Did you lose weight on WLI and then ‘pile it back on again’?

[scatterbrainy]

I’ve been on MJ for 11 months now and it’s been slow and steady losses - 3.7 stone and another 2 to go. When people ask me how I’m doing it, I’m open about the fact I’ve overhauled my diet and have had some help from medicine. However, I keep seeing (and occasionally hearing) this everywhere - ‘you’ll only pile it back on again’. Nice, eh!

So while the studies seem to indicate that’s likely, surely it’s only like every other diet and only happens if you return to your old ways of eating? I will always have to watch my weight and so my plan is to get to goal and give myself a healthy buffer of around 7lbs. If I start gaining, I’ll cut back for about a month or so and get back down to goal. For me, I forever sabotaged my own weight loss because losing 5 stone seemed utterly insurmountable whereas 7lbs seems so much easier.

I know there’s a maintenance thread but just wondering if anyone did lose a lot and then have a big regain? Am I being naive to think I can avoid it? For you, how did you tackle the regain or are you still struggling?

Just trying to get a realistic idea of what might be ahead.

Are you speaking from personal experience?

I lost 20kg and then came off in July last year. I maintained until Christmas, but then put on a couple of kilos. I’ve now last that and am below the weight I was when I stopped last year without using any medication. The key for me was not to stop weighing myself regularly and take action if I got more than 3 kgs above target weight. Psychologically it was so much easier to start a weight loss diet with just a few kilos to lose. I spent years avoiding scales and won’t repeat that mistake.

I have been on MJ just over a year and lost 2.5 stone. I have been on 2.5mg maintenance for about six months.

I was not overweight for much of my life. Before having a baby (which was followed within a short period by the start of menopause, and also caused PND), I was a naturally slim person who never had to think about weight or size or calories. I didn't really eat a lot and although I love sweet things I didn't overindulge as a rule. Then the weight gain started, seemingly without much change in my eating habits. (My mother and granny were both slim women who suddenly put on weight at menopause too, they never managed to shift it, mother ended up diabetic and granny with serious back problems).

Once it got beyond a certain level I though fuck it, I'm old now, I'll just give up, who cares. The MJ has changed that, I know that it can be done, and how much difference there is between being thin and fat, both physically and mentally, and how much better I feel slim. It makes me happy every day. I have a very good idea of how much I can eat to stay stable, even without bothering to count calories. I plan to stay on maintenance for as long as a provider will let me, forever if they do! But if I had to come off I hope that the feeling of "fuck it, don't bother" would not come back as I am now at a happy weight and realise how great that is for me, and would fight to keep it.

Most recent stats I read suggest weight goes back on but not all of it. People manage to keep off about 25% of their original weight loss. There are trials suggesting a maintenance does every other week is enough to keep the body in a steady state. This is an average so you might be one of the ones who keeps off more. Even with the best intentions, obesity is a symptom of metabolic dysfunction. The body works very hard to regain weight. You might need the jabs for life

When you are ready @scatterbrainy come and join the maintenance thread. We are all looking to keep the weight off and there are various ways we are all giving that our best shot. Really supportive thread and no one is judging.

There is no miracle that occurs when you stop taking WLI that means you magically stay slim. If you go back to over-eating, then you put the weight back on - it is that simple.

I have to calorie count and I take a very low dose of MJ to dull the food noise and it helps with my IBS and various inflammatory arthritis conditions. Plenty people cold turkey and go along fine, but none of us can go back to overeating.

I think you need to be very mindful about maintainance. For me that means during the week (Monday to Friday) being really strict basically eating same meals on repeat, lower carb (I never eat grains, limit fruit or UPFs) I eat 150g protein a day and mountains of veg. I lift heavy every day. I’m still titrating down, currently taking 2mg. But I think I could come off as I’m trying to gain muscle with the heavy lifting so I don’t need to be so careful.

Personally I didn’t put the weight back on. I dropped from 265lb to 228 lb and then took a break for 9 months. I have recently restarted MJ and weight 232 lb, there haven’t been ay major fluctuations for me and no significant gain.

Not so far but I'm being very careful. I haven't felt any more hungry other than on what would have been the final day before I was due my next jab.

Im taking less and less over the next 6 weeks. Lost almost 2 stone over 9 months and need to lose another 7lbs but can’t afford to use WLI long term. I have made a lot of life style changes - exercise daily plus steps, more protein, less stressful job, more water, daily weighing, recording my results through an app which shows visceral fat and subcutaneous fat, earlier to bed. I really hope I can maintain the loss and not regain.

@ScorchedEarthAdjacent I find the challenge with published stats is that they are from controlled studies, following agreed protocols (they have to, to be ethically approved by research committees). So anyone who falls out of the protocol (i.e. not going up the doses at the set rate, or microdosing etc) will automatically fall out of the study and their results are not included.

On the MJ support threads that I've been on for the past 18 months there are so many people taking agency over their MJ journey - both up the doses and titrating off. I believe that is very diffierent to people on a trial and it is possible that those who feel more in control of their decisions re WLIs also feel more in control of their food choices and eating habits.