You've reached your goal weight - come chat about maintenance, not regaining, going cold turkey or titrating down

[MargoLivebetter]

Would people who've hit their target weight be interested in a general thread on how they are getting on? You might be titrating your WLI down, you might be going cold turkey, you might be on a maintenance programme or you might have gone back on.

I used MJ for 5 months and I've hit my goal and I'm muddling through with my own version of "maintenance". I'm doing a 1.25 dose weekly to use up what I've got left and cut down gradually, so I don't lose all the benefits of MJ immediately. I was a complete lightweight and did the whole 5 months on just 2.5, as I had savage suppression and loss of appetite. So, I'm just halving my dosage.

I'd be interested to hear how others are getting on, given it all feels a bit new and the long-term aspects of weight maintenance are not yet much talked about.

Apologies, I meant to tag you into my reply above.

Just thought of some other stuff!

The key for me is not to "exercise" but try and build an active lifestyle. I would never go to a spin class but think nothing of cycling to and from work as its now my "routine". I rarely drive now and walk almost everywhere, I've got into podcasts and audio books so it's a lovely relaxing "me time" that I enjoy.

I joined a gym but barely go so this thread has reminded me to cancel my subscription! 😀

Also be kind to yourself, I've had quite a few social events where I've eaten much more than usual, but I don't give myself any guilt. I just go back to my normal routine of cals in/cal out balance the next.

I also still weigh every day. I have a "window" I'm happy with. If it goes up, I'll cut back tiny amounts such as 100 cals per day less so it's barely noticeable. This hasn't happened though but my weight did drop this morning and yesterday to 1/2 lb under! So I'll increase my cals to be 100 cals over to get me back in.

Also, I tend to skip breakfast of the days I don't cycle,

I think I'll have keep this strategy for life but im ok with it as it takes barely any time, if I take my eye off the ball, I'll be back to 4 stone overweight again

I'm doing okay going cold Turkey from the 7.5. I've lost 2lb over the last two weeks without it and I'm happy with that.

I'm hungry but the fact that I can get into size 10 clothes and feel so much better is a great motivator.

ive made the decesion to go back on it for a bit longer. All my old symptoms of inflammation and unstable blood sugar levels along with constant carbs & sugar craving came back by week4 off. Spoke with a prescriber so back on 2.5mg and within a couple of hours was feeling better. I suspect I’ll stay on a low dose for a lot longer as definitely need something to keep me stable. For me it’s not so much the weight loss as all the other things it helped with. My joint pain significantly reduced taking this and has been from day 1. Peri-menopause and into menopause the joint pain was really tiring and reduced by 80% withMJ.

@ashamedtramp welcome! It is definitely all a bit suck it and see for all of us, I think. I'm on half the lowest dose of MJ. I'm genuinely not sure if it is providing mental reassurance of actual physical help, but I have a fair bit to use up, so I'm going to stick with it for now.

I have to watch intake fairly rigorously, but I have managed two weeks with no calorie logging and I managed to lose the 1lb that I gained, so essentially I have stayed the same weight since the first week of January. I have a reasonable idea now of what amount of food I can eat and what amount of exercise to do without gaining. If I can stick with it, then by the time I run out of MJ, I should be set.

Sorry to hear about your recent losses @SnacklessWonder . You are absolutely right that life is for living and enjoying.

I like the sound of your plan @Nothanksiwillwalk . Also good to hear that you are enjoying maintenance. I think as my anxiety about putting it all back on is wearing off that I can say the same.

Good news about shedding those 2lb @wite and enjoying your size 10 clothes. 👏

@MargoLivebetter thank you. I really don't know if i want to be on these for life! I had stupidly thought that after a year my stomach would have shrunk (if thats even a thing) and my appetite would have subsided because i have been eating better, exercising and being mindful of macros etc. it's very disappointing that i personally have still had to work at losing the weight!, where as some others seem too have injected themselves, not changed a thing and hey presto they are size zero!

i do think all my issues are phycological, so i suppose if that means i have to inject even the minumum dose for the foreseable future then so be it! My theory is that eventually these medications will become cheaper and cheaper as demand grows and more and more companies begin to produce and supply them.

it would be nice to think that eventually it'll be a medication readily available on the NHS, pretty much like the orlistat, but probably by that time i hope i'll be in the healthy BMI range so wont be eligiable anyway!

anyway.. ive got my presecription now and injected today, so fingers crossed i can get back on track quickly.

@ashamedtramp I'm not sure how long you were overweight for, but for me my relationship with food has been an issue since childhood (I'm mid 50s now). I think my eating is disordered and I see myself has having significant issues attached to the consumption of food. I have the best handle on those issues now that I have ever had, but I do not see the rest of my life stretching out ahead of me that doesn't involve keeping a very close eye on what and how I consume food.

I don't say that to be gloomy, because I actually feel really positive about myself and food these days, but I guess what I am saying is, I don't think for some of us it is ever going to be something we won't have to pay close attention to.

@MargoLivebetter I’m 54 and have an emotional attachment to food since I was a child.

Like you, I’ve made a lot of headway in understanding my relationship with food and am, for the most part, able to eat well. I had some counselling a couple of years ago which really helped me move on.

I think though that there’ll always be a part of me who might possibly return to ‘bad’ habits, especially if anything stressful happens.

I had my online consultation with Oushk this morning regarding my maintenance plan and I shall be tapering down over the next few months. I’m currently on 7.5mg so I’m going to do a couple of months on this dose then down to 5mg.

So glad you started this maintenance thread, thank you ☺️ and I hope everyone is doing well 🤞

i am also mid 50's and my relationship with food has always been an issue, again because of childhood trauma. no amount of medication or theraphy has ever and is ever going to take that element out of my head, and i see so much of myself in your words. Perhaps i need to be kinder to myself.. if this helps me be happier about my weight, then i guess its a small price to pay

@Pinkbendyman welcome. I had counselling too, not about the eating, but all the awful stuff. An unexpected side effect of that was that I stopped bingeing. I use that term in the loosest sense, as I was never bulimic, but in a panic of anxious misery I would do stuff like eat a cake meant for an entire family or a family pack of eclairs etc.

@ashamedtramp I think you are spot on. It is really important to be kind to ourselves. That doesn't mean letting ourselves off the hook, but I try to see my relationship with myself now as a benevolent, firm but fair parent who wants the best for me. That means I can still enjoy something delicious, but if I feel myself going towards using food as some kind of emotional tool, I try and pause and have a bit of a chat with myself like I was my own loving parent. I literally have the conversation in my head, or even out loud (if no one is around), asking myself to hold on a sec and just have a think about what is driving me towards the biscuit tin. Doesn't always work, particularly if I am very stressed or angry about something but very often it does work. When it doesn't and I do eat to try and comfort myself, I don't punish myself afterwards either. I just accept that it was the only way I could cope in that moment and I focus on how I can help myself to find other ways to cope in those situations. Anyhow, I'm blathering on now, and you probably either know or do this stuff already.

Hello 👋
I’ve now been off MJ for about 6 weeks now and I’ve put on 3kgs. I can feel my old habits creeping back in, the snacking, the chocolate cravings etc. I am trying to keep an eye on it and I’m planning on keeping track of my calories but I’m waiting until half term is over and things go back to normal.

Are you daily weighing @MyDenimViewer ?

I am not tracking calories but I daily weigh and I find that keeps me on the straight and narrow as if the scales have moved up, I have a super careful few days.

@MyDenimViewer it sounded like you were a bit concerned when you first posted a week or two ago. I think most of us are trying to work out the best way forwards so that we don't end up back where we started and it isn't easy. Why did you get overweight? For me it was comfort eating, others it is portion control, others peri or menopause. What made you fat? Understanding that can sometimes help with strategies for maintenance.

Mine was definitely portion control - well if I am being honest I was just a gluttonous pig 😦 I ate what I wanted, when I wanted and didn't give it a second thought. I wanted it, I had it. And I did zero exercise. I was just greedy and lazy (but those are things we're not meant to say out loud!)

No food issues, no medical reasons for being overweight which is why I believe that with daily weighing, eating a balanced diet and exercising - just not taking my eye off the ball - I should be able to maintain within a few lbs. It's hard work and exhausting constantly thinking about what you put in your mouth though!

I have always struggled with my weight, for the last 20-25 years, i have been a yo-yo dieter. I put on a lot of weight last year when I was very stressed but circumstances have changed and I am less stressed than I was. So I am hoping I can stop any more weight gain easier than before. I’m also peri, which doesn’t help. Portion control has always been an issue for me, but I had a pizza the other night and stopped at half. Yes, I wanted to eat all of it, but I know I didn’t need to!

I do weigh most days. I am mostly doing time restricted eating, but that’s gone out of the window in the holidays.

I wasn't particularly greedy, but I ate too many high calorie foods 'cause, let's face it, they're really nice. And alcohol. I thought I'd lose weight by just stopping drinking (that's like 600 calories a bottle) but I didn't because what I was eating was still too calorific; small snacks like a couple of biscuits, crisps, some chocolate on top of a nice carb-heavy dinner. Throw in my age, post menopause, messed up metabolism from 50yrs of dieting and lack of exercise and I was doomed.

I may be continuing with a low dose of MJ but if I return to eating like that 7 days a week, I will regain the weight regardless. So now my weekends are for the nice stuff, the rest of the time I have to be strict. No alcohol, no sugar, no UPF, very low carbs, fasting, etc. Getting to maintenance has not ended up being an end to 'dieting'.

I think time-restricted eating can be really helpful @MyDenimViewer so, yes, give yourself a break and just re-focus on this after the school holidays. You're doing well, managing portion size, etc, and you can definitely lose what you've gained when you get back into a proper routine next week.

@SnacklessWonder your self observations made me chuckle. Personally, I think being honest with ourselves is the only way. If you ate too much and did no exercise - then you know exactly how you got where you did! You are right, it is very tedious always doing the calculation in your head about what have I eaten, what am I planning to eat now and what will I eat later, so I don't end up going way over target.

@KrankyKumquat indulging on weekends only sounds like a good approach too.

@MyDenimViewer like you, I've yoyoed since I first was put on a diet. I have spent 40 years dieting, being briefly happy with my slim self, putting the weight back on, hating myself and then embarking on yet another diet. I'm already maintaining for longer than I have ever done previously! Good result on the pizza. That must feel like significant progress. Sounds like post half-term you have some good plans for getting back on track again. I think it will just be a question of tinkering around until you find what you can stick with and it not be too painful.

I have noticed a change in my overall mood. I feel happier since I came off MJ, and much less anxious. Which is strange cos I felt really down before I started on it and was contemplating going on anti depressants, but then I thought I would see how i felt once I’d lost weight.

Just a question for all you maintainers..
I’m not there yet, but wondering how best to approach coming off MJ.
Does it make any difference if you go cold turkey or titrate down?

I started in September at 16st and am hoping to get to 12st by end of May ish. (Currently 13.5)
I’ve just started on 10mg, have another 10mg plus a 12.5mg in the fridge as I’m using 5th dose so building a supply!
Im imagining I’ll need to order another 12.5 next month, then hopefully start ordering lower doses so I can come down once I reach goal.

Do you come down a pen each month the same as titrating up? Do you stay at your highest dose for a while once you reach target? Or start dropping down straight away?

Would interested to hear views and experiences.

@Witchyandtwitchy
There's no right answers I'm afraid. You'll need to test it and see.

Some people stop immediately and feel ok, certainly in the first few weeks after, others describe hunger and other conditions roaring back really quickly. It's not the sort of drug, like ADs, where it's recommended to titrate down due to the risk of side effects of withdrawal, but it's logical to think reducing dose each month might make the transition a bit easier, so it's really up to you - there's little to no scientific evidence about how best to do it.

No hard and fast rules although there is some evidence from research in the US that titrating down helps with maintaining a healthy weight for some people. I think your own history with weight is a good indicator. I'm a long term yo-yo dieter and post menopausal so I'm coming down the doses very slowly.

My mood is better too. When I first took MJ I did get bad anxiety but luckily it didn't last too long.

I think I'm happier off it as I was worried what would happen when I stopped and so far I'm doing okay.

I did make big changes to my diet on it though, loads more salad and veg and no matter how much I wanted to, I didn't buy crisps and chocolate. If it's not in the house I can't eat it.

Good luck everyone, I do think weighing 2/3 times a week helps to keep me on track too.

Watching. With interest.

Well done @wite , and lots of sound advice. I also used my last dose last Saturday so look forwards to this new journey. How long have you been off it?

3 weeks now, I do get hungry but I'm trying very hard to meal plan so if I get food noise I just say, no, I'm having x and that's good.

I've also had a little spending spree on vinted and it's great to fit into most things now which is very motivating