Do you pile the weight back on after Mj?

[Bigfatsunandclouds]

I don't know why I do it but I read a thread about why people aren't using MJ and a few people said about knowing people who have just piled the weight back on after coming off MJ?

Is this the case? I am hoping the healthy habits I'm adopting will remain if on it for a while but the thought of doing this and then pile it all back on makes me want to cry.

Most people who lose weight put it back on, it doesn't mean it's a certainty, but yes without the physical affects ie hunger suppression, slowing digestion then even if someone has adopted a healthier approach to food ie more nutritionally balanced meals it'll be challenging when the hunger and/or food as a crutch comes back. The key is as well as overhauling diet itself is to find other coping mechanisms whilst on it. If you are an emotional/boredom/'food noise' eater than get into good habits whilst still on it. In the evenings if that has always been a risky time for binging for example- instead of watching tv or something whilst MJ takes care of stifling the urge, find a hobby, a way to fill the time that can carry on. Ideally of course everyone would address the underlying causes of emotional eating but not always possible to easily do.

@SilenceInside , those comments don’t even get to me at all because I know some people who say these things are just saying it based on their insecurities. Before I started the jab, I already know I’ll only buy 4 pens and go off it which was what I did. I had no plans of being in the jab forever, and also have no plans of stopping all the good works I’ve started even before I started using the jabs as I was already on a healthy path for over 6 months before starting. I’m happy now. That’s the reason why in real life, only my DH knew I used it cos I can’t deal with any judgment

They don’t get to me either, I just find it puzzling as to the point of them. It doesn’t make much logical sense which people who repeat it don’t seem to ever realise.

I knew when I started I’d be taking Mounjaro for at least a year, and was prepare to take it for longer and continue with it long term if necessary. My weight problem has been life long, so I have no problem with the solution being life long either.

I regained everything I have lost when I stopped taking Saxenda. A big regret of mine. On MJ now, second month now (lost a stone so far) and planning to stay on it for years to keep maintenance. For now I am focusing on reaching my GW but I won’t take breaks like I did with saxenda (and it never worked for me again when I stopped).

I lost 12kg on MJ last year, came off it (bereavement and it just wasnt a priority) and gained 6kg back in 6 months. I've now been on it for 6 weeks and have got that 6kg off again.

Admittedly I was probably eating more as depressed from the bereavement, but for me the food noise turned back on again almost immediately. I think had I been in a better brain space I could have been more mindful, but I know that next time when I come off it (if I do!) I will have to put a lot of effort in myself.

I know someone who lost weight in double quick time (a huge amount of weight in 3 or 4 months), stopped MJ cold turkey, and then put the weight back on almost just as quick. That didn't surprise me because the reason she lost the weight so quickly is that she had almost full suppression so barely ate 500 calories a day. After stopping MJ the food noise came back with a vengeance and she started eating exactly the way she used to. She hadn't been on it long enough to learn any kind of good habits so has had to go back on it again.

For me, I think it's been a great tool to help me to overhaul my lifestyle. I've started walking my daughter to and from school (which i'd never have dreamed of when I could drop her off in 5 minutes in the car) so I get over 10k steps a day. I eat healthier meals with more protein and less carbs, I stick to a healthy calorie deficit but make sure to get enough calories so that I can learn to eat in a way that I can sustain long term, and I've started some resistance training to build a bit of muscle and strength.

I haven't lost the weight super fast (about 1.6lbs a week on average) but I feel like the lifestyle changes I've made, I'll be able to carry on even after I stop MJ. And I've seen people who've done it like this be successful in keeping the weight off so while I'm a bit nervous about coming off it, I'm fairly confident that I can do what it takes to maintain. As things are, I'll probably hit my target weight by around 1st July and I intend to titrate down gradually and come off altogether by the end of the year.

I’m not planning to come off it. It’s not a diet, it’s medication.

In the same way as someone might continue to take antidepressants, statins, beta blockers etc to maintain health. Some of us will need to take this medication.

I don't understand it either. I also don't care that people think it's the 'easy way' to do it, why would I want to do something a hard way that hasn't worked?

The benefit of Mounjaro for me (and probably everyone) is being able to implement good habits WITHOUT simultaneously battling cravings and constantly thinking about food. I'm hoping that means that eventually when I come off mounjaro, I can deal with the cravings and food noise WITHOUT simultaneously trying to implement good habits. The foundation will already be there, which is a foundation I have never had in my life. One thing at a time.

I liken it to when I had post-natal anxiety - medication reduced the anxiety enough for me to develop coping strategies. Then when I came off the medication the coping strategies helped me manage the anxiety. I couldn't develop good coping strategies when I was at Mach 10 every day and in a constant state of hypervigilance. I can't develop good eating habits when I'm thinking about food and craving sugar all the time and ending up in endless binge-restrict cycles. If I could, I'd have done it already. Mounjaro has already given me mental space to step back and see my habits clearly and where my pitfalls lie.

Agree here. I saw a bariatric surgeon recently who said for his patients they were seeing incredible results but these patients would need to take a dose of it for life to maintain.

He also said that he expected bariatric surgery to be replaced by GLP1 drugs (new versions of which they are developing all the time) and that his private practice had been decimated. A “true wonder drug” he declared it.

He told me not to worry about him as he was looking to retire and I probably wouldn’t need the surgery if I continued on Mounjaro

Well it’s not a magic fat melter is it? So the only reason you would put on weight is if, as with any other diet, you eat too much and of the wrong things. It will undoubtedly be harder because your appetite won’t be suppressed and you will feel hungry again but you don’t have to act on that, and hopefully you will have got yourself into good eating habits with the MJ as your scaffolding-so without it the habits you have built remain solid.

All of this 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I’m also tired of the puritans saying they don’t want ‘Ozempic face’ as if it’s some kind of given deformity you end up wih once you hit healthy BMI , sorry but I think I’d much rather that than Morbidly Obese face or High Cholesterol face or Fatty liver face.

The habits thing is true too. A podcast I listen to said tools like GLP1s and bariatric surgery give you time and brain space to lose weight and put healthy habits in place. After the initial weight loss period If you don’t develop “thin people” habits that then you’ll put weight back on

“How you lose the weight is how you keep it off” is absolutely true of anything. Especially this.

Stop suppressing hunger then you will drift back into eating how you got fat in the first place. Most likely worse as you’ve lost weight through constant calorie restriction meaning you’ve probably lost some muscle as well so the weight goes back on quicker since you’re a bag of skin.

I’ve heard people plan to micro dose longer term which sounds sensible.

"Most likely worse as you’ve lost weight through constant calorie restriction meaning you’ve probably lost some muscle as well so the weight goes back on quicker since you’re a bag of skin."

Everyone who loses weight does so by constant calorie restriction to get into a calorie deficit. That's the only way weight loss will happen. Everyone who loses weight will lose some muscle too. I've lost nearly 8 stone and I'm not a "bag of skin" yet, and neither am I weak and lacking muscle.

A third don't as they adopt good habits. I've seen all the weight loss post saying not eating it only eating protein products.

But how is the set point weight determined? Do naturally slim people have a low set point? Do us fatties have a high set point which means I am doomed to fail? What happens if I put more weight on does my set point keep going up or can I reset my set point

I am the same.

I know everything - doesnt mean I can apply it consistently and persistently which is what is needed for maintenance.

My plan is to stay on it for at least 2 years once I have reached my goal weight. I hope then that my mindset, body and daily habits will become entrenched to contrast the pattern of the previous 50 years - if 2 years isnt long enough I will keep going as at my age 58 this is not about vanity but lowering my BP, reducing cholesterol, saving my knees, maintaining my mobility, protecting my heart and reducing my risk of cancer and dementia.

I know that with alcohol addiction the first 6 months of going dry are battling the physical cravings and the following 6 months are needed to come to terms with the pyschological dependence. Assume food issues are similar?

I have always regained my weight within a year or two (3st overweight) - maybe slowly but it has always been an upward trajectory.

IMHO maintenance is the hardest as when losing you have the motivation and reward to beat the scales each week and assume eating should be easy and you can eat loads but its only a few hundred calories between gaining and maintaining.

So I will be hanging on to this tool for support for a long time.

Do you know if it would have helped to 'phase off' the injections by dropping down the doses over time rather than flicking the hunger switch overnight so that you are in at the deep end?

If you adopt healthy habits whilst on the medication the odds are more in your favour of being able to maintain to some degree. However for some it may be the case where emotional triggers, hormonal imbalances etc are beyond their control to such an extent that medication is the most effective way of losing and keeping it off long term.

The ongoing research/ studies suggests you will see better results if your diet is modified to include more nutritious protein rich foods rather than simply just eating less of not so great choices.

Shifting the bulk of the weight in the first place is the miracle helping hand a lot of people need. Working out, feeling healthy, having more confidence is a huge motivator once you can get rid of it, WLIs give you that chance.

The next year or two will be less ‘what if’ and more results focused on a wider scale as to what can happen once you come off them. Hopefully we learn more around maintaining guidance to give better clarity/ reassurance.

I came off Saxenda after losing 30kg, and only gained 2 back in 18 months when I was ready to restart dieting.

I’m losing slowly now on mounjaro and hope that by the time I’m at goal, maintenance plans will be well established and there will be a path to stable weight.

But sure some people will gain it back and others won’t. Doesn’t put me off trying.

Was on my from July to October and lost 35lb. Had a horrific incident with pain in early November and was diagnosed with gallstones so had to come off it. The food noise was ten times worse and within 4 weeks my aperture was worse than ever. I crave carbs/junk more now than I ever did pre mj and I’ve gone from 95kg at end nov/early dec 103kg today. I was originally 110kg a June last year so it’s pretty much been for nothing.

previously I could quite happy low carb for 3-4 months and lose weight quite easily but having adhd I’d “slip” and go on a carb frenzy and fall off the wagon. Since starting/ending mj, I have a horrific intense craving for shit food and honestly I wish I’d never tried it as my weight was pretty stable.

@OnyourbarksGSG I wonder if it would have been different for you if you had got to a healthy weight and maintained that for a decent period of time whilst taking Mounjaro, before stopping.

Have you been told you cannot take Mounjaro (or Wegovy?) at all in the future because of the gallstones?

Yes, I’ve got to have surgery to remove my gall bladder. Apparently ( and I might have remembered this explanation wrong) when you lose weight it creates a disturbance with your cholesterol and other things and these can solidify into stones in your gall bladder. So if I continued to lose weight I could risk more larger stones, and in turn a higher risk of a blocked duct which can be very dangerous. So I need to have surgery. The person that did my scan said that you are most likely to have/develop gall stones if you are all the Fs…. Female, Fat , fertile ( had babies) and forty plus. Thanks for that sonographer lady 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

It's certainly a possibility but I would say that for me, before mounjaro, in the last 15 years I have been mostly losing the same stone and putting it on again. So I don't get to goal and give up because it's too hard or unsustainable to keep losing weight as I'd have been too hungry on 1400 calories without mounjaro.

I am nearly at that point now but after only a short time, and it doesn't feel unsustainable. I feel like if I got to goal which means losing another stone and a half or two stone, depending on how I feel, I would be more motivated not to put the weight back on, v only losing a stone where I don't notice so much difference, and would be able to manage ok on maintenance calories, which should be at least about 300-400 more a day than I am eating now- even without mounjaro though I envisage doing a maintenance phase also on it. I could eat 1700 ok even at a stone heavier and doing a lot of exercise so I should manage that two stone plus lighter, burning fewer calories and with a much smaller stomach.

I also have a very good and sustainable exercise routine which I have been doing for two and a half years, long before I started mj just over a month ago. And my diet was very good, just not little enough to lose weight in a sustained way.