Piling the weight back on when stopping MJ

[Richtea67]

Hi all....I'm so disappointed. I lost 3 and a half stone, have been off injections for a month and regained nearly 7lbs 😩. I was a slow loser (1-2lb per week) and focused on changing habits and reducing portion size rather than diets/calorie counting (this has led to binging previously). I have kept up with a lot of the habits (smoothie for breakfast, cutting out alcohol and healthy high protein snacks). But portion sizes have definitely gone up as I'm hungrier! And I've been more tempted by the biscuits at work and the kids treats! Any advice?? I'm considering re starting if I put too much weight on, but financially this would be a struggle, which is part of the reason I came off them. My starting weight was 14.5 stones, weight when stopping injections 11 stones and at present nearly half a stone back on!! Help!

I'm quite sure your anecdote and few friends trumps the large studies that have been published.

That's just how some people talk ... they give their opinions as facts.

It's ok, we all know people are mainly just giving their opinions on here or their personal experiences.

I wasn't going to come back to this thread, but saw you are a GP and have post-grad qualification in diabetes and obesity and I have a question I hope you don't mind answering.

Do you think obesity is triggered by going on a diet in the first place that we never needed to go on? I was 15 when I went on the Hip & Thigh Diet in the late 80s because a family member said I was looking chunky. That diet was the start of my personal feast-and-famine bulimia cycle. I'm now 53.

I look back at pictures of myself at 15 and I was slim and healthy and in absolutely no need of a diet. 😪

@MicroCrisis I am fat, I'm a non drinking, non driving vegetarian who cooks her meals from scratch and walks everywhere and goes to the gym 3 or 4 times a week. I worry about my weight but my GP says my blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar are all perfect, better than most my age.

I gained a lot of weight on a medication I took for a neurological issue about 10 years ago and have struggled with my weight ever since. I don't use a weight loss injection and continue to struggle with my weight.

I think your view of fat people is very ignorant.

Yes unfortunately there are lots of studies which show this for many reasons.
Not necessarily the feast/famine reason which isn't really scientific.
But because of rebound weight gain, disordered eating and body dymorphia.
The vast majority of morbidly obese people with disordered eating will have some ACE in their past

Thanks for sharing this -

"In conclusion, many clinical trials have shown that consuming more protein than the recommended dietary allowance induces weight loss and improves body composition regardless of total energy intake. HPD was also observed to have long-term weight-loss effects and to prevent weight regain following initial weight loss."

Looks at a range up to 1.6g/KG of body weight.

It's amazing that people are still trotting out the 'quick fix' line when it's clear that most people are trying very hard to make sustainable life changes now that they're not constantly battling food related compulsions. It's making those changes that will give us the best chance of dealing with the cravings and compulsions when we stop taking mounjaro.

My brother was on the injections himself and this is what was explained to him. He lost 3 stone and didn't gain it back . He struggled to lose weight because he had a large appetite and couldn't control this. He used the time on the injections to change his eating habits , he didn't have the appetite he use to on the injections and as the weight dropped off he was eating better foods which was actually how he lost the weight. The injections interfer with your appetite do they not ? It's not a cure for over eating so I have no idea why you're so triggered by what I said. You can be on the injections and still carry on eating bad quality foods that are high in calories hence why some don't see results. You explain exactly why what I said is wrong or why I need qualifications to speak on mumsnet of all places

Because you've trotted out your anecdote as fact and given entirely incorrect advice which is in fact only your opinion/2nd hand anecdote.
Sure for some people like your brother it may show them what they have been doing wrong.
But that is not how this drug is designed.

Thank you for answering. So, really, we should be educating our children to never go on diets and just let their bodies be. Isn't it also right that girls in particular gain about 20lbs in puberty but that if you leave it alone the weight rebalances at the end of your teens?

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934325000592

Well done! I’m near goal but really stressed about coming off the WLI! How have you found it? How long have you been off the meds for? Did you consider staying on a smaller maintenance dose?

Most users of the drug (for weight loss) don't care about how the drug was designed. They care about how it works in practice and in practice, it reduces appetite in most people which is largely what has made it so popular. So many users talk about the relief of "food noise" being silenced for once, which I presume they mean cravings for unhealthy but tasty food.

Keep lining the pharmacies' pockets forever?

I read that post, followed the advice, and 10 minutes later I'm back in my size 12 jeans!!

OFDOD

I've lost 17 lb in the last year by cutting out refined sugar (and gin!). I have a very sweet tooth! I did struggle with sugar withdrawal at first but have got used to it now. I've maintained my weight loss with snacks that I love that are sugar-free (especially full-fat Greek yoghurt pots sweetened with Stevia, granola with no sugar added, or cheese oatcakes with hummus). About once a month I have a home-made cake in a café as a treat. I still eat carbs (potatoes, rice) but smallish portions. I think so long as I keep away from refined sugars, especially in high-UPF foods, I'll be able to maintain this weight without suffering!

Do you accuse all the drug companies which make long-term/lifelong medications of "lining their pockets"? They are businesses and they make money out of people continuing to buy their products long-term, of course. So are Cadbury, Nivea and Bisto...they are also "lining their pockets" by keeping us hooked if they can...

Eli Lilly themselves make a number of products that are lifelong medications. No-one is railing against their antipsychotics or antidepressants...

Gosh well done ...come back and preach when you have 100+lbs to lose....

Placemarking, some v helpful replies on this thread re: maintenance

Gently, I must say that coming on a forum for people who have clearly been overweight enough to be prescribed WLIs, and preaching your radical diet ideas like having sugar-free desserts and leafy veg is...well, bold...

@samfired as per my previous post I really do feel this is a very individual thing and yes one of those things can be medication that does interfere with weight - we all know people who have been on steroids and their weight balloons, same with some of the drugs for neuro issues etc. of the people I know like this they have found it much harder to lose weight by the usual methods and keep it off which does make me feel that somewhere down the line their body chemistry has changed.

I just keep it in the fridge until I have used it up
Ive not had any side effect and I’ve maintained my weight by doing this

Well op, there’s a lot on this thread however my personal experience is I was on MJ for 4 pens, lost 46lbs (BMI of 33 to 24.8) and I stopped. Never went over 5mg because I didn’t want full suppression.
I’ve been off now for over 3 months so almost the time that I was on MJ and my BMI this morning is 23.8 so I weigh less.
What I’ve been doing is I’ve continued to exercise 5 days a week (first thing in the morning at home), lots of weight training, still weigh myself every week, eating well, less carbs and having the right low calorie snacks and lots of fruits at home for when I’m hungry. I have not felt restricted. I will continue to do this. I’m not being smug but I can’t see myself gaining even a quarter of the weight back in 9 months seeing as it took me 11 years of no proper exercise, eating without a care and 3 pregnancies (which I’m done with) to get to that weight in the first place. I cook at home and I don’t drink alcohol.

There has been lots of research on habits and with each day that passes, I’m getting closer to all these new habits sticking.

Long term plan. I’m only in my late 30s so I have a life time ahead. I can’t already commit to being on MJ for life but with each month that passes, I see this as a saving.
IF in 2 years time for example, I slack and start to pile weight back on, when I get to a BMI of 30, I will get the jab again to get it back in control. In that time I would have learnt a thing of two, and I would have saved myself almost £4000 that I would have spent on the jab in that time.
Theres a lot of research that shows how easy it is to pile the weight back and I know if I stopped exercising, I’ll just spiral from there and that’s why I’ve made sure this is the first thing I do everyday. Good luck whichever way you decide to go.

I was on the lowest dose for 4 months I think, going from weekly to injections every 10 days. I tracked in my fitness pal every day in that time and really made an effort to find exercise I like (Pilates, swimming). I only lost 3lb in that 4 months but stabilised I think.

it’s worth saying though that I am now the weight I was my whole life hntil lock down when I got depressed and put on 2.5 stone which I couldn’t lose - so my set point might be this weight which is different for others