End game? Is there one?

[Ledochas]

Hi all
I have been thinking about weight loss injections for a while and am in that peri menopausal post kids phase of life and feeling rubbish about myself.

I'm just really worried about how to 'finish' the programme. I've read loads of posts on these boards and can't really see how people ever come off without putting the weight back on. I know you need to make lifestyle changes but I don't trust that's enough - I put weight on so easily I can't imagine that I wouldn't just put it all back on.

I don't want to be on injections forever and so I keep not starting but can't get very far in my solo efforts of less carbs and booze and more exercise - hence back here reading again!

Help?

I think everybody on them is a little bit concerned about this but personally I have faith that microdosing will become possible. For me it was important that I didn't go up to rapidly and I'm still on the 7.5 now. I've lost three stone since the start of June and want to lose another 2.5 stone. Although they have been side-effects then once I've realised what's causing them I haven't suffered from them. People I know who went up to higher doses have suffered more but that is just anecdotal. It's been absolutely amazing for me.

The six months have flown by.

I've hardly had a drink and all that time and I was having up to half a bottle of wine every day. I haven't bought any sweets and that time or eaten a dessert. This is not through effort, it's because I just haven't had any desire to have them. The way I am looking at it is that if I can stay off alcohol for a year and lose my sweet tooth then I stand much better chance of being able to keep to a lower weight. I'm starting at the gym next week which would never have seemed possible before.

There is always a thread on here relating to the month someone started taking the injections so if you do start, get yourself on the right thread and make some friends! You will all be going through it at the same time.

I am honestly not thinking of it 'forever' because the science seems to be advancing at such a rate, there is no way this exact drug is going to be the go to drug for obesity or weight maintenance in 5 or 10 years time. Something else would have come along or, as pp says, maybe it becomes clear that microdosing is possible and there ends up being a cheaper, simpler way to do that.

Also, I listened to a obesity scientist talk about there being health benefits of weight loss, even if you put the weight back on. It's obviously not ideal but when you lose weight and reduce your chances of developing T2 diabetes, those chances stay a bit lower even if you put some or all of the weight back on.

One day at a time.

Thank you bogth @healthybychristmas @ShiftAMountain
It just feels huge and I worry it will all go wrong.

It certainly is difficult to imagine keeping all the weight off. I've been officially obese nearly all my adult life (30 years). I'm not a fast loser either, getting down to a healthy BMI, which is my goal, is going to take a very long time even though my BMI isn't insanely high at the beginning.

I just have to believe that it gives me a new baseline to work from. I'm already feeling physical benefits.

I better keep it off, I've bought too many nice clothes that I want to wear.
That's my motivation.

@ShiftAMountain hi, could you please share details of where yiu heard the obesity doctor. Was it a podcast?

At the moment, I just assume I will need to take it forever. I plan to wean myself back down if I can and stick to 2.5. Maybe go off it completely but with the plan to go back on as needed if the weight comes back on. But there's so much research and money being poured into the field, that I feel fairly confident that a solution will be found in the next year or two for maintenance. Either a stable version for microdosing or something similar.

I also don't necessarily expect to stay at my goal weight, just somewhere near it. I think we have to remember that even on traditional dieting with lifestyle changes, people usually put weight back on. The key thing for me will be not letting it get out of control, so weighing regularly and having a hard limit for when I start dieting again if my weight is creeping up. I started from a very high weight though, so probably have a different perspective to those who lose less in the first place.

It was a podcast. I'll try to dig it out for you...

It was either: https://open.spotify.com/episode/25zS05ze7teJeia1I1L3PG?si=ApXX6HPqRmSLYlgFi1cVig&nd=1&dlsi=5ec843be64254249

Or: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/obesity-and-the-new-science-of-weight-loss-dr-louis-j-aronne/id1611216298?i=1000660424275

I found both to be very interesting and cover a lot of ground, so worth a listen to both - if that's your thing?

I was on Ozempic for about 6 months and lost around 3 stone. I couldn’t afford to keep going so didn’t reach my “goal” weight (which would have been another stone) but was quite happy where I ended up. I’ve been off it about 18 months now.

I’ve been quite conscious about weight going back on and have had to be careful about what I’m eating at times, but so far I have managed to keep it all off. I do sometimes fluctuate within 1/2 a stone but generally I’ve not had an issue.

i think there’s a difference between using it as a tool and becoming completely reliant on it. It decreased my appetite and I managed to keep my portion sizes much smaller than I did previously. I still eat shit at times but I make sure that I make up for it over the following days.

everyone is different though!

Thank you!

I want to start but I'm also worried about this.

I'm morbidly obese so it isn't a few stone it would take a long time to come off

I don't know if we could afford it long term.... And it would be a shame to undo it all.

From reading yoyo dieting reduces setpiutb too.

I just don't know at my weight what else I can do. I don't want to do the op (and people regain on that...) but we are low income. But I also don't want to die of obesity.

@HydrangeaBush I would look at whether you could afford it and budget for it for a year, as it could take that long to drop from morbidly obese to a healthy weight. You can save money by moving suppliers each time to take advantage of referral discount codes or other special offers. You may find you save money on your food shop as a result of eating less and not snacking. But it is still going to be 150 to 200 a month.

I'm taking the time it takes to lose the weight to really consider and plan for maintaining the weight loss when I'm at my final target weight. I know that's likely to be more of a challenge than losing it all in the first place. Being on Mounjaro for many months does give the opportunity for a total change of habits that should be firmly embedded by the time it comes to maintaining. It's a two part process, losing weight and then maintaining at target.

That's a good way to look at it.

I have decided I will stay on MJ for two years at the lowest dose that works for me.

It is my hope that by the time two years is up the approach will have changed and the price will have dropped.

i am a binge eater who used to constantly think about food. I love the person that Mounjaro allows me to be. Food no longer controls me. I understand how people can forget to eat lunch now!

I found fasting really worked for me and I think it’s a similar principle to these injections. I trained myself into a new eating pattern and I suspect that’s what will happen over time with this medication.

I don’t eat breakfast and only really get hungry at about 3pm. I could still do with losing a stone so follow these sort of threads as I’m quite interested in it all but you can definitely retrain your hunger signals using fasting methods.

It’s been about five years now so I’ve kept it up. I’m just not so strict which is why my weight crept up and then stabilised.

In my experience fasting doesn’t in any way compare to the impact of Mounjaro. I have tried every diet under the sun for thirty years and have never experienced the cancellation of food noise.

I know everyone is different - but fasting just made me hungrier when it was over.

Oh I completely believe you. I’m imagining after the injections finish something like a fasting regime could definitely help maintain the loss.

I feel exactly the same!

From what I've read fasting is better for men than for many women

Id be up for saying 2 years maintenance. Will they keep prescribing? This is going to cost thousands isn't it 😭. My duaghters going to uni soon but I also want to survive.

I think I'll be on it for life - even if that's some sort of maintenance protocol that involves cycling on and off it, or taking a smaller dose.

I've just had a day out with friends and to be able to eat without guilt, to choose a pudding because I felt like it, without fear that this would therefore signify the end of the diet, or the ruination of a week being "good"... it's priceless.

The issues with fasting it doesn’t suit a lot of people.

People with PCOS for example. And more and more studies are showing it’s not ideal for women. I quite like fasting as it takes some of the mental work out of it. Eating less meals means less things to think about.

But I did it for quite a while and my PCOS symptoms flared. It contributed (didn’t entirely cause) to where I am now. Which is Obese and on injections. And being obese makes PCOS symptoms worse.

I think in regards to the injections I aren’t worrying about it too much as I have a long way to go. I would think about another year. By that’s time many more people will have life experience of maintaining, there will be more data on maintaining in a real world environment and I suspect changes into how the medication is used. My provider supports maintenance and that’s enough for me for now.

I am also hoping that once I get a lot of the weight off a lot of my PCOS symptoms will be more manageable. I won’t be as bone crushingly exhausted to the point I can’t exercise. In my case not being able to exercise meant I then struggled to control my ADHD. I already have the energy to exercise. My adhd is improving. And even though I am still obese, I feel far more like I did when I was 35, a healthy weight, exercising 5 times a week and very active in between, than I have done for the last 4-5 years.

It's interesting how many people mention adhd. I'm going for assessment for that in janauary and I'm now thinking I need to let adhd meds settled before trying MJ but instinctively I now want to try MJ now. Right now! But I'm using the time to read people's stories.

It does make me feel slightly less guilty/failure like if it's partly due to our wiring. Or if it's like the scales were weighted against us.

@healthybychristmas Just curious what the side-effects were and how did you avoid them? I’m thinking about taking the weight-loss injections but I’m worried about the side effects.