It’s time to Spring into the maintainers thread 4, where we don’t eat all the Easter eggs and undo all our good work!

[MargoLivebetter]

Welcome to our 4th thread of continuing all the good work we’ve done, believing in ourselves and recognising all we’ve already achieved.

Happy Easter and also welcome to the new maintainers!

I’ve allowed myself a couple of very irresponsible days, though even when I let myself eat anything I fancy, the results aren’t very spectacular while I’m still on 5mg. Still, half a packet of mini hot cross buns got monched for breakfast yesterday and I enjoyed them a lot!

I’ve been maintaining now for as long as I was losing. Have lost an extra 4kg in these 8 months, which is fine, indeed good, but can’t continue indefinitely.

This month I was away for a couple of weeks without scales and so paranoid that though I thought I’d been careless, I’d actually lost another pound.

Was also feeling like it’s a bit of a drag, always having to be so sensible. But I reckon that’s what feast days like Easter are for. I don’t usually have breakfast or cake or sweets or even bread. And a bit of indulgence occasionally probably helps keep that up. I suppose what I’m happy about is that I feel like ok that was nice, but I can go back to normal now. The mj gives me brakes.

Happy (belated) Easter! 🐣

I had a fantastic weekend away, I did enjoy a couple of indulgent meals out and a few cocktails, but also did lots of hiking (50,000 steps in 2 days)! I won’t be stepping on the scales until Friday (my usual weigh day) so hopefully any damage can be undone before then! 🤞

@MargoLivebetter was it you that recommended the frozen prawns from Aldi? If so then thank you! I had the creamy pesto ones for dinner tonight with rice and veg, such a quick and easy low cal meal and so tasty! Will definitely be buying them again.

Hope everyone is ok and enjoyed the long weekend.

@Booksandcheese im completely off MJ, but its early days for me.
As of bank holiday monday, shotsy said I had no more in my system, feeling positive about the next few weeks. My last jab was 1st march.
This thread is great to check in on everyone and thanks for the new one.

Hope we all survived Easter without any major eggcidents!

Mine ended up being a bit different, as I had to help out a sibling with emergency childcare. Not quite what I had in mind, but did mean I was so busy, there was not much time for being tempted by anything eggciting (I'm on a roll today!!!!).

Welcome @Booksandcheese and @SpringAndSunshineIsHere . Great to see you both and congratulations on all that you lost and getting here. Lots of fairly long-term maintainers here now - so hopefully lots of support too.

Happy holidays @Incognitoburrito88 . I love the Scandi countries. I hope the sun is shining there too and you have a great time.

@Itscoldouthere I doubt very much you lack discipline, but I think we all get very weary of it all sometimes. Hang in there and remember to congratulate yourself every day for all that you achieved to get here. It is easy to forget that and we shouldn't.

@20bloodypounds so sorry to hear about the death of your friend. As @KrankyKumquat quite a few of us seem to be heading to that stage in life where the losses start to become more frequent. Sometimes too many and too young.

Hi all, not posted for a while but I’ve been maintaining since January cold turkey with no jabs. I’ve for the most part managed to stick to my weight and just move by 2lb each way (mainly up). Ive twice gained 4lb and tried not to panic and have just done low carb the following week and it’s come off again. For me I’ve found low carb, high protein and fibre works best as I don’t count calories as I don’t want to feel I’m on a diet. The jabs for me just gave me headspace to really get my head around nutrition and how to feed my body and feel like I’m in the best place because of that.

We’re currently on holiday so a little harder to navigate as no gym and less easy to control my eating. We’re having a fry up this morning but I’m planning on having a little bacon and sausage with scrambled eggs and veg rather than my usual 2-3 bread rolls. I definitely feel bloated as enjoyed some of the kids eggs and sweet treats but I’m confident I can get myself back on track when needed rather than write the whole week off like I would have previously.

@MummyInTheNecropolis the weather was crazy, wasn’t it? I thought my salad was going to blow away! I did weigh in and 3lbs on but sure that was a lot of booze bloat.

Hey guys, I haven't been on in ages as I'm ticking along no bother. We aren't fussed on Easter (not religious) so it's passed me by without incident 😅

I started MJ in June 2024 and have been maintaining since December 2024 - albeit I lost more over the following 6 months. Weight has been stable since then, no further loss, no gain.

I had one month of 2.5mg then had to spend a few months titrating up to 5mg due to side effects - been on 5mg since.

Lost a total of 5.5 stone

Anyways..... my point is, I'm starting to begrudge the cost. Keep to hear experiences of stopping or switching to WG

I'm 100% sure I won't maintain this weight if I stop completely - I've never managed before and I'm smaller now than I've ever got to - I feel very healthy at this weight

Just keen to hear others experiences 😍

@MummyInTheNecropolis I’ve mentioned the Aldi prawns a few times. Prefer th green pesto ones

Oh sorry @Blondeshavemorefun I couldn’t remember who’d mentioned them! Thank you though, it was an excellent recommendation!

That’s so good to year. Well done! 👏

Sorry @Sadteacher I missed your post - yes it was a bit blustery up there! But I was just grateful it didn’t rain (not while we were hiking anyway)! I’m struggling to get back on track this week, have had meals out with family, coffee with friends, I’ve got lunch and cocktails booked for tomorrow. I’m torn between wanting to make the most of my time off and spend time with friends, and keeping myself on track to maintain. I think I’m doing ok overall, I haven’t binged, I’ve just had a bit more than usual. Fingers crossed for weigh in on Friday! 🤞

Hi all, was lurking on the other thread and just found you again! I’ve been off MJ since end Jan, currently 2lbs up but school holidays (including time with my DM whose love language I think is feeding) and Easter really to blame… I am fairly confident that back to routines and a little careful planning will sort that out. And I think @NewLifter that’s how it works for me… I weigh myself regularly and react accordingly. That 5.5 stone (well done!) would not reappear quickly. Means a certain amount of vigilance and as others point out above that’s boring, but we’ve been doing that for months anyway on MJ. If you want to come off you could titerate back down slowly and consider it a trial and see what happens…

We had one very warm day last week and so now my motivation is summer clothes and thinking about my wetsuit which was a bit big last summer (which made me very happy although don’t really want to replace it!!) ☀️

Hi, hope it’s ok to hop on here and tap into the group’s wisdom. I’m 6 months in - have almost hit target weight & am starting to think about coming off & maintaining. I wanted to ask how everyone else has managed.. I have read it is wise to stay on the medication for as long as 2 years post hitting target to allow for your body to ‘accept’ its new state. Is there any evidence for this? Please share your stories, learnings & top tips for maintaining. I do heaps of gym & am very active so not worried about that, but am aware I am prone to slipping into previous bad food habits. Thanks all!

@sillistudi this is thread 4 so have a read through the last 3, you will hear all sorts of experiences! There is also a thread for those of us who have come off it altogether

@sillistudi

I don't believe there's solid scientific evidence that maintaining on a dose for a certain period of time will help your body adjust to its new weight - but equally not much to say it won't. It's based on set point theory which has some supporters but it's almost certainly not the whole story.

There is a lot of evidence to show that if you come off the meds, the likelihood of regain is high. Anecdotally though, some are managing it (so far).

Many of us hit goal and started to titrate down, with mixed success. There seems to be a level below which food noise and excess hunger returns. So some have moved back up.

Your own circumstances will factor in. Many have titrated down or come off the meds because of cost, or side effects, or just because they don't want to be on medication forever.

It's been very individual, though - there's no path that we've found which works for everyone. So come along and join us and feel free to add your experience to the pot.

Welcome @sillistudi . Congratulations on getting far enough to be thinking about maintenance. I can see you have already had some good replies. How you do maintenance is a bit suck it and see. We all have had slightly different journeys on the WLI and it is the same coming off. No one size fits all, so you get to pick your own way.

Thanks @MargoLivebetter- I am fearful of stopping ordering the pens in case I need to go back on them & they won’t prescribe cos my bmi will be too low. But I can’t afford to keep going for much longer either!

@sillistudihave you started dropping down doses yet? There are loads of us on here who are maintaining. Not always perfectly and not without challenges but doing it somehow and without going bankrupt either. I think the thought of coming off or cutting down is worse than the reality. Have a think about how you can do it (trawl through these threads and others) and make a plan. That’s half the battle.

Hi everyone, been mia a bit the last few weeks- new full on job, Easter weekend in Stockholm and now suspected flu 🥴.
sounds like you had lovely bank holidays. Stockholm was fab despite it raining/ snowing all weekend! I ate what I wanted, which wasn’t loads to be fair but did involve breakfast which I don’t normally eat and cardamom buns😋. We walked our feet off though and at weigh in last week I was at almost the lowest weight I’ve been. I’m still on 5mg, going to see how things go over the next month and think about titrating down slowly. I’ve not been to my reformers class for a couple of weeks because of Easter and illness and missing it.
a few of you mentioned finding it hard and dreary, I’m taking the philosophy that if I fancy something I have it, but that’s it, I don’t then go and eat absolutely everything all week like
pre mj days. I think that’s what’s changed for me.

@26inprogress other than your illness, maintenance sounds like it is going well so far. I love Stockholm. Been a few times. It is such a great city to walk around. Hope you feel better soon and good luck with titrating down.

I'm definitely benefitting from the increase in light and better weather. I have stopped craving carbs. I'm thinking I should maybe invest in a SAD lamp to see if that helps a bit next winter - or maybe move abroad!!!!! 😂

No- I will stay on until I hit target & then will consider but I’m only on 3.75 mj anyway so not got much leeway to reduce! I will read through the posts because I’m interested in experiences of coming off cold turkey v dropping down v micro dosing longer term.. I know everyone is different of course. But specifically, if you get down to say BMI 24 & stop ordering.. then struggle, is there a supplier who will prescribe a low dose for maintenance at that stage if you can prove you’ve been on the medication in months subsequent?

There are a number of providers who’ll prescribe at less than 25 BMI ( subject to normal checks) . The issue some have found is that they won’t prescribe more than 2.5 if you’ve had a gap, but given you’re on a lowish dose anyway, this hopefully won’t be an issue?

@sillistudi there are quite a few suppliers now who will provide maintenance WLI, so continue to prescribe even though you are now below the BMI you would have required initially to qualify. They usually want evidence of your previous prescriptions and obviously they are not going to supply you if your BMI is really low. I use Pharmulous and I have a BMI of 23.

Thanks for the new thread @MargoLivebetter I caught up on the last thread and then realised it was full.

Ive been off MJ since Juneand maintained my weight. Until this past month where I somehow have managed to gain half a stone. I’ve done 2 half marathons at the same time so it’s not down to lack of exercise, but old snacking habits has snuck back in. I can feel and see my wobbly lower tum is back.

So I’ve decided to order a pen and hope I can get my snacking back under control. I want to take action now before it gets any worse. I was worried I wouldn’t get it prescribed after a 10 month gap and being under 25 BMI but a pen is on its way to me as we speak. Phew!

@Cantbesure congratulations on completing two half marathons that is fantastic. Ah, the demon snack attack! I can easily come unstuck there too. Glad to hear you got a pen without any problems. That is good news. I'm sure you'll be back where you want to be in no time.