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.

It's £15 per month.

Really? I paid £20 and I’m sure it was a one off not monthly as it was before.

Welcome @AirborneElephant and congratulations on your loss. I think there are quite a few pharmacies now that are more flexible. Having not taken any MJ since March, I have just ordered via Pharmulous. I was able to evidence my last order with Voy and fulfilled all their criteria. Have a trawl through this thread and I think you will see other online pharmacies mentioned too.

Ok, so I’m on conti so I paid £5 for the consultation but then don’t pay anything. Flexi is £15 to stay on their books but not receive medication. Sorry, they keep changing things and I can’t keep up.

@FurForksSake
You've got me doubting myself now 😅 but just checked and it's still saying £15 per month for flexi.

@MargoLivebetter I understand the food obsession.

I love food and recipes and eating out. All the delicious things. (for me it's not junk food or sugar). But always I have been endlessly planning meals and shopping, looking at recipies and fantasising about the perfect dinner party, or what I'd cook on Masterchef... On a low does of MJ I can still love and appreciate those things and indulge my habit, but it is calmed and manageable.

Thank you all. Oushk are definitely saying £15 a month for flexi (sorry, got amount wrong), for Conti they expect you to continue ordering every month. I will try Pharmulous. My current BMI is 24 so if I do it ASAP hopefully they will accept me.

Im with you @20bloodypounds . Always planning food, love eating. Healthy diet and plenty of exercise, just without MJ I eat too much of it and never stop thinking about it.

What did you have to do at your consultation @MargoLivebetter ? Did they want live weight and height, did you need to remove clothes ect?

@20bloodypounds I'm glad I'm not the only one. I felt like I was constantly thinking about bloody food again. How many calories I'd eaten, how many grams of protein. What could I eat next that would keep my within my calorie limit for the day. Endlessly making myself hot drinks as a substitute for eating. Constantly trying to distract myself with other things - which is ridiculous as I work pretty much full-time and have plenty going on!!!!!

A couple of hours after the injection, peace descended again. Back to eating because I have to and not because I have some crazy making voice in my head chit-chattering away all the time. Gah!!!!!

@AirborneElephant there was an online consultation in the form of a questionnaire. I had to send a full length photo of myself (I was at work and wearing a dress, they didn't seem to mind), prove my ID, evidence my last prescription with Voy. I believe that they will schedule a quick video call to do a weight check, but I am most certainly not taking my clothes off!!!!!

I’m with Swift. They said can take a break:

8 weeks (ie 4 week break) continue on same dose
more than 8 weeks restart at 2.5mg
But don’t need to pay to stay on their books

Pricing also seems fair. I moved at a BMI of around 25. I think you can move on lower (am lower now) they asked for a photo, and evidence of previous ordering.

Hi Everyone, I’ve been at goal for a month now - how time flies! In this time I’ve had a 5 day long weekend with a wedding and a week long holiday for half term so I’ve stuck at 5mg. But got back from holiday to find myself 2lb under goal so I’ve gone down to 3.75mg this week.

So far I’ve maintained by gaining weight during the wedding week and then losing it again but I now have 8 wks of empty diary until Christmas and I’m feeling like I don’t know how to eat more! I know this is ridiculous! But I can’t eat bigger portions of my meals because I’m still getting full early. I could definitely eat a bigger evening snack but I don’t think this is a great habit to fall into so where do I add in the extra cals? Today on top of my meals I’ve had an apple with 15g of peanut butter but that really just replaced my exercise calories (it was delicious too!) I don’t eat low fat / diet food really so no option to make these swaps. I am absolutely terrified of losing control and regaining weight. I suppose I could eat a couple of handfuls of nuts each day but I want to eat things I love… this is hard…

How have you longer term maintainers titrated your intake up? I don’t count calories but have kept a food diary for the last six months so I can easily see if I’m eating more. I want to have maintenance cracked before I attempt coming off MJ as I’m so scared of my emotional eating coming back.

Oushk is 15 a month. Swift and pharmulous support maintenance with ad hoc orders upto 12 months

@Incognitoburrito88 surely if you can’t eat enough to maintain your weight you need to drop the dose more. You can always go up a mg or two in December to help you not gain over the festive season.

I could definitely eat enough if I ate chocolate in the evenings or gave in every time I fancied a biscuit… I do still feel hungry sometimes. It’s more wanting to increase my calories with food that is actually nourishing me. But maybe I do just need to drop my dose to allow me to eat bigger meals. I’m very scared that along with the ability to eat bigger meals the lower dose will also allow my urge to comfort eat and binge back too. I’m only on my first week of 3.75mg so I’ll see how things progress but perhaps I do need to titrate down more quickly than I had planned.

@Incognitoburrito88 I think you have to slowly work out what is best for you (apologies for stating the obvious).

We are all sort of giving it our best shot, without really knowing exactly what is going to work. If you are losing weight, then you are not eating enough to maintain, so you need to up your intake a bit, but probably not by loads. I calorie count so I know at exactly what point I will tip over into gaining. For me it is a really small difference in intake that tips the balance.

If you don't calorie count, then just try adding a bit more at one of your meals every day and see how you go. You'll very soon find out.

So good to hear about everyone’s journeys - and such a range of approaches and experiences. I have a really dumb question. I’m nearly at goal. Should I basically be aiming to maintain my current level of calories and maintain my weight on these calories as I will eventually be without the help of MJ….. or do I need to increase my calories as well as come off MJ? What are people finding? I’ve had v little out and out suppression - just the edge off particularly my night time snacking

@Fluffypiece it will depend on the rate you are losing currently. I’d be doing some experiments of adding in 100 calories and seeing how that goes for a week, then you can tweak as you go.

im very short and very inactive and losing very slowly but my bmi is down around 21. So my plan is a very, very long taper and probably not increasing my calories unless my bmi falls below 20.

@Fluffypiece congratulations on getting to your goal (or very nearly). I've been able to increase my calories by about 200-300 per day to maintain. I'm post menopause though, so think I don't need much these days. You'll soon find out where your limit lies. Good luck and keep us posted on how you get on.

@Fluffypiece I am now 3.5 weeks post last MJ jab and my appetite has returned. No lovely softening of those signals - but I'm managing.

I think that's because before coming off I took 3 months to taper down from 7.5mg and work out how many calories I could eat without gaining.

I'm 5ft 1, exercise 5-6 times per week, and am maintaining on an average of 1550 cals per day. That means I have less during the week, and more during the weekend. I had to eat average of 900 cals per day to lose the weight. But I wasn't exercising as much as I didn't have as much energy!!!

Hope that's helpful.

As you will probably have read, we are all doing this in slightly different ways.
You could start to spread your injections out? So you will be able to eat more on the days the MJ is lighter/worn off, but then reigned in after you jab again.

I increased the gaps between injections slowly and am now injecting every 12 days and finding that a good way to maintain. I have had holidays, weddings, engagement parties, stayed with friends etc over the past 7 weeks and my weight has been really stable. I don't count calories but eat a healthy diet with moderate portion sizes. (and a few glasses of wine at the weekends).

Thank you @FurForksSake @MargoLivebetter @Thelittlestranger - really appreciated . I guess that balance between how much weight loss is down to appetite suppression and how much to changing the way food is metabolised will vary a lot. I did panic for a bit that I would have to decrease calories after MJ to maintain!

good to hear that you are all
finding your way through it. I have such a gut wrenching response to the idea of struggling with being overweight ever again ….. I can’t ever give it that level of headspace again! X

I know exactly how you feel. I’m absolutely terrified of regaining. I’m so nervous about coming off and basically being hungry for the rest of my life but I find the thought of gaining weight again even more terrifying.

@MagnoliaTreePetals and @MargoLivebetter thanks for your advice. Although I don’t calorie count it’s easy enough to increase my calories by 100 or 200 because I do have a really good idea of what calories are in foods. I’m also making an effort to eat back my exercise calories which I haven’t been doing up until now with a protein heavy snack or maybe even a protein and fruit shake post workout. I feel a bit silly that it hadn’t occurred to me that I could increase my interval as well as decreasing the amount I jab. I’m currently jabbing on a Saturday but even stretching to Sunday eve this week will probably mean I eat a bit more as I naturally eat more at weekends. I need to just chill out a bit I think!

9 weeks off the jabs. I have been calorie counting. I still want to lose 5 lbs but came off the jabs early for a holiday.
I weigh the same. I have been up and down a bit but still the same.
which is my whole point in taking MJ in the first place, I try hard but don’t lose weight! Today I’m feeling positive, I’m maintaining at a smallish size 12

Well done @Sadteacher on maintaining for 9 weeks off WLI. No mean feat at all. Is that the longest you have ever kept weight off post-diet?

I’m tapering down slowly. I’ve stretched my jabs out to 10 days apart now and am coming down to 7.5 starting today.
Think I’ll start to stretch that out to every 14 days.

Just got back from a holiday and I’ve put on just 2lb, which I’m pleased with. I wasn’t drinking as much water while away, loads more alcohol and more special meals.
Back to normal now to get that 2lb off again!