Transcript
You’re joining me on a cold morning. It’s one week into my Mounjaro journey, and I had my weigh-in this morning. I have managed to lose 7 pounds and a smidge in one week, which is pretty amazing actually. That brings me down—my start weight was 17 stone—so I’m actually technically less than 16 and a half stone after one week.
I’m aware some of that will be body water just coming out, but the rest of it will be weight loss. So, I’m going to have a little chat about what I’ve been eating, the exercise I’ve been doing, and how it’s kind of affecting my running. I started these videos to show the impact of Mounjaro on running.
A bit of a caveat—we’re one week in, so it’s not concrete what any of this means. Again, this is all on me; everyone’s journey is a little bit different. Some people don’t lose anything, some people lose more than I have, but wow, half a stone—excellent news!
A week ago, I took my first Mounjaro injection and also started tracking my calories using MyFitnessPal. They go hand in hand—tracking the calories, making sure you’re not eating too much, and the Mounjaro helping to control appetite.
Previously, I’ve done calorie-controlled diets, and it has been tough. I was constantly thinking about food, snacking, and generally not enjoying it. I would do a month of that and then give up because it was just horrible and not fun at all. But Mounjaro has helped. I’ve felt full, I’ve not been craving foods that much. Every so often in the week, maybe I’ve gone for a snack, but I’ve had a healthy snack. I’ve scanned whatever I’ve had on the app, and it’s kept me honest.
This week, my calorie intake per day, according to what I’ve put in the MyFitnessPal app, has been around 1,500 calories a day, which is a reasonable amount. I think my allocation is 1,700 if I wanted, but 1,500 seems to be where it’s been at. So actually, I’ve always had spare calories.
The food I’ve been eating and tracking has been healthy food generally. Breakfast has been a couple of Weetabix with milk. Lunch—really enjoying bagels with light, soft spreadable cheese and smoked salmon—that’s been pretty amazing with some salad. Then a nice dinner in the evening, following a recipe, all tracked on MyFitnessPal. Honestly, I’m not working for them, but it’s a really good app if you want to download it and track everything. You just scan barcodes of the food or search for what it is, and it gives you all the nutritional values. At the end of the day, you can look at your diet and see if it’s lacking anything or if you need to add something.
It’s actually a little bit warm walking up a hill with a hat on, even though it is icy, so I’m going to whip this off. Apparently, increasing protein is good on a calorie-reduced diet. All the stuff I’ve read on the MedExpress website, which is where I get my Mounjaro from, and also from the MyFitnessPal website, says protein is good. I can’t go into the science of it all, but it seems like an important part of a diet. It helps with weight loss and maintaining muscle mass.
Since I’m running and increasing my training, I want to be gaining muscle, not losing it, which can happen with a calorie-controlled diet. So, I’ve been taking a protein shake after intensive exercise. After my runs, I mix a couple of scoops of dry protein powder in a shaker bottle. It’s vanilla-flavored, and you can have it with water, which I’ve done. I think I had it with milk after a particularly long run to get some extra calories and make it a bit nicer to drink. They provide about 22 grams of protein and cost around 110 calories, so it’s quite a good option if you’re watching calorie intake.
This week, I have run just under 35 km, which is about 21 miles. That’s quite a lot, but I’m following a half-marathon training plan through Garmin. I’m about halfway through it, and the amount of running is increasing. That’s a lot of exercise on just 1,500 calories a day while trying to lose weight, but it’s all good.
I’ve probably done a little bit of walking as well, maybe another 8 km throughout the week. That all helps grow muscle, keep me fit, and burn extra calories.
My Running Week:
- Day 1: 7.5 km progression run – burned 745 calories.
- Day 3: 13.2 km easy run – burned 1,321 calories.
- Day 5: 6.2 km stride repeat session – burned 630 calories.
- Day 7: 7.9 km progression run – burned 752 calories.
I’ve got a schedule, and I’m trying to squeeze these runs in different places. This week was slightly front-loaded, so I reckon mileage will be a little less next week, but I’m happy with that.
How Did I Feel on the Runs?
I felt all right. I think my last long run—the 13 km one—was the toughest. I felt like I was flagging near the end. I think I was running out of energy, but I wouldn’t necessarily put that down as a Mounjaro side effect. I’d say it’s more due to being on a reduced-calorie diet. On longer runs, I’ll take a couple of gels with me to keep my energy up.
I haven’t done long runs for a while, so I need to remember that even if I weren’t on a calorie-controlled diet, I’d still probably be taking some gels. Those long runs, going for an hour and a half or two hours plus, require fueling.
Burning Extra Calories
What do I do with the extra 3,500 calories I’ve burned through running? Do I just eat them all? Technically, I could, but I haven’t been because I think that might throw me off. I think that’s why I’ve done well this week at losing weight. Previously, I would eat those calories back—finish a run, have a chocolate bar, or reward myself with a takeaway. But I don’t want to do that.
Mounjaro has really controlled my appetite, so it’s about balancing it—knowing that it’s suppressing my hunger but also making sure I’m getting the right nutrition and not eating too few calories, which could be counterproductive.
Advice for Runners Taking Mounjaro
Obviously, this depends on side effects. I’ve been all right—minimal side effects, just a bit of a dry mouth and cold hands, which could be due to the weather or lower calorie intake. Only time will tell.
Tips:
- Stay hydrated.
- Make sure you have enough energy. If it’s a long run, take some gels with you—there’s no harm in that.
- Don’t use runs as an excuse to eat things you shouldn’t. A little extra is fine if you’ve burned off a lot, but be mindful.
- Exercise helps make the Mounjaro journey better.
Even after long runs, I haven’t been craving lots of food, but we’ll see what happens when the distances increase.
Looking Ahead
One week in, I’ve lost half a stone, and I’m enjoying it. I’m running a lot, but we are entering the festive season. Next week, I have a music gig, I’m meeting up with friends, and I have a Christmas gathering. How will being around alcohol and buffet food affect things?
Let’s see! I’ve been very enthusiastic this week, but let’s see how things go in the next week and the next few months as I continue on Mounjaro.
If you have any questions, let me know. One week in, and it’s working out very well for me!
Mounjaro Discount Code
I’m only on week one, but as mentioned in the video, if you want to save £40 at Medexpress.co.uk then use the referral code 4Y1W3M.
When you get to the checkout and spend over £110 put in the referral code 4Y1W3M. You will receive a £40 discount off your first order, and as a bonus I will get £40 credit too.
