On it for life then.........😐

[Ihavesomeballs]

I've lost 11kg on Mounjaro. I wasn't obese to start with but I'm tiny, 5ft 1 inch. I'm now just in the healthy weight BMI. I stopped my 5mg dose for 3 weeks as I had to wait till payday to order my next pen. In that time I wasn't eating any more than usual but I put on 2kg. So I guess I'm on it for life......which sucks as it's bloody expensive. Anyone else??

People who struggle with their weight so much that they are willing to pay considerable amounts have tried to lose weight many, many times before.

'Just eat less!' is not a revolutionary concept we were not introduced to previously. It's not that easy for everybody and clearly many people are not able to do it the better way. Maybe the reason is hormonal imbalances and some bodies working differently, or maybe some people are just lazy and have no willpower, like we hear day in and day out.

But even if the latter opinion is correct, and people are not able to lose weight the right way because they do not have the willpower, telling those people that without drugs is a superior option will not magically summon that willpower, will it?

True. I am sure those who are obese are well aware of the eat less, move more. But a lot of them seem unable to admit they have a poor relationship with food and unless that is tackled from a psychological point of view the weight will come back as they aren’t treating the real issue behind the excessive weight gain in the first place. Also exercising though hard makes you feel good in a lot of different ways. There is new research which shows just walking 3000 steps a day can delay alzhemeirs by 3 years and walking 5000-7000 steps a day can delay it by 7years. So exercise has a lot of benefit and when you do it the hard way, you build good habits and will power which are required to sustain weightloss long term.

Me too, I see all over social media and from my friends and family that relief that they can get to a healthy weight , after years of trying and failing. And the fact you can continue to use it to maintain, is a huge step forward in the fight against obesity, there is no point getting people to a healthy weight, then repeating the process again in the future, that’s very damaging to health, both mental and physical.

let me remind some posters obesity is the number one killer in the developed world. It is the leading cause of cancer. It causes heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, fatty liver disease, so many other issues like joint degeneration. Curing obesity is the biggest advance in medical science in decades. So all this petty arguing about people lying or some mysterious consultant doing top secret research is bonkers.

these drugs were first discovered in the 1950s. The initial trials were 15 years long with thousands of participants, and have been pretty much in trials every since, for many other reasons, ie curing cardio vascular disease, they have also been used for over 2 decades for other reasons than weight loss. They know the impact on the body. They have over 4 decades of data.

for the person who said you gain faster when you stop than other diets, that’d not true , regain after any diet is something like 80 percent. Slimming world for example has a 97 percent regain rate. But what these drugs show is it is not about willpower, greed etc but biology. By giving us a synthetic peptide we produce naturally our bodies operate as they should.

as for people lying to get it, pictures show if someone is obese and the pictures are linked to ID.. You can see the fat on the person. Obesity is not my 600 lb life type image, and many people can’t recognise it any more as so many people are now obese. So now sure some can lie, but they won’t be skinny or underweight, and the authorities know this and the v limited risk to health v the overwhelming benefit to the population of making these drugs available,

people taking issue often come across as more pissed off they are getting the drugs.

I know of people who have had a gastric sleeve and piled weight back on, how I don't know as I thought it reduces how much u can eat

You don't have to prove a negative. Someone's 'doctor friend' claims there is a negative impact on the gut microbiome based on nothing apparently. It's not down to anyone to evidence that it doesn't, that's not how science and medicine works.

People seem much keener on psychological explanations for obesity than ones about evevolution. The former is a factor sometimes, and we should treat it, but it also ignores the elephant in the room.

Humans have evolved for a world where eating a lot of calorific food when it's available was a good survival strategy. For our ancestors, the extra pounds packed on from not practicing portion control after a successful hunt or harvest really might be the thing that kept them alive during a bad winter, when their neighbour who stopped eating once they were full didn't have that cushion. Tbe behaviours that cause obesity, until very recently were a benefit. As was the human trait of being able to regain weight quickly once eating a calorie surplus again.

There's no reason at all to suppose that we collectively can behavioural change or MH support our way out of our biology. Psychological support will be appropriate for some obese people, but it won't change the reality that we evolved for a totally different environment.

Much more quickly? Really? Where's the citation for that?

Oh my god! Hold the presses! @TheVoiceOfReason91 had the answer! Fellow fatties, I'm sure you never thought of trying this before! You've been spending hundreds of pounds on medication for no good reason!
//sarcasm

That's amazing, well done.
Also look how much money you're now saving the NHS for the medication, appointments, treatments you no longer need. Your story is exactly why the NHS should roll it out to more people.

I know 4 people who put weight back on after bariatric surgery. They would eat small amounts of very dense calorific foods. Over consumption of alcohol was another one.

I know, it's laughable isn't it. As if we don't know this! That worked to a point when I was younger, I could get the weight off but couldn't keep it off. Consequently I've yo yo dieted all my adult life. Now in my 60s I can't even shift the weight at all. These drugs are an absolute life changer for me and I've got no qualms in saying I'll be on them for life now. And I don't care who knows it. I've lost 1 stone of 3 that I need to lose.

they aren’t treating the real issue behind the excessive weight gain in the first place

But what if the real issue is that our bodies do not work the same way and are deficient of the hunger and insuline regulating hormones? So adding synthetic replacement is treating the real issue. My thyroid is also not producing what it should, but nobody has problems with me taking thyroxine and not using my willpower to deal with it.

Still trotted out by some GPs unfortunately.

The facile assumptions made by so many people about weight loss remind me of the common pronouncements from my youth that acne can be cured by washing your face “properly”.
Some people with mild spots find that an anti blemish face wash does it for them and cannot grasp that others need roaccutane.

It’s just more of the ignorant /goady comments, the real issue is we all are lazy, gluttonous, lack knowledge on nutrition, lack will power, mentally disturbed etc for these posters, th3 fact it is becoming more and more evident, especially with the advent of these drugs, that obesity is actually a biological issue, likely metabolic dysfunction, for most people is not something they wish to hear.

Can you provide your source please?

@Hippobot the heart claim seems odd as recent studies have shown some protection against cardiac issues. Part of my heart is dead, due to 4 heart attacks (not cholesterol ones- a rare type where the artery wall tears and blocks). My cardiologist says the jabs are safe for me and cardiology patients.

That’s not me being funny, or sarcastic. My consultant is the top and one of only two specialists in my condition in the country.

It think it’s also worth considering the risks of being overweight and obese. These are pretty stark too, but often get set aside as they aren’t side effects of medication.

And to the eat less, move more brigade. I’m on two medications that cause weight gain, and was previously on steroids that caused two stone weight gain in a matter of weeks. I’ve done calorie deficit, I understand protein, I was at one point training for a marathon (before my 3rd heart attack). And I lost no weight. As if I’d spend all this money (and the shame poured on by everyone for cheating) if I could do this without).

@Iwanttoliveinagardencentre that poster has already provided a link to the information that she was referencing, a meta-study reported in this article:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/may/14/people-who-stop-weight-loss-drugs-return-to-original-weight-within-year-analysis-finds

It projects, based on initial regain, that people on Wegovy or Tirzepatide will regain all of the weight lost within 2 years of stopping. That's based on losing an average of 16kg and regaining at a rate of 0.8kg a month. They didn't actually check how quickly people regained the weight lost, it is a projection based on the data that they had available. It was compared to a claim that people who have lost weight on dieting alone regain all the weight they lost within 5 years of stopping the diet. I mean, either way, what the science is telling us is that everyone always regains all the weight regardless of method used to lose it, it's just a matter of how long it takes.

I have lost about 65kg to date, over 16 months. It just doesn't seem possible to me that I would regain all 65kg within 2 years of stopping Mounjaro, if I stop taking it. Plus, I wouldn't ever let it get to that level again, as soon as my BMI hit 27 I would restart medication if necessary. Or earlier if I was able to restart maintenance via a cooperative pharmacy.

Also worth clicking on the link to the rather larger study linked to in the Guardian article, which has a population group of over 20 times the one the poster cited, followed over a lengthier period, and came to a different conclusion.

It's all one to me as, with due credit to the scientific expertise upthread, I'll be staying on them. But never hurts to be aware of the literature.

This level of ignorance around the causes and long term treatment of obesity is why people are so secretive about using a miraculous drug for treatment of a serious life threatening disease.

The vast majority of people suffering from obesity is due to one overwhelming factor. Insulin resistance. The fastest way to develop insulin resistance is constant dieting. This was me over a 15 year period. I could lose and gain the same 3-5stone multiple times.

However the ‘eat less, move more’ mantra for weight loss has been shown in numerous studies to be completely unsustainable. One of the largest was published in 2015. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/62702/1/__lse.ac.uk_storage_LIBRARY_Secondary_libfile_shared_repository_Content_Fildes%2C%20A_Probability%20of%20an%20obese%20person_Fildes_A.pdf

It looked at 76,704 obese men and 99.791 obese women over a 9 year period. It showed that only 1:677 women with morbid obesity, and 1:1290 men successfully used this method to reduce to a healthy weight.. but more importantly 78 % of those successful ones put it all back on and more within 5 years.

Mountjaro controls insulin and blood sugar response. If people use it, they will lose weight because their blood sugar response will not make them hungry. Without it, it won’t. You will put weight back on.
It is no different from taking medication for blood pressure. Take bp meds, blood pressure controlled . Don’t take it and high bp resumes.

Im sorry to say that all the nonsense written about ‘re-educating yourself about healthy eating’ is just that. Many of us who were previously obese are pretty clued up on healthy choices. We know that a bowl of pulses with fish are a better choice than a sausage roll. The problem with insulin resistance is the uncontrolled blood sugar spikes that make the desire for the pulses, fish AND sausage roll overwhelming.

MJ simply means I eat a small portion of the good stuff and have no desire for the bad stuff.

I have maintained on 5mg for 11 months. Without it, I wouldn’t. Simple as that.

However the ‘eat less, move more’ mantra for weight loss has been shown in numerous studies to be completely unsustainable

Exactly. All the 'do it the hard way, do it the right way, just eat less, you will only put it all back on when using jabs' - the right way does not work any better. Studies show that you will put the weight back on. But I rarely see people on weight watchers, keto, slimming world or calorie counting threads, warning all posters that they should stop, it's pointless, 90% of people will regain all the weight and more anyway. How come?

Mmm, it's strange that. I wonder what it could be that makes WLIs different?

That's the biggest plus for me, it's totally stopped all the cravings. I naturally gravitate towards healthier food now. If I'm hungry I'll now have a piece of fruit instead of biscuits. That's never happened before when I've tried to lose weight. It was an ongoing constant battle against the sweet stuff.

You could just eat less.

Insulin resistance is caused by being overweight. Food is th source of all the issues.

Yes we could. Which medication allows us to do. Well done! 👏🏼