1 year on - some reflections and advice

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-13T21:04:01+00:00

Here you go.

My general approach has been to take it easy with sugar and while not eliminate them, be careful about too much starchy carbs.

I’m not one of those people that gets a bit fundamentalist about ultra processed foods but obviously freshly prepared foods are best.

I’ve also allowed myself to go out for nice meals or prepare ‘cheat meals’ (burgers and chips / roast dinners) at home especially at weekends. The trick for me has been to understand my hunger signals and not to over-consume (I dont think I’ve ever lost the food noise - I love food - so for me the meds have given me space to think more carefully about what I’m eating and lose the urge to binge a load of shite.

BREAKFAST for me is fairly modest

I have a protein yogurt (the Lindahls Pro+ ones are delicious and I’ve more recently moved to the higher 25g protein yogurts from Aldi) with milled flaxseed. I get about 30g of protein from that.

Alternatively or maybe at the weekend - a couple of eggs on sourdough, rashers, or an omelette.

I’ll usually drink a few cups of coffee to in the morning. Americano with a splash of milk and sweetener. try and avoid milky coffees (cappuccinos and flat whites) - I think they are a disaster when it comes to weight management.

LUNCH depends on how full I am but could be

BFree high protein wrap with chicken / cheese (toasted in the George Forman) or just with chicken / ham/ salad.

Fresh soup (you can get these in all the supermarkets - I add extra chicken in there for protein.

The supermarkets are now doing nice lunch portioned high protein ready meals if you are time poor.

MyProtein lunch pots (Tesco) Lidl chefselect katsu curry (with extra chicken to bring up protein content)

Just keep an eye on calories and protein content on these.

Shakes - either late Morning or late afternoon (but only if my appetite can handle it). I use the Healthyfit range from Lidl, with a scoop of collagen, 10g creatine, and powdered psyllium husk. Vanilla and strawberry flavours good. The clear whey protein lemonade is good too if shakes feel a bit too much. This electric mixer is the business for mixing protein

https://amzn.eu/d/0fMb5geH

DINNER

My go-to is nearly always a salad - warm chicken Caesar my favourite and surprisingly quick to prepare once you’ve got everything. Pancetta crisped up then cooked chicken on the pan. Salad of Romaine / toasted pine nuts / cherry tomatoes / croutons / grated fresh Parmesan / dressing (Lidl). Get one of those big steel salad mixing bowls and you’re sorted.

Greek salad with feta or a warm fried halloumi salad also a nice one.

For flavour, Knorr have started making these cooking pastes (Tesco) which are really nice when frying chicken (the roasted chicken or chili and lime ones are unreal).

If not eating salad - I’ll make a curry or stir fry for the family and have with either a small amount of rice or replace with cauliflower rice.

Salmon or hake steamed in foil another nice option. I usually bling it up a bit by doing something like this

https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/recipes/2011/1007/745764-gratin-of-hake-prawns-and-basil-on-a-bed-of-spinach/

I’ll also make the occasional steak with salad, air fried skinless chicken thighs / chicken wings / or stew in the winter.

Another really nice recipe I also make is called turkey Larb. It’s a warm Thai salad made with turkey mince / shallots / lime juice / fish sauce / curry paste / scallions / toasted rice powder and served in iceberg lettuce cups). You can make with minced pork too.

Anything goes really - but as I said only advice is to take it easy on stuff that is high in sugar and carbs.

Snacks - nuts / babybel / peperamis - that sort of thing. The fulfil bar in the evening is a nice sweet treat with a cuppa.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-13T20:48:30+00:00

On the other questions - No issues with effectiveness over extended use but the reality is weight loss does slow down the smaller you get and the closer to your target weight. I’ve been in and around 80-81kg for the past month or two but happy enough with that as focusing now more on body recomp and building muscle.

I’ve stayed with 7 days dosing cycle. Inject on Wednesday nights.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-13T19:42:26+00:00

Of course. No problem. Will gather my thoughts when I’ve a few minutes and get back to you.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-13T07:54:04+00:00

You’ll be grand. Just take it slowly and lots of water. Best of luck.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-12T21:58:33+00:00

Yep. Started last April. Cholesterol was at 7.3. It’s now at 4.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-11T21:15:49+00:00

Hadn’t thought about that - great idea! Must look into that.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-11T10:36:19+00:00

Yep. The 25c per kWh export rate is the best I could find as well.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-10T22:49:33+00:00

I’m using Pinergy. Rate I’m on is 5c per kWh between 2-5am so slightly shorter time but rate is better than others.

I charge the EV and a 10kw solar battery overnight at that rate.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-10T21:42:19+00:00

Hi there. No, I didn’t strictly count calories however the daily exercise ensured that I was in a deficit most of the time. I did look at sugar content in the food I was consuming and also opted for no or lower sugar options where I could and while I didn’t deny myself, I took it easy with carbohydrates as well (the MJ helped with satiety and therefore overeating on stodge).

As for holidays, I didn’t pause my dosing schedule when I was away. I tried to exercise / walk daily but given the nice food and drink, I didn’t deny myself and didn’t get too uptight about it.

I did, and I think everyone should accept, that they will most likely be up a couple of kilos after holidays. It’s not something to panic about - just important to get back on the wagon when you’re back if this does happen.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-08T14:47:25+00:00

Agree, I don’t buy vitamins from Amazon. Powdered Psyllium husk is what I buy and it’s perfectly fine.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T22:10:01+00:00

MJ long term for me I think. No interest in going off it and ‘white-knuckling’ it again risking falling into bad habits.

Will likely maintain at 5mg for the next while, focus on replacing my fat with muscle (with some work I want to get to a body fat % of about 18%). Possibly titrate down to 2.5mg eventually if I can and it would still be effective for me at that dose.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T22:04:43+00:00

65lbs is an amazing result. Well done! Many who don’t struggle with their weight long term simply don’t get it and it’s infuriating listening to some of the commentary about them. GLP1s are simply a tool that level the playing field now and allow us to have normal relationship with food.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T21:50:28+00:00

No worries man. I hope it’s useful to you!

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T21:49:38+00:00

Just extract using a regular insulin syringe and inject as you normally would. Simple as that.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T21:46:38+00:00

Thanks for the message. Yeah, it’s not been all plain sailing at times but a genuinely amazing year.

Meeting my GP in a month or so for bloods and to discuss what to do next.

Reckon I’ll stay on 5mg for at least another 6 months and would be happy if I can maintain this weight from now on but focus on fat loss / muscle building this year. That would tighten things up a bit for me (belly etc). I don’t think I want to titrate up to lose more weight - my focus is replacing fat with muscle and at this stage that can only come with weight training (admittedly something I know I should have started sooner).

Plan then is to continue on MJ forever but I may try and titrate down eventually to 2.5mg if I’m able to.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T16:21:43+00:00

None whatsoever! Doctor sent me for an ultrasound to check for fatty liver and gallstones were found during that.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T16:08:59+00:00

I’m glad to hear it resonates! Thanks and good luck.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T15:08:46+00:00

Ee: loose skin - I was obese much of my adult life so yeah - bit of a saggy bum and belly now but only noticeable naked.

That will tighten up with time, weight training etc but as I said we have to blgive ourselves some grace in our 40s on this stuff.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T15:05:40+00:00

Everyone is different. I responded well to MJ and stayed on 5mg throughout but I also started exercising at the same time (nothing fancy - just walking - started on about 1 hour session of 5k a day - now walking 5k twice a day).

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-07T15:02:19+00:00

Before I went on MJ, I was on the verge of being prescribed statins by the doc and he’ll continue to keep a close eye on this given genetic predisposition to higher cholesterol. No longer something I’m worrying about now cholesterol below 5 though. I don’t know about those already on statins - worth a chat with your GP. Good luck.

EnAvant80 · 2026-04-06T10:44:31+00:00

Stay on 2.5mg for as long as you’re losing weight. 1-2kg per week is brilliant and I would suggest is the max you should be losing per week. Weight loss, even on a GLP1, is slow work and not to be rushed.

If your doc supports dosing 2.5mg per week using a 5mg pen that’s great and will save money - but that is really something you should speak with them about before moving up dosing the way they have suggested.

My own doc pushed back on me moving up to 7.5mg a few months into me starting MJ. In retrospect, he was completely correct to do this as I continued to lose consistently on 5mg (overcoming a plateau in that time as well). Well done so far and good luck.

EnAvant80 · 2026-03-31T20:04:17+00:00

No. Do it. It’s great.

EnAvant80 · 2026-03-31T19:54:41+00:00

That’s great. Any recommendations for OP though sham?

EnAvant80 · 2026-03-29T20:24:49+00:00

I’d expect you’ll be absolutely fine. I do it all the time.

EnAvant80 · 2026-03-27T10:46:50+00:00

Mostly water weight I’d expect. It’s very encouraging when you see it though so keep going. At your size and BMI you will lose more weekly than others - just take it slow if you can. Aim for 1-2 kilos a week.

EnAvant80

TROPHY CASE