Why I'm Taking Mounjaro (And Why I'm Not Ashamed of It)

When I first heard about Mounjaro, my immediate reaction was scepticism. Another weight loss drug. Another shortcut for people who can't be bothered to do it properly. I'd lost 5 stone before through sheer willpower, cycling, and calorie counting. Why would I need a jab?

Then I bumped into Dave. In the pub, naturally. Where all important life decisions begin.

Dave had lost over 7 stone. I barely recognised him. He looked like a different person. And when he started talking about how it had changed his relationship with food - how the constant mental noise around eating had just... stopped - something clicked. This wasn't about willpower. This was about biology.

So I did what I always do when faced with a decision: I went down a research rabbit hole.

The Research Phase

I'm not someone who takes paracetamol lightly, let alone injects myself with a relatively new medication. So before I stuck a needle in my stomach, I wanted to understand exactly what I was signing up for.

What I found surprised me.

Tirzepatide (the drug behind Mounjaro) isn't just another appetite suppressant. It's a dual-action hormone mimetic - it replicates two hormones your body already produces: GLP-1 and GIP. Together, these slow gastric emptying, reduce appetite signals in the brain, and improve insulin sensitivity.

The clinical trials were impressive:

That's not 5%. That's not 10%. That's a fifth of your body weight. For someone like me at 122kg, that's potentially 25kg gone. That's about 25 bags of sugar, for anyone whose mum did Weight Watchers in the 90s.

But weight loss was only part of the story. The cardiovascular data was equally compelling:

• Blood pressure reductions of 5-12 mmHg

• Triglycerides down 15-37%

• LDL cholesterol down 5-19%

• Improved insulin sensitivity

At 19 stone and back in 40-inch jeans, these weren't nice-to-haves. They were compelling reasons to take the plunge.

The Risks I Weighed

I'm not going to pretend Mounjaro is risk-free. It isn't. I spent weeks reading medical websites and Reddit threads (definitely not my proudest rabbit hole). Here's what gave me pause:

The GI side effects. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea - these hit around 40-50% of users, especially during dose escalation. I was prepared for feeling rough.

The thyroid warning. Animal studies showed increased thyroid C-cell tumours. It's a boxed warning on the label. But the evidence in humans remains inconclusive, and regular monitoring is recommended anyway.

The gallbladder risk. Rapid weight loss can trigger gallstones. This isn't unique to Mounjaro - it happens with any significant weight loss - but it's worth knowing.

The muscle loss question. Lose weight quickly and you risk losing muscle alongside fat. This one I could mitigate: protein intake, resistance training, and not treating the drug as a free pass to eat rubbish.

The long-term unknowns. Tirzepatide has only been studied for 2-3 years. We don't know the 10-year effects. That uncertainty is real.

But here's the thing: I also know the long-term effects of doing nothing.

I work in home care. Every day I see what decades of poor health choices look like. Mobility issues. Cardiovascular disease. Diabetes complications. I don't want to be a case study in preventable decline. I want to be there for Louise and Megan. I want to spend my retirement travelling, not managing conditions I could have avoided.

When I weighed the known risks of Mounjaro against the known risks of staying at 19 stone in 40-inch jeans, the maths wasn't even close.

My Results So Far

I took my first 2.5mg jab on 1 January 2026. Here's what's happened since:

Total lost: 6.2 kg (just under a stone) in a month.

That's 5.1% of my body weight - tracking ahead of the clinical trial pace, though as you can see, it's not a straight line down.

The Week 4 Reality Check

I'd love to tell you it's been smooth sailing. It hasn't.

Week 4 brought a trip to Portugal to watch Nottingham Forest play Braga in the Europa League. We turned it into Gavin's stag do. Not a young man's stag do, mind you. The average age was 49. But pastéis de nata were consumed, beers were drunk, and I indulged. That's life.

Then I got ill. Nothing dramatic, just enough to knock me off rhythm.

And then I discovered I'd miscalculated when to order my next dose. The 2.5mg ran out. The 5mg is somewhere in the postal system. So right now, as I write this, I'm in the gap - no jab, just willpower, hydration, and calorie counting like the old days.

The +0.2kg? I'll take it. A stag do, illness, and no medication, and I gained less than half a pound. That's not failure. That's holding the line.

The 5mg arrives in the next couple of days. Normal service will resume. But I wanted to include this because it's the reality of any weight loss journey: it's not linear, life gets in the way, and the best you can do is limit the damage and get back on track.

The side effects? Honestly, almost non-existent. A bit of constipation, but I suspect that's the diet change rather than the drug. When you go from eating whatever you want to high-protein, calorie-controlled meals, your digestive system notices. And bad breath, apparently. I didn't notice it myself, but Louise was kind enough to point it out. Repeatedly. No nausea though. No sulphur burps (yes, that's a thing, Google it at your peril). Nothing that made me regret starting.

But the mental shift has been the real revelation.

The "food noise" everyone talks about? It's real, and it's gone. I used to think about food constantly. Planning meals. Craving snacks. Rationalising treats. Now I eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full, and genuinely forget about food in between. That might sound small to someone who's never battled their appetite, but for me it's transformative.

The Exit Strategy

Here's where I differ from some Mounjaro users: I don't want to be on this forever.

The SURMOUNT-4 trial showed that most people who stop tirzepatide regain significant weight within a year. The biological appetite suppression disappears, the old patterns return, and the scales creep back up.

I've seen this happen. People I know have used these drugs as a shortcut, barely eaten, lost weight, stopped the medication, and piled it all back on. That's not a solution. That's a postponement.

My plan is different.

Phase 1 (Now → April 2026): Weight Loss + Habit Building

I'm on 1800 calories, high protein, tracking everything through my fitness portal. The goal isn't just to lose weight - it's to learn new eating patterns while I have pharmaceutical help. If I'm going to eat less, I might as well eat better.

Phase 2 (April → Summer 2026): Add Cycling

Once the weather improves, I'm planning to commute by bike 2-3 times a week. It's about 6 miles each way with a decent hill in the first two miles. Not exactly the Tour de France, but enough to make a difference. I've already mapped out an 8-week preparation plan using my AI coaching setup.

When I'm burning 400-600 calories per commute, my nutrition will need to shift. More calories on training days. More focus on recovery and performance. The deficit-focused eating I'm doing now won't work when I'm actually active.

Phase 3 (2027+): Gradual Reduction

Once I'm at or near my target weight (around 95kg / 15 stone), and I've built genuine fitness through consistent cycling, the plan is to gradually reduce Mounjaro with medical supervision.

The theory is simple: if I've rebuilt my relationship with food, developed sustainable habits, and have an exercise routine that's part of my identity rather than a chore, I'll have multiple pillars supporting my weight maintenance. Not just willpower. Not just medication. A genuine lifestyle change.

Will it work? I genuinely don't know. The research suggests weight regain is likely. But the research also involves people who didn't necessarily build the habits I'm trying to build. Maybe I'll be different. Maybe I'll be writing a sheepish follow-up post in 2028 about how I'm back on the jabs. But I'd rather try a planned exit than resign myself to injections for life.

Why I'm Writing This

I debated whether to share this publicly. There's still stigma around weight loss medications. People assume you're cheating, or lazy, or both.

But I've already committed to documenting this journey. The tracking portal, the blog posts, the public accountability - it's all part of my strategy. Hiding the Mounjaro piece would make the rest dishonest.

And honestly? I think the stigma is wrong.

We don't criticise people for taking statins to manage cholesterol. We don't shame diabetics for using insulin. Why should medications that help with obesity - a condition with genetic, hormonal, and environmental components - be any different?

I tried the "just eat less and exercise more" approach. It worked once, when I had fewer responsibilities and more time. It hasn't worked since. Life got in the way, stress led to drinking, drinking led to eating, and before I knew it I was back at 19 stone wondering what happened.

Mounjaro isn't a shortcut. It's a tool. One that's giving me the breathing room to rebuild habits that I couldn't seem to establish on my own. If that's cheating, I'll take the accusation.

What's Next

I'm still on 2.5mg for another week, then moving up to 5mg. I'll keep tracking everything - weight, measurements, nutrition, WHOOP data - through my portal. The graphs update automatically, so you can watch along if you're curious.

By April, I want to be noticeably lighter and ready to start bike commuting. By the end of 2026, I want to be somewhere I haven't been in years: genuinely fit.

And if the Mounjaro helped me get there? I'll consider that a win.

If you're considering Mounjaro or similar medications, I'd strongly recommend doing your own research. The references below are a good starting point, and as always, talk to a doctor - not just Reddit.

Have you tried GLP-1 medications? I'd be interested to hear how it went - especially from anyone who successfully came off them while maintaining their weight. Does that unicorn exist?

References

1. Jastreboff AM, et al. Tirzepatide Once Weekly for the Treatment of Obesity. New England Journal of Medicine 2022. SURMOUNT-1 Trial

2. Aronne LJ, et al. Continued Treatment With Tirzepatide for Maintenance of Weight Reduction in Adults With Obesity. JAMA 2024. SURMOUNT-4 Trial

3. Rodriguez PJ, et al. Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide for Weight Loss in Adults With Overweight or Obesity. JAMA Internal Medicine 2024. Head-to-head comparison

4. NCBI StatPearls. Tirzepatide. Mechanism of action and pharmacology

5. Cleveland Clinic. Tirzepatide Injection. Side effects and drug interactions