Becca Jane St Clair

I’ve now been on Mounjaro for three months and honestly, everything is going fantastic. I was on 5mg again this month, increasing to 7.5 for month 4. I barely have needed to write down any new or strange side effects, though I’m still experiencing things like diarrhoea and burping, though not to the extreme of needing anything other than a swing of Pepto.

At my appointment, we went over the results of the blood test, and even though it’s still high, it was a positive downward move by nearly 50%. So we’re happy with that, but we did decide to increase my dose to 7.5mg and then see where we’re at. Obviously, at any time I can go back down to a lower dose if I find the side effects too much to manage. I’m also going to be adding dapagliflozin after we get back from our holiday in June to see if that helps.

I also wanted to address some of the misconceptions around getting prescribed Mounjaro on the NHS for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes. From the NHS:

In line with NICE technology appraisal (TA) 924, Tirzepatide is recommended as an option for treating type 2 Diabetes in adults, alongside diet and exercise, only if blood glucose is inadequately controlled and:

Triple therapy with metformin and two other oral antidiabetic drugs is ineffective, not tolerated, or contraindicated, and
The patient has a BMI of 35 kg/m² or more with specific psychological or other medical problems associated with obesity, or
The patient has a BMI of less than 35 kg/m², and:
Insulin therapy would have significant occupational implications, or
Weight loss would benefit other significant obesity-related complications.

And there also is no cap on the dosage. If you need to go up to 15mg to get your Diabetes under control, you will go up to 15mg. They won’t, however, increase your dose for the sake of weight loss if your blood sugar is controlled with a lower dose.

The guidelines for getting Mounjaro for weight loss on the NHS are as follows:

Have a body mass index (BMI) of 40 kg/m² or more (or 37.5 kg/m² for people from minority ethnic family backgrounds)
and

Have at least four of the following long-term conditions:

1. Type 2 diabetes
2. Hypertension (high blood pressure)
3. Dyslipidaemia
4. Established cardiovascular disease
5. Obstructive sleep apnoea

So you can see where the confusion has come from and where some people are misinformed. It’s also weird that T2 is one of the conditions for getting it for weight loss, but presumably, this is if your T2 is controlled with another drug and you didn’t need mounjaro for controlling it.

I had a long discussion with Fiona about this, because of what people had been telling me were the criteria and knowing I didn’t fit them. It turns out, they were telling me the criteria for using it for weight-loss and not T2. She assured me that I am eligible for it and there is no danger of me being told that I can no longer have it in the future. It will, however, always be my choice if I stay on mounjaro or try something else, but since Metformin stopped working and this is, I can’t see myself stopping.

The other new thing is that I am now testing my morning (fasting) blood glucose level. This is primarily to monitor how well the mounjaro is doing since I am currently not in danger of hypos. I forgot to ask Fiona how to use the monitor though, so I had to go in and see a different nurse the following day. She suggested I could test 4 times per day and keep a food diary to see what foods affected me, but it wasn’t required and considering my problems I had with Slimming World stemmed from all the tracking, I’m not going to do that unless Fiona tells me that I absolutely have to.

There also was no new weight loss this month, which is a little discouraging, but I’ve lost additional inches off my bust, belly, and hips. Fiona thinks the 7.5 will help with losing a bit of weight. Again, I’m not aiming to lose, but it would be a happy side-effect for sure.

Roll on month 4. I might not do weekly updates for 7.5, because I will be away for weeks 3 & 4, but I will make a four month post.

***

Sources Used:
Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) for obesity: Information for patients from 1 April 2026

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

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Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Type 2 Diabetes Week 3
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 4
Mounjaro After One Month
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 5 / Week 1 5mg
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 6
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Weeks 7&8
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes 2 Months On

This second month on Mounjaro was also my first month on 5mg, and you can read about weeks 5-8 by following the links at the bottom of this post.

I’m definitely settling in to taking it. I have a bit of a system now where on a Monday I take it about a half hour before I go to bed so that if there’s anything side effect wise, it’s not interrupting my day.

Speaking of side effects – everything has improved. My digestive system seems to be around 85% on board with the new medication and while I’m still burping, they’re not nearly as foul. I mean, they’re still icky, but that first month they were clear the room foul! According to most of the documentation I’ve read, the burps can last as long as 5-6 months. So, I think it’s just a case of deal with it. I also didn’t need immodium at all this past month and I used pepto twice. The horrible cramp seems to have gone away – I only experienced in on weeks 1 & 2 with the 5mg, though weeks 3 & 4 I took preventative ibuprofen after the shot. At my appointment with Fiona, she suggested I try giving myself the shot further around my belly to prevent the odd sensation that had been going into my groin right after giving myself the shot.

The one side effect that is easiest to deal with and hasn’t gone away is feeling cold fairly constantly unless I’m having a hot flash. But this is easily countered with jumpers, thick socks, and blankets. The only times I seem to not be extremely cold is in bed, and my nights are still spent with the blanket on/blanket off issue that seems to plague most of my perimenopausal friends.

I had my bloods done after this month, and saw my results a few days later in the NHS app. YES, it’s still high. NO, I’m not concerned. Considering it was 103 when I was in hospital in September, I’ll take the current A1C number – 65. This was also only two months in instead of three, so it’s possible next month it will be even better. I’m staying on 5mg for month three, but then we are going to try going up to 7.5mg and see how I do with that. Obviously, the current goal is to find the dose that works to control my blood sugars and it will be whatever it needs to be. If I wind up needing max dose, well, then that’s because that’s what my body needs. We also did another finger prick test as I don’t do those daily and the result was 10, which is two hours after eating breakfast. Last month, it was 14. So again, I’ll take it.

I did not shift any weight this month, which doesn’t concern me as again, I’m looking at weight loss as a side effect, not a goal. I also increased my physical activity an have gone on 2 runs and 3 walks this month, which could have effected my weight. But interestingly, I have seen inches come off again. more off my hips than my belly, but I’ll take it. It’s HARD to get rid of the PCOS belly. Even at my lowest weight I still had the belly. Though in some fun clothing news I have gone down a size in terms of Halara!

I picked up a apair of XL Extra Petite jeans on Vinted last month and I noticed after just a few weeks that they were already feeling a little loose around my waist. It’s challenging finding Extra Petite, and they only seem to make the wide legged jeans in XP, but I found a pair in a size Large on Vinted and quickly scooped them up. They fit perfectly. Primark sizing is still all over the place and I actually purchased a skirt in a size 12 (elasticated waist) a few weeks back, but then I was in last week and tried on M, L, XL, and 2XL in multiple items and I seemed to fit a range of sizes. Ah, gotta love women’s fashion.

I won’t be making weekly Mounjaro posts unless there’s something to say. There’s no point in me posting a one liner of “Everything was fine.”, so I will be updating you all again in another month….

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annaonthemoon.bsky.social
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/annaonthemoon79

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Type 2 Diabetes Week 3
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 4
Mounjaro After One Month
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 5 / Week 1 5mg
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 6
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Weeks 7&8

I’ve combined weeks 7 and 8 into one post (or weeks 3 & 4 on 5mg, depending on how you’re keeping track) because as you can see…I had nothing to report back on.

I took a preventative pain relief immediately after giving myself shot 7 and avoided having a bad cramp, and repeated the same for shot 8. I’m still burping up a storm – the horrible, eggy, nasty sounding, tasting, and smelling burps – but that’s really the worst thing I’ve dealt with these past two weeks!

I know this is a very short entry, but I didn’t want to leave it off or have you think I decided to stop blogging it.

Going forward, I’m going to only post monthly updates, unless I’m swapping over to a new dosage and think there’s anything worth reporting immediately.

I think my disclaimer is going to be longer than the entire blog post….

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annaonthemoon.bsky.social
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/annaonthemoon79

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Type 2 Diabetes Week 3
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 4
Mounjaro After One Month
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 5 / Week 1 5mg
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 6

I don’t have an image for this week. Sorry.

Whenever I inject the shot into my stomach, I always get this weird butterflies in the stomach feeling as the medicine is going in, but it fades out. Unfortunately, I had the really bad cramp again about two hours after the shot and this time, I looked it up and apparently it’s due to the slowing of your digestive system. Great, something to look forward to every week.

On Tuesday, my husband left me for a few days to go on a training course and we had lunch together before he left. Unfortunately, we went to the chippie, and even though I ate more mushy peas than fish batter or chips, I had bad diarrhea later that day. But Fiona did warn me!

Wednesday, I stayed at home in case I needed to make a mad dash for the loo. And then on Thursday, I had the opposite problem and was constipated. I can’t win!

Friday was a side effect free day! Horray!

Saturday I was just cold and shivering most of the day. I went out for a run and while it was lovely and sunny when I left, it soon started to drizzle, then sideways rain, then it just got faster and I wound up turning home early. No amount of layers would warm me up though, so I wound up in bed mid-afternoon huddled under the duvet for warmth. I know extreme cold can be a side effect, so I think it was partially that and partially the rain that made me so cold.

Sunday started out constipated again, so I ate some prunes and then soon was going…and going…and going….pretty sure I emptied my entire system by the end of the day.

And that brings us to Monday, and another week starting!

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Tyep 2 Diabetes Week 3
Mounjaro for Thpe 2 Diabetes Week 4
Mounjaro After One Month
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 5 / Week 1 5mg

This week we upped the dose to 5mg! Fiona warned me that the side effects might become worse and I could drop back down to 2.5 if I find I can’t handle things, but honestly? I’ve felt amazing this week with a few small exceptions, but I found nothing unmanageable.

On Monday, we played Traveller with our friends again and so I gave myself the shot fairly late in the evening and then went to bed…and I was glad I did because about 2 hours later I had the worst cramping I have felt in years. It was close to the PMS cramping I used to get when I was younger. I actually screamed and cried from the pain, and I actually have a fairly high tolerance for pain! I wound up taking some Nurofen Meltlets that I keep handy in the bedside table and jacked the bedwarmer up to the pre-heat setting. The pain eventually settled and I went to sleep.

Tuesday started with no appetite. I made myself my usual breakfast and ate barely half. I also started burping again. It was still the “rotten egg” flavour, but it wasn’t as strong as it had been in previous weeks, it was just annoying. I also had a hot flash while I was in town for an appointment and while that wasn’t related to the Mounjaro and had more to do with Perimenopause, I figured I’d include it anyway!

On Wednesday I just wrote “lightly queasy” and tried to explain the feeling to Tim, but I really couldn’t. It was just a generic unwell in the stomach feeling and made me not really want to eat a whole lot.

Unfortunately, Thursday around 2AM I woke up with such burning heartburn I honestly thought I was going to throw up stomach acid. I ran from the bedroom down the stairs into the bathroom without grabbing my phone to use as a torch on the steps or my slippers I was so in a rush to get there just in case. Fortunately, I wasn’t sick, and I finally opened up the box of Omeprazole that I was prescribed back when I started as a “just in case”. I also keep in stock those little cocktail sized cans of Ginger Ale, so I drank one of those and went back to bed. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the medicine to kick in and I was able to get back to sleep.

Friday led to some constipation, but not bad enough to medicate myself. I just ate some dried prunes (which I now keep on hand!) and had some Weetabix and things were soon normal.

Saturday and Sunday were completely free of any symptoms other than an occasional burp. Perhaps I’m getting used to the medication, or perhaps it’s just that it starts to wear off by Saturday and Sunday! But yeah, I actually felt a lot better this week than I have in the previous four, so either I’m now used to Mounjaro, or my body just tolerates the 5mg better for some reason.

I’m still working on eating better. We haven’t resorted to takeaway or fast food in weeks, and even if cooking sometimes annoys me (I often hate cooking for myself if Tim is at work), I’ve been doing it. I haven’t really pulled out any new recipes yet, but it’s been fun rediscovering old favourites. We also got out the bread machine for it’s inaugural run, after replacing it several years ago when a shelf in the kitchen collapsed and broke the first one. We purchased a new one, but I just never used it. I finally made a box mix, but it was great to actually use it and I look forward to using it more.

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

There are Amazon Affiliate links within this post. I do receive a tiny commission if you purchase the items.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Tyep 2 Diabetes Week 3
Mounjaro for Thpe 2 Diabetes Week 4
Mounjaro After One Month

I’ve been on Mounjaro (2.5mg) for one month, and just started the 5mg. Even though I was keepnig weekly records and blogging weekly, I wanted to do a monthly check-in as well as there are some things you notice more after a full month.

First, I wish I had kept a food diary alongside the first month side effects. It might have helped me to identify patterns and what foods were problematic. It also would have helped me to discover if I have any deficiencies in terms of eating balanced meals…and I KNOW I have some because I can go through an entire day and not eat any fruit and sometimes the only vegetable I will have eaten was potatoes or tomatoes in pasta sauce. Not deliberate, just how my meals sometimes went. I did try to start my day off with frozen mixed berries thawed out with either Weetabix or porridge, but I also ate Kellogg’s High Protein Bites a few mornings if I felt like something chocolate.

Eating out was hard. I had the warning from Fiona (my diabetic nurse) of “don’t eat chinese food or greasy foods” and the horror stories from friends that eating overly greasy food would cause diarrhea and vomiting. This past month Tim and I had plans on three out of the four weekends – two involving overnights (one in Leeds, one in Cambridge). It was easy on the first day of the weekend trips to at least make sure I ate decently at breakfast before we left and I would do a pack-up lunch for us both. Dinners could have been troublesome, except that we lucked out and stayed next to a Toby Carvery in Leeds so I was able to have a roast dinner with veg (avoided the cheese topped veg!). In Cambridge, we ordered from the Indian restaurant we really like and I was fully prepared to have to deal with any aftermath, but I also deliberately ordered Tandoori style chicken – which is dry roasted and comes with salad – and shared a saag paneer with Tim.

Did I want to pop into McDonald’s when I was in town for an appointment and grab some nuggets or a burger? Sure. But did I? No. If I was hungry in town, I either went to Subway and had a salad or I ate at the local bagel shop and had a bagel sandwich. It was important to me to not subject myself to the outcome of greasy food. I’m not saying I was a regular eater of fast food, but it sometimes was a convenient option that is now only to be used in an emergency — like if we have been travelling all day and the only place open at our destination is a 24hr McDonald’s.

I learned about portions. Which, I know sounds crazy as an almost 47-yr-old, but hear me out — I never measured out my food. I just put food on my plate and ate it. But I learned this past month that I don’t need as much food as I thought I did — even a salad, which I love, can be too big if I keep piling the bowl high with veg. I even only drank half (250ml) of a can of Cider! But I’m learning, and that’s the important part.

I had my monthly check-up with Fiona on Monday and before I went in, I took some measurements again. I measured around my belly, my hips, and under my breasts. I lost 3.5 inches overall in the past month as a pleasant surprise. And another unexpected side effect is I lost 5lbs. Like I said from the beginning, I’m not on Mounjaro for the weight loss, but if it happens it’ll be a nice little bonus. I just want my blood sugars under control…even though I never knew they were out of control.

Speaking with Fiona, I was chalking some of the side effects to perimenopause instead of my diabetes like being extra tired, needing to pee more frequently, and having a dry mouth. However, we have decided to check my hormone levels next month when I have my blood work done just to see where I’m at in terms of perimenopause in case I do need support there.

We upped my dose to 5mg now. The current plan is to stay on 5mg for at least 2 months (assuming I can handle the side effects) and then see where we’re at. I might need to go higher, I might not. Someone left me a comment on my Week 1 blog and stated that the NHS doesn’t prescribe above 5mg. I asked Fiona about it and she said that wasn’t true, that you can go all the way up to 15mg if needed, so it might vary from trust to trust. At any rate, I’m hoping I handle 5mg. Fiona said the side effects might increase, and if I find it intolerable, she can drop me back down to 2.5. But I’m going to give it a go. We also checked my blood just with the glucose monitor, which I don’t do at home, and Fiona was pleased with the number, but it still has a bit to come down.

I will continue to post weekly updates at least each time I change dosage for the first month, and then always a monthly update at least while I’m having monthly appointments with Fiona. Once things settle down, these posts will likely only be every three months. (Though I probably need to buy a scale if I’m not seeing Fiona monthly…)

***

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post. Some links may contain affiliate links.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Tyep 2 Diabetes Week 3
Mounjaro for Thpe 2 Diabetes Week 4

Pic via Reddit

I wound up giving myself my shot a few hours later than I have been because we were playing Traveller (TTRPG) until around 2100. But I was able to give myself my shot and pretty much head straight to bed. I’m still feeling “funny” after I give myself the shot. I can’t really explain the sensation but it’s near where I give myself the injection and almost as if I can feel the medicine moving through me? I wish I had better words! My back also started to hurt later in bed, but I’m not sure that’s related to the Mounjaro and is more related to our bed being old and my body being old!

Tuesday’s journal entry simply reads “lots of poo”. I think every time I went to the loo, I had to go and I went to the loo a lot on Tuesday!

Wednesday was the worst day out of this week for me. I wound up going in my pants early in the morning (I’m still not sure if this is Mounjaro related or some kind of stomach issue with what I ate the night before). THe diarrhea got to the point I needed to take immodium, and I was having bad acid reflux. I’m not a stranger to acid, so the fact that I wrote down 8/10 indicates that it was pretty rough.

Thursday, I had more heartburn and a very weak stomach ache. Not to the point where it was full-on nausea, and not to the point of needing pepto…just a very dull, light stomach ache.

The surprise came for me on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday though.

I had ZERO side effects. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Even risked it with an Indian takeaway in the hotel on Saturday night and I half expected to need to take something before we met up with our friends on Sunday, but I was surprisingly fine. Am I finally “used to” the Mounjaro? Of course, this is the end of my 4 weeks on 2.5, and I will start on 5mg later today, so we might be in for a whole new round of side effects! But I’ll keep tracking things in my journal, and still write up weekly posts – at least for this first month on 5mg (second month overall). My goal is to hopefully have no symptoms and only need to keep monthly updates, but we’ll see what happens.

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

I am not a Doctor or Nurse and the information contained in this blog post is meant for information purposes only. Please consult your GP with any health related questions.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2
Mounjaro For Tyep 2 Diabetes Week 3

Cosplaying as my Pathfinder Character, A Gnome Druid named Aoife.

Week three was an interesting rollercoaster for me. Just when you think you get the hang of it….bang!

I took my shot in the evening once more. Tim was on nightshift, so this was the first time I did it with no one in the house with me in case anything went wrong. Once again, it left my stomach feeling “funny” for lack of a better word. It almost feels like I can feel the medicine going through me. It’s a weird sensation! I had low level nausea, so I went to bed.

Tuesday started up with the diarrhea again. Not bad enough for immodium, just pepto was needed. I also was really tired and when Tim came home at 0630, I actually went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until I was almost late for GP appointment! I also was really cold all day and after eating dinner I felt like I had overeaten. My stomach felt so full. I took more Pepto and went to bed!

Wednesday was an emotional day for me. I don’t know if it was related to the Mounjaro or if it was Perimenopause rearing it’s ugly head, but I cried over really dumb things again. both Wednesday and Thursday I had no appetite and ate very little. Basically, I ate because I knew I needed fuel, but not because I was actually hungry although on Thursday I also cooked a full batch of Hamburger Helper (from a recipe, not boxed). I wound up freezing pretty much all of it, but at least that meant I had more food in the freezer for future meal options.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were just full of the eggy burps. It was pretty rough as Saturday and Sunday we were out! I was afraid about finding food to eat while we were away, so I made a pack-up of cheese, biscuits, apple slices, and a few other snacks for Saturday. We lucked out staying next to a Toby Carvery on Saturday night, so had a roast for dinner. Sunday was rougher as after breakfast in the hotel, I had minimal options for Lunch. I wound up with poutine, but didn’t eat all of it and it still made me feel a little ill later on.

But today brings shot 4 and the last dose of my first pen. Though I had to google an image to make sure I actually had taken 4 doses because there was a bit left in it!

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

I have not received compensation from any companies mentioned in my post.

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blog.beccajanestclair
Twitter: https://twitter.com/annaonthemoon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccajanestclair
Blog: http://blog.beccajanestclair.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/beccajanestclair

Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week 2

I didn’t have any other photo for this week.

Last catch-up post, and then I’ll try to post on Mondays about the previous week.

Week 2 started with getting extremely cold pretty much right after I gave myself the shot along with mild nausea and that same feeling “funny” that I just can’t place. I think I once again went straight to bed after giving myself the shot so that I could get warm with the bedwarmer and blankets.

On Tuesday, it was more of the same, only the nausea got a bit stronger and I was extremely tired. Tim left for work at 0600 and I went back to bed and barely got back up when my alarm went off at 9! Not a great start to my week if I’m quite honest.

Wednesday was a better day. I still had a little nausea in the morning when I woke up, but after drinking some ginger tea I felt better. In fact, I felt so much better that I decided to go for a short run! My run turned into more of a walk though as when I started running, my skort started to creep down and I was worried it would fall off. So, it was really a fast walk, but I was really glad to be out there! Especially as when we went to bed that night, I started in with the eggy burps again.

Thursday and Friday have nothing written down because I had symptom free days. I even felt creative on Friday and tried a new recipe….which entirely backfired on me in an explosive way, if you get my drift.

I had decided to make a recipe I had on my pinterest board for years but hadn’t – Honey Sesame Chicken. The recipe naturally called for sesame seed oil…and little did I know that I was apparently extremely intolerant of sesame seed oil. I was awake most of the night sick from both ends. And I’ll be honest with you, I shat myself slightly. Wet farts are no joke! This was horrible as we had plans with friends on Saturday and I really didn’t want to miss it! So, I popped Imodium again and tried to get some sleep.

I made it through the day on Saturday, though I did nap in the car in both directions. Unfortunately, the imoduim wore off and I was sick again, only this time we added the eggy burps back into the mix and I once again had a “wet fart”.

When I woke up on Sunday, I didn’t feel like doing much of anything so I placed an order on Morrisons for same day delivery and went back to bed until about 10 minutes before the order was set to arrive. I made one of my favourite meals for dinner (Lasagna) and we had plenty to put into the freezer for another day.

Roll on week three. We can do this.

***

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Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes Week One

I’m going to be real with you and share some very personal details over the coming weeks. If that’s not your cup of tea, please stop reading. But if you want some real, first hand experience from someone using Mounjaro for the first time to treat their Type 2 Diabetes, welcome.

So today is actually the day after shot 3, so I’m backtracking a little to cover weeks one and two, but then there will be weekly updates. I’ve been keeping detailed notes in my journal with what side effects I’m experiencing each day and anything else I feel I need to take note of, and I’m going to use these notes to write my posts. I think keeping track of things like this is a great way for someone to remember things that happened to them, so if you discover a pattern or have something you want to ask your nurse about, you have it written down. (I also keep a list of pretty much all illnesses and perimenopause symptoms to help identify patterns)

I am starting on the lowest dose, 2.5mg and then after four weeks we will be increasing my dosage to 5, then possibly to 7.5 and on up if I need the higher doses. But let’s talk about week one.

I was…surprised. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I made sure I had dinner before I gave myself the first shot as I read it could cause nausea and I didn’t want to make myself sick with the first dose. Sticking myself with the needle was easy and it barely feels like a pinch. The cold medicine going through your body? a very weird sensation. I can’t even describe the feeling other than to say I immediately felt “funny”. Not nausea, not dizzy, just…funny.

We went home and went to bed.

The following day, the constipation hit. I opted against taking any medicine for it and just drank lots of fluids, including a high 5 electrolyte tablet. I woke up at 2AM on Wednesday having the nastiest, eggy/sulphur burps that I’ve ever had. I honestly thought I was going to throw up but fortunately I didn’t. My body then gave me the opposite of constipation and I wound up taking Pepto Bismol just so that I could get back to sleep!

Later that day I needed to go out on the bus into town and I noticed I felt a little motion sick if I tried to look at my phone on the moving bus. I don’t actually suffer from motion sickness, so this was new! Fortunately, that didn’t last long and it was only on this day that it happened.

My notes for Thursday just say “eggy burps” about three times, so it must have been bad. I remember it even woke Tim up it was so foul smelling and the sound! I don’t know if you’ve ever had an eggy burp, but they don’t sound like a normal BRAAAARP kind of burp. The closest I can compare it to is a bull frog croak. Something really loud and echoing and just unpleasant all around. I took some LeFax powder we always bring back from Germany* and went back to bed.

On Friday, the diarrhea got worse and I needed to take Imodium. I also had really hot, red cheeks with no fever, but I’m also Perimenopausal, so it could have been unrelated!

Saturday and Sunday were both side-effect free days, which was expected as the medicine was dwindling down in my body.

Throughout the week, I noticed one BIG thing — I was feeling full with less food. I wanted less food. Now, I’m not the kind of person who experiences “food noise” and in fact until I started taking Mounjaro I hadn’t even heard of the term. I only think about food if I’m making a meal plan or actually hungry and deciding what to eat. Food has never really been constantly on my mind, even if being on Slimming World seemed to want to force that in the past. But this week, I found myself filling my plate with less food than usual but then also leaving a quarter to a half uneaten and put into the freezer for later. A few nights I ate Weetabix with yogurt and berries for dinner because I wasn’t overly hungry but didn’t want to wake up in the middle of the night hungry.

The other side effect I’ve been experiencing that I didn’t know existed is feeling extremely cold. I mean, it is still kind of Winter here in the UK, and I do tend to get cold extremities due to poor circulation so my feet tend to be cold a lot…but I was absolutely freezing. Adding on socks on top of socks and cardigans on top of jumpers with a blanket on my lap. I used the pre-heater on the bed most nights this week even if it wasn’t that cold out.

All in all, There was nothing unexpected for me to deal with and I feel like things are going smoothly. Of course, the real test will be after week 4 when I have my bloods tested to see if there’s been any positive change, but I feel like there will be.

***

*Once when we were travelling, we both became ill with what we can only assume was food poisoning and when I went into the Apotheke and described the symptoms, the pharmacist reccomended this product and we’ve been bringing it back with us ever since.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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Previous Posts about Mounjaro:
Mounjaro for Type 2 Diabetes

Mounjaro Pens. Pic via Shutterstock

Back in September, I had surgery on my leg to drain a very large abscess. When I went into hospital and they took my bloods, it came back that my blood sugar was extremely high for a diabetic on Metformin and they had to put me on a sliding scale for insulin before they could even attempt the surgery. This triggered alarm bells, but not very big ones as having an infection can obviously spike your blood sugars and I hadn’t taken my Metformin the night before or morning of surgery.

The wound healed, but it caused a Hidradenitis Supperativa flare in my groin from where the dressing had been sticking. I’m still seeing the wound care nurse, and she put in a request to my GP to have it looked at to determine if I needed a second surgery (I hope not!) or further meds to clear it up. I received a week of antibiotics and a message to “please make an appointment”.

Now, we all know how hard it can be to schedule GP appointments at the best of times, so I scheduled an appointment for three weeks from then, figuring if they needed to see me sooner they would contact me. I assumed it was regarding the HS, but I was wrong.

My appointment was with the new diabetic nurse who had been reviewing all of her new patient files and she discovered that my blood sugars had been on the rise for FIVE YEARS, pushing me from barely diabetic (I originally got diagnosed by accident when I was getting diagnosed with PCOS) to fully diabetic. No one told me.

To further complicate the matter, some Metformin was easier to swallow than others and sometimes I would get sick within an hour of taking the Metformin and we couldn’t be sure if the pill was coming back up as well. But it was obvious my body did not tolerate Metformin as well as it used to….so the nurse suggested Mounjaro.

I was familiar with Mounjaro as far as knowing it was a diabetic drug that people were buying OTC from online pharmacies to assist in weight loss as the NHS would only prescribe it for the treatment of diabetes or extreme/morbid obesity. I also of course had seen all the online articles about Mounjaro, Wegovy, etc. and the horrific side effects being discovered. So Fiona (my diabetic nurse) put in for the prescription for me and we scheduled another appointment for a week’s time and she told me to write down any questions that popped into my head to get things sorted and then I would decided if I wanted to do it and she would supervise my first jab. She also assured me that the side effects for weight loos and for diabetic use were different (and the information booklet she gave me indicated this as well)

The Questions and Answers I had:

Do I need to eat low carb? No, I can continue eating as normal
Are there specific foods to avoid? overly fatty food and fried food. I can eat it, but it might make me sick or give me diarrhea.
Can I still take my multivitamin for Perimenopause> Yes
What is the end goal? Will I be on this for life? The goal is to get my blood sugars under control and get them possibly down to below Diabetic numbers. I can choose to stop the medication at that point to see what happens or I can continue to take it.
Does it need to be injected at the same time each week? Only the day is important. I can take it at any time once/wk on the same day
Do I need to monitor my blood daily? No, I will have checks every three months while we figure out the dosage required, then just an annual blood test like usual.

We spent a good half an hour discussing all of the questions above and how I felt about going on a jab. Then Fiona weighed me to get my starting weight. I’m not going to share it here, but it’s been recorded. I initially didn’t want to know what I weighed because of my prior issues when I was on Slimming World, but I decided I needed to know and I wrote it down in my journal. I also took measurements of my belly, hips, and chest to compare with next month.

Then, I learned how to do the jab. I’m a watcher, not a read instruction kind of person, so Fiona mocked putting the pen together and showing me what to do before handing it to me and having me stick myself. Giving the jab wasn’t painful or stressful at all and I barely felt it. Fiona then left the room and returned with a Massive sharps bin and about a dozen bags of needles for me to store. I’m not sure she intended on me storing them in an ice cream bin, but it’s the perfect size and I love the irony:

We had our dinner before my appointment, and I was glad for it as I wasn’t feeling the best after it, so home I went and I went straight to bed.

I’ll make another post with my week one notes.

—

Top image from Shutterstock.

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission.

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Today is our 6th wedding anniversary! Since we’ve had a pretty amazing year already between 3 weeks in the US in May and a spur of the moment 10 days in Austria, we decided to keep our anniversary low-key. When I asked Tim what he wanted, he asked for pulled pork and a gooey dessert, the kind like you can get a Frankie and Benny’s. A dish my Aunt Barb made came to mind, which was like a brownie baked in a pie pan that made it’s own sauce and I remembered it was out of the Betty Crocker cookbook. It’s on Page 200 of the spiral bound (US) version and is called a Hot Fudge Sundae Cake. I’ve made it once before, but this time I wanted to scale it down to 2 servings, convert it to UK measurements, and work out the syns for Slimming World. As listed in the cookbook, the original serves 9 and has 10 Syns per serving (basing it on calories only as I don’t have the size of a serving to plug it into the calculator). I wanted to scale this down to serve 2 (no leftovers means no temptation!) and I also wanted to make it diabetic friendly and use some sugar substitutes. It still comes out to 10 syns, so changing the sugar didn’t matter and I will list the recipe using both regular sugar and sweeteners.

I baked this in a small Corningware dish my mom gave me when I moved. It’s an individual casserole size, so an individual pie dish would work for this or possibly dividing it in half into two ramekins (but then you would need to adjust cooking time). There also is a recipe for a Melting Chocolate Pudding on the Slimming World website which has 9 syns per serving, but I didn’t have individual microwaveable pudding containers and I wanted to be a bit more creative.

Self Saucing Chocolate Cake
Serves: 2
Syns: 10 per serving (it’s 9.25 if you use sweetener products)

You Will Need:
Cake –
50g self-rising flour
15g Truvia baking blend OR 30g caster sugar
1/2 TBS cocoa (I used Green & Black’s Organic)
25ml semi-skim milk
1-2 TBS water
1/2 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Topping –
25g Splenda for baking Brown (or 50g brown sugar)
1 TBS cocoa
100ml very hot water (from the kettle)

1) Preheat oven to 180C (350F)
2) Combine flour, Truvia, and 1/2 TBS cocoa in the ungreased small casserole dish.
3) Mix in milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, and 1TBS of water. If mixture is still dry, add an additional Tablespoon water.
4) Spread mix evenly in dish.
5) Sprinkle batter with 1 TBS cocoa and brown sugar.
6) Pour hot water evenly over the top.
7) Bake 25-30 minutes until cake is cooked (Will be gooey on top. Stick a spoon in to check the cake)

Serve hot with custard or ice cream!

For the pulled pork, all you need is a piece of pork butt or shoulder (cut off all visible fat) and a batch of Slimming World Barbecue Sauce. Just toss it all in a crock pot and let it cook on low for 8-10 hours. I put ours in the crock pot last night before we went to bed and it was ready by the time we woke up and then I left it on warm until Lunch. We served it on top of wholemeal rolls (my HEB for the day) with smash, corn on the cob, and mixed vegetables.

***

DISCLAIMER: I do not work for Slimming World, I am not affiliated with Slimming World beyond being a paying customer/member, I get no personal benefit from writing this post other than the joy of sharing.

Please note: Syn values are based on my exact ingredients using the online calculator. Your Syn value may vary based on your ingredients and the size of your baking containers and portions, so use this number as a guide only. Syn values also frequently change, but these values are correct at the time of publication.

Photo of Tim and I taken by Eric Stocklin

The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

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Mmm. Brownies. Though, I must admit, these are more cakey than a usual brownie, but still. Yummm.

Last Thursday, we had our steam-up and we had a few friends present. I like to bake things when we play trains in the garden, but last time I made 24 cupcakes, we only had about 8 people show up and Tim wound up taking the cupcakes into work, so this time, I waited to see what the numbers were and needed something that would be quick to make. I immediately remembered a recipe for Vegan Brownies I made years and years ago (at least 10!) when I was vegetarian. I decided to change it a bit to make it more diabetic and diet-friendly. I did NOT calculate the syns for this recipe, because the original is in US measurements and all of my syns are calculated based on metric measurements, but I might go back and try to convert everything. Oh, and the best part is you only need an 8″ pan to mix AND bake them in!

You will need:

1 1/4 Cup flour (you can use plain or wholegrain. For denser brownies, I would only use 1 Cup)
1/2 C Truvia baking blend (or Splenda for Baking or Half Spoon…or regular sugar)
1/3 C cocoa (I used my good ol tin of Hershey, but I can’t wait to try this with Green & Black’s Organic)
1 tsp baking soda (if using bicarbonate, use 1 1/2 tsp. I happened to have a box of Arm & Hammer)
1/2 tsp salt
1 Cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 Cup vegetable oil (You could probably sub in apple sauce. The next time I make this, I’m going to use applesauce)

And the magic ingredient:
1 tsp Red Wine vinegar (or other vinegar, but not balsamic)

Optional: I also added in a bag of dark chocolate chips (not Vegan) and white chocolate chunks (also not Vegan)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C (350F)
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in an 8 inch square baking pan.
3. Create holes in each corner of the dry mix and pour a wet ingredient into each corner.
4. Stir to combine. This is where you can stir in any add-ins such as chocolate chips, m&ms, 2 TBS of PB2, etc.)
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes or you will have a crumbly mess.

Edited to add on 14 April 2015: If you use regular Truvia instead of the sugar blend and you do not add any additional chocolate chips, this recipe comes to 56.9 syns total. Cut into 16 it is 3.5 syns per brownie!

Enjoy!!

***
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/

I really wanted cupcakes today. It’s a Sunday, so I either had to bake with what I had or what I could buy at the local co-op. I searched on the Slimming World website and found the recipe for the chocolate log….but I didn’t have the ingredients for the filling. I  also prefer to reduce sugar where possible, so this is my cupcake recipe loosely based off the chocolate log. This should make 10 cupcakes for a total of 15 syns or 1.5 each.

Posting this from my phone, so I don’t have my usual disclaimers. But please double check your syn values if you use different ingredients.

Recipe:

50g self-rising flour
50g Truvia  baking blend
15g cocoa powder  (my American self used Hershey cocoa)
4 eggs

Preheat fan assisted oven to 180 (think that’s 200 on a regular oven)
Combine dry  ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Whisk eggs until foamy (I used an electric whisk)
Spoon dry mix into eggs and gently stir.
Spray 10 silicone cupcake cases with frylight and evenly spoon in mix (about 3 dessert spoonfuls per case).
Bake 10-12 minutes until edges come away from the case.

Wow. I joined Slimming World 12 weeks ago and bought a Countdown to Success….and well, I’d say it’s been a success! Tonight was my week 12 weigh-in, and not only did I achieve my Club 10, but I also got my 1 1/2 stone award. Yep. 10% lighter than I was at the end of October. I can’t tell you how pleased I am.

I also kept track of my measurements in an excel spreadsheet and I’ve managed to lose 28.5 inches overall in 12 weeks AND my BMI has gone down by more than 4. Even more amazing is I’ve lost over 4 inches from my belly, something that as a PCOS sufferer is really hard to do!

I’m getting there.

Slowly, but steadily. I had a few wobbles in the past 12 weeks (gained 1 lb at our wedding anniversary week, gained 1 pound over Christmas), but overall the trend has been down. I might only be dropping a pound or two per week, but it’s all going in the right direction.

And honestly? I don’t miss the junk food. With 5-15 Syns per day, I’ve still been having “junk”, just in moderation. A Lindt truffle is 4 Syns, so when I have one I get to savor the flavour and enjoy it instead of just shovelling it into my mouth. Or biting into a crumpet with a little bit of Flora light spread on it. Even drinking an Options hot chocolate becomes a taste event as the hot chocolate is 2 Syns per 11g (one sachet). Sometimes I save my Healthy Extra A and use it to make a milky Options hot chocolate before bed. Most of the time my HEA is cheese. If you put milk in your tea, you can either take it out of your HEA or you can count it as .5 syn for a splash, so I tend to spend my syns on milk and go for the cheese. Our consultant said she doesn’t like having cheese because of measuring it out, but when you start to shred it, it really becomes quite a lot of cheese! I got a hand crank grater from Wilkos for less than £2 and that makes it super easy to grate. Or I’ll stir Philadelphia Lightest into some pasta for a take on macaroni cheese.

When it comes to my Healthy Extra B, I sometimes struggle. Especially when crackerbread got removed from the options! But 2 Alpen Light bars or 2 Hifi Light bars count as the HEB, and that includes some chocolate variations. A couple of Ryvita topped with cream cheese is both my HEA and HEB at the same time. Lately, I’ve been eating 2 slices of wholegrain bread from a small loaf for toast. The most important part is carefully measuring out your As and Bs. Argos sells a cheap digital scal for a fiver, and most measuring jugs, cups, and spoons can be had for less than £1 for a set at Wilkos.

And the free and superfree food! Some of the things that are free are Amazing! Baked beans, Mullerlight yougurts, rice, pasta…..all unlimited. All free. Fresh/raw fruit….superfree. Veggies? Do whatever you want to them and they’re superfree. And don’t forget your lean meats, bacon with the rind cut off, quorn mince (and some other products, like quorn hot dogs!), mince with less than 5% fat…..All unlimited. I have made so many meals totally free, which saves up my Syns for treats later.

So what has a typical day looked like in the past 12 weeks?

Breakfast – Baked beans and scrambled eggs done with fry light (sometimes on Toast as my HEB), sometimes an omelette with my HEA cheese), mullerlight yogurt, an apple, a banana. On days that we have extra time, I do a Slimming World “grill up” – grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, bacon without the rind, and eggs. I’ve made breakfast sandwiches combining my HEA & HEB with eggs and bacon. And always a cup of coffee with a splash of milk (.5 syns) and a cup of tea with milk (.5 syns). Sometimes I’ll enjoy a glass of Innocent Orange Juice (2 syn per 100ml), though I haven’t had juice in ages. Usually if I want orange juice, I’ll mix up some orange sugar free squash (FREE).

AM snack – a cup of green tea (milkless) and an Alpen bar or Hifi Light bar (3 Syns or half my HEB). Usually another piece of fruit or a handful of cherry tomatoes.

Lunch – Salad, a jacket potato topped with Tuna and lightest mayo (1 syn per TBS), a grilled gammon steak (no rind) with fresh pineapple and a fried egg, If I haven’t had my HEA and HEB yet, sometimes I’ll do Ryvita with lightest Philadelphia topped with some chopped veggies. For a dressing for my salad, I’ll take some fat free fromage frais or Total 100% greek yogurt with some dill and other herbs in it (free) or a 1/2 Tablespoon of some imported Hidden Valley Ranch dressing (.5 Syn). I usually round out the meal with a mullerlight and an apple, banana, some grapes, or strawberries.

Afternoon Snack – A cup of green tea, and some veggie sticks. for a dip, I make one out of greek yogurt or fromage frais and some dill and other herbs.

Dinner – We might use some syn free barbecue sauce (recipe coming soon), a HEA worth of cheese, bacon, and some chicken breast to make hunter’s chicken served with lots of steamed veggies. Or I might put some salmon with lemon pepper and dill in the steamer along with some potatoes and other veggies. If I haven’t used my HEB for the day, I might blitz some wholemeal bread and make breadcrumbs for fish and chips or chicken nuggets. Occasionally we’ll have a pasta based dish, since pasta is free, but I’m still on the low-ish carb thing and I’d rather eat potatoes than pasta for a carb! On Sundays, I do a full roast with potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.

Bedtime snack – Options hot chocolate (2 Syns) with a splash of milk to make it creamy (.5 syns) and a pink and white wafer biscuit (2.5 syns)

At this point, I usually tally up my syns for the day to see if I can have anything else. If I eat everything listed here, that’s 12.5 syns for the day so I usually will end it at that especially if I had any other cups of regular tea with milk, but if I had less than 10 syns, I might break into the chocolate and have an Lindt truffle.

I still sometimes keep a food diary. My cousin suggested a journal to track things, and Slimming World encourages you to track your first four weeks. I very religiously tracked for my first 4 weeks and continued on until around week 8. Then, I only tracked things when I felt like I needed to keep track, like if we ate a meal out. But I find tracking my food a very good tool and while I don’t want to track food for the rest of my life, if it works, it works.

And next week? Another Countdown to Success. 12 more weeks. If I can lose another stone and a half, that will bring me within a few pounds of my first target!

Are you interested in joining Slimming World? Check their website for your local group’s information! Their website also has some great taster menus for you to try out before you join, and several women’s magazines have been running coupons this month to get your first week for free!

~~*~~
The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

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The last Christmas recipe I have to share with you all uses Carbquik. I did not make this cake for Christmas, but I made it for New Year’s Day when Tim and I ate our Christmas dinner (since we had dinner on Christmas Day with his parents). I found this recipe for Low-Carb Pound Cake on the Low Carb Friends website, where it says this contains 1g of carbs per serving. I don’t like the taste of Carbquik by itself, so I replaced part of the Carbquik. If you wanted to make this with just Carbquik, you would need 3 and a half cups of it. The way I made it has a few more carbs than that per serving, but I don’t know exact amounts.

Low Carb Pound Cake

You will need:
1 1/2 Cup Carbquik
1 Cup Wholegrain Flour
1/2 Cup Ground Almonds (or Almond Meal/Almond Flour)
1/2 Cup Coconut Flour
3/4 Cup Splenda for Baking
3/4 Cup Butter (softened)
200g Cream Cheese (one pack/8 oz)
6 eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
Pinch of Salt

-Pre-heat the oven to 175C.
-Butter the sides of a Bundt pan (I’m sure other cake pans work just as well!)
-Combine Carbquik, Flour, Ground Almonds, Coconut Flour, and salt in a small bowl
-In a larger bowl cream together Splenda for Baking, butter, and cream cheese.
-Add eggs one at a time to liquid mixture. Add vanilla.
-Slowly add dry mix to the wet until it is well blended.
-Pour the mix into the cake pan and bake for 45-60 minute or until a toothpick comes out clean.

We had this for Strawberry Shortcake with some fresh berries and cream. It’s so tasty and low-carb that you don’t feel guilty sneaking a piece for breakfast the next morning!

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

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Another big part of Christmas dinner is of course, the dessert. I had already made the Christmas Pudding full of sugar and booze, so I wanted to try to make something with less sugar. I really wanted to make a cheesecake, so I searched for several sugar free versions to create mine. Unfortunately, the topping is NOT sugar free as I could not find any sugar free pie filling, but I DO have a recipe for making your own sugar free cherry topping I will try out some other time. I can justify the sugar in the topping only because you really don’t eat that much topping anyway.

For the Crust —
2 Cups Ground Almonds (sometimes called almond flour or almond meal)
4 TBS Butter, melted
2 TBS Splenda for Baking

For the Filling —
600g Cream Cheese (3 packages) – room temperature
3 Eggs
1/2 TBS Vanilla
1/2 TBS lemon juice
1 Cup Splenda for Baking

For the Topping —
1 Can pie filling, any flavour. Sugar Free if you can find it

-Preheat the oven to 200C.
-Combine the ingredients for the crust and press into bottoms and side of your pie dish.
-Bake crust for 12-15 minutes until it is firm and golden.
-Remove from oven and set crust to one side.
-Cream together cream cheese and Splenda for baking.
-Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
-Add lemon juice and vanilla.
-Pour filling into cooked crust and place in the oven (still at 200C)
-As soon as you shut the oven door, immediately reduce temperature to 125C. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN WHILE BAKING THIS. Alternatively, you can use a water bath.
-Bake for 60-90 minutes. If your oven has a glass door, check by sight. The cheesecake should form a mound and look firm. You can open the door after an hour to check on the cake. A cake tester inserted should come out fairly clean, with bits of firm cheesecake clinging to it. If the cheesecake is still runny, leave it in the oven for additional time.
-Let the cheesecake cool completely before adding the topping.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

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When my family bakes Christmas cookies, we always made more than one kind, so of course I wanted some variety. I am a big fan of the Scottish Shortbread you can get in the tins from Marks and Spencers, so I decided that would be my second type of cookie. I scoured the web, and I found a recipe posted by someone who calls themselves “mrsnorris”. Now, whether they intended to be a Harry Potter reference or their name really *is* Mrs Norris, the fact that it could be HP related instantly caught my attention to base my recipe off of.

You will need:
160g Butter, softened (I used Stork)
4 TBS Splenda for Baking (the original recipe calls for regular Splenda, but I find the Splenda for Baking doesn’t leave an after taste the way regular Splenda does, but feel free to use the sweetener of your choice)
100g White flour
100g Wholegrain flour (my wholegrain was also self-raising, but I don’t think this matters)
1/8 tsp Salt

-Preheat the oven to 180C and line your baking trays with parchment paper.
-Cream together butter and Splenda for Baking until fluffy.
-Slowly add flour and salt.
-Work dough into a ball.
-Flour your worktop and gently press (or roll) the dough out until it is about a half inch thick.
-Use a biscuit cutter (or shapes) to cut out the biscuits, re-rolling in between. You should be able to fit a dozen per cookie sheet. If you don’t have any cutters you could use a glass dipped in flour or just cut them into fingers with a knife. You will need to re-flour your worktop each time you re-roll the dough.
-Optional: you could brush the tops of each cookie with some egg and sprinkle a tiny bit of dyed* Splenda for Baking to imitate sprinkles, but they are just as good plain.
-Refrigerate each baking tray for 15 minutes before baking (I did this by putting the first sheet in and setting the timer. When the timer went off, they went into the oven and the next tray went into the fridge)
-Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Keep an eye on them as if they overbake they get very crumbly (as we discovered!)

Once again, these were a big hit and no one could tell they were sugar free! Just makes sure you tell people ahead of time as some people are intolerant to artificial sweeteners.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

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My first Christmas dealing with my diabetes, and I think I did okay. I had some mince pies ( but never more than one in a single day), I had a few glasses of wine (again, never more than one), Ate a few small pieces of chocolate (Tim bought me an advent calendar, but I only ate the chocolate on a few days), and I indulged in a small piece of the Christmas Pudding I had made (just to taste it as I had never even had it!). But I also only drank sugar free fizzy drinks or slim tonic water, ate low-carb, and avoided the starchy foods – no potatoes, parsnips, carrots, etc. So overall, I did pretty good.

Making Christmas Cookies are a HUGE deal to me as it’s been a family tradition since forever. Fortunately, my mom sent me some Splenda Blend for Baking and some Splenda Brown. Both these products I have been unable to locate in the UK, but you can order them through importers on eBay (though it will be pricey, it’s worth it!)

The first thing I needed to do was bake some chocolate chip cookies as those are my favourite cookie of all-time and Mom also got me some sugar free chocolate chips! However, don’t go crazy looking for them. I compared the bag of SF chips to a bag of Toll House, a container of dark chocolate chunks from Waitrose, and to some plain chocolate chips from Asda and they all contained around the same amount of sugar per 100g. After I added the bag of SF chips I decided it needed more chips anyway, so my cookies wound up with a combination of Hershey Sugar Free, Toll House Semi-Sweet, and Waitrose dark chocolate chunks. They were amazing and no one could tell they were sugar free!

(This recipe was modified off the back of the Hershey Sugar Free Chocolate Chips, so is measured using US measurements)

You will Need:
1 Cup white flour
1 Cup wholegrain flour
1 tsp baking soda (or 2 tsp Bicarb of Soda if you don’t have access to American baking soda)
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Cup butter (Soft – I used stork out of a tub)
1/3 Cup Splenda for Baking
1/3 Cup packed Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
2 tsp Vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 Cups chocolate chips or chunks (sugar free, semi-sweet, dark, or plain. Using milk chocolate will add more sugar)

-Preheat the oven to 200C and line your baking trays with parchment paper.
-Mix together the flours, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
-In a larger bowl, beat butter, the two Splendas, eggs, and vanilla.
-Slowly mix in the flour.
-using a wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips/chunks.
-Drop by teaspoons onto your baking sheets. You should be able to get 12 on a sheet.
-Bake each sheet for 9-12 minutes until cookies are golden.
-Cool on the sheet for a few minutes, then continue to cool on a baking tray.

Makes about 3 and a half dozen soft cookies, depending on how big you make them. I went through THREE batches of them this season because everyone loved them so much.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

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[Nuggets, shown with a big pile of Ranch dressing made from powdered ranch dressing mix and creame fraiche]

[please excuse the mobile phone quality and half empty plate!]

I’ve been whipping these up for the past few months, and I realized that I hadn’t shared the recipe, so I thought I would remedy that. This recipe works well with diced chicken (for nuggets), mini fillets (for fingers), and even with boneless chicken breasts if you want to make chicken Parmesan.

You will need:
-Boneless, skinless chicken (breasts can be used whole, diced into nuggets, or sliced into fingers)
-Equal parts ground almond and grated Parmesan cheese. Depending on how much chicken you have to coat, start with 50g of each and use more if you run out. (or do what I do, and just dump some in a bowl. LOL)
-100ml single cream or milk (if you run out, use more)
-1 egg
-1 tsp paprika
-1 tsp oregano
– a sprinkle of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.
Pour cream or milk into a bowl and whisk together with the egg. Combine the ground almonds, Parmesan, seasonings, salt and pepper in another bowl.
Coat each piece of chicken by first placing it into the bowl with the egg/cream mixture and then into the “breading” mixture.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken (breasts will take longer, nuggets might only take 15 minutes). Topping should be golden in colour and if you poke a toothpick into the chicken the juices should run clear.

Serve with your choice of dip and a side salad. To serve this as Chicken Parmesan, you don’t need to pre-cook the chicken, just add it to a dish with some sauce and top with a little grated cheese, then bake!

Tim has decided these are better than the frozen ones from the grocery store. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could try frying them in a few centimetres of oil or in a deep fryer instead of baking them. I’m too chicken (hah!) to attempt to fry things in oil on the hob!

These are diabetic friendly as they do not contain any breadcrumbs or flour and are also suitable for a low-carb diet. Other recipes suggest using coconut flour, carbquik, ground flaxseed, and other non-flour options. Before using low-fat Parmesan cheese, read the label to make sure they are not full of sugar, as is the case with many low-fat cheeses.

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The contents of this post, including images are © Rebecca J Lockley and Tim Lockley unless otherwise stated and should not be reproduced without permission. If you are not reading this on http://blog.beccajanestclair.com, my facebook page, Networked Blogs, the RSS feed(s), or through an e-mail subscription, please notify me.

[LJ readers reading this on the LJ RSS feed: Please click on the link at the top of the entry to go directly to my blog to leave a comment, as comments left on the LJ RSS do not get seen by me. Facebook users reading this from my Networked Blogs link can either comment on facebook or on my blog. If you are reading this through an e-mail subscription, you might need to go directly to my blog to view videos and images.]

For full Copyright and Disclaimer, please read http://www.blog.beccajanestclair.com/copyright/