Coming off…

[ohdoriswheresthesalad]

I have been on mounjaro since Feb, lost 3st 11lb in total weight is at 9st 3.5lb.
Target was 9st 2lb.
I got to 2nd pen of 10mg and finally got to target.
tapered down, now on 5 mg, due to finish totally mid December.

I am absolutely hating 5mg - the food noise is back, I’m hungry about an hour after finishing my meals. Thinking about food all the time again! Haven’t felt like this for months! I put on 1.5lb this week even on 5mg.
i am terrified I’m going to end up back where I started. I can not justify the new price increase of pens so continuing is not an option.

Any advice to help me cope/continue with this would be appreciated!

I came off in January. Gained two stone. Went back on. I don’t buy from a pharmacy because my BMI isn’t big enough but didn’t particularly fancy waiting till it was. So I source it myself.

You could try wegovy?
Are you eating healthy and tracking food and focusing on higher protein but low carbs? That will help.

I’m not going down the route of buying off licence but thank you anyway.
I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t had the best journey with it and have chased suppression massively which is affecting me now as I can’t stand being hungry now I feel like it’s a bad thing?
I did think about wegovy.

You can buy from online pharmacies as long as you can prove you took it originally to lose the weight. Email swift and ask them, they are good for maintenance even at a lower BMI. Even if you had a gap.

What does “source it yourself” mean?

Can yon describe an average day? Are yon eating enough protein and fibre?

I usually have a protein yogurt drink around 11, lunch around 2 which is usually a bagel with meat and salad in and maybe a chicken stick. Tea is your big standard family meal - cittage pie, salads, jacket potatoes etc.

You are hungry as you aren’t eating enough protein and fibre. Aim for 120g protein a day and 30g of fibre.

I'd personally keep an eye on the simple carbs. You mention cottage pie - potato, and jacket potato - potato. Bagel - bread.
Plenty of people will disagree regarding avoiding potato, but avoiding potato, bread, rice and pasta has served me well, losing all my weight without needing to calorie count. Avoiding those foods is the basis of many diets such as Michael Moseley's 5/2 Mediterranean, and Fast 800. You might find it helps.
(I still have things like cottage pie but instead of potato use either mashed cauliflower, or mashed carrot/swede. There's plenty of low carb recipes on the net that will give alternatives)

I'm going to assume the "protein yoghurt drink" is sweetened in some way. You'd be better off having plain greek yoghurt than that. Or a couple of eggs.

As pp have said you're eating quite a lot of carbs and not enough protein and fibre. I'm not into zero simple carbs myself but I'd definitely try and reduce them. Just have a small amount with your evening meal perhaps (and make sure you have some green leafy veg for fibre) and ditch the lunch bagel.

Go with protein and salad for lunch. I don't really know what a chicken stick is but it sounds a bit frankenfood - just plain cooked chicken breast might be better. Add in some good fat to keep you feeling full, like avocado.

I’m a carer in the community and don’t get lunch break properly so end up eating what is easy in the go. Easy when I was in the throws off MJ as o could forget about eating for hours!

Bagels are very calorie dense, an average bagel is over 200 calories before you add anything to it, two slices of whole meal bread would be a better option.

think about safe, routine meals that you can eat easily.

breakfast - Greek yoghurt, frozen berries and a small sprinkle of granola. Add some protein powder and a little milk if you want to add more protein. Have an apple with it for some added fibre.

mid-morning - carrot sticks and low fat hummus, a packet of low cal popcorn

lunch - whole meal sandwich with lean meat and lots of salad to bulk it out. add a packet of mini rice cakes and a banana.

dinner - low on the carbs, lots of green veg and pulses added to whatever you are having.

2-3 litres of water / squash / whatever.

plan it out, portion it all out, have easy access to low calorie, low density snacks.

That’s more than I’ve eaten in a day for 8 ish months 😭 I’m so used to eating so little now being hungry is alien and scares me!
my family think I’m bordering on disordered eating because of it!

How? How do you source it?

You will need to find things that work as what you’re doing isn’t. So think high volume, low calorie. Bagels and protein drinks aren’t going to make you feel long, but will have plenty of calories. Thinking about fibre and protein from whole foods will sort you out and be less calorie dense. You’ll need to be really mindful about portion sizes, that will help you stay at maintenance / deficit.

Also thinking about hunger, hunger isn’t a sign for have to eat, you have to adjust to sensing it but also learn not to attend to it.

Planning in advance three meals and two small snacks will take away the guess work and stop you giving in to cravings. I really like the Cadbury delight bars as a treat, also proper corn sweet and salty is 70 calories and filling and feels like a treat.

80/20 of being very controlled and calculated will be helpful, but the only way to make this work is to stick to the principles. Log everything, do strength training and get your steps in, work out your maintenance calories, focus on protein and fibre, drink plenty of fluids, stay structured.