Hi everyone, It's been a while since I updated as I have been busy busy!! I had a reduced effect from middle of the second dose onwards and notice way more food noise and cravings, scales were up and down in a stall for a few weeks. Moved up to 1mg (dose 3) after the 2nd month and it has improved a bit thankfully, but I still haven't got the strength of suppression I had on the initial dose or the lessening of craving to the same extent either. I presume its partially the fact that my body is getting used to the drug. I am down 8.1kg in 9 weeks and delighted with that progress. I still mostly feel like I've lost nothing.....feel the same in the mirror etc. But I know that's dysmorphic and that soon I will start to see it ....and others might notice too soon! Off to work our school tour today traipsing around a field all day with 50kids ....and have a LITTLE less dread about doing so with 18 less pounds to drag around with me!

It was interesting to interview New Zealand GP Dr Marcus Hawkins recently about his journey from traditional medical practice to advocating low-carb, ketogenic nutrition. He discusses the impact of diet on metabolic health, the failure of conventional guidelines, and innovative approaches to reversing conditions like diabetes and fatty liver, emphasizing the importance of historical and cultural dietary patterns. And of course GLP-1s came up ! https://youtu.be/oe9uksieceM?is=u2SKQ1k1GonZzsIp

I think fasting and going low carb while using Mounjaro can sometimes be a mistake. That does not mean either approach is automatically bad. Some people genuinely enjoy fasting and others feel better eating fewer carbs. But there is a difference between choosing an eating style that suits you and forcing yourself into another extreme diet because you believe you need to be as strict as possible. Mounjaro already reduces hunger and food noise. For me, one of its biggest benefits is that it gives us the chance to move away from the approaches that repeatedly failed us before. We should not need to combine it with tiny calories, long periods without food, cutting out entire food groups or feeling guilty whenever we eat something we enjoy. A lot of us have followed those plans before. We managed them for a few weeks or months and lost some weight. Then life happened, we could not maintain the restrictions and we eventually returned to our old habits. That is how we risk wasting the opportunity Mounjaro gives us. The goal should not be to lose as much weight as possible in the shortest amount of time. It should be to build a way of eating that still works when life gets busy, when we go out for dinner, when we have a holiday and when we eventually reduce or stop the medication. Use this time to learn balance. Eat carbohydrates. Go out for meals. Have the pizza. Track your calories if it helps you stay aware of your intake. Then move on without guilt or panic. The goal is not to become better at extreme dieting. It is to build something you can realistically continue long term. I would be interested to hear everyone’s thoughts. Have you found yourself becoming more restrictive since starting Mounjaro or has it helped you finally move away from strict dieting?

Mounjaro and Ozempic are powerful tools for weight loss. But they are not a full plan. They reduce hunger. They quieten food noise. They help many people eat less. But when you stop, appetite comes back roaring back, food noise returns with interest and the old habits creep back in. That’s why most people regain the weight after stopping GLP-1 injections. But its not a failure of willpower. Its down to biology, pure and simple If you want the bigger picture, read our guide to Coming Off GLP-1s – What Happens Next? Why weight comes back after stopping Mounjaro or Ozempic GLP-1 drugs work well while they are in your body but when you stop the drug, your hunger signals return and your body tries to return to its previous weight. If you lost weight too quickly (so-called starvation mode) you may also have lost muscle. That matters because muscle helps you stay strong, active and metabolically healthy. Muscle burns much more calories than fat stores. So the 64,000$ question is not “How do I lose weight?” it is “How do I keep the weight off when the injection stops?” That is why you need a proper Mounjaro exit strategy, not just a final pen. The biggest mistake: stopping without an exit plan Millions of Brits are using, or thinking about using, Mounjaro, Ozempic or Wegovy. Many have a starting plan but almost no one has a stopping plan. That is a problem because if the injection has done all the work, stopping it feels like taking away the brake. Hunger returns. Snacks return. Portions grow. Weight creeps back. The solution is to build the habits before you stop (actually better still – make some changes before you even start!) For the bigger method, read The Science Behind Lasting Weight Loss. 7 simple steps to prevent weight regain 1. Do not crash diet Eating as little as possible may speed weight loss, but it can leave you tired, hungry and malnourished. You need protein, nutrients and real food.

The next generation after Wegovy and Mounjaro First came the GLP-1 medicines such as semaglutide, better known by brand names including Wegovy and Ozempic. Then came tirzepatide, known in the UK as Mounjaro, often described as a “TwinCretin” because it acts on two hormone pathways: GIP and GLP-1. Now there is growing interest in retatrutide — an investigational once-weekly injection that acts on three pathways: GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon. That is why people are calling it a “triple agonist” Retatrutide is not yet licensed for routine clinical use. It is still being studied. But the early data are striking, and it may represent the next major step in weight-loss medication. What makes retatrutide different? Most current weight-loss injections work largely by helping people eat less. They reduce hunger. They increase fullness. They reduce cravings. They quieten “food noise”. That can be extremely helpful. Retatrutide appears to go further because it adds glucagon receptor activation. Glucagon is often thought of as the hormone that raises blood sugar, but it also has important effects in the liver, including fat oxidation and energy use. In simple terms: - semaglutide acts mainly on GLP-1; - tirzepatide acts on GIP and GLP-1; - retatrutide acts on GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon. This may mean retatrutide affects both sides of the equation: not just appetite and food intake, but potentially fat burning, liver fat and energy expenditure too. How much weight loss has been reported? In earlier phase 2 studies, higher doses of retatrutide produced average weight loss of around 23–24% over 48 weeks. More recently, Lilly reported phase 3 topline data from the TRIUMPH-1 trial. At 80 weeks, average weight loss was reported as: - 19.0% with retatrutide 4 mg; - 25.9% with retatrutide 9 mg; - 28.3% with retatrutide 12 mg; - 2.2% with placebo. In a longer extension group, average weight loss reportedly reached about 30% at 104 weeks in the highest-dose group. Those are very large numbers.