Oh come all ye injectors, slimmer and maintaining, oh come ye, oh come ye to Thread Number Three! For all those who've hit goal, maintaining in whatever way they can / want to / aim to etc

[MargoLivebetter]

Welcome fellow maintainers to our third thread! Tis the season to be joyful and we do have reasons to be joyful, as we are still here. Not always the perfect journey and full of treats and temptations, but we'd have nothing to talk about otherwise. So hop on the Magical Maintenance Sleigh of Wonder and lets go! (Apologies to all those reading this for the first time in March! I got a bit carried away my festive season puns.)

I don't think I'll ever turn off that voice, and I do miss it being quiet when I was on MJ. However, I'm much better at handling it and if I snack, then I snack. I just need to make up for it elsewhere.

@Atalosswhat2do @cupfinalchaos Ive been off MJ since end September. I reduced from 7.5mg over 2.5 months. I tracked cals religiously at the start of my MJ journey, then stopped as I wanted to be more intuitive. I then started tracking again when I was coming off it. I upped my cals by about 50 per week over each week while reducing dose until I stopped losing and went from 1000 cals per day average to now eating average or 1700/50 cals per day. I'm short, and exercise a lot to 'allow' me that amount.

I tracked again after Xmas to make sure I was still eating similar and lose the 2lbs I gained, and have now stopped again. I find tracking makes me obsess more, and think about food more. So would rather use it as a tool when needed, but not all the time.

Good luck with your maintenance - we have all found different ways of coping.

One thing I would say is have a weight window, 3-7lbs in either direction which is your red line for making changes. It’s far easier to get back into a deficit for a month and losing the weight than letting it get out of hand. Also don’t be scared of the scales, data helps with accountability

@KrankyKumquat yes, I'm taking a quarter of the 2.5 dose every 5 days. I use a syringe, so a full dose is 0.6ml, half is 0.3ml and I'm injecting 0.15ml. I'm trying to find the lowest dose I can manage with.

@Thelittlestranger that all sounds really positive. What sort of exercise are you doing?

I think most are happy to do one month on and off if on 2.5 as that’s the dose you would have to restart again on
Harder /trickier when on say 5 an taking from a 10

they don’t see to like that as micro dosng so I just say I’m on 10 and stockpile so they query it but approve it

My diet doesn’t vary that much, so whilst I don’t write everything down, I know how much I’ve eaten, thereabouts because I did count for so long. Sometimes have a bad day and think I’ll put it all on the app to see and I’m surprised that it’s not as much as I was feeling guilty for!

@MargoLivebetter I was doing a lot of running, combined with two strength sessions. I hurt my back, so I now do yoga and or Pilates 4 times per week, run/spin 2/3 times per week and weights 2/3 times per week. And average 12-14k steps per day.

I've found the cardio means I can consume more calories, the weights tone my body and the yoga and pilates look after it so I don't break it 😂

@FurForksSake hard agree. I have a weight window that I stick to. It's 3lb wide. I'm at the bottom on Wednesdays and then top on Mondays.

Hi everyone
Checking in, I’ve titrated down to 5mg and so far so good. I’ve had a few challenging weeks and gave myself permission to eat and drink what I wanted at the weekend ( emotional eater and that hasn’t changed). Back on track on Monday and back to pre weekend weight which is fab! I’ve realised I’ve been within 3 pounds of this weight since September. I’d love to drop 3 more but I’m very happy here! Reformer Pilates 3 times a week is really helping and I’m doing weights at home 3 times too ( only 20 mins!). Off to Helsinki this weekend and I’m not worrying about what I eat and drink, will be doing lots of walking and cold water swimming ( dipping!) hopefully. I think that tracking calories most of the time and being aware of what I’m eating but giving myself permission to have what I want occasionally is working for me. The joy of MJ is that I’m able to get back on track rather than thinking sod it, I’ve been ‘bad’ I’ll carry on, that’s amazing for me!!

Wow @Thelittlestranger that is an inspirational amount of exercise!

@26inprogress that all sounds really great and like you have found a happy balance. Enjoy Helsinki!

I'm finding the exercise so motivating now im slim. Because I can see my body actually toning up and feel the muscles.
I do 2 x body pump, 1 x body Balance, 1 x spin and 1-2 reformer pilates. I'm new to the pilates and I think/feel that those classes are a game changer for me.
There's some impressive exercise regimes on this thread 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I have never counted calories and so far am maintaining without doing so - it makes me a bit mad and I don’t think it’s sustainable long term for me. I’ve been on 1.25mg since just after Xmas I think.

just coming on to say hi. I had a big wobble over the last two weeks. Gained 5lb over Feb half term holiday and was right at the top of my zone of tolerance. I really didn’t think it was deserved either as I had not indulged that much! Anyway, I got straight back into my usual routine but scales were not really moving. Then all of a sudden 10 days after getting back they just dropped and I’m 7lbs down and at the other end of my zone! I think I was bloated from all the travel and I didn’t drink as much water while we were away as the water down south isn’t very nice!! I was seriously doubting myself and my body for a bit there though. Thinking I’d need to go back up a dose etc. I really think I need to learn to calm down and trust myself a bit more.

I’m really not sure 1.25 mg is doing anything for me now..: but maybe it is. I definitely get hungry for snack in the evening but the urge to emotional eat is not there so maybe it is still working. I think I’ll stay on 1.25 until after the Easter hols and then think about decreasing my dose even further.

@MargoLivebetter hope you are feeling better soon.

Glad it has all come good @Incognitoburrito88 . Where down south were you? I think Thames Water is a bit bleugh and I'm relieved that my supplier is now Southern Water. I'm just wondering which supplier the water you didn't like was from!

@Incognitoburrito88 great news!

Little update - had my periods so ate a bit more tha usual, had a tough week at work with little willingness to meal plan and i ended up eating ready made sandwiches and a little bit of junk (crips/choc) but not too much, also very little exercises (my apple watch “rings” are inconplete. I weighted this morning and i am thesame weight as before my period so it is a win!!
i am feeling better, and planning to go to the gym today and tomorrow. (Jabbing 1.25mg every 7 days now)

i hope everyone is doing well.

@Placestogo that's a win! Well done!

I am eating good healthy meals but also can't seem to stop stuffing junk in my gob in between times. 🫣 It's all food noise but I can't stop. Driving me a bit crazy TBH and I feel like such a weak-willed fool.

@OneThirdLessthanks!
are you eating enough protein? I find if im feeling full, my food noise lessen. Also exercise is a good way to stop cravings. You are not weak willed, it is bloody hard to defie our bodies!

@PlacestogoYes - I eat loads of protein, I'm at least in a good habit with that. Plus lots of fibre (am veggie so I find it fairly easy to get 25-30g a day).

Breakfast this morning was one of the 30g protein kefir yoghurts (Biotiful brand) with berries, nuts & seeds mixed through, delicious, really filling, and yet I was still hunting for something sweet to nibble afterwards even though I knew I was full. Why, brain, why?! 🙄

We were in Norfolk. I live in Scotland so used to our soft water. I can’t stand the water in London - it tastes so bad and I hate the way soap doesn’t lather - I feel like I can’t get my hair clean there!!! Norfolk wasn’t as bad as that but still not nice!

Same

Hi all,

I’m not on maintenance yet (5.5st gone and at least another stone to go), but I’ve been reading this thread to help prepare for the future, and it’s very useful! Hope you don’t mind me joining you with my question.

I’ve changed my eating habits massively, both portion sizes and what I eat, and I’ve also increased my exercise, which together should hopefully make maintenance a bit easier.

However, like @OneThirdLess my issue pre-Mounjaro was this… feeling full but still craving something sweet afterwards. I could be completely full but still feel like I needed something sweet to finish my meal. I thought this was linked to carbs but I see now that you get the same feeling after protein heavy breakfast.

I think this will be my challenge in the future and I need to train my brain out of that habit. Does anyone else experience this? And if so, have you found anything that helps (apart from Mounjaro 😄)

@SnowWhiteisMyFavourite eating something sweet straight after a meal is better than eating it on an empty stomach so I always save my sweet stuff for after dinner. It doesn’t spike insulin levels as much.

I now think I did catch a bug as I’ve had a dodgy tummy all week and I’ve been really exhausted.

Plus point is I’ve lost weight and I’m now back down to 59kg which is where I want to be. I’ve not been able to exercise as much as I’d like, but hoping to feel more up for it this week.

My plan is to try and stick at this weight for the next 3 months then start coming down clicks on my 5 pen, I’d like to get back down to 2.5 or lower especially as we will loose the 5th dose, if I’m going to continue taking it long term I want to reduce the cost.

I have found Oushk is getting a bit more cautious about dates between orders and I have to remind myself to order ever 4/5 weeks, (I’ve got 3 pens in my fridge) it seems some of their prescribers are getting tighter. I think I’m going to set a reorder reminder in my diary as they questioned my last order.

I’ve just reordered with oushk, I’m trying to order every six weeks, but I’ll do every five if I need to. I’m very much stockpiling still as I bought quite a bit when the price rises were announced. I’m hoping I can nitrate down to 2.5 so that I can be more flexible!

@SnowWhiteisMyFavourite welcome to the thread, we're all still trying to figure out maintenance (ok, some of us are more sorted than others). 😆 I'm going to try getting some boiled sweets and seeing if one or two of them will help with the cravings - not ideal, but better than a whole chocolate bar or cake.

@Nomorechocs agree re: sweets after meals being better for the blood sugar. (My problem is I don't seem to have the restraint to wait until after dinner, because the food noise is there a lot of the time. But it's good advice if you can keep to it.)

It definitely feels like, over the months, some aspects of mounjaro have stayed (satiety, blood sugar balance) and other aspects my body has overcome (food noise, willpower support). There's still so much we don't understand about GLP-1 meds. I wonder if it would be worth switching to Retatrutide when that comes out (probably next year) to see if that makes a difference. Although whether it would even be an option for maintenance I don't know.

(yes I know some folks are already on it, but I am way too risk-averse to try some 'for research purposes only' compound imported from god knows where)!

Do check dates as new pen I go in Feb is Oct 26

so might need to use new before old as older ones I had have longer date