An ongoing thread about weight maintenance for anyone who's interested

[SeasonsGreetingsBatFace]

I know a couple of people have started these threads but thought I'd add to them to show how it'll pan out for me as I taper off MJ and give maintenance a go!

I started in April weighing a touch under 15 stone. I stayed on 2.5mg until about October and then stayed on 5 until last week when I went up to 7.5. I'm now 9 stone 12 and would like to be 9 stone 7 so I have 5 lbs to go

The aim is to be off MJ in the New Year and see how I go. I have no real thoughts about maintenance tbh - I don't need to learn how to eat healthily and I fully understand nutrition and exercise etc. I've always failed at maintaining in the past so I've no idea what will be different this time - maybe nothing? But I'm now 53 and I really do want this to be the last time I do this so I shall try my hardest

Follow along and join in if it sounds like something that might be of interest

A few photos showing my progress

That's amazing, you've done so well.

I'm looking at coming off and maintaining in the new year. I went up to 5 this month as advised by my supplier (sounds like I'm dealing drugs 🤣) but after two doses I'm only going have 2.5 for my next two as the side effects from 5 have been awful and I've lost another 3lb although I don't really want to lose any more.

It would be good to have a buddy to tackle the maintenance journey with.

Following with interest. Your before photos and weight are very close to mine when I started. Like me I can see you stored most of the weight in your mid section.

I'm about 2.5 stone down now, just dropped below 12 stone. My GW is 9.7 - I'd be happy with 10 stone but giving myself some leeway. I'm thinking I will be close or hit it by Feb/Mar.

Starting to think about how I maintain. I've been a regular gym goer for 2 years prior to starting WLI which has been great for overall health and strength but it's never helped much with the belly fat. I'm nearly 50 and in perimenopause so I know the belly fat will really fight for it's right to multiply again.

@JC50 hello, and yep, it would be great to have some company for the maintenance journey - probably more difficult than the losing weight bit!

I lost the majority of my weight on 2.5 and only went to 5 a couple of months ago when my loss really slowed. And then I jumped to 7.5 last month. I've been lucky enough to not have any severe side effects but 7.5 has definitely buggered up my sleep a bit and has also made me feel pretty tired. I'm also shedding hair which is not great. Apart from that - it's brilliant!

I've got two unopened 7.5 pens in hand (well, in the fridge) and I think I'll try and use those to taper off if I can and not re-order. Famous last words?

I'm still 9 st 12 and would like to see 9 stone 10 by Christmas - loss is slow now but that's fine

What are your plans for Christmas eating?!

@OvaHere wow, you've done brilliantly. Well done on the losses so far. And yes - I carried a lot of my weight on my stomach. I've slightly cheated though and have had a tummy tuck (not recently!) and this means I cannot put weight on round my tummy again.

That sounds great I know but all it means is that any weight gain goes elsewhere so I can end up looking like a parsnip as the weight goes on my chest / shoulders / upper arms

I feel comfortable at this weight I suppose - I'm quite short at 5 ft 3 and a bit so every extra lb does show - but I'm happy enough at size 10 with some imperfections! I'm aiming for 9 stone 7 just to have a few lbs of leeway

I'm actually 3lb below my target weight so don't want to lose any more but I'm just not hungry and struggling to eat much.

I take my jab on a Tuesday but I'm going to postpone it til after Christmas so I hopefully will manage to eat more and enjoy my Christmas lunch. Planning to take two days off for Christmas feasting and NYE off too as I'm going out.

What are your plans?

Thanks @SeasonsGreetingsBatFace I'm also on 7.5mg for the second month. I went up doses each month as suggested with limited side effects but I'm not keen to jump to 10 at the moment. I feel for now this dosage feels okay.

I'm following along too and find your progress interesting and inspiring. I have that song 'call me Al' on my exercise playlist! I'm 5'3 and vegan, carrying my weight around the middle, and hope to reach target weight (9 stone) by end of Jan while staying on 2.5mg. This is quite a hard target because it requires a stone off per month. I am on target now at 10,7, but find it incredible and unbelievable that it would be possible to be at BMI 22 ever, let alone so soon. I will have Mj until end of March hopefully, then it will run out and I'll be going alone.

@beckaellen I'm impressed you've spotted it! I'm usually a variation of 'rolypolylilbatfacegirl' 😛

I'm also 5'ft 3 and also vegan (well, ish. I cannot give up cheese. But that's not. My only 'vice' ) This makes it difficult to get the required protein in and I often fall short of this. How are you finding it?

Well done on the losses so far. I'm aiming for 9 stone 7 or thereabouts. Getting out of the 10s was the longest stint for me I found. But all you can do is keep plodding and the weight does come off but very slowly as you'd expect when you're close to a target

I started at a BMI of almost 36 which is just crazy really

@OvaHere I feel fine on 7.5 overall but it does make me more fatigued! A case in point was this morning. I got up at 7am to take my son into town for college and hopped back into bed at 7.30, fully intending to just scroll my phone for a bit. Next thing I know it's 11am!

Thats unusual for me and I know it's to do with the higher dose

@JC50 sounds like a good plan! I'm just going to jab as normal I think and eat as I have been doing for the past 9 months.

I can eat a meal and a dessert so that'll be fine for Christmas dinner! However I can't eat loads so my portion size will be a lot lower than previous years. I find I start off all hungry but it tapers off quite rapidly when I'm about half way through my food

I know what you mean. It's usually the day after jab I'm wiped out but after that I'm not too bad. I do wonder though if I've just got used to lower energy levels and have stopped fully recognising it. I have been taking a good multi vitamin plus extra iron and collagen for a few weeks so hoping that will help.

@SeasonsGreetingsBatFace
Ah! I'm glad I got it right! I average just over 60g of protein a day, and the diet I'm following says that's enough. I use soya milk and soya yogurt, I use lentils as a sandwich filling and mashed chickpeas also. I try to eat beans, lentils and wholegrains daily, like in soup, lots of brown rice and wholemeal pitta. But also eat edamame, tofu and tempeh, e.g., in a stir-fry or curry. I made seitan recently from wheat gluten because I was trying to find a meat replacement for Christmas dinner, it was quite tasty and very high protein (30-35g per serving). I'm being very good on my diet! But I'm all or nothing and not very good at moderation. I struggled with junk food and binge eating before and kept alternating between dieting and overeating.

@OvaHere I ordered some decent multi vitamins after reading your post so will start taking those tomorrow

I'm also eyeing up my many hand weights (yes, I'm that person who buys them all at great cost because ONLY EXPENSIVE ONES will work) but they've been ignored for many months and possibly years now, the poor things. But I have really lost muscle mass - I can see it and I feel generally weak muscled so I need to do something.

Went out to lunch today and as usual just couldn't eat much. I've always said I don't have much suppression but how ot works for me is I still feel hungry but will get half way through something and I'm done

Today was mushroom linguine with a side of chips (don't ask) and I managed two thirds of the linguine and about 5 chips. And that was a struggle

I have zero appetite at the moment.
Works Christmas party this weekend and I literally ate two mouthfuls of food. Managed a few glasses of various alcohols which promptly reappeared (when will I ever learn 🤣).
Yesterday I ate two sweets and sticky chicken skewers. I'm very aware that I'm not eating enough, although I actually feel fine (probably because there's still excess blubber to keep me going) however I think 5 is definitely too high a dose for me and I'm going back down to 2.5 where I still had good suppression but could eat more.
I hear you with the loss of muscle mass, I need to get back to the gym but got the chiropractor tomorrow about an ongoing hip issue so will see how that goes but I'm definitely going for a swim today and tomorrow.

Hi,

I'm also contemplating maintenance, 5ft 2 8st 12lb or just over 56kg, my ideal weight is 55kg, so just 3lbs from goal although I'd be happy to maintain my current weight, even though I do still carry quite a bit of body fat as my frame is quite small.

I still have two pens to go, both 7.5mg, due to take a jab tomorrow but unsure how to play it from here, I definitely won't stop until the new year, I'm pretty sure I'll be ok to keep up the new habits, but let's see ☺️

@Johaanah wow, well done!

Keep us posted on how you get on.

I'm in two minds about the whole new habits thing. I know how to eat properly and I'm convinced that the MJ does more than just reduce appetite - it does other magic things with blood glucose levels etc which reduce cravings and also aid weight loss

I'm also sure that the body will fight to return to its set point weight so god alone knows how to navigate all of this without the medication

But the alternative is to stay on it for life and I'm not sure I fancy that either!