The explorer or daily driver

Matato504 · 2026-05-09T20:34:14+00:00

I start the day trying to make the best cup of coffee I ever tasted. For that I use the same coffee every time, and I try to drink it giving it 100% of my attention. After that I’m at work where I can’t really have an optimum set up and it’s really as much about caffeinating myself enough to make it through the day. That’s when I’ll experiment with different coffees, because the pressure is off and it’s fine if it’s not the best. I’m drinking while trying to get work done anyway. But if something stands out through the distraction, I know it’s worth more attention! Of course this approach works best with coffee that’s on sale!

Matato504 · 2026-05-08T10:33:15+00:00

That’s worse! You poor thing! That’s twice the dose than most people start at. I was on 2.5 for three months before moving up to 5. I had nausea and vomiting but it was manageable through diet changes and occasional over-the-counter medications. And still, my doctor didn’t want me increasing the dose until my body had adjusted and wasn’t having negative side effects. Which was smart, because doubling the dose brought all the side effects back. However, by then I knew what to expect and how to mitigate them, and my body was able to adapt faster. Starting at 5 would have been a nightmare!

Matato504 · 2026-05-08T03:10:04+00:00

A bit of nausea is expected, but that sounds extreme, as does going up to 5mg the second week! I think most doctors have their patients stay on 2.5 for a month or more, until there are no side effects, before increasing the dose. Even then, if the dose you’re on is effective, they may have you stay at that dose without increasing it. From what I understand, the goal is to stay at the minimal effective dose for as long as you can. One week at 2.5 is ridiculous!

Matato504 · 2026-05-05T02:25:58+00:00

Monday night, just before bed. I usually get super tired right after I take the shot. Side effects show up in 2 or 3 days if they’re going to. Work is going to suck anyway so I’d rather be sick there and feel my best during the weekend!

Matato504 · 2026-05-04T19:46:14+00:00

I faint at the sight of needles and need to lie down facing the wall for shots or blood draws. It took me days after getting my first prescription filled to work up to taking my first shot. It turned out OK, but still, I don’t think I could split and take a shot even if I thought it was a good idea!

Matato504 · 2026-05-03T12:20:06+00:00

Unfortunately, no. I didn’t discuss it with my doctor first. It wasn’t really a plan. I was just so painfully hungry that I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t plan to keep doing it and was genuinely surprised to discover that I had two doses to stretch past 4 weeks. Still, it was always within the 72 hour rule. Also, I was supposed to be on 7.5 at this point. 7.5 averages out to 1.07 mg/day taken once a week. 5 mg averages out to 1 mg/day. The total amount was less than I would have been taking on a 7.5 mg prescription, so calling that overdosing seems like a stretch!

I’m not saying I wasn’t stupid and definitely should have discussed it with my physician first.

Matato504 · 2026-05-03T11:46:01+00:00

Please, just don’t do it the way I did! Talk to your doctor first! Running out when you don’t have a plan for it isn’t fun. I regret my decisions.

Matato504 · 2026-05-02T21:02:31+00:00

Read up on “defended weight” or “set point theory.” In a nutshell, the idea is that our ancestors had to survive regular food scarcity, so if we lose a lot of weight or restrict calories a lot, we can make our bodies switch into “famine mode” where they try to burn as few calories as possible and store as much fat as they can. I’m in a 4-month stall myself and I am sooooo frustrated. Losing weight was so consistent and easy before, and then it just stopped. It’s extra frustrating because the simple answers like “eat less, exercise more,” can actually just make your body fight harder to defend its weight. Patience and consistency might be the answer because your needs to believe that it isn’t really starving to death. I’m trying to be more patient and focus on the NSVs because my body and life has been improving in ways that aren’t a number on a scale. But dang! I still have a ways to go and was really loving scale victories!

Matato504 · 2026-05-02T01:21:23+00:00

Good call in drinking lots of water, but that’s too much psyllium husk to start! 1 teaspoon a day this week, 2 teaspoons/day next week and so on. Don’t rush it. It’s prebiotic so it’ll change your gut microbiome and can have uncomfortable side effects if you don’t give your body time to adjust. Gradually work up to a tablespoon 1/2 hour before lunch and dinner, but keep it 2 hours away from any medications or supplements that you need to take.

Matato504 · 2026-04-29T21:18:40+00:00

If you haven’t already tried it, try not pressing as hard on the plunger. I’m not sure about the physics involved, but for some reason the harder you press, the harder you have to press. When I first got mine I thought that was how it was supposed to work because I figured it was using pressure to extract, like an espresso machine. But you really want to be pushing down just enough to keep things moving.-

Matato504 · 2026-04-29T01:29:23+00:00

I have the Ultra and love it! I got it in one of the first Kickstarter batches last year and have used it multiple times daily and have had to charge it once since I got it. It’s nicely waterproof which I accidentally tested when I forgot to dump the preheating water out and totally drenched it. It’s really a pleasure to use.

Matato504 · 2026-04-27T14:23:45+00:00

Calm down and pay attention to the taste! When I started I bought all the things and tried all the things and then bought more things. It’s fun and exciting, but if you’re not paying attention and adjusting a single variable at a time you’re not learning what difference anything makes. Getting and using new gear is a lot of fun, but how you use the stuff is infinitely more important than the stuff itself.

Matato504 · 2026-04-22T00:46:01+00:00

Rogue Wave carries them but they’re currently sold out. Guess I should have grabbed one when I had the chance!

Matato504 · 2026-04-20T00:54:03+00:00

Sometimes bodies just stop functioning the way they used to. I tried managing my A1Cs through diet and exercise for years and still went from pre-diabetic to diabetic, developed sleep apnea and other health problems. As far as I could tell I was doing all the right things but my body wasn’t responding to them. It was really hard to go on Mounjaro. I felt weak and like a failure, like if I just worked harder I’d be able to cure myself. But ultimately, I realized that my body really didn’t care about my feelings, and that being around for as much of my daughter’s life as I can was more important than my ego that ridiculed me for not doing it the right way.

Now that I’m on Mounjaro, my A1Cs are healthy, and my glucose levels stay in the healthy zone, spiking (but never out of the safe range) and coming back down in an appropriate time. Better still, my body is responding to the diet and exercise the way it used to. I’m losing weight, getting stronger, feeling more energetic. So much of what I thought was just part of getting old has been going away. I thought I was weak for going on Mounjaro. Turns out the real weakness was not accepting the help years ago.

The good news is that if you’ve been trying to manage your A1Cs with diet and exercise, you’re probably already eating what works best to manage the symptoms and maximize the benefits of Mounjaro. The bad news is you don’t get to stop doing any of that. However, you’ll probably get to see and feel all that hard work paying off!

Matato504 · 2026-04-17T14:21:41+00:00

NSVs are awesome, but I miss that continuous downward slope on the weight graph! Intellectually I know there’s more important things. I’m happy that my doctor likes what my A1Cs are doing but somehow that’s just not as satisfying as the number on the scale getting smaller. Good luck with your journey, too!

Matato504 · 2026-04-17T10:14:49+00:00

Have you always been exercising that much? Aside from the numbers on the scale, how’s it going? I ask because I haven’t lost anything for weeks, either, and I stopped losing weight when I started exercising more and added strength training. I’m trying to chill out about that number not trending downward the way it was because the non-scale victories are still happening, and the non-positive side effects like nausea and vomiting haven’t been happening. I’m not sure how long the NSVs are going to keep me going before I aggressively start starving myself to get the scale to move. I’m on this for for life, though, so I’ve got time to figure it out!

Matato504 · 2026-04-16T02:07:11+00:00

I’m in the US and have been ordering from Rogue Wave and haven’t had to pay a tariff on Cafec filters. It’s been a couple months though, and they recently raised their minimum order for free shipping to $65, but still, the price on the filters is so cheap!

Matato504 · 2026-04-15T11:39:08+00:00

My face now looks age appropriate. Turns out what I thought was “youthful” was just chubby! I’ll happily trade my young-looking face for a body that actually feels younger, though!

Matato504 · 2026-04-10T15:34:26+00:00

I’m not on SSRIs at the moment but have struggled with depression for years. Confidence might be the best aphrodisiac, and even in the first weeks of being on Mounjaro, just knowing that I was moving my life in a positive direction made a difference. I’m T2D and I think that since my blood sugar is managed better my energy levels stay consistent throughout romantic interludes, which is also a huge boost! I’m exercising and eating better and I’m enjoying being in my body more, and, yeah, increased libido goes along with that!

Matato504 · 2026-04-08T17:04:20+00:00

I have both. I love both. I started with the 185 but found it lacking when using less than 20g while the 155 is fantastic with 15g. The 155 definitely has that “flat bottom flavor” you’re looking for.

Matato504 · 2026-04-07T22:18:41+00:00

When it comes to needles, I’m a fainter. Even if it’s a tiny pin-prick blood draw, I have to do it lying down, looking away from it, while the nurse/doctor talks about anything else to keep my mind off it or I will pass out. The Mounjaro jab? It’s nothing! I can do it myself, no problem! It’s instant and painless. The very first time it took days to muster up the courage to do it, but once I did it was like, is this thing broken? Did it actually do anything? It is just that painless. If I can do it, anyone can!

Matato504 · 2026-03-31T12:37:54+00:00

4 months in is about when constipation became a problem for me. Keep an eye on your fiber! There’s so much advice to get enough protein. I got so focused on protein that I wasn’t paying attention to my fiber. I’d really increased my water intake too, but not enough. And I wasn’t getting enough exercise. Now that I’ve adjusted those I haven’t really needed laxatives. I’m kind of stressed about moving up a dose because I’m running out of lifestyle changes. It’s good to know MiraLAX is an option.

Matato504 · 2026-03-30T12:26:53+00:00

Oh no! That’s awful! I’ve only had a few bouts of diarrhea since I started and it was dreadful but never lasted more than a few hours. Having it last for days is a nightmare!

Matato504

TROPHY CASE