Mounjaro & co: what is your plan for when you have to stop with the injections?

[Takemebacktospain]

Please explain to me the point of weight loss injections as if I am a 6 year old. I get that in many cases it helps people being obese or very overweight achieve a healthier body/weight and therefore a better health. That’s great. What I don’t get is, what is the plan long term? Surely you cannot be pn medication for the rest of your life? Or is that the plan? I genuinely am very ignorant about all this so would like to understand how it all works. It seems to me that a lot of people are abusing of it and juat choose this as an easy fix instead of working towards better life habits in the long term.

yes some of us can stay on a maintenance dose

For those that its not recommended for once you hit your target weight, the dose is reduced over a few months until you get used to the lower dose and then you come off while you manage your food intake

You don’t have to stop, so I won’t be. I’ve been suffering for 23 years, that’s quite enough.

Anyway, thread will go like all the others, so here’s the bingo card in advance.

I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Let the people on MJ (me) worry about that in conjunction with their own medical professionals (just like people manage other long term medication).

The point is to use the time taking the drug to build new good habits. Some people tritrate down to a lower dose, perhaps have longer gaps between doses. Others stop taking it. I plan to take it ad hoc long term. I have had enough of food noise and the constant willpower. I don’t mind paying to eliminate.

The same as when any diet stops, focus on the positive eating habits and exercise routines that have formed and work to keep the weight off.

Losing weight with WLI is not magic, you still diet but it helps sort out physiological and psychological factors that make that harder. All diets come to an end, this one is no different.

there will be people who do the work to keep the weight off, people who find those physical and psychological factors still need to be controlled with medication and those who go back to their old habits.

it’s still dieting, it’s just dieting with help.

☝🏽This.

Most people who lose weight put it back on again regardless of how they do it.

The faux concern people like @Takemebacktospain have just for those losing on MJ is utterly tiresome.

I don’t understand why people care.

You have to have 'better habits' to lose the weight even having the injections. It just enables you to stick to a diet.

In my case, in order to lose weight I needed to be on 1000 calories a day. I found that very difficult long term. The injection made it possible, albeit still quite hard to achieve. Over 1400 calories a day I put on weight so it wasn't really 'bad habits' that made me put on weight. I also exercised 5 times a week whilst steadily gaining weight.

OP how overweight are you? There’s loads of resources that will help you understand. Great evidence based research articles. Read proper medical journals not opinion pieces. I think you’ll be reassured when you understand all the evidence that’s out there and I hope you do well on your journey.

I agree it is tiresome

Its the best thing I have done for myself. Its come as quite a shock to learn that people were more comfortable with me being fat

I reached where I wanted to be and came off it slowly, going down the doses (I didn’t go to the top dose, only the first 3). Some people choose to stay on a dose that helps them manage their weight without losing further. I came off completely four months ago. Weight management for me is an awful lot easier now I’m in much better habits, can move easier, like the way I look and if I put weight on, only have to deal with losing 2-3 pounds, not five stone.

1400 kcal a day isn’t a sutainable amount let alone less than that. So my point is that regardless of that will you not just end up regaining eventually?

Surely you cannot be on medication for the rest of your life?

Why not? People stay on statins, blood pressure meds, metformin, antidepressants, blood thinners, etc etc for "the rest of their life".

How is that different to any other diet? Have you never been on a diet?

Your faux concern is nauseating.

I’ve been on MJ for a year so far and am still not down to where I would ideally like to be, so am carrying on for the moment. I have shelved the decision about what to do next until I’ve got to a healthy BMI. If I do come off, it will be extremely slowly. At worst, I will have hugely reduced the impact of obesity on my body for a long period of time. At best, I’ll stay a healthy BMI. I’ll take that.

It seems to me that a lot of people are abusing of it

Does it really? Based on what?

For most women (unless they are very tall or doing masses of exercise) 1,400 (or less) is what is needed to lose weight whether that’s WLI, calorie counting, keto, etc.

Yes can increase when get to goal. It’s clearly not sustainable at goal as you’d keep on loosing more. Some women, esp if they have a lot to lose eat 1,400 calories for months or years on end. Clearly when eating a lower amount of calories more care needs to be taken to ensure it’s nutritious. It’s possible to be malnourished at 3,000 calories as well.

"It seems to me that a lot of people are abusing of it and just choose this as an easy fix instead of working towards better life habits in the long term."

It seems to me that this isn't based on any knowledge or insight at all. Just an opinion formed in a vacuum. I'm curious as to why this is the impression that you have decided is the case @Takemebacktospain ? If you have ever read any of the long running support threads in the Weight Loss Injections/Treatments board, you will see hundreds of people supporting each other as they work towards better habits in the long term, for example.

Can you say why you view obesity medication as an "easy fix" and even if it is easy, why is that a problem? Surely it's better that it is easier to stop being obese, why on earth would anyone want to make it harder to do?

Can you also explain what you consider to be an abuse of WLI, and how you know that a lot of people are abusing WLI?

I gain weight if I eat more than about 1350 calories a day.

MJ enables me to maintain a healthy weight after having lost 4.5 stone this year.

I have no plans to come off it as I found it impossible to stick to such a low calorie intake without the medication.

Why do you need to know?

Love the bingo card @HansHolbein
Ok @Takemebacktospain I'm going to be generous and assume that you are genuinely asking the question, and ignore the prejudices, assumptions and ill informed opinions in both your original and follow up posts.

1. For weight loss medication to work you have to follow a healthy diet.
2. People obtain the medication from regulated pharmacies and/or doctors. One has to prove ones weight/BMI/Health status at the time.
3. Most people have many stones to lose, during which time they are following a healthy diet. WLI's are not a magic wand, the fat does not vanish into the ether just because one is taking a medication. Over this time healthy life styles become habits.
4. Look up set point theory. Although a theory most health care professionals subscribe to it. A formal maintenance plan, reducing the dose of the medication/and or spacing out frequency allows the body to adapt and accept the new lower weight and the constant call to put weight back on again is quietened. Some people may stop taking it completely, others may stay on a maintenance dose.
5. Yes, some people who have little to lose may lie and still get the medication. Well, good luck to them, so what? It's their money, their life. Who is to say that someone who is 5 stone overweight is more unhappy/unhealthy than someone who only wants to lose a stone.
6. Being Obese/Morbidly obese is a serious medical issue and can be horrendous, even life threatening. People are using medication to turn that around. These are wonderful marvellous people who need support and encouragement. Not judgment.

Have you not heard of people taking medication for the rest of their lives before now OP? Or is there something specific to WLIs that you think would preclude it?

I haven’t read other posts, and I’m quite new to MJ (one month in), but here’s my plan:
I want to stay on as low a dose as possible so I have to develop the habits in order to lose weight. I don’t want huge suppression like some do (no criticism at all, each to their own), I want to learn to recognise when to stop.
As I lose weight I’ll be increasing exercise. I may even consider running. I watched a video recently about someone who found that running 30k a week restored her own GLP function to normal and stopped the constant food noise that she had when not on MJ.
So that’s my main plan, and if things happen that way that’s great.

However I’m not naïve, I can feel that MJ is allowing me to have more control than I’ve ever had before. It’s also, weirdly, allowing me to focus better in other areas of life, and actually count calories without losing my mind as would happen before.
Bearing that in mind I have a back up plan of staying on a small maintenance dose. I am autistic and have interoception issues - I don’t have any signals that I’m full, and that coupled with comfort eating and shit loads of constant stress resulted in serious obesity. I couldn’t count calories or macros - it would lead to severe distress followed by shame because I couldn’t track it.

Obesity will one day be recognised as a chronic condition with various factors (eg pcos, psychological disorders, autism,). It’s already known that once over a certain size the way the body works and the way hormones work are affected, maybe permanently, and many people will not be able to lose weight and maintain it long term, so I don’t think there should be any shame in potentially staying on it for life.

FFS

🍿