Week 1 done, down 10lbs
35F | SW: 242lbs | Height: 5’4” | GW: 160lbs
TW: childhood trauma/neglect
I’ve had weight issues most of my life, with lots of different contributing factors. I have CPTSD from childhood trauma (I grew up in a religious cult), ADHD, and the classic disordered relationship with food that comes with that: being made to finish everything on your plate, anxiety around food waste, etc.
I’ve been medicated for my ADHD for nearly two years now, and therapy has massively reduced my disordered and binge eating. But I’ve still struggled to establish regular eating patterns, often going all day without food, then eating too late at night.
I’ve also struggled to shift weight despite swimming 3 miles most mornings. I’d burn myself out, stop for a few weeks, then start again. My weight has been pretty stable for a few years now.
I also have four children, ages 14, 6, 6, and 5 — all neurodivergent, two born very prematurely with complex additional support needs.
My pattern looked like this:
Going all day without eating, with no recognition of hunger signals until I was so hungry I felt sick. I’d wake up with hunger pangs so severe I’d sometimes actually be sick, which understandably put me off eating breakfast and created a lot of anxiety around it. By evening I’d be starving, and after finally getting the kids to sleep, I was so exhausted we’d just order takeaway — but even then I’d still feel sick, and would often struggle with the sense that there were very few foods I could actually tolerate. I’d assumed this was a sensory issue. Mounjaro has completely removed that. It’s just… gone.
I wore a continuous glucose monitor for a month and learned this was all driven by massive blood sugar swings, though I don’t have diabetes.
This week has been absolutely incredible.
Not only have I been able to notice actual hunger cues, the extreme, sickening hunger pangs are gone. I’ve been able to eat little and often, and there has been zero desire to snack late at night or binge. I’m not waking up shaking and nauseous, desperately reaching for food.
Other things I’ve noticed:
• More energy, less joint pain
• My ADHD medication, which used to wear off around 5pm, is now lasting the full day, making the evening routine with the kids noticeably easier
• I’ve been able to tackle emotionally draining things I’d been putting off (including getting the ball rolling recording an album I wrote — which is huge for me!)
• I’ve started recognising when hunger is driving my mood. I’d never noticed before that being hungry or thirsty was making me feel genuinely depressed and was triggering quite old emotional patterns/spiralling anxious thoughts. I was literally viewing needing to eat as something to be avoided, which ties in with the issues I have from childhood anyway (not allowed to have any needs, just push through and fix everything!) That realisation alone has been enormous.
My weight is prone to big water/inflammation-related swings, so I’m sure some of the 10lbs will be water — and that’s completely fine. Honestly, I’m just overjoyed to be free of that waking, shaking, sickening hunger.
I know one week sounds like nothing, and maybe some of it is placebo, but I’ve lived in this mental state long enough to feel fairly confident it isn’t.
This feels like way more than just a weight loss drug for me. I really hope it continues and I’m looking forward to seeing where this takes me❤️😭
Thanks for reading. I just wanted to share in case anyone is on the fence in a similar situation — I was on the fence for nearly a year before finally going for it, and I’m very glad I did.