Low maintenance maintenance - tips?!

[wgo84]

I've been on mounjaro for 8/9 months, lost around 3.5 stone. I'm ready to move to maintenance - the cost, getting worried about long term effects and I'm now at a healthy bmi. I'm already struggling and I haven't even titrated down yet :-/ I missed 2 weeks of jabs over Christmas when I was ill and the effect has reduced since then. I'm on 12.5, I've ordered 10 for this month to see what happens. I'm not a remotely athletic person and don't love exercise, especially when low on time / energy with an intense job and 2 young kids (as I know is lots of you). I have a peloton I occasionally go on and have recently started doing 20-30 min strength videos on youtube once or twice a week but I'm new to it and don't even have a proper set of weights yet - ! I'm a novice looking for practical tips on maintenance that are easy to implement and realistic. On another thread, a commenter said she does lunges while the kettle boils - genius! Things like that - small changes in routine/diet/exercise that help maintenance, especially when the dreaded food noise/appetite start creeping back. Thank you!

Hey 👋

Firstly let me give you my positive experience. I stopped Mounjaro December 2024 after 4 pens and I lost 3 stone. My finishing weight was 8st 11.6lb. Today I am 8st 4lb which I have been since about July. I wasn't trying to lose weight, just maintain.

Secondly, exercise is brilliant for health, wellbeing and your body but it won't help you lose weight (or maintain in many cases...) That old saying "you can't outrun a bad diet" is pretty accurate as exercise really cannot compensate for poor nutrition or overeating, You would have to be doing hours and hours of exercise a day. That said, every little helps!

I have kept up my movement, mostly walking with a daily step goal but that's about it. The rest is through diet. I used my time on Mounjaro to really adjust what I was eating. I was eating way too much, an absolute pig at times if I am honest with myself. I would think nothing of having a burger and chips on a Thursday, pizza takeaway on a Friday (after a baguette and crisps etc for lunch), bacon sarnies, a Maccies on a Saturday followed by a meal out of a Chinese takeaway, more bacon sarnies and snacks and a huge roast dinner and dessert on a Sunday. That was normal. Now it's not.

I've not eaten a takeaway in over 18 months, I've probably had one or two McDonalds in that time, and then it's just been some fries. I don't eat things li pizza and pasta that bloat me and make me feel gross. I don't really have a sweet tooth so cakes, desserts, chocolate other than a square or two of dark chocolate every now and again pass me by. I love vegetables so I eat a lot of vegetarian style meals now and focus on things like beans and lentils and fish, rather than meat. I've really not found that switch hard at all. I still eat way too many chips and drink too much wine but because of the rest of my diet, it balances out.

What's worked for me is keeping low calorie snacks in the house - even if it's just multipack crisps for when I have the urge, as they are generally under 100cals for things like Wotsits or Monster Munch (my fav!). Babybel, small yoghurts (never low fat they are gross, full fat aren't much more calories), just little things I can pick and snack at!

Sorry, that was long 😲

Agree with @SnacklessWonder forget about exercise for keeping the weight off, it tends to give you the mindset of well I'm going to the gym so I can have a takeaway, you can't I'm afraid.
I take a small dose, and keep it manageable re diet, I don't drink now, as that was my gateway to eating crap, I also eat the same thing every day during the week, a lot of full fat yogurt with fruit, salad and protein, then I have dark chocolate and skinny whip bars for treats. Slightly different at the weekend I have my version of Sunday dinner for instance, I m keeping it off no problem.

I’m maintaining on a v low dose of 2mg a week (I buy 5mg pens to short dose and keep costs low). Planning really helps me, especially when I’m super busy and don’t have brain space to be making decisions about food for each meal.

A high protein diet keeps me full so I use ChatGPT to help me meal plan (specify minimum 30g of protein per portion) so I can batch cook some of the meals at the weekend and take the pressure off the mid-week meal prep eg I’ll do ten portions of soup to bag up for the freezer to take for lunch. I also buy high protein snacks and lots of fruit to bring to work and around the home for when I’m peckish.

I exercise for other cardio and strength benefits, also have a peloton and get on it twice a week. Monday and Wednesday, if I’m feeling lazy I’ll do a 20 low impact ride, if I’m in the mood to burn some calories I’ll do a 30min intervals ride. But sticking to those days no matter what really helps. I use the body weight strength classes on the peloton app and sometimes will do a 20min class once a week. But I find that harder to stick to as I don’t have a set day for that. I have a PT to do heavy weights in the gym at the weekend, this is pre-booked so I can’t back out, but appreciate that’s not for everyone.

I also track hunger against my cycle so that I can recognise when I’m craving carbs in the week before my period and not chastise myself for being hungrier than usual.

I lost 7.stone 5lbs between April 24 and March 25. Titrated down from 15 to 5 where I have been on 5mg since July . I’m sorry to offer an alternative narrative to all the ‘it’s only a tool’ ‘you need to adopt good habits’ to be frank it’s mostly bollox. If like most people who suffered from obesity I already had bloody excellent habits. I didn’t eat crap. I cooked from scratch and I understand that a sausage roll has more calories than a salad (yes..nhs tier 4 weight management still fully entrenched in the belief that fat=stupid). unfortunately because like most of us who have been on every bloody diet invented for decades , all I ever managed to accomplish was to give myself insulin resistance which made my portion control explode. So to me this HAS been a miracle drug. With my insulin under control I can actually stick to my already healthy habits .. but .. be under no illusion. No amount of ‘retraining’ will replace a hormone which is what MJ is.. in the EXACT same way that if you have high blood pressure/cholesterol etc and take bp meds/statins.. the moment you stop then it will go back to where it was. MJ is the EXACT same. If you were obese and now healthy, you WILL get fat again when you stop. If you were only 2-3 stone overweight at the start then you may manage it with iron will but 4 stone + , not a hope. People really really need to understand what these drugs are to understand why you cannot replace a drug with behaviour change anymore than a diabetic can replace insulin with will power.

Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news but getting quite frustrated with a lot of nonsense about ‘retraining your brain’ . If you were obese through insulin resistance you have more hope of collecting unicorn tears for your morning ablution than maintaining your suppressed appetite without the actual appetite suppressant.

The one bit that is accurate is the need for exercise. It’s got nothing to do with weight loss but everything about preserving muscle mass.

This is actually really helpful. I've been overweight (obese at times) since I was a child and have a pcos. I don't eat particularly badly but I think I eat a lot - I get ravenous. Like nauseated light headed deep belly hunger. That is why the mj has been a miracle. I'm eating broadly the same, but like half of it, and that's I'm worried about with maintenance.

But also, in the same way that some people with high blood pressure and cholesterol CAN reverse and manage without meds and statins (I know, I’m one of them), not every single person who is obese is insulin resistant. Some are, yes, but not all. That’s your experience @Fishingboatbobbingnightdoesn’t mean it will be the same for everyone.

I absolutely disagree because SOME people can replace the drug with a behaviour change and as the OP seemingly wasn’t obese and neither has been diagnosed with any hormone issues there’s no reason she won’t be able to maintain the weight loss. It’s disappointing that because some people can’t maintain without MJ they really don’t want anyone else to be able to either. We’re all different.

@SnacklessWonder but that wasn’t what she said, was it?

If you were only 2-3 stone overweight at the start then you may manage it with iron will but 4 stone + , not a hope. People really really need to understand what these drugs are to understand why you cannot replace a drug with behaviour change anymore than a diabetic can replace insulin with will power.

You only used 4 pens in total to lose the weight and at less than 12 stones at the start of your journey, you weren’t seriously obese to start with! (I’m still dreaming of being under 12 stones!)

@Fishingboatbobbingnight was very clearly talking about the majority of us who are taking WLI who are defined as morbidly obese. We are the ones who are likely to need to stay on some form of WL drugs for life.

Your comment;

“It’s disappointing that because some people can’t maintain without MJ they really don’t want anyone else to be able to either.”

Is shockingly disingenuous and completely disregards all the medical evidence to date.

You can bleat on about willpower and habit changes as much as you like, but you’re not some superior being able to maintain your weight from diet and exercise alone, because you weren’t ever morbidly obese in the first place!

Just another slightly overweight person jumping on the WLI bandwagon.

You can bleat on about willpower and habit changes as much as you like, but you’re not some superior being able to maintain your weight from diet and exercise alone, because you weren’t ever morbidly obese in the first place!
Just another slightly overweight person jumping on the WLI bandwagon.

Point proven 😂 @LifeisLemons

The OP isn’t morbidly obese either, so she may not need to stay on the drug for life. Or she might. That’s her choice, and it depends on her individual circumstances.

No, I wasn’t morbidly obese. I stopped the pattern before I became obese. That doesn’t mean I didn’t need help. I gained weight quickly, I have chronic health conditions, and I would have qualified for treatment at a BMI of 27 anyway. Taking action earlier doesn’t invalidate my experience.

There seems to be this idea that if you’re not morbidly obese, you “know nothing.” That’s simply not true. The reasons people gain weight are different. I know the reasons I was heading in that direction and addressed them before I crossed another clinical threshold. That doesn’t make me superior.

And maintaining my weight through diet and exercise doesn’t make me superior either. It just means that, for me, addressing the underlying causes and maintaining those changes works. That won’t be the same for everyone.

I’ve consistently said that some people will need lifelong medical support. But not everyone will, because we don’t all gain weight for the same reasons. Telling people they will have to stay on medication for life or they’ll inevitably regain everything isn’t 100% accurate. It’s true in some cases, not all.

Everyone’s situation is different. That’s the point.

Username checks out 😂

There are little changes that can make a lot of difference.
How you maintain with the injection depends on the reason you needed it in the first place, if you have an issue with the relationship with food then your plan has to tackle that. Technically you dont need excercise to lose weight, only a calorie deficit.

i brought a walking board to use when am in boring work meetings , as a way of getting my steps in daily for more a fitness thing then a weightloss thing.
I will be staying on for 4-6 months until i return to around pre-covid times weight, but have already overhauled my lifestyle in the areas i need to. I have a plan for afterwards that includes excercise because of my age, and also i dont want to have to calarie count continously , i want to eat a normal healthy diet with occassional indulgences.

I have dumbells which i also try and use when in camera off meetings, I havent had the energy to start strength clases but i have seen some body weight excercises online which i might try. I have also picked up hobbies that i had let drift so that can also focus my mind away from mindless eating