Personal trainer vs mounjaro

[Helpmeloseweightpls]

Hi, I've name changed as it feels like quite a vulnerable post.
I've always struggled with my weight - I'm from a naturally very slim family and growing up I was 'sporty but solid' but my weight was constantly commented on so I felt huge. As a teen I spent a year basically starving myself to gain my families approval, went off to uni and gained a lot of weight and have struggled with my weight ever since. (And have never really developed a healthy relationship with food).
I know I have an obsessive personality, it makes me passionate about my job and hobbies but I'm scared of falling back into old obsessive food habits.
I'm active (active hobbies & job, an easy 30k steps a day) but obese, my relationship with food is the best it's been because I basically put it to the back of my mind which means while I don't eat terribly I'm also not super restrictive and must eat more calories than I should otherwise I would have lost weight by now.
I've had a slight pay increase at work, enough to justify either a personal trainer or mounjaro but I don't think I could afford both. I'd love to hear people's thoughts and experiences.
Thank you

People on mountjaro but who don’t exercise lose a lot of muscle and end up a bit soft looking. You’ll need to do both if you go down that route.

id advise trying the exercise route first with a focus on strength training and then fall back to mountjaro if you can’t stick to the diet side

It’s not a one or the other situation. I would pay for Mounjaro, eat properly and do free exercise for now.

If you need to eat less without sliding into obsession over calories then MJ will help with that more than a PT. You're already active, and like pp said, you can up your exercise and strength training yourself. Lots of us on MJ do.

Plenty of people do track calories in MJ but you don't have to. I just ballparked and focused on the right types of food. Protein, fibre and good fats etc. Because of how MJ works you don't need to think (ie obsess) about eating less, it'll just happen.

I've lost 6.5 stone without needing a PT and, err, no, I don't look "soft". 😉😐

This is really helpful thank you. I wasn't planning on just eating rubbish 😂 but calorie counting just sends my brain crazy - I can't help but keep reducing calories to an unhealthy point it's good to know on mounjaro you can focus on types of food rather than calories.

I chose Mounjaro and have lost half my body weight without calorie counting. I have increased exercise although I don’t weight train. I have not lost lots of muscle and I don’t look “soft”.

I would go with the Mounjaro and buy some a set of dumbells and search on youtube for beginner HIIT works outs with weights.

This is the route l went down. I never miss a training session but if l do, l fit it in at another time so l get 3 x weights sessions in a week no excuses. I also swim 2/3 times a week and walk as much as possible too. Whole body shape has changed and am 3/4 of the way to my target weight - feel fantastic.

Get on MJ and increase workouts too. Strength training.

Mounjaro all day every day. Exercise doesn’t significantly help with weight loss when you’re obese, you need to sort out your calorie intake, your relationship with food. The bonus is once you’ve lost a bit of weight exercise becomes much easier. I’m almost a year on Mounjaro and I’ve lost over 5 and a half stone. I now actually want to exercise because it doesn’t feel so hard and so horrible. The jab has transformed my relationship to food. I tracked calories at first but now I don’t have to. I definitely don’t look soft either! Best of luck with whatever you choose.

I’d also do mounjaro and work out without a personal trainer, you can use online support.

the bottom line is exercise is important but it won’t help you lose weight, as the saying goes you can’t outrun your fork.

Now I have been on Mounjaro, exercise has been a lot easier. In your shoes I would pay for Mounjaro to get the weight down, focus on healthy eating the moment you start MJ and do the exercise and particularly strength training from cheaper resources like couch to 5k or you tube videos at the same time.

Then review after 6 months when you can see progress.

You know what they, you can’t out run a bad diet. You sound pretty active anyway so I would say the input is the part I would focus on

You already sound very active so I’d do MJ first, make sure you’re continuing to be active, start strength training at home, and then you could transition to a PT who may help with maintenance?

you say you are obese so I would go for MJ. Exercise is not so helpful for losing weight and while the PT can do you a meal plan, you are saying yourself that it won't be easy to stick to it.
You should definitely also lift weights not to lose muscle mass, but just gym and free resources (there are a ton of apps and videos, and ChatGPT can be very helpful) will work there.

Exercise is without doubt the best thing for health. It is really not useful for weight loss. The sheer amount of exercise required to lose a single pound of weight, makes it a pretty impractical way to lose.
MJ every time. Lose the weight and exercise at home with youtube, AI workouts, buy some weights . You don’t need the gym.

Thanks everyone that's really helpful.
I'm going to go the mounjaro route but look into some strength training at home. I know people never believe it when you're obese but I am very active and compete in active sports (one of many motivations to lose weight as I feel it holding me back) so am not worried too much about losing muscle

Lol I’ve ruffled some feathers with my “soft” comment. The fact is that quick weight loss does result in muscle loss as well as fat loss, so it’s essential to continue weight training to retain the muscle

if everyone here is saying you’re strength training then great, clearly you’re not soft. It is essential to avoid that sort of baggy look though

To be fair, I've lost 9 stone with MJ and exercised throughout and I still look a bit 'baggy'. That's just what you get when you have that much to lose, unless you have superb genetics. However, I expect it could have been a lot worse had I not also been training.