Has anyone stopped weight loss injections before reaching a healthy BMI?

[Mummy3431]

Hi

Just looking for people's experiences on here. I've been on the injections for nearly a year now. I've lost 7 stone so far and its been amazing and life changing for me.

I'm currently 13 stone 7, im 5ft 3 so still obese and to get to healthy bmi I need to weigh 10 stone. I guess I just never even imagined getting here and now that i am, well i'm looking at the future. I've always had it in my head that I would be happy with a size 12/14

Im aiming to get into the 10 stones that would be incredible but just wondered if anyone else hadn't reached healthy bmi and were happy with where they were and stopped losing before they reached that point? I'm currently about a size 16 and already feeling quite good and just can't imagine being in the 9 stones.

Thanks 😊

Also just to add when I get to my ideal weight I am planning on staying on the jags to maintain and taper down I wouldnt come off them completely 😊

Why are you asking about people stopping before they get to target if your plan is to reason to target and beyond for maintaining?

I can relate to your post I'm pondering the same question. I started at 17st 9 and am currently 12st 7 at 5ft 4 tall after 13 months. I started going to the gym in October and am focusing on strength training to retain muscle mass too. I always had a curvy figure even when fit and athletic and I'm focussed on being strong and fit as opposed to slim. I've upgraded my scales to ones that measure muscle and fat % and am starting to track this.

My current plan is to keep going on current 7.5mg dose until I get to 11 stone and see how this looks and feels and then try to find my maintenance dose. This would put my BMI at around 26-27 and I'll concentrate on building muscle and reducing fat via gym from that point. My gut feeling is that anything below 10.5 to 11 stone will look gaunt and age me and that getting to a BMI of 25 may not be right for me where I'll be carrying some wobbly skin. Size wise I think this will put me at at 12 -14 on top and 14 on bottom.

Congratulations on your weight loss, the physical benefits are fantastic aren't they!

I'm not though. I'm saying I can't imagine getting to a healthy bmi and i'm just asking if anyone else is the same and stopped trying to lose weight before a healthy bmi. I maybe didnt my point across in what I was asking.

Thank you for this. This is exactly how i'm feeling. I've started strength training too and would like to just feel fit and healthy and I didnt know if I was focusing too much on the numbers. Well done on the amazing weight loss!

Sorry I totally misunderstood I thought you meant people who stopped the WLI but were still trying to lose

I stopped at a place I wanted to maintain and put a load back on. Not all of it but a big chunk. I was just excessively hungry. I am now losing the weight again but through boring old calorie counting and eating well. Feel 100% healthier, felt like utter shit on weight loss injections.

You know what its the title of my thread, I stupidly went with the one mumsnet suggested and I can see why you thought that

I’m also confused by what you mean.

i think you’re saying you are happy now, but want to lose more, get to target and maintain, but you’re curious if anyone was happy at the same stage and decided to stay obese?

Congratulations on your weight loss, 7 stones is amazing!

I get what you're saying. My BMI is now 26 and I really like how I look. It helps that I recently bought some new clothes which I love wearing. If for whatever reason I had to stop at this point I would be happy with my weight.

I'm still aiming to get to my goal weight, I have 10kg / 1.5 stones to go, which will give me a BMI of 22.5. I can't really picture how I will look then. Last time I was that weight was 20 years ago! It's crazy to think I might go down another dress size

I think it’s fairly common if you have a lot of weight to lose, like you and me, for the eventual end point to seem like a very distant and arbitrary point. I’ve lost 11st so far and am just into the healthy weight range. I just didn’t really think about it until I got down to the overweight category. I had a series of targets set at regular intervals so I could achieve them in the short term to keep me focussed. It was only when I’d achieved my last interim target that I started to think I could get to a healthy weight.

The weight loss has (inevitably) slowed now, which has given me time to get used to being smaller. That helps with imagining being at my final goal weight, as I just couldn’t have imagined it when I started.

It sounds like you are worrying about stalling on the injections, and not quite making the healthy BMI?

mine really slowed down, but gradually I for there and then tapered the injections. I’m finding I’m needing 7.5mg for it to be effortlessly sustainable, when I go lower the food noise comes back with a vengeance. I have a good buffer where I am, and can adjust me injections as needed.

my friend does exactly the same, but went from 23 stone to 13, and she is happy there, she isn’t aiming for a lower bmi.

Yeah I think because I've been so big for so long it seems almost scary to think of getting into the 9 stones. I quite like how I look now and wondered if other people tried to maintain at a weight that wasn't classed as 'healthy'. Thanks for everyones responses

I think some do yes, I’ve seen people post on here about it. It does feel like it’s mainly due to diet fatigue, weight loss slows down or stops. or they can’t imagine what they will look like slimmer and think they will look skeletal or unwell.

i was originally aiming for bmi 23. Stopped at 20. My decision was not based on a number, but where I was healthiest and to an extent where I looked the best. Both in and out of clothes.

my experience is the last stone or two makes the biggest difference to your appearance, and that with every few pounds we lose the happier we become with our appearance, as in real time it feels like a fast change v being so fat for so long.but then we settle down, and realise actually we are still fat.

it really depends on why you’re doing this. For me it was health primarily and my blood pressure and all my blood test results, my fitness levels are optimal at this weight. I also like how I look in clothes or swimwear. But that’s the cherry on top.

however I’m quite tall with a very narrow frame, slim shoulders and hips. Long narrow feet, a small rib cage and slim ankles and wrists. And although I’ve lost 6 and a half stone, I was really only about 3 stone overweight.

Simply my body couldn’t cope with it, and I became very unwell, with uncontrollable high blood pressure, I had the same when I gained weight when pregnant, and I also developed sleep apnea, which is exhausting and quite distressing.

so for me, this bmi is healthiest, my bp is now very healthy, no medication and the sleep apnea is gone.

so I think much depends on why people are doing it. If it’s for health, then getting to the healthy range is key. If it’s primarily for appearance then it’s stop when you are happy and if that’s obese, so be it, no one should judge.

Studies show that most people regain a significant portion of the weight they’ve lost once treatment stops-often around half, and in some cases more over time. You need to factor that in from the start.

My advice would be to stay on a maintenance dose for at least two years once you’ve reached your goal weight.

I have sort of stopped now ish. Am the same height as you and 10 and a half stone. BMI 26, size 12 most of the time. Waist size/hip to waist ratio/blood pressure all comfortably in healthy range. I am pear shaped and I still have the most visible fat on the top of my thighs but in health terms that’s the ‘best’ place to have it (not saying it’s ok but it’s better than stomach fat for example)

at my age (early 50s), height (short) and activity levels (office job with v long hours so pretty sedentary), reducing my weight too much lower will reduce my TDEE to a lower level than I want long term. Also from a vanity pov, my boobs are hanging on by a thread and both me and dh like my boobs!

I plan on titrating down and staying on very long term. This week is my first reduced dose so fingers crossed….

Think it stems from a lack of self esteem/belief in what you can achieve. I'm only 5'2 and started at over 15 st so a healthy BMI was over 5 stone down which was an enormous amount and I didn't think I'd get there.

So I said I'll be happy as a size 14 and settled for that but when I got there it just felt not quite right, I can't explain it but I looked in the mirror and my belly was massive still.

So I had a series of mini goals first normal BMI, then 10 stone, and my next is 6 stone loss ( another 2.2lbs to go. My ultimate goal is 9 stone. 6lbs to that then if I gain some it's to a point I'm very happy with.

It's slow going this last bit 😬😬😬

I have dropped two sizes and have been plateauing for over a month, 4-5lb short of a healthy BMI weight. I have recently decided to start titrating down the doses as I can’t keep
buying the pens and no longer seeing a loss.
I know some people go up when they get stuck but I am reluctant to do that for a few lbs. I think
my body is happy here. It could be that some is new muscle weight? Anyway that’s my answer and personal plan.

I thought I’d stop above a healthy BMI. I couldn’t imagine getting all the way to one. I’ve never been a healthy weight as an adult.

But I’ve actually carried on to 23.5 and I’ve felt better for every kilo that comes off.

I feel like it’s easier to maintain at a healthy weight because you are so much more mobile.

opposite here. I wanted to get to X (normal weight), thought I would be happy at X as I never managed to get lower, and surely I would just be too skinny at anything below that. The reason was that usually whenever I managed to diet to weight X previously, I was always totally fed up with restricing myself and fighting the food noise every minute.

But with WLI, it was actually doable. So when I got to X, I thought that hm, what about another 2 kilos? And then another couple, to get me to my actual dream weight I never thought I would be able to achieve.

But I did. Am not medium-chubby, am a proper slim person now. Not too skinny, as it turns out. And it's great!

Ah - I get you. I was 15.5 stone and thought I’d be ecstatic to be 12 stone, and that would be me done. Been overweight or obese for 30 years. Told myself that 10 stone would be ridiculous. Too thin, not me, unimaginable etc. This was all bollocks, and part of the denial script.

Kept going, now I am the 10 stone and it is fantastic.

You’ll know when you get there!

I didnt have loads to lose but no way wpuld I have stopped at over a healthy BMI, I dont really understand the point TBH.

I think people believe being a healthy weight looks too thin as they are used to seeing themselves (and many others) overweight as the norm.

Reading through the comments, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve given up buying the pens too early, I’ve certainly been more hungry since I dropped down on my self-made maintenance scheme. My problem is that my pens are very expensive as I can only get them from Asda due to a previous illness and the algorithms the others use when screening people out. I think I need to buy one last 5 mg and try and hit the green BMI.

Yes, I reached a goal weight of mine and stopped taking them due to cost. I felt so much better than before and like you I was in the size 16 range and felt happy with that. Being able to buy things on a whim in a physical shop was such a big difference and my only real goal (aside from the general health benefits and being less out of breath etc).

Unfortunately I put half the weight back on and am stating again next week.