What Happens When You Stop?

[Rhoumblestiilliness]

I’ve lost weight before and always put it back on. This fact worries me about using a drug to lose weight. My question is, has anyone reached their goal and stopped treatment? If so, what happened? Thanks.

I am not there yet but I believe if you have not implemented any long-lasting dietary/exercise changes and habits while on it, you will gain it back once you stop. Same as any other diet.

You'll gain it all back if you don't keep up with eating well & excerise just like any other diet it's not a miracle drug.

I'm hoping that I will use my time on mounjaro to retrain my habits and my way of thinking about food.

I've started using a smaller plate and will continue with that.
I'll hopefully break my habit of wandering down the biscuit aisles or examining the fresh cream cakes and pudding cabinet. I just wont go to those parts of the supermarket.
I will accept that it wasn't good for me to have so much to drink so often.
I will learn that if someone doesn't clear their plate I can put it in the dustbin - I am not the dustbin.
Already my shopping list is different, it is more realistic about what I actually need rather than everything I might possibly want. I'm much better at meal planning.

The whole point is that you use the freedom from food chatter / appetite to re-educate yourself and put in place healthy eating and exercise habits. They are not some miracle tool, they are a medical device to aid weight loss. You still have to put in the effort during and after.

Sorry for the questions, I’m dithering about whether to go for it. My problem is changing my eating habits. I’m not sure how using the injections will help that.

That's exactly what Mounjaro does.
It's completely changed my eating habits, for the better.
I've learnt now what a healthy portion size is and how little food I need to eat (compared with the amount I used to eat).
And I now want to eat healthy food; no crisps, cakes or chocolate. I could eat them, but now I mostly want to eat fresh food.
I've no idea if I will have the willpower to continue to be so good once I stop the injections but I'll hopefully have learnt some things I can continue with.

I plan on titrating back down to a maintenance dose, and staying on it for a couple of years to get my body used to the new weight and calorie requirements before coming off completely. I've lost 10% of my body weight since beginning of July, which is a great start but I've still got some way to go before reaching healthy bmi. It's a big commitment, probably 3 years or so.

@Rhoumblestiilliness if you read some of the threads from people who've been doing this for a while you'll get an idea about how their eating habits have changed.

I guess most of us know what a healthy weight loss diet looks like, the problem is the will power to keep going through hunger pangs and cravings. Mounjaro takes that 'noise' away so you can stick to your healthy eating plans as you loose weight over the long term.

I agree wholeheartedly with this.

It naturally makes you:

• eat less / smaller portions
• lean towards healthier options because richer foods won’t feel good on your digestion

As you see the weight come off, you will be keen to keep it up, as it’s almost intoxicating seeing the changes for yourself. I would wholeheartedly suggest you go for it, it’s the best thing I’ve done for myself. Take it one day / week / month at a time; if it doesn’t work or you don’t feel the above you can always stop.

Thanks everyone.

Perhaps one of the programmes that offer coaching would be helpful?

I've used it to help me think about food, planning, what I need from a meal to make it feel substantial etc, and how to plan for success when I decide to stop.

I use Voy, but there are lots of others

Can I ask if you have found a provider who will do this? With 10kg to go until healthy BMI, I am finding most of them cut you off at BMI 25kg

@MyPearlMentor Oushk recently released details of their three new maintenance plans and The Family Chemist posted a blog with an outline of their approach too.

If you go back into calorie surplus after any diet you will regain the weight. So like any weight loss program you need to build good habits to sustain your new weight.

Losing weight with MJ is different though. The injections are suppressing our appetite and performing magic on our hormones, so it is harder to build those good habits as it is only once we stop and the medication leaves our system that the food noise and hunger might come back.

If/when it does I will need willpower to retain the different approach to food I have been using on MJ rather than the one that caused the weight gain. It is a long way off for me as I have a lot to lose, but I would consider a MJ maintenance plan to keep the weight off - I like the sound of the Oushk one where you can stay on their patient records and can be prescribed again for a short period after a consultation if you think you need it to sustain your goal weight.