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!

Numerous things.

It heightens the bodys receptors to teh GLP1 hormone, so it makes you super sensitive to it. The GLP1 hormone informs our brain when we are full, and informs our brain when we are hungry. in very simplistic terms. This is how it helps with "food noise" as often people with low GLP! recpetors would have the physical feeling of fullness, but their brain would not get this message, so even whilst full, all they think about is food. The jabs turn off this noise as the GLP1 is doing its job correctly.

It also delays gastic emptying, so food sits in the stomach longer, which inturn makes the body produce GLP1 for longer, meaning theres even more delay in the hunger signals.

It also works by stabilising insulin and insulin resistence, which is why it works very well for reversing type 2 diabeties, (this is the GIP hormone which prompts the body to release insulin, GIP is often weaker in people with type 2 diabetes so they release less inuslin than needed meaning their overall blood sugar levels are higher) it also works very well with those whose weight gain is associatied with PCOS.

Hi @Richtea67 try Berberine tablets, I've found them very helpful for hunger management.

if you don’t want to put the weight back on then you will be on it for life
because you haven’t really learnt to eat what’s healthy what’s not and you eat to much
it’s that simple

the injection just controls your appetite an makes you feel full nothing more or less so what you eat even if it’s crap stuff it’s much less of it

I’m on it for life and I accept that

My weight hovers between 8.10. 8.13. I haven’t gone over 9 stone in over a year

I take it once a month or so and I have stayed stable for over a year so mine
I accept that i have to take it if i want to stay slim.

i don’t want to be fat and unhealthy so it’s the injection for the future for me

however I weight myself regularly so it’s easy to see if I go up a pound or two which I can if I have been on holiday or away
but it’s much easier to knock off a pound than a stone
If I get to 8.13 I just cut back for a day or to and Im back to 8.11

my goal weight was actually 9.5 but I went to under 9 stone so it gives me some leeway on eating stuff and outing some weight back on
but I’ve not actually gone above 9stone

It will be hard but you need to stop the biscuits and kids treats. It is the only way I can stay a healthy weight.

I have a treat every Saturday and look forward to that when I am tempted to snack on rubbish.

I don't know what the answer is to permanent and long-term weight loss. If I did, I wouldn't be on MN on a Friday morning, I'd be fanning myself with $100 bills on a super yacht off the Cayman Islands!

I guess my thinking is that, ultimately, these drugs are eventually going to be exposed as another money-making weight loss con. Remember when it was revealed that WW and others like it based their business models on the failure of their users? Studies came out showing 98% of dieters regained the weight they lost and it was because these diet plans did just enough to give a person significant initial weight loss, but it wasn't sustainable in the long term. There is a tipping point where the body rebels against the calorie deficit. So users would return in desperation for another go, meaning these companies made all their money from repeat customers.

I suspect that WLI are possibly being manufactured with that same business model in mind and that the manufacturers know full well that they are messing with people's bodies and mental health. If that's the case, as someone who has suffered with a ED for almost 40 years because of yo-yo and restrictive dieting, it worries me that greatly that so many women are signing up to take them. Ticking time bomb.

1. Improves Insulin Secretion

• GLP-1 and GIP are both incretin hormones, which are released after eating.
• They stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin, but only when blood sugar is high—helping reduce the risk of hypoglycemia.

1. Lowers Glucagon

• It decreases the release of glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar.
• This helps keep blood sugar levels more stable.

1. Slows Gastric Emptying

• Mounjaro slows how fast food leaves your stomach, which:
• Keeps you feeling full longer
• Reduces appetite
• Helps with weight loss

1. Affects the Brain’s Appetite Regulation

• It also targets brain areas that control hunger, leading to reduced food intake.

I was on MJ for a year, reached goal weight and was made to taper off by provider. My plan to maintain was to calorie count, exercise and use intermittent fasting. Unfortunately all the food noise came back with a vengeance and I gained 30lbs in 3 months. I've gone back on MJ with Oushk which offers long-term maintenance, I've just had to somehow find the money. I expect it will get cheaper as time goes on and hopefully available in pill format. Not ideal to stay on it forever but I am so sick of my weight yo-yoing as it has done all my life, I will just have to pay the monthly fat tax.

Most people put weight on gradually over time and are not eating double their requirement, or when having children. I put four stone on when pregnant with DD1 and was slim before and maintained it. I've never been able to get that weight off successfully, nor even two stone of it to get to normal BMI (not for want of trying) and had found it easy before in my 20s, though I was a tiny bit on the heavy side in my teens. Ever since then I've always done plenty of exercise. DD1 is nearly 20. It was like flicking a switch after having kids. Now I'm the lightest I've been for 15 years thanks to Mounjaro. I'll soon be the very slightly overweight weight I was aged 16, and I'm 49 now. Then I'll maybe get to the weight I was in my late teens and early 20s and BMI 22/23. I'm not going to go lower and be as thin as I was in my mid to late 20s.

Anyhow, I’m signing off now. I don’t want to derail OP’s thread any more. Good luck to all of those on the jabs, I’m glad that at the very least they are giving you a break from the dieting treadmill and the constant food noise.

I would use exercise alongside as your body can’t maintain with food alone as you are hungry. I personally found the body coach app really helpful as you can build gradually and it has meal plans.

Took 6 months to loose their weight. 1 month to put it back on.... 3 months to weigh more than I did before.
You need to be on jabs for life.

Can I ask please, how do you take it once a month with the 4/5 dose pens that expire after 30 days? Is it safe to ignore the 30 day limit, or so you bin the rest?

This is what I wonder about the weight loss injections - what happens when you stop them?

The only answer is absolute willpower and a change in eating and lifestyle. It's the only way I've managed to lose it (over several years) and keep it off.

I never eat anything containing sugar as it's a trigger, so no cake, biscuits, fruit, upfs etc.

I follow a mostly Asian diet, eat rice, noodles and vegetables with chicken or fish 2 to 3 times a week.

You cannot ever eat like you did, it's coming to terms with that which is quite a realisation, that and knowing your triggers.

Same with any weight loss aid isn't it, I've been a yo yo dieter all my life, once I come off the plan I gain, regardless of the plan. It's only in the last couple of years I've lost all the weight and have kept it off so far (not MJ)

The biscuits and kids treats will be a big culprit here. You simply will ha e to hace a very calorie controlled diet to maintain.

If you are at a loss where to begin, I would encourage you to do a few sessions with a PT/Nutritionist to do a meal and exercise plan that works for you.

I read an article yesterday (admittedly in the DM!); "Weight-loss jab patients pile the pounds back on 10 months after stopping" (the injections).

It goes on to say people who rely on the injections without making behavioural changes are the ones affected so I guess anyone who has adjusted their eating habits while on the meds are more likely to succeed long-term?

I agree, absolutely 💯 I wonder what the long term side effects of them are too, particularly as thete haven't been lots of studies done.

the same that happens if some with high blood pressure stops taking an anti hypertensive, some with chronic pain stops taking their analgesia, someone with heart failure stops taking their "water tablets" etc etc. Their syptoms return. Its a medication treating a biological imbalnce, a proven medical difference in people.

The problem is people are using them as a short term fix, they are advertised incorrectly, the pharmacies supplying to people are not giving out the correct medical advice in order to improve education around them. People need to understand that in >90% of cases, this is a life long commitment.

Im a nurse, and i genuinely hope one day, much like we have diabetes nurse specialists, we havenurse specialists in this role supporting and educating people on this injections within the NHS. They are one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in recent years, however, they are being miss-sold to people. My career goal now is to work withing the NHS supporting people in using these long term, providing education, and opening them up to all those who need them, not only those able to afford them.

I don’t bin my pens I keep them and use them after 30 days

I still reorder so I can get them but one pen will last me 3 months rather than one month I’ve been doing this for over a year now to maintain with no problems at all

my weight is stable and I’m never that hungry

"I heard they are working on a pill version too which might potentially be cheaper/a better option for maintenance (the one month time limit is a bit annoying with the pens if you want to microdose or spread the injections), but again it's all on the horizon. "

My DH has been put on Wegovy for diabetes and he's taking tablets. One a day. I'm hugely jealous of this as he's getting them on the NHS.

I was flamed for saying this a few months ago but I will say it again

If you start on the weight loss jabs you will lose weight. If you stop them you will gain weight.

If you want to keep the weight off you need a learn about nutrition and make long term changes to your eating habits. In the long run the pointy pens will only serve to line the pockets of the drug company shareholders, and perhaps give the users a few unwanted side effects.

Not much worth having in life comes without effort.

Pile on Mumsnet. Pile on!

I'm looking at the study results now because I feel invested. Given this was conducted 80 years ago and wasn't about obesity some of our questions won't be answered. The 36 volunteers appear a normal weight (there are pictures of them) given it was 1944 most people were not overweight so I think it is safe to assume most would be a healthy BMI. 3200 calories was chosen as it represented the average diet of the time. I think our modern thinking about calories counting and maintenance calories wasn't really the focus in 1944.

They were placed on severly restricted diets (compared to their previous diet) of just over 1500, some participants diets were more carb oriented, some more protein.

Participants lost an average of 24% of their initial weight. There are pictures and the participants look skeletal. So I think we can say that 1560 ish calories was a significant deficit for them given they were a healthy weight at the start. The experiment was done to better understand and prepare for the starvation caused by war.

The study did show that starving someone will have a lasting impact on their body, hunger and weight. I think we'd all agree on that. However, i think we should be cautious about applying any research findings to something that was not studied. This research did not test the impact of a calorie deficit in obese people to bring them down to a healthy BMI. The participants in this study were extremely thin by then end. Seriously google the pictures. They were quite literally starved to the point of severe weight loss and an unheathy weight. You'd never get ethical approval for such a study today.

I actually think you’ve done really well here.

Yes, you’ve put on half a stone. But that’s really neither here nor there and and easy amount to lose if you put your mind to it. You’ve also recognised that portion size, kids snacks and biscults at works is where the 7lbs have come from. Again, you’ve done really well in recognising this.

If you struggle with portion size and sneaky treats, I’d advise to moving to two large meals a day instead of 3. That way you don’t have to alter your portion size or cut out treats but you have to compensate by losing calories elsewhere. It could be a large breakfast and a large early dinner at say 5pm with nothing for the rest of the day.

Whatever adjustments you do make, see if they work. If they don’t, then you may have to consider having to return to the injections.

I describe these WLI as a tool not a cure. They are not a miracle. They take the edge off hunger and remove the need for teeth clenching willpower. What has really helped me is fasting. I’ve fasted daily for about six years now. Most days I’ll start having some food around 2pm. I get zero hunger signals anymore. Even before WLI if I fasted all day I’d probably get a mild grumble around 4/5pm which has made keeping to a low dose to get rid of one stone of menopause weight really easy.

So I honestly think maintenance looks like a low dose alongside another mechanism - be it fasting, calorie counting, low carbs. Something along those lines.