Thread 2 because we have reached our goal weights and we want to maintain not regain. We might be going cold turkey or titrating down or staying on!

[MargoLivebetter]

Can't believe we filled up a whole thread! Welcome to thread 2.

On a positive note to start us off, I've lost 1lb of the two that I gained from my autumnal apple crumble caper. Filling full of resolve and pleased to know I can gain a pound or two (which is of course completely normal) and then lose them again.

6th week of maintenance has been a busy one.
We stayed at a hotel for a few nights and then had 2 celebration events. I assumed I would have put on, and had convinced myself that I had put on. Got on the scales with some trepidation to find that I had stayed the same.
So am happy now to stretch the gap between jabs to 12 days.
(Ive been adding one day each time)

The plan is still to slowly keep increasing the gap until 14 days then stay there for a while. My guess is that I will keep at 12.5mg until after Christmas and then to start to titrate down the doses.
Spoke to my Dr yesterday and asked about spreading the pen over a much longer period than the 30 day instructions. He seems unconcerned about this as long as it the pen is kept in the fridge.

Feeling very positive. I don't think I have ever managed to maintain for 6 weeks after losing weight; it's always been gain/lose/gain/lose......then gain, gain, gain!

It’s interesting how some spread days but on a high Dose then will lower

where I’m the other way - lowering down to hopefully 5 or even 2.5 and if stable will then spread the days

I'm just back from a glorious few days in Tuscany! Devastated to be home 🤣

I ate lots and drank lots of wine as I was staying at a vineyard and it was €5 a glass!

Ate so much bread and olive oil 😄

Put 3lb on but lost it within 24 hours so probs water weight as I walked a little.

It was glorious!

@Blondeshavemorefun I did a combi of both - spread the days as I went down doses from 7.5mg. I got bored of jabbing mainly but I think it has definitely helped now that I'm 11 days past my last jab and feel ok so far. Shotsy says my levels are estimated at 0.88mg.

It's all on their website now, they have a separate maintenance section where you have to sign up there. It recently went live a few weeks ago.

Hi all, I am now at a point where I am quote happy. I've been using a 10mg but taking 5mg to make a pen last longer which seems much cheaper than signing up to any of these tapering plans. Has anyone done this for a period of time before then going onto a maintenance plan. It seems that I can continue to order pens as I could still loose more before my BMI is too low etc. thank you

The issue is eventually you’ll have a massive stash of pens and need to take a break.

I plan to do that once I’m happy on 5 but that’s a few months off yet I think

slowly catchee monkey

Hi everyone, glad I’m not the only one who experienced the weight watchers semi circle of shame! Although to be fair to them I have had success with them in the past.

i just got an email saying my flexi plan subscription with oushk had been accepted… I was expecting they would take £15 straight away but it’s scheduled my first payment for January of next year… I did buy 2 pens from them when the price hike craziness hit so I wonder if they took that into account… anyway pleased to avoid paying more money for a couple more months.

I’m still at my goal weight but am increasingly thinking I’d like to drop another 3lbs so if I fluctuate it doesn’t immediately take me over goal. I’ve got a fancy meal out with my husband on sat though followed by a weeks holiday so suspect I won’t be losing anything over the next week.

i signed up to slimpod a few weeks ago and I’m really enjoying watching the coaching videos. It’s actually made me feel quite positive about eventual WLI free maintenance.

Hello @SpoonyRubyHam welcome to maintenance (that is if you haven't posted before. I don't remember seeing you, but apologies if you have). Sounds like you have a plan in mind. It looks as though more companies are offering options to order more sporadically after you've hit target weight, so you may not need to stockpile. Other posters have mentioned Pharmalous, Swift and of course Oushk.

@Incognitoburrito88 do you pay to sign up to Slimpod?

There’s a 10 day free trial. I liked the initial pod so much that I let my subscription roll on. It’s £49 / month for 3 months. After 3 months you don’t pay any more but have access to all the resources indefinitely. I listen to the pod as I’m falling asleep every night - it’s definitely helping my insomnia if nothing else!

Hello, I’m pretty much at goal, though I’d like to lose 3-4 more pounds max. So I thought I’d join you.

I’ve just gone up to 15 to get these last few pounds off. I was on 12.5 and injected every 8 days and maintaining / crawling at that pace.

im planning a very long, slow taper so that I can maintain my new weight for as long as possible before I go it alone. I’m going back to 12.5 once I’ve down to my lowest weight.

once I’ve got to my final goal I’m going to stay on 12.5 every 8 days until jan / feb and then go down to 10 every 7 days for a month, then 10 every 8 days for a month and then down. So ten weeks-ish per dose. That will take me to next Christmas when I’ll be on 2.5 every 8 days. At that point I might try 1.25 weekly to see if I can maintain on that.

by that point I’ll have maintained a healthy weight for 18 months. That will apparently make me more likely to maintain forever.

My starting weight in August 2024 was 14st, I’m now 8st6. I’d like to maintain in the 8-8st7 window.

@Incognitoburrito88 same as me. Accepted on flex plan for £5, and next payment in January. Works for me as I won't be ordering any more pens for now. I hope...but pleased to have the reassurance I can if I want.

Have spent the week being very good, and delighted I'm able to manage it 'on my own.' I'm 13 days since my final jab of 2.5 and Shotsy says my estimated levels are 0.7mg. That can't be having that much of an effect, surely?!!

Welcome @FurForksSake . Congratulations on your amazing loss! How are you feeling having lost all that weight? Sounds like a good plan too. Keep us posted

Thanks for the welcome @MargoLivebetter it feels quite daunting to think of not getting the thrill of the loss. I know I need to use the taper time to get my head fully in the game.

im definitely going to need to be careful, I lost a lot of weight about 7 years ago and regained it and more when I went on to maintenance. I see so many posts on how we are all just going to regain all the weight the minute we come off. And then all the research that suggests if you lose weight it’s inevitable you will regain. I am worry that being slim is temporary, I almost feel like I am on holiday in slim land.

@FurForksSake I know exactly what you mean. I have the occasional nightmare (genuine) where I am fat again. Wake up in such a state of panic as well.

I have maintained off MJ since March. It is definitely doable. Plenty of others on here who have done the same and plenty also still using MJ to some degree too.

I've made an appointment for myself with Pharmulous (thank you @Blondeshavemorefun ) as I am fairly sure I'm going to need a bit of help getting through Christmas and the winter. I can already feel the desire to eat carbs ramping up with the change in the weather! Summer is always easy for me as I love salads and my appetite naturally diminishes when it is warm. I was definitely born in the wrong country!!!! 😂 I'm going to get a pen and will probably start on 1.25, as I never managed more that 2.5 all the way through and see if that dampens my food desire. I'm not looking forward to the grim acid reflux or the "meh" feeling but I'd rather that than get fat again.

I have maintained off MJ since March. It is definitely doable. Plenty of others on here who have done the same and plenty also still using MJ to some degree too.

Yep, I've maintained since stopping in December and actually half a stone lighter than when I stopped. And that's with an all-inclusive holiday in the summer 😃

I've had the maintenance chat with cloud and they say I've got to increase calorie intake by 500 a day to keep being prescribed. I'm only short and most of what I eat now it's just because it's a mealtime 😫

@daffodilandtulip I guess Cloud will feel obliged to say that, as it must be linked to some kind of calorie intake criteria they have. Unless they plan to move in with you, they are not going to know exactly how many calories you are consuming every day!

Very true @MargoLivebetter
I just always panic that it'll be taken away every time I order 😂

I don't know what is going on this week, but I am so hungry. I literally can't stop thinking about food, which is something I have not really experienced in the past year! I am coming to the tail end of a 7.5mg pen that I have been using to extract 5mg from, so have been using it for a good bit longer than 30 days, so wondering if it is less effective as it gets older. It is the week before my period and I do generally notice myself being a bit more snacky at this time of the month, but this is really something else!!

It’s weird @sylv165 over the last 15 months I’ve definitely had weeks like that for no rhyme or reason. Definitely irritating and usually short lived. Eat lots of apples; they’ll fill you up.

@FurForksSake my head tells me apples, my heart tells me crisps 😂. But I'm trying to stay strong and resist!

@MargoLivebetter autumn and carbs can be good - lentil soup, baked potato with a healthy topping, great dishes with chickpeas. None of it has to be stodge. In the winter I sometimes have soup for breakfast.

@FurForksSake there is of course lots of evidence that in general people who have lost weight (through dieting) often put it back on again. In my own weight loss experience that has happened because
a) the diet wasn't sustainable long term and left me feeling deprived.
b) I lost weight quickly so I didn't have time to build long term habits about how I shopped, cooked, managed my eating alongside that of others in the family;
c) I spent all the time on my diet craving things I coudn't have, so once 'the diet was over' I binged on everything I'd been longing for.

I've been using MJ for more than a year and it has enabled me to lose weight sustainable and sensibly (I don't think I ever stayed on a diet for more than a few months before). I think I have actually learned what a 'normal' sized portion is for me, at my weight and height. I have learned what it means to eat well and healthily (and deliciously) with protein, healthy fats, and smaller amounts of mostly-unprocessed carbs. I have learned that it is OK to feel a little bit hungry between meals, and I don't need to satisfy that urge immediately, better to distract myself until the next meal-time (and that is much easier if the cupboards aren't full of easily grabbable temptation).

The published studies on WLI and weight regain also show that people regained some of the weight, but I wonder whether they had peer communities like this supporting and encouraging each other, sharing ideas and tips, and holding accountability for each other. I think that is an invaluable tool that we all have in our box. And I genuinely belive that for many of us, the community support of forums like this will make the difference.

@sylv165 I find that quartering an apple and taking the core out, makes it more interesting than just eating a whole apple. Even more if I cut it into 8ths.