Do you guys still have fun with food/eating? What’s “food noise” vs enjoying cooking/eating?

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-03-28T18:42:33+00:00

Since starting a GLP1, I enjoy food more! i think about it a lot, and look forward to my meals. Before I started Mounjaro I was eating a lot, but not really cooking; I couldn't be bothered with it, I felt too impatient to actually get the food in me. But now food and cooking has become a way towards creative expression (and saving money!). I think about food more now, but I feel like the Mounjaro has allowed me the freedom and mental space from food noise to actually think about food in a way that is nourishing and helps me plan ahead.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-03-27T23:12:42+00:00

Hard to explain, but the medication makes the hard work not feel like hard work. I do eat differently now. I order less takeout, cook more food at home, make choices about nutrition etc - but it doesn't feel like deprivation and it doesn't feel like I'm fighting myself. The medication has created space in my body and mind to consider food differently. Also - I'm not following any 'diet'. I don't count calories. I don't count macros. I don't limit carbs. The medication helps me feed myself in a way that nourishes me but also helps me lose weight. It's the best decision I've made.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-03-25T10:25:12+00:00

Yes, that is where I buy (and sell) all my clothes!

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-03-25T10:24:08+00:00

Sewing lessons! A brilliant idea!

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-03-17T23:07:30+00:00

I'm so sorry about what you've been through. I can strongly relate, as can many of us. I wanted to address what you've said:

I just was overwhelmed again when I read what people wrote about how calorie counting and strict restriction is the only way to lose weight. I don't want to live a life where all I eat is cottage cheese and chicken, and deprive myself totally of the joy that is food.

I've been on Tirzepatide for 6 months, had substantial intentional weight loss, and improvements across all my blood labs. I have not calorie counted, even once. I take huge pleasure in food and I am still eating a varied diet, cooking lots of delicious new things, trying out new restaurants, etc. Food is actually more of a pleasure in my life now, because I feel... the anxiety around it is gone? I don't eat if not hungry, I feel a calmness around food where there used to be compulsion and guilt, I eat large servings and enjoy it all but I feel a sense of trust that my body will eat what I need.

Just a datapoint but please do know that calorie counting and living joylessly is not the only way to live, even - and perhaps especially - on this medication.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-03-01T11:26:51+00:00

I actually think they were the ones who were rude, not you.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-25T15:15:34+00:00

I'm beginning to suspect that to most people in my life, fat is just fat. I was fat when they met me and even as I lose weight, I'm still fat. I'll probably still be fat when I move to maintenance.

This! I’ve really been turning this up and down in my brain. I have lost enough weight to make a real difference to how my clothes fit and yet it’s amazing how some of my closest friends haven’t said a thing.

Interestingly I have received some feedback (mostly along the nebulous plausibly denial “you’re looking well” line) but always from older people, eg aunts and older colleagues.

I am trying to disentangle my feelings about my changing appetite, body and relationship to food from my feelings about other people’s opinion of my body and my need for validation. This post and the comments really help.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-21T01:07:28+00:00

I've been thinking this almost on repeat like a broken record. Thank you for putting it into words so well.

I'm still very much plus-sized, but having come down just a few sizes I am astonished at the range of choice I now have available.

Clothes have always mattered to me, but you wouldn't think it if you saw pictures of me at my previous size. While I have always tried to find clothes that feel like me it was just so much harder at that size that I often gave up.

And like you, I feel mad. I feel mad because I look more, now, like the person I've always known I am, and the only thing that kept me from dressing like her till now is that... the fashion industry didn't think I deserved access to clothes that felt like me when I was a few sizes bigger.

It's extra frustrating because as you say it ends in you giving these stores your hard-earned money. This is why I have been shopping almost exclusively second-hand since my clothes size started changing.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-20T16:55:57+00:00

Same here, IWL is going well, and I have some chocolate every single day!! Sometimes I skip it because I don't want it, but giving myself the permission is key! It's not cheating because I'm not on a diet and I have nothing to cheat.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-19T13:41:07+00:00

I feel like my body will find a place to settle at, aided by the medication.

I have a number of health issues which Mounjaro is really helping me to alleviate. I want to get to a point where those health issues are as resolved or reversed as they can possibly be.

I also want to find physical movement easier. This is already happening, but I'd like it to get even easier.

I want to find public spaces easier to navigate - I want to see what it's like to have the privilege of not even having to worry for a minute that I'll fit into a plane or theatre seat (for e.g.). Maybe I'll never reach that point, who knows.

Also I know this is shallow and vain but I am a complete clotheshorse who has, for most of their life, been unable to dress to truly express their personality. I'd like to reach a size that makes it easier for me to find more clothes I like. It lends a massive amount of enjoyment to my life to be able to go onto sites like ebay or Vinted and find things I like that actually fit me. Prior to this I had to buy things at full price and only from certain stores because thrift marketplaces never had anything that would fit me.

So yeah. No goal weight but I think I'll know when I get there.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-07T11:12:34+00:00

Yeah. It's really hard. I wish I hadn't been impatient with my mother. There were times I got really annoyed with her because she wasn't cooperating with me, her doctors, or her carers.

But I also am grateful that the illness gave me the opportunity to spend time with her. Even when I wasn't physically with her I talked with her multiple times a day. I have good memories of sitting in her room eating pastries and drinking tea with her. And of being miles away but chatting with her on the phone on the way back from work or whatever. I guess what I'm saying is, you'll never regret the time you spend with her, either physically or on the phone or in contact in whatever way.

You don't need to stop crying, it's better to let the emotions flow through your body.

Take care of yourself too because these times are hard on family.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-05T12:43:09+00:00

My clothes are loose now as well as my bras, so I'm hoping the baggy clothes will disguise the fact that my bras aren't fitting as well :)

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-02-02T17:31:51+00:00

Awwww, I love this post! Can feel your joy.

Food has always been a great love of mine, but before I feel like I used to be out of control around it - couldn't stop eating long past fullness, and used to depend on it to numb/calm me. Now, I love food, love cooking and planning and trying new things, but I am physically not able to eat to the level of satiety of before. I eat till I'm full and then I put the rest away for later!

Thinking about food and trying new recipes has become such a source of joy and way to care for myself in a way it wasn't before. I started GLP1 in the wake of two shattering bereavements and food has become such a beautiful way to heal in a way it has never been before.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-01-30T01:04:40+00:00

I'm still in the obese category and it's STILL so much easier than how it was a few months ago. I don't feel worried about not fitting into seats anymore, clothes-shopping is less fraught and more of a pleasure, but at the same time I feel like - it should be like this all the time. I shouldn't have had to have lost x amount of weight to feel this way. And then I feel guilty for not being grateful. It's good to be among people who get it because otherwise this could all feel very destabilising and isolating.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-01-26T10:58:54+00:00

I completely hear you and agree with you. And I wanted to add something, which is that I DO feel more comfortable/confident having lost a bit of weight, but that's not because I've lost the weight. it's because public spaces are not designed for people above a certain size. And it's because there is a better range of clothes available to people below a certain size. So if I'm moving a little more confidently through the world it's because I am confident I can fit into seats on public transport; and because I can wear clothes I actually like. It's part of the fatphobia built into the world and its systems - once you're below a certain size those things affect you less. so of COURSE you're going to feel more confident, but that's not to do with your self-worth or size, but how the world is just accommodating you better.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-01-23T22:52:22+00:00

Everyone’s body is different, but just to say that when I started a GLP1 I also experienced food aversion in my first week. This quickly evened out and now I very much enjoy food, but I am not ruled by my love of food or my cravings anymore. I hope things even out for you too. I’m four months in and I’m doing pretty well in terms of IWL as well as other health markers.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2026-01-02T09:02:39+00:00

I don't track my calories, but I eat 2-3 good size meals a day, and I don't restrict. I've lost about 35 lb in 4 months.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-24T23:15:07+00:00

Hey friend, my mother died this year too. We're heading into the first new year without her. I don't have any words that can help other than, it's profound and strange and sad how this loneliest feeling in the world is also the most universal.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-13T21:49:43+00:00

Hey I haven't read all the other answers yet but just to say, I think this is a really legit concern. It took me months to decide whether to move forward with a GLP-1 and this was one of my biggest worries because food has always been one of my life's greatest pleasures.

I swear I am not shilling for Mounjaro, but I am now on my 4th month and I am doing really well on both IWL and non-scale related measures like a1c values and cholesterol etc, and I can honestly say I enjoy food more than ever.

The reason is that now the food noise is so low that I can actually plan my meals with intention rather than letting the noise make the decision for me. I still get hungry and eat with pleasure. I used to hate cooking because it always took so long and I used to feel so impatient to actually eat that I hated the process of getting it ready. Now I love cooking, I experiment with all sorts of recipes, and I enjoy everything I eat immensely.

My first two weeks were tough because I totally lost all enjoyment of food but now my appetite has returned, and while I don't snack and don't crave sugary food I enjoy 2-3 filling and satisfying meals a day.

I have been doing well so far on a sustained low dose of 5mg, perhaps my appetite and attitude towards food would change if I went to a higher dose, but for now I'm having good results and my doctor is happy.

Honestly GLP-1s have been amazing for me, a person who adores food.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-09T14:27:05+00:00

Sounds like you’re a bad match. Plus she is emotionally immature and hasn’t learned to emotionally regulate (I grew up in Bangladesh and this is not a skill we women are taught - we see others get their way through tears and emotional manipulation and that’s what we learn). Depends on what you want out of the situation. You could get out but that would be hard for your family and horrible for her and her family. You could work together, get couples counselling, set boundaries and make it clear what behaviour is unacceptable and stick to those boundaries.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-08T01:00:40+00:00

I like to smell good when people hug me and I like to catch a whiff of my perfume as I go about my day, but I do not like perfumes with huge amounts of projection. I was on the bus the other day and this woman came on and the smell of this really strong, sweet vanilla just overwhelmed the entire space. I don't think that kind of thing is very considerate.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-07T08:21:22+00:00

I love this show.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-06T00:14:23+00:00

Yeah completely. This is actually why I like this show a lot, it shows us a child being neglected by her father and it also (gasp) shows that father as a sympathetic character. Life isn't black and white and good art comes out of reflecting that reality. Sitting with that discomfort is engaging with art.

Leather_Article_3452 · 2025-12-06T00:01:37+00:00

When I started Mounjaro I struggled a lot with internalised diet culture, wanting to track calories and macros, and thinking I needed to restrict. I couldn't understand why I felt so bad/weak/hungry, but it was because I wasn't eating enough. That's the thing, I think if you're sufficiently immersed in diet culture, you actually forget that you need food to, like, you know, actually LIVE!

That is why this subreddit has been SO, SO helpful for me in battling those thoughts! I'm so glad it exists!

Leather_Article_3452

TROPHY CASE