Do you ever come off the wagon?

[Junmaro]

Just wondering if others ever occasionally have days where they don’t stick to the plan?

I’ve been on MJ for 5 weeks now, and have until today stuck with healthy eating etc. For the first time I’ve fallen off the wagon today, because family came round and we had a lovely meal in the sunshine.

I’m due to jab tomorrow again and fairly confident all will go back to normal, but equally a little disconcerted that somehow I’ve broken the spell.

Would be interested to hear from others as to their experience of having an odd ‘off’ day.

Since when is having a lovely meal with family “falling off the wagon”?

Yes, some days I have the odd glass of wine or small dessert. Remember that weight loss medication is an aid, but alongside it we need to change our eating habits.
If I’ve had a long day at work I’ll have beans on toast or cereal and a protein smoothie for tea.

It’s about balance. Hit your protein and water intake targets, adjust calorie intake and exercise. Stay consistent and have the potatoes/dessert/chocolate in moderation.

We need to change our approach to food ready for when not on this medication anymore. So denying yourself anything unhealthy is not going to work in the long run when the food noise is back.

This is a long term thing. I've been on it for 15 months and have had many an off day but the difference is that my off days look like having some toast in the afternoon or buying one of the really nice vegan chocolate caramel bars that I love and having that as a treat. I've eaten Indian takeaways, pizza and cheesecake. It's not realistic to be perfect forever.
But I do get that you need to be strict at first while you're getting into the swing of it. Did you do anything to mitigate the big meal?

I'm not on a wagon. 🤔

I'm utilising a tool that is stabilising my blood sugars and therefore helping to supress my appetite and help me make better food choices. I am mostly eating less overall quantity and definitely better quality and barely drinking alcohol, but I can still eat a lovely meal out or have a drink if I want to.

Since starting in January I have had a weekend in Budapest with DH, a week in Las Vegas with friends and an all-inclusive long weekend in Mallorca. Tomorrow I go on a cruise.

I have eaten sensibly, and stopped when full. I have mostly drunk water but there have also been cocktails and prosecco. I'm still losing weight slowly and steadily.

I think you need to consider your mindset OP. A lovely meal with family sounds amazing, and something you should be able to enjoy without any shred of guilt.

Nothing should be forbidden, you just need to moderate!

Definitely agree, it's about moderation. And the drugs help with that, of course. So I still eat chocolate most days, but it'll be a couple of squares.

Have you felt that 'the spell' has been helpful for you OP?

Yes, but not too often, after over a year I mostly eat the same meals every day, however I have had a roast lamb dinner some chocolate and cava, I have 'put on' 4 lbs, which isn't weight just water retention from the alcohol and sugar /carbs. Previously I would have panicked, but I know that it will drop off again as long as I get back to it,plus it was still small quantities, so not much over what I should be eating. Alcohol really messes me up though. I have lost over 5 stone and am maintaining now.

I'm not sure i could even if I tried. There are days I choose the not so healthy stuff (like today instead of potatoes/veg or salad with my chicken I had supernoodles and loads of sweetcorn just for a wee change). But I couldn't hugely over eat, physically. And the stuff that made me fat in the first place I don't fancy. 🤷‍♀️

😂 Good answer!

I suppose what I meant is that it’s the first time I’ve eaten more than my required calorie intake for a day. It’s the first time I’ve eaten excessively.

Totally get that one odd day can’t do any harm, but it’s a weird feeling having maintained a calorie deficit so far to eat with such gay abandon!

Today was absolutely a choice, just don’t want to have opened the floodgates.

I’m also not on a wagon and so don’t see having a day where I eat a bit more than usual to be falling off it. I would usually plan for it and take it into account, or if unplanned then I would take it into consideration for the rest of the week.

I’ve been on Mounjaro for 20 odd months now though, so it’s almost impossible to stick to a calorie deficit every single day. One day doesn’t matter in the overall scheme of things.

What did you even have at this lovely family meal to make you think it constituted falling off the wagon?

These replies are a little off. I think we all know exactly what the op means, you need to diet on these drugs to lose weight, so today she’s come off her diet and over eaten,

op, I think we all do this at times, as long as you get straight back on the wagon you will be fine.

have you moved to 5mg? If you’re doing a second month on 2.5 that may have caused it,

Thanks @Firesidechatter - you’ve got the essence of what I meant perfectly.

This isn’t about ‘a diet’, it’s about a sensible and balanced way of eating forever. I’ve had meals out and celebrations and holidays, just as I hope I will for the rest of my life.

I’ve jabbed late this week due to something unexpected happening (side effects still bad on days 1 and 2) and today was awful! Kids Easter chocolate and lunch out with them! I’ve now jabbed so hoping to get back on track tomorrow! But enjoyed the day with the kids so can’t complain too much!!

I know what you meant as I remember the first time I ate off my plan about 7 weeks in and panicking in case I’d ruined everything. But fret not! Life happens, some days we eat more and some days less. It’s about balance and reframing mounjaro from a diet to a lifestyle change.

I actually now eat ‘off the wagon’ every Sunday. (Day 7) we go out for lunch every week and I always have whatever I want plus a large caramel latte and cake after. It works for me to have a meal to look forward to and calorie cycling like this keeps me motivated the rest of the week.

I'm another one who doesn't restrict calories on Sundays. I've been losing weight for over 4 years now and I'd be very grumpy if I hadn't decided to give myself Sundays off.

I fast between 4pm and 11am every day of the week, and concentrate on getting 100g protein, 40g fibre, 15ml olive oil, 15g nuts, a square of 90% chocolate, kimchi, kombucha, sauerkraut, kefir and the widest possible variety of plants every day of the week. Monday to Saturday I have to juggle with the myfitnesspal food diary to hit the protein and fibre targets without eating more than 1400 calories, then on Sunday I continue to log everything I eat, keep my gut bugs happy with the fermented stuff and fibre, but give myself the day off so I don't pay any attention to the calories.

It's so much easier to get loads of protein and fibre when you don't have to stay within an unnaturally low calorie limit. Keeps me sane, and I think it tricks my metabolism because it doesn't seem to have noticed yet that I've lost 94kg.

You need to reduce calories overall rather than diet to be fair.

As OPs have said … what wagon? I’d suggest this thinking is a hangover from restrictive diets. Being on the WLI is about health and enjoying your food rather than just calories

If the replies are a ‘little off’, I think it’s only because they have come from posters who recognise that the power of these drugs is that they have helped many of us to break free of the diet culture which has shaped our thinking about food for a lifetime.

OP, I’m maintaining a ten and a half stone loss. Of course I had days when I ate more, just as slim people do. Very early in the process someone said to me that you need to lose weight the way you intend to keep it off. I don’t intend never to have another glass of wine or lovely pudding, and you don’t have to either. There’s even evidence to suggest that ‘refeed days’, which many people plan in deliberately, can be helpful in boosting leptin levels and maintaining metabolism over time.

At maintenance now and feel i've come off the wagon over Easter. Not majorly but feel bloated and not myself. Stuffed a sticky toffee pudding down after lunch on Sunday even though I wasn't vaguely hungry. Back to my good habits tomorrow. I think just resetting rather than spiralling is key. Minimal damage done.

Funnily enough, I found that any time I was stuck in a plateau, a wild day of over consumption would set me up for loss again. No idea why.

The only issue I have had, in over a year of taking the medication, and losing over five and a half stone, is that if I start eating sugary foods, I want more…

Because that one day would have replenished your glycogen stores and increased your leptin levels with the overall effect of boosting your metabolism. Google ‘refeed days’ if you are interested.

@Junmaro , I’ve been using Mounjaro for 17 months now; I reached my goal weight 3 months ago and am coming back down the doses now. I was super, super strict the entire time I was losing; totally dedicated to getting the weight off and changing my relationship with food. I have not for instance had any sugar in that 17 months, I’ve been away on holidays and watched people eat ice cream which was my favourite thing. That was my strategy but it doesn’t mean it’s the right strategy for everyone. I think it’s normal in life to have treats and enjoy sharing food with friends and family so if you can do that and then get back on your plan good for you. The important thing in my opinion is to use the time while you’re losing to reset your habits to more healthy ones because losing the weight is actually quite a small part of the war the real battle begins when we have to find a way to keep the weight off.

The 4 lb I put on has now gone, just by going back to sensible eating, low/no carb high protein lots of fruit and veg, you can eat off plan occasionally of course but you have to be sensible most of the time.

What plan are you on? I do fast 800 and stick to it 80/20