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.

Just checking in, thank you for the new thread @MargoLivebetter

How’s everyone feeling about the Easter weekend? I’m off to the Peak District tomorrow for a couple of nights. I’ve had a good week with no binging so I feel I can afford a couple of higher calorie days (dinner out, wine etc) as long as I keep it in moderation and don’t let it descend into a binge! Also planning to hike a lot while we’re there so can hopefully offset some of the extra calories 🤞.

What has everyone else got planned?

Love a bit of hiking @MummyInTheNecropolis. I hope you have a great time and burn loads of calories, so you can enjoy a few good meals out.

i shall mainly be gardening. Fortunately milk chocolate does nothing for me, so I’m not fussed about Easter eggs. Will be a roast on Sunday but that’s about as wild as it gets chez Margo at Easter!

I’m maintaining on 5mg. However I do find this time of year tricky, due to my Hot Cross Bun addiction.

I'm so far managing to not binge on all the chocolate. Have had a little per day - less than I'd like, enough to satisfy the craving.

I'd been thinking MJ isn't really working any more, especially as I've been titrating down (ridiculously slowly) but had a moment yesterday where I really wanted something sweet and had a mini crème egg. And I realised after eating it I definitely didn't want a normal size one. Old me would have eaten 2-3. I'm also still satisfied with smaller meal portions. So it is working - just a lot more subtle. Would love a bit less food noise, but I guess that's my challenge to face.

I'd like to shed another 2 kilos to get back to my ideal weight. I've managed to get the scale to stop going upward, at least.

Thanks for the new thread, @MargoLivebetter, I really appreciate this space for the support of my fellow maintainers. Like you I'll be gardening - I'm in the south & weather looks decent. I've got a never ending list of jobs to do. Hope you have a lovely time away @MummyInTheNecropolis and well done for heading into the holiday with a clean slate.

Oh yes I am definitely going to indulge in a hot cross bun. I’ve already decided I will only buy one pack of 4 between 2 of us to last 2 days so I can’t have more than 1 a day. Anymore than that and I will scoff the lot (and no doubt then move straight on to the creme eggs) 🙄

if I do decide to treat myself to a creme egg I will buy one - not a pack of them for the same reason!

@MummyInTheNecropolis snap… off to the Peaks today too. Hoping the steps will offset the wine!
I am taking lots of salads. Normally we pack up rolls and crisps first when we are out walking but I never feel great on lots of bread. Evenings I will eat what I like.

Thanks for the new thread ☺️ another loss this week 1.5lbs. I’ve taken your advice and have ordered a 7.5mg, I still have a full 10mg pen in the fridge so will count clicks and take 7.5mg and see how I go. I’m now 5lbs under my goal - such an odd problem to have after a life of obesity!
I think as much as I hate calorie counting I need to track for a week. (Do hot cross bun calories count?)
happy Easter everyone 🐰

What a coincidence! If I see someone eating a salad mid hike I will give you a wave 😅

Judging by your username I think we both have the same job too - hope we both manage to destress a bit this weekend!

There are no calories in hot cross buns from Good Friday until Easter Monday. This is official, I have checked and researched thoroughly and can provide detailed academic sources upon request. Enjoy! 😄

Morning! Thanks for the new thread. I have one Easter egg and that will be my lot. I love Easter egg chocolate so won’t go without. Weather is awful here and will be worse tomorrow. Not making me want to go out and do walking!

Thank you for the new thread @MargoLivebetter

just checking in, 5 weeks into maintenance and I ‘think’ I’m in control! 😆 I found dieting easy, but reverse dieting is a whole new level of anxiety, I find I’m constantly having to reassure myself it’s OK to have more calories!

I hope everyone has a great Easter.

I lost you as old thread full

@Iwouldratherbesinging I ending up losing another 10lbs once I was on maintence. I was eating another 600c a day yet most weeks lost a lb - I was on 15 and dropped to 5 over time still main gaining but at 10lb lower than goal

went to 2,5 and that’s where I struggled and food noise came back with revenge 🙀🙀😢😢 and then started to gain and hungry all the time

ive gone back to 10 to drop the few extra lbs I’ve gained and will drop to 7.5 and hopefully back to 5

i don’t think I will ever be off it or will ban my 7s loss back

im back in my 3lb ballpark so back to maintaining

Thanks for the new thread @MargoLivebetter Ifind it really useful to see how others are managing / mantaining, and feel inspired and encouraged to take action by the collective positivity on here. Without this thread it would be all too easy to ignore the 2lbs over my range... and we can all guess where that might end up eventually!

No chocolate here, and dh seems to be working his way rapidly through the hot cross buns. By the time I feel tempted I suspect they will be gone. But I'm more tempted by savoury foods anyway, so Easter will be a full lamb roast with crispy roast potatoes, and all the trimmings. Lots of veg too.

Heard about the sudden and unexpected death of a friend. She was a real nature spirit so yesterday i took myself off for a long walk in the woods to enjoy the greenery appearing on trees and the spring woodland flowers. I think she would have approved.

Hope its OK to join your thread. I stopped taking mj in December after loosing 2 and a half stone as the side effects were getting me down. I've lost another stone since then and am hoping for another half a stone off but as long as I dont gain I won't be too unhappy as I have reached my original goal weight, I am hobbit sized so although I didn't have too much to loose I am now no longer obese and finally a healthy bmi and the smallest I've been since leaving school 18 years ago.

Hi Everyone, sorry I’ve been meaning to come on and chat but I’ve been so busy and also I’m just exhausted at the moment. Thanks @MargoLivebetter for the new thread but I’m annoyed with myself because I can’t remember who I wanted to reply to but I’m too lazy to go and find the old thread!

We were having some chat about set point theory and someone had done a deep dive and posted some papers - a few of which I’d already read. I just wanted to say I don’t feel massively worried by it. I’m a medical doctor and I always feel like data is just data - I see patients defying study data on pretty much a daily basis so I don’t see why I can’t use the data to inform my actions and keep the weight off.

I’ve been really hungry this week - period is due and I also have very bad pre menstrual anxiety. I’ve been fairly restrained though and this morning I was 1lb under my zone of tolerance. I’m running 19 miles tomorrow morning so will need to eat quite a bit to fuel that. I’m not big on Easter and am totally unfussed by Easter egg chocolate - I do like mini eggs but the price is enough to put me off! I might have a hot cross bun tomorrow but I’m genuinely more excited about the bagel with peanut butter and jam I will have before I go on my run!!

We’re going away on Monday for 10 days. I jab (1.25mg) on Sundays and I’m tempted to not bother taking my pen and seeing how I get on with no jab for two weeks. My only slight worry is the following weekend my husband and I are going to Copenhagen and Stockholm for 3 nights (first trip away since baby number 4 who turns 5 in June!). I want to look and feel amazing for that weekend and I know I won’t if I’ve gained loads during our family holiday.

Finally I wanted to mention the Slimpod program for those who are struggling with the urge to binge. I started it when I started MJ and have pretty much religiously listened to it every night since. It’s a neurolinguistic programming course and it does have some scientific backing. Of course I don’t know if it’s just the low dose of MJ that’s helping me to maintain but I feel like Slimpod has helped me with my urge to binge and has turned me off certain treat foods. You can get a 10 day free trial and I rate it so worth checking it out.

Sorry for longest post ever. Have a lovely Easter weekend everyone xx

Found you!

Well done!

Welcome! You'll find most of us are still on medication/titrating down, but not all, and no judgement either way - we're all trying to navigate life in smaller bodies (and stay that way). Like you I'm the smallest I've ever been since a teen. I still find it really strange and still think of myself as a large person. Then I see myself in a mirror and don't recognise myself!

@Incognitoburrito88 I really struggle with 'set point' - both the science, and the emotion.

Emotionally I hate the concept that whatever I do my body is going to sit at a particular weight. That leaves me feeling (if I'm trying to lose weight) that I am in a perpetual battle with my own body, and that is not good for my mental wellbeing. And when at an OK weight, it has me thinking that I can eat anything and stick at the same set point. All the anecdotal evidence of my own life tells me that is not true.

And as a biochemist, I don't understand the science.

So, for me, and for the moment, I prefer to ignore the set point theory. (and see it as a theory and not a perfect fact).

Good morning and Happy Easter all! 🐣
I’d like to join if that’s ok?
I have been on 2.5mg of MJ since the end of October. Tried going up to 5mg last month and have been experiencing horrible gastro symptoms since then, so went back to 2.5 but this hasn’t helped… so after being up vomiting half the night again, I’ve decided to go it alone from here.

Starting weight was 14st 4lbs (although had been 14.7 before that) - I was a size 18/20.
My current weight is 11st 6lbs and am a size 16 - so I have gone from a BMI of 30 and am now at a healthy 24.3. - that’s at the higher end of healthy so was planning to drop another 6 lbs. Am 5 foot 8 and 50yrs old for context.

I eat high protein and fibre, low carb and weightlift with a PT - am planning to up my gym sessions and focus on being strong and healthy from now on. I never want to get that big again.
I’d love some company and any tips for how to figure out maintaining weightloss would be brilliant 😊

Hello and happy Easter, thank you for the new thread @MargoLivebetter
I mainly lurk but find all of your posts very useful, I like the idea of Slimpods @Incognitoburrito88 I might do the trial.
I find maintenance quite hard emotionally as I feel like I just can’t keep up with everything, I struggle to keep everything on track, food, exercise, drinking, feeling positive, I know it’s a me thing and something I’ve struggled with all my life, I’m just lack discipline at times.
On the plus side I know I’ve done really well, lost the weight, feel good and working now on getting all round healthier exercising more, feeling stronger.
I also have to admit that I now really look forward to jab day, never thought I’d say that, but I like the process/routine and knowing I’ve got that help so it’s not going to all go to pot, maybe I’ve become too reliant on the jab?

@Itscoldouthere
I feel exactly the same. I expected to be a bit obsessed during the weight loss period but after 2 years on WLIs, including over a year on maintenance, i do sometimes feel a bit...bored, jaded, overwhelmed? Maintaining is a lot - still weighing and measuring myself, restricting what i eat, getting exercise in, planning the budget, keeping it a secret from everyone bar my partner. I'm massively grateful to have access to this drug and be able to just about afford it long term but this is my life now and some days, I just want to slob out, eat whatever I want and not feel crap/guilty like I imagine 'normal' people do. The feeling does pass though as like you, I do enjoy exercise when I get to it and love feeling strong and healthy and buying clothes that fit.

@KrankyKumquat yes sometimes I just want to drink a bottle of wine and not worry about how bad it is for me, not feel guilty about sometimes making crappy choices, other times I’m logging everything and feeling great, but I just can’t seem to be on it all the time. I expect it would be really hard without the MJ, so can’t imagine coming off it.
I think some of it for me is my life stage, I’m 62 have wound down work wise just do bits of freelance and trying to work out what this next bit of life looks like, sometimes it’s great, other times it all feels a bit shit!

@Itscoldouthere Yep, I'm 60 this year and struggling with self-employed work disappearing into the void. I've decided to not work over the summer to give myself a break from the shit storm and try to focus on what makes me happy and fulfilled (I actually have no idea what this might be!). Maybe we're just at a tricky stage of life - for instance, I seem to be in a perpetual state of mourning (4 parents/in laws, and friends, friends' parents in recent years) which is tough so I think we're allowed to give ourselves some grace.

@KrankyKumquat sorry to hear about your losses, it is a difficult time of life, we have lots of friends with unwell parents (ours died quite young) and we’ve had some friends getting ill but haven’t had to attend many funerals lately but you know it could happen any time.
Trying to stay healthy and happy is my focus but at times it all feels like I left it a bit late, I wish I’d started on this journey 10 years ago instead of 2 years!
Its a funny life stage I’m not sure where I’m going at the moment, which I suppose is ok?