What happens when people stop the injections?

[IndigoBluey]

Just this really, when you reach your desired weight following the course of weight loss injections, do you stop taking the injections whilst sticking to a much healthier way of eating? I’m genuinely curious as to how it works in the long term. A friend of mine had stomach surgery a few years ago to shrink her stomach and very rapidly went from 18 to 9 stone, but then put a lot of weight back on gradually, to then start on WL injections. I suppose my question is when you know you are finished with needed the injections?

Are people really sitting thinking well 80 percent of diets fail, so best I stay fat for ever? Or is it limited to dieting on weight loss injections. I find it utterly baffling. Thay anyone eligible for the drugs is so focused on can they remain slim when they get there, and if not best not start, best stay obese, rather than getting there then attempting to maintain?

Surely everyone who is obese is obese as every other method failed. And obesity is the biggest killer in our society, it’s the leading, no 1 cause of cancer. Before we discuss all the other health related issues.

That’s what I find weird. Oh well, I’ll gain it back so I won’t bother losing it, said no one ever.

I went down to 11st, seem to have levelled off and fairly stable at 11st 2lbs which is just about normal BMI for me. Ideally I'd like to get down to 10st 7lbs to have a bit more wriggle room, but with the cost and worrying about potential serious side effects of being on it long term when a normal weight and not diabetic I started to titrate down. I am a size 10 in clothes now and feel slim enough, and for once, I am happy about how I look in photos.

But also thought it was not a good idea to go cold turkey in December (pun intended!). At the moment I'm just maintaining and have done so for a couple of months now. Took my last 10mg dose at the weekend, the next one will be 7.5mg. Last lot was from Oushk. Then the plan is to fill in their maintenance form and carry on, on 5mg into the New Year and have a push to lose half a stone or so. If it doesn't shift I might increase the dose again for a short time, but I feel like I can manage it, eating 1200-1500 calories and high protein and fibre.

I think for me, long-term outcomes are crucial as Im comparing surgery against injections. Surgery requires a significant upfront expense but offers a more permanent solution with no ongoing costs, provided I maintain a healthy diet and exercise. In contrast, injections entail continuous expenses that, over time, would become much more costly than surgery.

I think it may be the fear they mess with your metabolism when you stop them?

@MrsB2025 "provided I maintain a healthy diet and exercise." is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. If you maintain a healthy diet and exercise after any weight loss programme, you will likely be able to maintain your weight. That's not specific to weight loss surgery.

Have you investigated the rate of regain after surgery? It isn't a permanent solution for many people, some research indicates more than two thirds of people regain significant weight.

Dieting is what can affect your metabolism, regardless of method. Exercise, including some kind of weight/resistance/strength work can help with that, as can managing how you move from active weight loss into maintenance.

i havebt read the whole thread but I can tell you my experience.

started at 12 stone. Got to 10 1/2 stone. Stopped the jabs.

pretty much put on 1/2 stone in the first 2 weeks. Food noise and proper hunger back with a vengeance.

it’s very disheartening and I’m trying to make good choices etc.

at the end of my jab taking I had cut right down to 5ml every 2 weeks and it was doing the job but I simply can’t afford to maintain at that level.

im obviously going to make a concerted effort to not put it all back on but I’m not even over eating. Just back to “normal”.

But normal is what made you over weight in the first place, or helped you maintain at an overweight position, normal is over eating, if you’re gaining weight,

I'd say recalibrate what the normal baseline calories are for you at your lighter weight. For me it's about 1700 average to maintain, that's not to say I have the same every day, some days I may have 2000, others 1500.

I'm also entering everything in Nutracheck at least during the week to make sure I'm not eating more than I think I am, and also having enough protein and fibre. In the NY I am going to try to lose some more weight, but I accept I'll also need to do maintenance quite carefully for some time also. I've been doing Nutracheck for years so I find it quite intuitive and not too bothersome to log my food on.

I don’t understand when people say they can’t carry on because of the cost.. if they’ve managed with the outlay for months, how has that been possible & why not continue that investment if it’s working - assuming you level down to micro dose?

I guess that’s why I joined this thread, to learn from others’ experiences after stopping. Because if you try to maintain a healthy diet and exercise once you’ve stopped, but the food cravings return anyway, it must feel like a much harder battle.

From my research so far, the surgical option I would consider would include (but not solely) liposuction. From what I’ve read liposuction permanently removes fat cells in targeted areas. While you can still gain weight in other parts of the body, the fat cells removed by liposuction do not come back in those specific areas.

But I’m not an expert, just in the early stages of gathering information, and I realise surgery is a more extreme option and comes with its own risks.

A big consideration for me would be the ongoing cost of injections vs. upfront cost of surgery.

Also maybe weigh yourself more frequently. I weigh myself maybe five days out of seven, first thing in the morning and hence I'm not so troubled by a weekly check in suddenly showing a 3lbs gain, as chances are I'll be 3lb lighter again tomorrow and the long term trajectory is the key.

Tbh I don’t know if anyone’s ever done weight watchers (it’s kind of unfashionable now) or anything like that, but has anyone actually seen how much you’re ‘supposed’ to eat to maintain? It’s a tiny, mouse sized amount of food!

I can maintain with exercise. The problem is I hate exercise so I generally don’t exercise. Will have to address this in the future. But right now, I’m focusing on losing the weight. And if I do, and gain it back again, oh well. I’ll be That Friend.

Ah, I assumed you meant bariatric surgery, @MrsB2025 rather than a cosmetic surgery like liposuction. I did think that liposuction was not an appropriate medical option for people who are obese, as it doesn't address any of the causes of obesity. You would likely regain the weight in other areas, as you say.

Have you worked out what your maintenance calories are at your new weight and got an idea of what that looks like day to day? I’ve maintained for 12 months so far but I am eating far less to maintain my 9 stone weight than I was to maintain my 13 stone weight!

I don't think I have mouse sized amounts of food but what being in Mounjaro showed me was that sometimes I was overeating with portion sizes, even when I thought I was eating for weight loss. But hey, if I do overeat, it's not so bad and I can eat less later. It doesn't mean the diet is out of the window for the next week.

Also that to lose weight reliably and steadily I need ostensibly a 1000 calorie deficit, not 500 calorie - mainly because calories are only an estimate, and I do often estimate mine because I eat out.

To maintain I need about 1700 calories average, which is not too bad, as I ate that as an average for ages at 13 stone odd to try to lose weight as apparently I should lose 1lb a week on it! Whereas in reality, 1400 was what I needed to shift the weight steadily.

I don’t have to eat like a mouse to maintain at 9 stone though. I’ve just had a bowl of leftover homemade chicken jalfrezi for lunch, with 2 vegetable samosas.

I’ve not read the full thread but just my experience. I was on the Jab for just over 4 months, 4 pens, I lost over 3 stone and I’ve been off the Jab now for almost 10 months. I’ve gone on to lose almost another stone in the time that I’ve been off the jab.
I eat well and clean. I never used to exercise but I’ve been consistently exercising, mostly weights training 5 days a week for almost 1.5 years now. The only week I didn’t was when on holiday. I love exercise now, it’s routine for me. Eating well and right is my goal, I don’t even feel like I’m dieting because I snack but rather than snacking on tons of chocolate like I used to, I snack on fruits , veg, protein, etc and if I have to eat a chocolate, I eat one rather than a whole packet. I’ve changed my mindset and I’m in a so much happier place.
I pray I don’t see anything that’ll make me not want to exercise cos I enjoy it and it’s given me so much freedom in my maintenance journey cos I know without it, I would be more obsessed with my food, etc than I am which is not a place I want to be. That’s my own experience. My home life and circumstances mean maintenance without the jab is working much more better than I was expecting

How do you think they would mess with your metabolism when you stop?

Microdosing doesn't work for everyone - I can't go below a certain dose or it literally feels like it stop working.

Maybe they decided it was important enough to spend their savings on, but once the money has gone it has gone?

That's brilliant. That's what I hope I would do. But I dont trust myself. Im an emotional eater. I need to loose 3 stone but im scared to try mounjaro, get slim, feel absolutely brilliant, then slowly slip back to my old eating habits. And I have no confidence I wouldn't.

Why not lose the weight first and then address the rest? That’s what I’m doing

I stopped at 59kg almost a year ago. I am now 56kg off my own steam. I eat chocolate too!