heaviest weight. Its such a hard cycle to get out of it, but you've been doing absolutely fantastic the past 10 weeks. It happened, you acknowledged it, now you can pick yourself up and move on. See it as a learning curve. I love @Glorfindels quote about the luxury car 😊

So glad you weren't in the office when the gas explosion happened! What a stroke of luck, glad you are safe. It looks terrible.

Absolutely love your dress you look fantastic!

@ThisMustBeMyDream hope you had a lovely holiday! That's really good, I bet the water retention has something to do with it being slightly higher too.

I've had a bit of a weird week this week! I've felt totally exhausted, I'm hungry at the normal times but just don't fancy eating anything, I could very easily just not eat all day (I don't do that), has anyone else found their taste buds have changed and certain things you've eaten/drank for years suddenly just don't taste nice? I've bought the same orange & pineapple diluting juice from Aldi for yeaaaars and all of a sudden, I just can't stomach it 😂I've gone off cheddar cheese too, which my lactose intolerance is thanking me for!

I've had to slow the running right back this week too which is unfortunate as I'm really enjoying it, but I've had a really painful knee all week. However, I have been sooo mentally and physically tired this week, I don't know if it's from the sax or just life catching up with me.

The weekend is in sight! I was ready for it on Monday at 9:05am 😂

Have a good day all

Hey all,

I'll post later but Ive just had a thought - I wonder if I injected properly these last 3 days because I switched where I was injecting (thighs to arm) - I switched back to thigh this morning and 1) the cravings have gone 2) I have an awful headache like the first days I started Saxenda .....

I've no idea re site of injection. I've done it on my stomach from day 1 and just move the place every day. I don't have any bruises but it does sting sometimes! What has made you move to your arm?

I can't remember who asked about steps? When I started tracking, I had my goal at 6k rather than 10 as I felt I'd just fail and give up. I had a new Fitbit and turned on the activity reminders which tell you to do 250 steps an hour, and that made me do a few more than I would have normally done.
Nowadays I do 2 school runs most days and they give me 3k steps each. I've made it a rule that I will only drive if it's raining or if I have something else to do. I work from home and have set up my office on the second floor so that forces me up and down the stairs a lot for drinks / toilet / door etc.

I hate going for walks just to get steps, like you I don't have the time and get frustrated. I do love it when I do a cardio class at the gym as that gives around 7k steps in 45 min so it's a double bonus.

Haven't braved the scales post holiday. I feel bloated and constipated again so I'll give it a day or two.

@Saxendastarter Just a guess but do you think you could have caught a muscle in your arm? My lay understanding is that the Saxenda is metabolised more quickly in muscle and may not have the longer lasting effects. Possibly may explain why symptoms returned when you went back to a better injection site.

@BinnityBoo Yes, totally off sweet stuff (cake), coffee & red wine. Which I used to live for. Craving tomatoes strangely!

Day 61 (typo in last post)

Breakfast
Black Coffee
water

Lunch :
greek yogurt and jam
5 marshallows
water
herbal tea

Snack
5 Marshmallows

Supper:
1 beer
cold pea soup
fromage blanc and sugar
museli bar
raspberries

@Saxendastarter that is interesting about the injection site. I have read of others having similar issues with where they inject. I'd be interested to know how the next few days are for you. Also, your employer sounds utterly shit. I can totally see why you want to leave, and why you also want to comfort eat!!

@BinnityBoo I haven't gone off anything as such, things still taste the same, but I haven't wanted certain things at all, like chocolate. Given I am not restricting myself mentally, I'm not sure where the lack of desire for it has come from! I love chocolate ordinarily 🤷‍♀️. I just look at it and go "meh". No joy from it... 🫣.

Something that has really pleased me this evening was when I went to the supermarket post work to grab something for dinner... I found myself happily browsing the food and making choices on what I wanted - without thinking oh that's too high in syns, or I can only have x amount of that. I felt free. Free to eat the foods I wanted, knowing that I now have the ability (thanks to Saxenda!) to eat a normal amount and stop when I'm full, and feel satisfied. So I had a jacket potato with cheese, coconut and mango chilli chicken, and a leafy salad with a nice vinaigrette dressing. It was probably around 700cals give or take but given I'd only had a mugshot for lunch and a tangerine, I was still well within cals for the day and didn't need to worry about how much I was eating. I've had some cherries and nectarines too to boost my cals and vitamins etc. I just feel free to make choices on what I want. It's liberating. I can make healthy choices without feeling deprived, without needing to think about syns, without thinking about weighing and measuring all the time. I would honestly stay on saxenda for life if this lasted.

@Saxendastarter That's so interesting about your arm - it must be a relief to know there was a reason for the sudden bingeing, I'm glad you got to the bottom of it. I think you look lovely in that dress!

Those struggling with the loo, I am finding the magnesium gummies really help (a bit too much sometimes - I don't take them every day anymore). The brand is Nutrigums and I got them on Amazon.

The scales seem to be moving ever so slowly here. I'm tracking all my calories and even on the days when I really feel I've eaten a lot, I'm still only at around 1500 calories, and I've been doing a load of exercise too. I do feel a lot slimmer though ... until I catch sight of myself in the mirror and the reflection doesn't match how I feel 🙈

@BinnityBoo Great to see you ( read you). I hope the exhaustion passes soon. I don't think my tastebuds have changed .... but less into alcohol for sure. Can't wait for the weekend.

@Glorfindels I think you might be right - thats FPOTM take as well. I stopped injecting thighs because I have little bruises at the top of my thighs... but I'm back doing thighs.

@ThisMustBeMyDream I really understand wht your saying about food chatter.

@Radish12 What did you say ? Have you been taking about pooing or lack of ;-) ?

@CiderJabs I hope you enjoyed your holidays I'm going to follow your lead and not weigh this week because I don't feel like it and I know I'm going to be dissapointed so there is no point. I'll do next week and average out.