Anyone approaching maintenance?

[BatFaceGrrrll]

I'm aware of the statistics which show that 90% of us will regain this lost weight - makes for sobering reading tbh! However it know it to be more or less true because I've spent a life time going up and down, and regaining lbs lost after a diet plan!

I think it'll be quite tough after MJ because the drug works to quiet that dreaded food noise which o suspect may come back with a vengeance!

However got to think positive and give it a go so my plan is to ...

Just log all my food for a good long while. Focus on decent nutrition as I do now

Keep up my exercise. I do Spin twice a week, swim twice a week and walk in between.

And that's as far as I've got right now! Also toying with a maintenance dose which I believe is in the pipeline going forward (Oushk pharmacy are one chemist already offering a plan for maintenance)

What's your plan?

Have attached my up to date progress pics. Think about another 10 lbs or so to go

Looking amazing!

I'm planning to keep taking MJ for a good while. Mind you I've still a stone or so lose! I haven't managed to even make it up to 5mg yet (on 3.75mg) and getting excellent suppression so I'm hoping to maintain on 2.5mg.

I've found so many benefits from taking MJ, there's absolutely no way I'm just going to stop cold turkey.

I'm currently titrating down on Wegovy... I've read that helps as opposed to just stopping straight away. I can't afford to stay on this though so a maintenance dose isn't an option.

Still at quite a high dose, but feeling hunger again... Trying to notice it but not let it control my eating. I intermittent fast (2 meals daily) and intend to keep that up, along with maintaining my exercise (running 3-4 times a week, intending to start weights after the summer holidays.)

I'm aware almost all diets fail, not just the jabs, but I spent most of my life at a healthy weight (pre-kids, of course!) and think I have made the lifestyle changes to support a return to that! However, if I'm wrong then I will accept whatever weight I end up at and not go back on the jabs... They are just too expensive to use long-term.

My plan is to stay on MJ for as long as I can afford it/get it prescribed tbh. I’m hoping to be able to do up to 2 years maintenance to help my body adjust to a new weight. Other than that:

• Weigh daily
• Log food daily
• Strength train
• Intermittent fasting (16:8 or similar)
• High protein, low-ish carb

I’ve lost and regained large amounts in the past, and I know that it really starts to get out of control when I stop calorie counting and stop weighing myself. Then I find that I know I’ve gained but I’m too scared to see how much, and I can kind of lie to myself that it’s not that bad. Prior to starting Mounjaro I hadn’t stepped on the scales in almost ten years.

I’m not sure where the “90% regain the weight” comes from.

From what I’ve read in the topic (clinical trials and studies), the regain is MUCH LESS. According to one 2023 study, people who stopped MJ after 36 weeks of taking it, experienced a 14% weight regain after 1 year.
Obviously there hasn’t been a ton of research into this as is still pretty new. But this is encouraging.

From reading reddit and other forums, it also seems encouraging that people who have been on it for 6 m + have managed to maintain (in some cases lose further), or gain a negligible amount (~5 lbs).

I think the success or failure depends (but is not limited to) a lot on the following:

1. how long were you on it for? (The longer, the more your body has a chance to adjust to the new normal)
2. how did you come off it (coming down the doses gradually, and then even spacing them further out seems to be quite successful)
3. what does life look like after? (Are you keeping up the healthy habits around food and exercise, or are you back to your old ways)

It doesn’t make sense to stop it, do what you’ve always done and expect a different result. So the changes made need to be long-lasting and something you can sustain in the long-run.
For people with underlying medical conditions it may be much more complicated than this though.

Just my two cents

@3wDavid the '90% retain' thing isn't specific to MJ or indeed any weight loss drug so I should have been clearer about that

I suppose the best indicator of what may happen in the future is to look at what happened in the past and I think we all know that we've probably got work to do because o for one wouldn't be here if any diet had worked for me in the past

It's interesting that there is probably going to be an option to stay on some sort of maintenance plan for potentially years. I'm not sure how I feel about being on MJ for a long time, despite the fact I'm still on 2.5mg as I approach maintenance

*regain not retain!

I hope that as more of us UK Mumsnetters reach maintenance then we can set up a central maintenance thread, just like the fantastic “Continuing Mounjaro” one. We could provide support and advice for each other going forward.

I’ve got 11lbs to lose to reach a healthy BMI then I’m going to see how I feel.

I’ve still got a 10mg, a 12.5mg and a 15mg pen in the fridge so they’ll definitely see me through.

I’m eating healthy food cooked from scratch and have cut out sugar, processed foods, and modified fats. I’ve had the odd treat or alcoholic drink along the way. This is my eating plan for maintenance. I don’t calorie count.

I exercise regularly, mainly walking and going to the gym. Again, I’ll keep this up going forward.

I’m only going to weigh myself once or twice a week (had major scale issues in the past) As lots of others have said, should my weight start to increase by 2 or 3 pounds, I’ve got to be positive rather than just “give in” This is what scares me the most. I owe it to myself to keep up with how much better I feel, mentally as well as physically.

My final part of my plan, which I’m not 100% sure of yet, is to move to Oushk onto their £20/month Flex plan which means if I do need to reorder the odd pen here and there then that’s what I’ll do.

We’ve spent so much time and money investing in our healthiest future. We’ve worked so hard on this journey.

There’s absolutely no way on this green earth that I’m ever going back to how I was pre-Mounjaro.

Right, I’m going to stop now cause I’m waffling!!! (Probably because I don’t have anyone in RL that I can offload onto) So thank you for your patience ☺️

I’m nearing maintenance and am hoping this will always work for me. I have not binge ate in 14 weeks and this is huge. I have no food noise or pull at all. Feel neutral to it.

its been amazing.

can you stay on it forever? And will it continue to work ❤️❤️

Anyone see any sign (in the mid future) of these drugs prices coming down substantially? Kept reading stuff a while ago about other brands and non branded products causing competition and therefore price drops.