Mounjaro / Wegovy with > 5st / 30kg to lose - Alumni Maintenance Thread

[WeAllHaveWings]

Trying the new Community groups feature for a maintenance focussed thread for our Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose alumni 👩‍🎓

All Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose posters and lurkers who enjoyed the supportive weight loss thread welcome whether you have graduated to maintenance already or getting close and pondering what happens next!

I expect this thread will be much quieter than our main Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose thread (which has been running for almost 2 years now!) as it feels intensity drops when in maintenance, but it would be great to keep in touch with everyone now and again and how we are all getting on post-weight loss and what we find works / doesn't work.

I'll start the thread with Mumsnet maintenance posts most repeated practical maintenance advice gathered by asking CoPilot to look at the board -

🚫 Don’t stop abruptly – taper your dose and/or slowly space injections; stopping suddenly often means hunger and regain

🎯 Aim for the lowest dose that keeps food noise calm, not zero at all costs

🍽️ Expect appetite to return – hunger is normal in maintenance, not a personal failure

🔄 Don’t jump from dieting straight to “normal eating” – a slow reverse diet (adding food gradually) helps weight stay off

🍗 Keep protein‑first habits and the smaller portions you learned while losing

🏥 Check your provider supports maintenance (some stop prescribing below certain BMIs)

📏 Allow a weight “zone” (±2–5 lb) rather than chasing one exact number

🧠 Weigh less often – watch trends, not single‑day/week blips

🚶‍♀️💪 Walk regularly; add gentle strength if you can – movement supports stability and confidence

💭 Expect maintenance to feel mentally harder than loss – less scale feedback doesn’t mean you aren’t succeeding 💛

(Hope this works in the Mumsnet Community Group feature!)

It wasn’t what I first typed out @WeAllHaveWings

but this is one of my happy places on the internet so I modified myself 🤣

😆😆😆

How is everyone getting on?

I’m currently on holiday with my family, and really noticing being another 20-ish kg down on last year. Actually enjoying the heat, and being able to get involved with everything. A very strange NSV (which I checked with Google and is a thing) is that I can no longer float 🤯🤯 (well - I can, but need to actively move my arms and legs whereas previously could just lie back). Makes sense if you think about it, I just never had!

I decided to reduce my dose again very slightly as I’m still slowly losing. Bit worried about the food noise, but am hoping if I up the protein and fibre it might offset it a bit 🤞🤞

Another month on maintenance and graph update. Not much to report, just moseying along. Considering dropping this weeks dose to 2mg as everything is quite stable and it will give me an extra week out of current pen.

I have a 21st birthday party next weekend and really struggling to find something to wear. It is likely going to be black trousers and flat boots (I can't deal with heels anymore after ankle fracture/ongoing drop foot) but I am struggling to find a nice top that is baggy enough to disguise the loose skin on stomach (B belly apron above and below waist) and not look like a pyjama top! i have ordered so much on line my bedroom looks like a royal mail depot with all the returns 🙈

Well done on your maintenance. Hope you find something to wear that you like.

I am 4kg away from my target weight - 60kg.
I have stayed about the same weight in the last 4 weeks because I wanted to slow down my weight loss. I have found that really tricky tbh.
I increased my daily calories by 250 but kept up same 10k steps per day and strength training routine. I gained 500g in the first two weeks!
I cut down my calories by 100 and if i do above 15K steps, i keep strength training/any workout to 15 - 20 mins. Since then i haven't gained or lost. I didn't expect to find it tricky.
Well done on maintaining!

I'd say its normal to gain a little at first when on maintenance; your body suddenly has more food, liquid etc. 500g is fine, i gained a couple of pounds straight away but it settled down. I have been maintaining since january this year, gradually increasing calories. The aim for me is to be able to eat as much as possible without gaining fat. Maintenance is quite boring though; i do miss the dopamine hit of the losses!

I'm not getting any loss dopamine at the moment!

Shotsy tells me in total I've lost 2.55kg over the last 3 months...

I knew I was slowing down but it really has! I know a plateau often happens in long term weight loss, and I've been good about not getting too frustrated initially... but I'm over it now!

I do think the heat, starting hrt and increasing exercise and going away all contributed a bit so hopeful I will start reducing again soon.

I do know its normal for weight loss to slow down as you get closer to goal but now Im crawling!

I'm 7 lb from bmi 25. And I really wanted to go a stone less...

18 months at maintenance for me now, first time in adult life my weight has stayed exactly the same (literally 40 years 😨). I’ve gone down a dose, my previous maintenance dose this whole time was 10mg. So I’ve gone down to 7.5mg over last two months, chiefly to be able to eat more so I could exercise more. I noticed that I really only had energy for one ‘thing’ a day, work OR exercise.

So far so good. At least a 2 hour walk or a set of exercises plus another ‘activity’ like work or ironing. Weights not moved, feel better for eating more.

Eating more has felt alot better for me too. Im at approx 1800 calories now, but i do need to get an overall calorie burn of 600-700 calories a day from a workout, steps and general activity to enable me to eat so much. Wouldn' be as hard to do that if i didnt have a sedentary desk job!

Is anyone tempted by the idea of Foundayo for maintenance? Which is what it seems to be being punted for.

Having planned to eventually come off MJ for cost reasons I find myself pondering it. That said, it's not that much cheaper and given I don't care about injecting maybe I should just stay on a low dose of MJ and make it affordable by stretching out pen life.

Hum ho!🤔

Ticking along here. I took what will be my last 5mg dose on Monday, and will use the remainder of the 5 mg pen to take 4 X 2.5mg. Then probably buy another 5mg and take 8 x 2.5s from it. Still holding steady at around 10st 10-11.

I am not tempted yet @GiveMeWordGames , maybe in the future depending on how effective others find it.

With Foundayo being less effective than the Wegovy pills, and the highest doses of Wegovy pills being compared to 2.5mg-5mg of Mounjaro it doesn't feel like a good choice.

Then there is the missing GIP element, and also the inflammation benefits.

I also don't mind the injection anymore (wouldn't say I enjoy it!), but prefer once and week and done to daily tablets.

Also I am hoping to maintain on a very low dose, down to 2mg just now and use 2.5mg pens over 7-8 weeks which makes it more affordable than the tablets for me.

I think of the "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" cliche, and it worries me, just a little bit, that if I start messing around with the magic it might just break.

I like once and done too - and def got inflammation benefits when I started so losing that makes me nervous.

I'm another 2 weeks in since I last posted. I'd expected to be heading closer towards maintenance by now but its another 2 weeks stall. So I'm "maintaining" just at 26.1 bmi!

I hope to be properly joining you soon ! I'm nervous I'd imagined started to go down the doses now to slow it all down. And have jumped from 10 to 11 to 12... fingers crossed for this week

Yeah, on reflection I'm inclined to agree with you on all points @WeAllHaveWings . 😁

Keeping fingers crossed for some whooshes for you @FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden !

@WeAllHaveWings , i also agree with you. I prefer the once and done for the week aspect of the injections. My compliance with tablets will be VERY poor.
I have adjusted my target weight yet again!
Initial target weight was 58kg BMI of 21.7 but i later adjusted it to 60kg last month. This month, I have since lost 1.2kg and i really like the way i look currently. I think 58kg will make me look emaciated, i will lose even more boobs & bum and my face will become haggard. So i have adjusted my target weight again to 62kg. I like how i look.
I have a few 100 grams to lose and then i am with you all properly. 🎉I can't wait!

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden , wishing you a good whoosh soon.

My dream goal in my brain is between bmi 22 and 23. I will still have loose skin but am hoping to lose abit more of my stomach which is where Mi sure the last stone/stone and a bit is entirely sitting!

@Rosetime, we appear to be settling at a pretty similar place. I would like to hit 61kg, but am currently stuck at around 62.5. I think I will probably actively diet to lose around 2kg, but might up ends maintaining at a slightly higher weight.

hello everyone- just popping by to say I went on holiday for 2 weeks and lost a kilo 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

what the heck - these wonderful mj days.

I’ve tirated down to 7.5mg pen now & im feeling good.

Sounds like you had a good holiday @RobinEllacotStrike , Glad it doesn’t seem like a chore. I am still amazed how I can enjoy food without feeling like a am missing out on something.

I did private blood tests this month to check my B12, got some results yesterday and most is looking good so looks like I can stop injecting B12 permanently now which is a relief. Got a few ampoules left, need to find a home for them as I think they go out of date early 2027.

Omega 3 is a bit low so need to get back to regular salmon again.

Had a couple of odd results in it though, very high zinc and high ferritin despite being off all supplements for 18 weeks before test. Not quite sure what to do about them. Might ask GP at annual health check in December to retest and hope it was just a lab blip.

Also an Hb1ac of 17 which is on the low side (last year it was 24).….on a whim I ordered a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) last night 🤦🏻‍♀️ when I got it into my head with Dr google it my be low glucose causing my occasional blurry vision/lightheadedness and nighttime hot flushes now my HRT is at nhs max and no improvement , but in the cold light of day probably not. Guess I could just use it as an interesting experiment.

CGM has been on for 4 days now. It was pretty traumatic thinking about putting it on as the needle seems wider and fires quickly into you before retracting, but it was pretty painless when I did it.

First day was a riot of readings, but it seems to take 24hrs for the CGM to settle, since then its been interesting. I've been eating as normal on it.

Meals such as salmon and green veg (high protein, very low carbs) see glucose dips after, lunch such as a cheese and ham toastie (higher carbs) showed a more steady rise and fall.

I injected Saturday morning and had an Indian curry (the works, high fat) Saturday night (should have thought about that timing more!), and my CGM very briefly dropped into hypo territory (3.3 mmol/L), which left me with that feeling of absolutely wiped out, blurry/heavy eyed, yawning, could have done with a nap, for a few hours afterwards.

I think (from googling) that the high fat meal could have slowed gastric emptying further, meaning the carbs were released more slowly, while the insulin was still being released in response to the meal, possibly causing the dip in glucose

I’m going to keep eating normal meals for the next 5-6 days before the monitor runs out, but I am thinking after I might be better introducing carbs to my salmon and veg type meals to balance them out a bit (which is a shame as I like it without the carbs!) instead of only having carbs with some meals each day.

I might possibly avoid full blown Indian curries too now I have seen what is going on - as while it was nice it wasn't really worth it. dh will be disappointed as he usually gets half of mine!

Maintenance wise - been on MJ 2mg for 4 weeks now, weight still in the green zone and all going ok.

Though I am noticing habits trying to creep back in and keep batting them back - it's been fairly easy to do so far, mostly because its in evenings when I think about snacking and I keep telling myself I need to have an empty stomach for my oral HRT I take in the evening and not to eat before lying down or I'll get reflux. Never thought menopause or reflux would be so helpful!

How is everyone getting on? I wanted to ask if anyone who has been at a stable weight a while has experienced fairly rapid weight gain when increasing activity?

I’ve been at a stable weight since Easter after losing 58kg. Over that time I increased my activity levels slowly to being the most active I’ve ever been - running 10k+ regularly, weight training multiple times a week etc. Since Easter I’ve gradually decreased dose from 10mg to 6.5mg (where I’ve stayed for the last 7 weeks) and gradually easing off the food tracking relying on maintaining the eating patterns (tbh I tend to eat the same sorts of meals on repeat). I’ve kept my daily weighing as wanted an early warning should the weight start creeping on.

I’ve stayed within a set 2kg window fairly comfortably, even had the opposite problem of weight drifting towards the bottom, even through holidays/celebrations etc etc, all good.

Afraid a period of illness and due to a knee injury (where my weighed stayed stable), I’ve switched up my gym training (with the help of my PT) to focus on building my strength more than the running. It’s early days, but I’m already feeling leaner/stronger, but my weight has shot up by 2kg in a week and I’m above my weight ceiling (and approaching being overweight again which is crazy as I’ve never been smaller).

I’m telling myself it’s water retention/muscle gain etc, but it’s really hard to quieten those lifelong gremlins. I’m wondering if it’s time to dispense with the daily weighing? I know it’s not for everyone, but it’s actually (until now!) helped me stop obsessing! I will ask my PT, but as lovely as he is, he’ll probably just say water/muscle, without the burden for a lifetime of diet culture.

Any thoughts?!

Yes the scales shot up for me at first. Then even more when i started taking creatine. It all has settled now and i am physically smaller but weigh the same as i did when i got to goal in January. I increased calories gradually. Now at 1800 (i am 5 ft 4 and 125 pounds) but will increase calories again because i want to see how high i can go without fat gain. (I dont mind weighing more if i am the same clothes size and its muscle gain) I strength train with gym machines and dumbells 4 times a week. Approx 7-10 thousand steps a day. 1-2 cardio workouts at home per week. Im focusing on body co position rather than the scales now so its fat loss, rather than weight loss, if that makes sense.

Hi, 2kg in a week after changing your training is almost certainly not fat. Fat doesn't arrive that fast — it would take an enormous surplus, and nothing you've described comes close.
What does arrive that fast is water. New or changed resistance work loads your muscles with glycogen, and every gram of glycogen holds roughly three grams of water with it. Add the repair fluid that comes with an unfamiliar stimulus, plus rebuilding stores after being ill, and 1–2kg in a week is completely ordinary. It usually settles within two to three weeks once the new training stops being new.
Actual muscle doesn't build at 2kg a week either — that part is much slower, and much better news than the scale is telling you.
On the daily weighing: I wouldn't stop, but I'd change what you do with it. Regular self-weighing is one of the few things long-term maintainers genuinely have in common, so it's worth keeping. But a single morning's number can't tell you anything — a rolling seven-day average can. Write them down, look only at the weekly average, and put a waist measurement next to it once a fortnight. If the average and the waist are both drifting up over three or four weeks, that's real. One week isn't a signal, it's noise.
And you already have the better data: you said you feel leaner and stronger. After 58kg, that's the marker worth trusting.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a considered reply - it all makes total sense. I weighed myself on the fancy gym scales this morning as it showed weight up, but water and muscle up and fat down. So that all chimes.

Re: weighing… rolling average is a really good idea. I’d abandoned measurements as they’re fairly stable now, but it would be reassuring. Or not 🤣🤣

Thanks!

I need the wisdom of the group. Hi, everyone.

First week of September, i got to 61.7kg. 🎉 (target weight 61.5 - 62kg). I started weaning Mounjaro, the plan was to reduce by 0.25mg every two months.
At 61.7kg, I looked unhealthily thin. So I cut down my 10k steps a day to 5-7k steps, I hadn't been working out anyway since mid-august (lost my mojo) and i continued to meet my protein & 1200kcal target a day.
My weight has gradually been increasing. I was okay with this, i wanted to get to 62kg, see if i look better and resume strength training (i still haven't).

It's now 20 days later and my weight is still rising! I am now 63.2kg, firmly within the overweight category.
The only difference from when I was actively losing was a 0.25mg reduction in Mj, no workout/strength training and a reduction in my steps.
I thought with maintenance, you actually increase your calories and i haven't done that because I know I very very easily gain weight. For e.g pre-Mj, going from 4 hrs sleep every night to 6 hrs sleep with no other changes in diet, water intake or activity levels would have me gaining weight.
My questions are:- Should I wait and see - would my weight stop rising and stabilise?
Do I have to go back to previous levels of activity? I am not sure I can keep that up at that level for the rest of my life.

On another note, yayyyy!!!🎉 I have finally joined the maintenance group officially!! Maintenance is tough.

Hello @Rosetime and welcome to maintenance. Well done! It is indeed tough.

If you've regularly been burning a certain amount of calories via weights/walking then stopping that might result in a slight increase in weight. I suppose the challenge now is finding the balance that keeps you and your body happy.

Are you quite short? You seem to be operating in a very narrow window of too thin/just right/overweight? My weight easily varies by 2-4 lbs day to day just because of what I've eaten/drunk (ie temporary water weight not fat). And I buggered my back a couple of weeks ago which added some short term inflammation lbs.

For context I'm 5ft 8 and my maintenance weight is 10st 10 to 10st 11, which gives me a BMI between 22-23. I've ranged up to 10st 13 and back in the months I've been maintaining. And once down to 10st 9 but I think the scales were having a laugh that day because it was a weird one off.