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!

@Richtea67 crumpets with sliced ham and tomato on top

I suspect if you had an egg based breakfast you wouldn't want a mid-morning snack at all. I'm on a weight loss journey myself so understand completely - but the slim people I know (and me when I was slim) really don't snack at all. All of their calories are ingested in 2-3 meals a day, nothing outside that. Try and focus on satiating protein in your meals and cutting snacks out completely.

age ? Why @Annwithout

i didn't know there was an age limit

how old are you ?

Sorry see you answered that. 75. I didnt know tnere was a cut off. Seems madness

I think 75 is an advisory and not a strict cut off so theoretically you could be prescribed after this fe. Have you tried other providers (like oushk?). If you have the money I wonder if as a last resort you could pay to see a private gp who could prescribe for you?

I would have a slice of rye toast with one or two eggs for breakfast and forget the mid morning snack as you wouldn't need it. That breakfast would fill you up until lunchtime.

@Richtea67 when I'm going into the office, I take a homemade wrap with me for breakfast. Deli Kitchen do protein wraps with 174 calories and 10g of protein. I fill one with either chicken and lettuce, or tuna and lettuce, or the tofu pretending to be chicken and lettuce, then add a squirt of a tasty dressing and that will give me 30-40g of protein for less than 350 calories. That will keep me going to lunch no problem.

Someone suggested Morrisons, which I think is 85. This has taken the pressure off a bit, so I can take my time and go through providers finding the cheapest one who will supply me.

My current provider is Bolt who have since confirmed that it's company policy not to prescribe to 75 and over :(

I was really upset when I thought it was a blanket ruling, but hopefully not.

Thank you to everyone who has posted - this thread is very helpful. I'm taking MJ to lose 20lbs, 😊. I'm a triathlete and exercise 10hrs per week. Maybe I need to take up golf.

I've lost 12 lbs, which is amazing to me. I did a half Ironman without losing weight, and had a BMI of 27 on race day. Traveling 70 miles carrying surplus fat is hard work!

Like many I've done WW (gold member) , SW, Low Carb (successful but I also have high cholesterol), and the weight always came back. So I expect that I'll fall into the ninety plus percentile that regain. I plan to titrate down to a lower dose for months. Perhaps there will be a pill form by then and at least some guidance.

Thank you to @BurnoutGP and all the scientific people who have posted. I found you very informative.

@Richtea67
@Richtea67
@Richtea67
@Richtea67

Sorry for all the tags Richtea. My Fire won't let me delete!

@Annwithout oushk don’t stop at 75.

That’s really good idea. I’m far off goal weight but I read about the gaining weight warnings when stopping. I do like your idea

The GLP-1s do support metabolic issues by reducing inflammation. Obesity is an inflammatory disease which is why it is so difficult to lose weight and not just CICO. Highly processed food contributes to this, too. I have come off my BP meds with my weight loss and hope in time I can come off my statins. The trials only looked at lifestyle and nutritional support. No coaching about mindset and beliefs which are embedded by the diet and food industry. These are the missing factor for us to change for maintenance imho.

I am one of those for whom this is a lifelong battle. Before MJ I worked out that I had lost several hundred lbs in my life - the same 20-50lbs over and over again, only to rebound.

I then took some time to read about the hormones that drive appetite, satiety, hunger and how gut health, UPFs affect them and how large weight loss (more than 10% body weight) affects them - and carries on affecting them long after the weight comes back. It's an uphill fight on a hill that gets steeper and steeper until you slip and crash back to the floor. Once I realised that, I realised that I probably had about the same chance of keeping weight off by myself as I had of winning the lottery. (And it would be better than a lottery win, imo).

MJ doesn't correct all of that. Cutting out UPFs and increasing gut health is on me. I am happy to do that. I cannot control leptin and ghrelin levels, but MJ can help with that. What IS an interesting question to me is 'to what degree are the hormonal feedback loops in weight loss negated by the fact that MJ is helping control leptin and ghrelin levels?'. i.e. without the 'normal' hormonal fluctuations that go with weight loss, does your body even 'know' you are losing weight and so, do the normal rules about starvation etc apply? I don't know the answer to that and have heard obesity scientists suggest not. But I don't know.

Anyway, for me this looks a lot like a long term deal. I have factored it into my budget on an ongoing basis and will keep with it. When I get to goal, I am minded to hold the dosage for at least 3-6 months while trying to eat a bit more to maintain. If that works, then drop down a dose for a few months and titrate down at a very slow pace to find the minimum viable dose for me. If that ends up being 0mg then that would be great. But if it doesn't and I have to take MJ for the foreseeable, then that is fine too.

Who knows what the future brings in terms of breakthroughs and further options? A friend was just invited to a trial for a pill version of ozempic (to protect against heart issues) so there are pills out there on their way...

Good post @CoverMeInMarmalade, thanks. I have read up around all the hormone stuff too and find it enlightening as to why I yo-yoed so much before.

Can you address this with intermittent fasting / keto?

I believe I read ozempic is up in 9 years ish and given they are talking about a pill version of ozempic being released in 2026, plus the next gen drug after MJ is called triple G seems to work even better than MJ and will probably be out 2027. So as each new option comes out the price of the others/older drugs usually comes down.

For me what worked a few years ago was the 5:2 diet, I lost 3 stone but then it stalled. I had about 3 months not moving weight then gave up. However I actually found it easier to fast and have nothing till a light lunch around 2 followed by one proper meal in the evening. I am thinking doing one or two of these fast low cal days each week is doable, most likely fast periods are good for us in other ways and I know I can do it without too many issues.

But I will move over to one of the maintenance providers when closer to target just in case. If I have to do a month or two once a year that’s fine.

i saw one expert say he expects a $1 a day pill form for maintenance in around 9-10 years.

i saw one expert say he expects a $1 a day pill form for maintenance in around 9-10 years.

Wouldn't that be something!

That would be amazing.

I am also thinking of buying a bike. When younger I loved cycling and biked everywhere. I am thinking it will be good exercise, something I enjoy and also save some petrol money.

I think its important to start to embed new lifestyle habits that will support maintainence when we are already on MJ as currently we have the free headspace to be motivated and not be dragged off course by the food noise.

So get that IF / high protein diet entrenched (takes 66 days to build a habit) - or whatever sustainable food method you choose now.

Also the exercise / lifestyle habits get cracking on them - so when you are at goal you are not starting something else - it will be your normal to walk x steps, do x routines etc .... that will make the transition much easier.

Last week I decided (within my calorie deficit) to have a treat 'meal' - which was my old days evening routine of crisps, full fat coke and a kitkat. I wasnt physically craving any of it - but felt so unwell after - like I has assaulted my stomach.

@Knakeredd it’s why I’ve stuck with the half bottle of wine on Friday and Saturday nights - so I don’t lose weight at weekends but am very very strict in the week - I know that having my weekend ingrained habit to look forward to keeps me on track in the week . Also I know that doing this doesn’t make me gain weight, I just don’t lose -

I did this when I did slimming world - you are allowed 15 points/syns which equals a small glass of red wine and a crunchie - but I was fastideous about everything all day.....I needed a shorter leash than you as I needed a daily goal and reward - but I lost 3stone.

@Knakeredd exactly - although I would skip the crunches for another glass- as I don’t like chocolate- I think in my case I look at it as a weekly defecit , otherwise it’s easy to obsess

Ah bikes are brilliant! Definitely go for it, there are lots of refurbished bikes out there that are a much cheaper price, sometimes councils run bike schemes too so worth looking into. I was at Decathalon recently and they had lots of adult refurbished bikes. Alas the roads around me are too busy/ fast to get one atm :(