Celebrating Hmong New Year on Mounjaro

Hmong New Year, Noj Peb Caug, has long been celebrated after the rice harvest, and in the US it fills late fall and early winter with family gatherings and large community festivals that can run for several days. At home, families honor elders and ancestors and share a new year meal. At the festivals, people dress in embroidered clothing and silver jewelry, toss balls in the traditional game of pov pob, sing, dance, watch pageants, and visit food stalls selling sticky rice, boiled chicken with herbs, Hmong sausage, papaya salad, pho, khaub poob, and nab vam. Customs vary by clan and family.

If you take Mounjaro or compounded tirzepatide, a week of festival days and family meals on a smaller appetite takes some planning. If you have type 2 diabetes and also take insulin or a sulfonylurea, long days with irregular meals need extra care.

Family meals and the new year table

The new year meal often centers on boiled chicken, soups, fresh herbs, greens, and sticky rice. Chicken and soups are good choices on Mounjaro, since they bring protein and sit gently. Start with them, eat slowly, and stop at the first sign of fullness. Elders and hosts may keep offering more. You do not owe anyone an explanation. “It’s delicious, I’m already full” is enough, and offering to help serve keeps your own plate light.

Sticky rice and blood sugar

Sticky rice is filling and dense, and it is easy to eat a lot of it without noticing. Take a small portion and eat it with chicken or other protein rather than on its own. If you have type 2 diabetes, pairing starch with protein and vegetables is easier on your blood sugar.

Papaya salad and spicy food

Papaya salad is a festival favorite, often fiery with chilies and rich with fish sauce. On a sensitive stomach, especially after a dose increase, spicy and strongly fermented foods can bring on heartburn or nausea. Ask for a milder version, take a small portion, and keep water nearby. Our guide on what to eat after an injection has ideas for foods that tend to sit well.

Festival days on your feet

Festival days can mean hours of walking, standing to watch ball tossing and performances, and waiting in food lines, often outdoors in cool weather. Carry water and a small snack, sit down when you can, and stand up slowly after sitting. Eat a real meal at some point rather than grazing all day.

Traditional clothing

Embroidered clothing with tight sashes and heavy silver jewelry is beautiful and can be snug around the waist. Pressure on a full stomach can make reflux worse, so eat smaller portions while you are dressed up and loosen what you can between events. If a recent injection site on your abdomen is tender, choose a different site for the dose before the festival.

Low blood sugar at the festival

The prescribing information for Mounjaro says people who take it with insulin or an insulin secretagogue, such as a sulfonylurea, may have an increased risk of hypoglycemia, including severe hypoglycemia. Long days of activity with late or irregular meals raise that risk. If that is you, keep glucose tablets in your pocket or bag, and tell a family member the signs: shakiness, sweating, a fast heartbeat, sudden hunger, irritability, or confusion. Never change those medications on your own.

Plan your dose around the festival

Side effects tend to be strongest after each dose increase, and many people notice them most in the day or two after an injection. If an increase would fall right before New Year, ask your provider whether to hold it until afterward. The Mounjaro label allows the day of weekly administration to be changed as long as the two doses are at least 3 days (72 hours) apart, but ask your provider before you change it. If you are still early in treatment, our guide on the starting dose of tirzepatide covers what the first weeks usually look like.

Protein through the festival

Over several days of festival food, it is easy to fill a small appetite with rice, sweets, and fried snacks. Make sure each day includes protein, such as chicken, pork, eggs, tofu, or fish. Some of the weight lost on these medications is muscle, and protein helps protect it. Our guide on getting the most out of your GLP-1 treatment covers why protein and resistance exercise matter.

Traveling to festivals in other cities

Many families travel to New Year festivals in other cities or states. For trips of a week or less, injecting before you leave can mean you carry nothing. Otherwise, follow your medication’s storage instructions, keep it with you, and never leave it in a car. Our guide on storing compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide at home covers the basics.

Watch for under-eating

A busy week of celebrations can leave you short on real meals. Watch for persistent fatigue, feeling cold, hair shedding, dizziness when you stand, losing strength, and losing weight faster than you and your provider intended. If you notice them, tell your provider.

Consider this scenario: a woman on Mounjaro who also takes insulin spends three days at a New Year festival in another city. She leaves her medication in the car overnight, eats mostly sticky rice and spicy papaya salad from the stalls, and skips lunch on the busiest day to watch her daughter’s pageant. By afternoon she is shaky and sweaty in a tight sash and has to sit down in the stands. Injecting before the trip, eating chicken and soup with her rice, carrying glucose tablets, and loosening her sash between events would very likely have kept her enjoying the festival.

The short version

For Hmong New Year on Mounjaro, start family meals with chicken and soup, keep sticky rice to a small portion with protein, and ask for milder papaya salad. Carry water and snacks on festival days, eat smaller portions in snug traditional clothing, and carry glucose tablets if you take insulin or a sulfonylurea. Ask about holding a dose increase, inject before short trips, and never leave medication in a car.

If you want a provider who will help you plan treatment around the celebrations your family holds dear, TrimRx includes ongoing provider access alongside treatment.

This information is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Consult with a healthcare provider before starting any medication. Individual results may vary.