I’ve finished Mounjaro - weekly update to report on what happens when you finish!

[NearingendofMJ]

I started taking MJ at the beginning of April. I’ve been a slow loser, and have lost 2 stone in the time I’ve been on MJ.

My starting weight was 84kg and I am now 71.5, I am 5’7.

I took my last injection last Sunday, so just over a week ago and it was around 6mg (counting clicks on a 12.5mg pen)

I have definitely noticed hunger today. However I am able to deal with that at the moment by reminding myself I had lunch an hour ago etc so I do not need to eat.

I think everyone on these meds worries what may happen when you stop. It’s like any diet, if there isn’t a lifestyle change, you will regain all the weight.

I thought I’d start a thread for some real life experience of what will happen - I’m aware I’ll still have MJ in my system for the next couple of weeks, but will be a good experiment to see if the hunger becomes unbearable or manageable with my new found knowledge of better food groups to eat!

Having been on MJ for 6 months I’m fairly sure I am able to make better choices now - famous last words 😂

I think when you’re depressed about your weight you just think what the hell, the hill is too steep to climb so just keep eating and snacking but now I can see my body has changed, I can see eating badly (other than the weekly takeaway or whatever I have at the weekend) will make me gain weight, which I don’t want!

I agree @NearingendofMJ I was really struggling to get out of the mindset that I hated my weight, it was going to take too long to lose, I'm so fed up, might as well just not bother etc. But now I have lost 2 stone and I've about 1/2 a stone to go I'm so much more positive about life - going to the gym, long walks, eating healthier, buying nicer clothes that I think that will keep me focused.

Sounds really positive @NearingendofMJ and gives me some hope for my own maintenance. Thanks for sharing.

Absolutely. Also the attitude I have once I have an off plan meal - just all goes out the window and I stuff my face!

Also watching this thread. I started MJ in early May BMI 32 and 12st 12. Have lost 3 stones and my BMI is now 24.8. I have decided to titrate down for a bit and am on my 3rd week of 5mg down from 7.5mg. This is so far working for me. I am hungrier especially the second half of the week so am eating more but have maintained my weight almost exactly so far.

So….nearly 2 weeks following MJ I’m still going strong!

Ive lost another pound this week, the hunger is definitely back but is manageable if I plan meals and make a conscious decision to not snack. As I now don’t feel so exhausted and unwell I’ve really increased my step count - should get to 90k this week.

My stomach discomfort has mainly gone and even better my constipation has eased, which has helped with the cramps I was having for that.

I think my takeaways from taking MJ have been mainly good, but there’s no getting away from the fact it hasn’t all been positive- stomach pains but also physical things such as my boobs now being a shadow of their former self! They are now squishy and soft and also I have silvery stretch marks on my thighs despite being a slow loser.

So I guess you can’t have it all - but health wise I’ve definitely benefited from loosing weight and feel much better for it.

I saw a thread where someone put on 10lb in a month after MJ. Please don’t let that put you off as hopefully my experience will provide a positive story post MJ

That's good to hear, well done!

Well done @NearingendofMJ

Well done @NearingendofMJ I'm 2 lbs of goal and going to start reducing my mj. I am on 10mg but will step down each week by 2.5mgs.

I've lost nearly 4 stone. My body looks ok. I'm not going to have my age 23 body back but a slim 50+ who has had 3 very large children. I'm happy with that.

My exit plan is allowing myself a window on weight (9st 2 - 9st 8). Weigh every day and cut back using some intermittent fasting to ensure I always stay within this window.

I'm going to carry on with my current diet of high protein low carbs which is new since I went on MJ. I'm also going to carry on with the gym as I need to increase my muscle mass, the weight loss has definately decreased this.

I hit goal 2 weeks ago (started at 13st 4 BMI 30. GW 10st 8). I have been taking a 2.5mg maintenance dose weekly since then.

I have just got back from a week travelling around Eastern Europe and have eaten relatively normally but have done 20k steps most days. I hit the scales this morning and have lost half a pound. It was lovely to see holiday photos of me looking slim.

My exit plan is allowing myself a window on weight (9st 2 - 9st 8). Weigh every day and cut back using some intermittent fasting to ensure I always stay within this window.

@Coldandunderablanket That's exactly my plan. I was totally berated on another thread for saying I was okay with fluctations 🤔but I think there are many people are unrealistic about this. It's completely normal to fluctuate, put a few lbs on after Christmas or a holiday - what matters is not letting it continue to creep up. Get a hold on it. I plan to continue daily weighing so I can track it and take action.

I am 9st 6lb now, I want to get a bit lower (currently still on 5mg and was planning to start to move down) but the weight is coming off a lot slower now. My bracket will be similar to yours 9st-9st 7lb. I'm still classed as overweight on BMI at 9st 7lb but I feel okay with how I look so I am happy with that to be the upper end of the scale for me.

I think that’s a good way of looking at it, being realistic about fluctuations.

I see a lot people talk about obese people being ‘different’ and how no one under a bmi of 49 should take this under any circumstance. They’re a thread at the moment with someone asking how they can obtain it at a bmi of 25.

Whilst I don’t agree with lying to get it, the OP made a good point that lots of users that were originally a bmi of 30 or above but are now less than 25, intend to remain on it.

That doesn’t make sense, surely at a healthy bmi, you should stop and use willpower/the lessons you have learnt to maintain the weight loss? it’s not as if MJ does anything other than reduce your appetite to stop you eating as much - but once you stop and your body is a lot smaller you’ll no longer need as much to eat so won’t be as hungry.

You can’t possibly regain weight without eating A LOT over your BMR, and even then you won’t put it on overnight, so have plenty of warning to amend your lifestyle again.

I think at some point you have to rely on your own willpower?

I think the difficulty for lots of people who've struggled with their weight their whole lives (I am one of them) is that we've spent decades trying to keep weight off with willpower.

Even with smaller bodies, and having made all the lifestyle changes, and keeping the weight off for a long period, evidence shows that nearly all obesogenic people will put the weight back on. This is why obesity is considered a disease. It's not because they're weak and their willpower 'runs out', it's because over the long term the body will still be determined to make the weight go back on. By making the hunger cravings/food noise louder and louder.

I just kept a 5 stone loss off for two to three years, was running 10Ks and had an expensive new wardrobe of clothes that I loved. But eventually I fell off the same old tightrope and 3 stone went back on - in less than a year - and I wasn't even particularly overeating.

This is why some of us are too weary and wise (to our own particular life histories - not everyone's) to think that over the long term we'd be any different post Mounjaro. I've had enough of fighting the battle against my body. I know I could keep it off for a while - I'm very determined like that - but it's extremely hard work and requires never, ever losing focus.

It doesn't sound as though this particularly applies to you, which is great - it sounds like you stand a good chance of keeping the weight off. But it’s not the same for us all…

@85reasons
I think you're right. I've had 50 years of dieting and I'm sooo tired of it. All that effort and nothing to show for it as I ended up back heavier than ever when I started on MJ. I don't lack willpower or determination or knowledge about healthy eating or exercise nor needed this med to teach me lessons - christ, I've been researching and practising for half a century!
The op says it’s not as if MJ does anything other than reduce your appetite to stop you eating as much. I think this lies at the root of much misunderstanding about WLM. They do a lot more than this and it's why they are so helpful for people with T2D, insulin resistance, addictions, PCOS, neurodiversities, inflammation, heart disease, menopausal symptoms, etc etc.
For myself I intend to stay on MJ for the foreseeable future, even though I've now reached a healthy weight, to give myself a fighting chance of avoiding the dementia and heart disease which have killed my family.

I think the only available research shows only around 16% of people were able to maintain their losses for a year after coming off mj even with ongoing support and advice. What we don't know is anything about the successful people - their characteristics or habits.
I'm not sure I've learnt anything on mj - i didn't used to think cream cakes or fast food were healthy. 25 years of dieting means I've read all the dietary advice going and tried pretty much all of them. I've lost weight many times but, always, after a certain point (at a long way from goal) weight loss would stall and my brain would be screaming at me constantly that I needed food. I wouldn't be able to sleep or concentrate enough to work efficiently. I would be irritable and jittery. Mj has enabled me to keep going beyond the weight where this would happen.
Incidentally, I've never binged and ate largely healthily - just a bit too much.
I'm hoping that, once I get to goal, I will be able to use mj to maintain and that, eventually, my body will accept the lower weight and I can come off. Those with more metabolic challenges may never be able to come off.
I have been wondering, given all the threads from non obese people wanting mj, whether there might, in the future, be some benefits in short term use at lower BMI to prevent more ingrained metabolic syndrome down the line. But that would need a lot more research and, probably, newer generation of drugs including some specifically for maintenance.

I don’t misunderstand how it works, and I do understand what you are saying about it helping dull the food noise.

But it isn’t proven to have any other benefits other than reducing appetite at the moment. It shown as having some affect on other illnesses, but more research is needed to prove the link.

It also shows signs of causing other illnesses like stomach issues, gallbladder issues and gallstones.

All I’m saying is that if you are at a bmi of 25 or lower, there’s no difference between someone who used to have a higher bmi and one who didn’t.

Managing hunger is part of the struggle everyone feels. When I came off MJ the hunger came back hugely but somehow it’s now subsided again, maybe it’s the body resetting blood sugar levels or something.

Getting older naturally makes women put on weight - it’s an uphill struggle and I totally get how hard it is - but I don’t think there’s anything fundamentally different physiologically about someone who is very overweight and someone who isn’t. It’s all
abouy lifestyle and preventing weight gain by daily weighing and making drastic changes again as soon as weight starts to pile on

But this statistic is what’s being pedalled by the companies that sell these drugs to ensure people
stay on them.

What is the statistic for those on weight watchers, slimming world or fast800? How many users manage to keep the weight off one year later? Is weight gain exclusive to GLP1 users?

The only thing that will keep weight off will be a total change in lifestyle- eating healthily most of the time and frequent exercise.

Im not a dietician or personal trainer, but I can absolutely see where I went wrong to put on 3 stone in 2 years. Once I’d put on the first, I had no motivation not to keep eating and I’d always think I’ll sort it out next week. MJ gave me the kick start I needed but now I’m off I feel 100% more alive.

This time I’ll be keeping such a close eye on it that I’m confident I won’t get to that stage again

What is the statistic for those on weight watchers, slimming world or fast800? How many users manage to keep the weight off one year later? Is weight gain exclusive to GLP1 users?

No it's not. A friend of mine had a gastric band (followed by a lot of surgery to remove excess skin) and she's put almost all of that weight back on because she changed nothing about her life.

Like you @NearingendofMJ I can see where I went wrong but at that time I just didn't really care. I care more about my health now. For some people, obesity is a disease. I am not one of them. I got fat because I ate too much junk, drank too much wine and was so bloody lazy. I am now trying to set an example for my kids. I also managed to take control of this when I realised my BMI had just crept over 30.

I don't- and haven't said - that I think that there is any difference in the liklihood of regain between those who've lost weight on GLP medications and through any other method. But the sad truth is that the majority of people do regain. Hopefully you will be one of those who do not.

I think - and hope - that, while I haven't learnt anything about nutrition that I didn't already know, mj will have given me the headspace to create and sustain new habits that may be ingrained.

I also think that someone like yourself who seems to have only recently put on weight and then lost it quickly, is likely to be in a very different space to those with long standing obesity and metabolic challenges. Hence my comment about the future may be to intervene earlier.

Anyway - we are all different and on our own journeys so good luck to you on yours.

@NearingendofMJ @Fromthesidelines the figure that is routinely quoted in Intuitive Eating circles is that 96% of people who loose weight regain ALL of the weight, and then some, within 5 years. The biggest indicator of weight gain is previous weight loss. Basically diets don’t work so don’t go on them.
I’m not yet at my goal range, somewhere between 10-20lbs to go, shall see what feels right when I get there. Progress is slow right now but I’ve never got this far with any other diet. I’m a stone lighter than when I got married - I worked so, so hard on that weight loss a dozen or so years ago and never made it to goal. I feel that it’s more likely than not that I will make it to goal with Mounjaro.
Maintenance is a much bigger question. Will power has not been my friend thus far in life. It’s my intention to continue on Mounjaro for at least 6 months after I get to goal to try to move my set point and then if I feel comfortable start to titrâtes very slowly down. I imagine I may return to GLP-1s in the future too. But for now still working on getting to goal.

All I’m saying is that if you are at a bmi of 25 or lower, there’s no difference between someone who used to have a higher bmi and one who didn’t

That just isn't the case at all. Why do you think that people who've lost loads of weight are vastly more likely to end up obese again than someone with ostensibly the same BMI who has never been obese?

Studies show that when a person with a history of obesity loses weight, their body undergoes hormonal and metabolic changes that make it harder to keep weight off . Leptin, a hormone that signals fullness, tends to drop after weight loss, while ghrelin, the “hunger hormone,” increases, creating a physiological drive to eat more.

That’s just one aspect of it. There’s also things like being genetically predisposed to obesity.

I totally get the drive to want to maintain this without the need for GLP-1s. And skepticism about drug companies wanting to make us think we need it forever. But your thought processes about this are also tying fully into the fat-shaming history of diet culture we’re all trying to get free of - namely, that if you’re overweight or obese it’s through some failing of you as an individual.

A few studies

Sumatran et al. (2011), The New England Journal of Medicine
This landmark study examined 50 overweight or obese individuals who followed a calorie-restricted diet for ten weeks. After losing weight, participants had reduced leptin levels and increased ghrelin levels. These hormonal changes persisted for at least a year, intensifying hunger and driving appetite even as participants attempted to maintain their weight loss.

Martins et al. (2010), The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
This study reviewed evidence on hunger-regulating hormones and appetite after weight loss. They noted that both leptin and ghrelin levels adjust to counteract weight loss, increasing hunger and decreasing satiety. They suggest that these hormonal adaptations are part of the body’s homeostatic mechanisms to prevent weight loss and restore the “set point” weight.

Fothergill et al. (2016), Obesity
This study examined former contestants from the television show The Biggest Loser, who had lost large amounts of weight. Researchers observed long-term reductions in leptin levels, even after significant weight loss had been sustained for several years. This reduction in leptin was associated with persistent feelings of hunger and lower energy expenditure, factors that contribute to weight regain.

There are so many threads to debate this on (many are currently running) could we not just keep this one to it's actual purpose?

I’m not trying to fat shame at all - my partner has a bmi of 45 and he has been overweight for 30 years.

He fully accepts the reason for this is his lifestyle, lack of exercise and intake of food. He won’t use WLI as he doesn’t think it safe. If he did and lost a significant amount of weight, we could change our lifestyle together, ensuring we keep on top of any weight gain. I respect his decision and the only reason I want him to lose weight is the very high risk factors for a heart attack/stroke.

I think what I’m trying to say is all of us need to change the root cause of overeating which is usually emotions. I know I would binge eat, could easily eat 6 bags of crisps in a row or 10 kitkats. It was never down to me being hungry or not feeling full, it was due to soothing myself from stress or some other emotion.

That’s a fair point! I’ll update next week with this weeks progress 🙂

I know you're not trying to fat shame, but honestly it really is very undermining to think that all of us here on this board could just have DECIDED to eat less and move more - it's the very thing society has been telling us for decades!

We've read mountains of books and research and have always known exactly what to do. It's not about needing to know more.

As the studies I've linked to demonstrate, it really isn't about that.