I’m at my goal weight. What now?

[rougheredges]

Over the last 2.5 years I’ve lost over 7 stone - from 16 stone to 8 stone 11. I lost 2 stone calorie counting, stalled, then lost the rest on Mounjaro. Highest dose pen was 7.5mg
Since I reached my goal weight I moved down from 7.5 to 5mg which I’ve been on for the last few months. I’m maintaining- in fact lost another 5lbs on 5mg. I’ve just ordered a 2.5mg pen to go down to which worries me.

I have changed the way I live. I’ve knocked problematic drinking and snacking in the head, much smaller portions, lots of exercise. I SHOULD be able to maintain but it scares me.

I think my options are

1. stay on 2.5 forever. Perhaps do it every 10 days?
2. start taking a tablet instead
3. stop all medication altogether.

Has anyone got any advice? I’m terrified of doing the wrong thing and upsetting all my hard work.

im calorie counting to maintain my weight after an almost 7st weight loss.

I’ve been at target a year and have had no Mounjaro in that time, but have religiously calorie counted.

i think I’ll be doing it forever as once you’ve had a weight problem, you’ve got one for life and will always need to work at staying slim

@ItsStillWorkHow have you found calorie counting without meds? I love the reduced food noise and I’m worried I’ll struggle. I know I’ll always be mentally an obese person in a slimmer body…

@rougheredges I am not quite there yet, as I'm not quite at my target weight. Only a few pounds away though, but weight loss has really ground to a slow crawl at the moment.

I have a similar list of possible options, take a (smaller maybe) dose long term, move to Foundayo, or taper off and stop. I also have "restart if necessary" on the list. You can't undo all your hard work if you keep tabs on everything and act as soon as things start to head persistently in the wrong direction.

The issue I have is that I know that I cannot calorie count long term as it causes me almost as much damage to my mental health and general wellbeing as being obese does. For me, it also increases the risk of having a rebound binge period of time if I have a "bad" day or week. That's what has fuelled the diet/regain cycle for me in the past. I know I have to be able to manage to eat in a way that manages my total calories but doesn't lead to the issues that calorie counting leads to. So, portion control, occasionally fasting, reducing or removing added sugar, processed carbs etc, prioritising protein and fibre etc etc. That has got to be a long term habit for me and I know it may take a long time for it to become as deeply embedded as my previous overeating behaviour was.

As I understand it, while a person may have lost weight, the fat cells themselves have not changed yet, they will still be unhealthy. They are almost biding their time until you get back to your old bad eating habits.

You may have to wait another year or so and stay the same weight before you can really be said to have 'lost' that weight because that may be how long it takes for the fat cells to change and be more efficient, so they maximise usefully and efficiently and food input. Until then, you may be still in the situation where you eat and still feel hungry or unfulfilled.

Well done on the weight loss but some folk don't understand why the weight piles back on so easily; I think this is the reason.

This is so true. Calorie counting for 40 years has damaged me mentally. This is why the meds were so life changing- I just ate less and didn’t count exact calories. I’m hoping I’ve changed my life enough to not need to calorie count again. I plan to

1. weigh myself every week. I need to know what’s happening with my weight so I can deal with it as it comes up.
2. I’ve managed without breakfast for 2 years now which has the added advantage of chucking a bit of fasting into the mix. I’ll continue without breakfast.
3. no booze in the week!
4. no snacking
5. smaller portions
6. I exercise 4 times a week plus walk the dog on the days I don’t have a class.

this SHOULD be enough but I’m just worried about food noise derailing me…

This is how i explained it to my genetically slim friend who queried why i still jab weekly now i have lost weight.
My hunger levels the day before jab are insane; worse since i dropped to 4mg. The max dose i used was 12.5. I am already eating around 1800 calories so its not like i am in a deficit (im 5ft4) but sometimes i feel like i havent eaten! I eat 25g fibre a day minimum. 2.5 to 3 litres of water, 125g protein minimum so doing all the things that are supposed to dull hunger. But, my now emptier fat cells are ready to fill up again lol

I've still got a way to go but losing weight steadily on 12.5mg. When I get just above goal weight I'll move down 2.5mg each month until on 2.5mg and see how I go on that. I've changed behaviour around food so sensible portion sizes, higher protein and and lower carbs, drinking plenty of water. All you can do is try 2.5mg and see how you go over the month. If OK you could move to 2.5mg every 9 days then every 12 days until you may not need Mounjaro any more. Just keep up exercise and drinking water before meals. I wouldn't rush it though. If you need the 2.5 for an extra month have it.

I order 5mg pens every 7-8 weeks and I split dose. Some weeks I’m fine on 2mg, sometimes I go for closer to 3mg. Easily maintain this way without calorie counting but I am sure to hit protein goals and I lift weights.

Will also just add, the words 'diet' and 'lose weight' seem to be triggering. They sort of kick off an insane craving or gnawing hunger in me, one that wasn't there before I saw those words.
Just 'eating healthily' will do - and I found I could do six months of that and just plateau before my fat cells got wind of what was going on and followed suit.

Following as I’ve reached goal weight about a month ago. I feel a bit lost to be honest, losing weight was top of mind for so many months and now it’s done and I’m not sure how to approach maintenance. I’m slowly reducing my dose by 1mg every few weeks and trying to eat in a similar way but with some extra (healthy) snacks and slightly bigger portions.

It’s weird feeling isn’t it? This is the only time in my adult life (I’m 55!) when I can say I’m at the weight I want to be. It’s disorienting. Being bigger, dieting, losing and gaining has been my whole adult life. I feel strangely sad. We went out for a Chinese for my son’s birthday on Saturday. I ate carefully and moderately but did have one crispy duck pancake. I was telling myself it was fine, that I should be able to have the occasional small treat without gaining but the guilt was real.
It’s strange navigating a world where I don’t have anything more to lose.
I was reassured that I could sit at a table surrounded by Chinese food and stick to a small plate, a single pancake and a dumpling. Perhaps this time it’ll work…

Well, that's the problem of having a hobby that's 'weight loss'. People don't like to give up their hobbies. Maybe that's why there's subconscious self-sabotage at play in some cases.

Maybe find a new hobby? Or use your new physique to take up a sport of some kind? Badminton, or something?

I'm at my goal weight, but still in early days. I've been tapering down my dose - I'm currently on 2.5mg of Mounjaro every 10 days and am still losing weight slowly, so I'm going to move down to 1.25 next time.

Once I'm off medication completely, my current plan is to monitor my weight daily and take action if I go above my 2kg tolerance range, sand also to focus more on strength and fitness gains and body recomposition. I want to see my skeletal muscles percentage increase on my scales, and to be able to increase my weights at the gym, so I'm going to focus my excitement on those goals and also give myself bribes/rewards for staying in my weight maintenance range, starting with a small tea sample from bird and blend for the first week and working up to a European city break if I manage 2 years.

I have spent so many hours of my adult life thinking about weight and researching weight loss and cooking stupid meals and endlessly buying and returning clothes in the hope that something made me look thinner. You’re right- it’s been the world’s shittest hobby.
I’m exercising a lot more. Reading more. Eating the same food as the rest of the family- just smaller amounts and more veg. Cooking just once. All the extra headspace is a very peculiar feeling.

I have been maintaining on Mounjaro for 9 months now after ~9.5st loss over 19 months.

My top dose was only 3.75mg so not much to taper down, but I have slowly, weighing weekly. Over 9 months I’ve dropped 3 times and now down to 1.67mg weekly and I haven’t noticed any difference really. I am planning to move down to 1.25mg weekly so a 2.5mg pen lasts 8 weeks (my provider allows me to use my pens for 8 weeks) which will make it very affordable.

I don’t calorie count, but take 15 minutes out every week to log my weight/inject and if it has started trending upwards I think about the previous week and if I am allowing portion sizes to creep up, not getting enough protein, or snacking again etc That is has been enough to nip it in the bud.

I plan to stay on a low dose until at least after Christmas/January. Possibly another year, possibly forever. Some days I think my dose is so low now I cracked it and this is all placebo, then others I think Mounjaro is there doing its thing, it may be more subtle but still powerful.

I am watching how others are getting on with Foundayo, but not keen to change from something I know works for me, is affordable as a low dose, and the weekly injection routine is a good weekly personal check in that all is still ok.

I’ve been at my goal weight for about 6 months or so (bloody scales lost all my data so annoyingly I can’t check properly!) but using 10mg to maintain. Next time I reorder in going to try a 7.5mg pen and see how I get on, not holding out much hope I’ll be able to exercise as much willpower as I know I’ll need. I’ve got insulin resistant PCOS which is well managed with MJ so I don’t know why I feel like I’m failing by still needing the meds at a higher dose. I’m pretty hungry and feel cravings on 10mg but I can manage them just about. I don’t drink much in the way of alcohol, probably once a month I’ll drink 2 small glasses of wine but it’s not something I can easily just cut out as a way of drastically cutting back because I don’t even drink every month.

I’ve been at goal for 2-3 months now and have struggled to settle on a plan so the default option has been to stay on 5mg, but I have still lost a few pounds.

Like you, I have done a lot of calorie counting and weight watchers over the years and ultimately the evidence shows I can’t sustain it. I usually go in a cycle of finding it great, then starting to getting obsessed, then finding it very oppressive, and then needing a break (which is supposed to be brief) and then finding it really hard to restart and in the meantime putting the weight back on. I’d love to think ‘oh it’ll work this time’ but you know the old saying about the definition of madness!

My current plan is to reduce my dose very very slowly over about 2 years (this month and next month I’ll do 4.75mg, then two months on 4.5mg etc etc). I had to have a two week break recently due to a stomach bug and the hunger I experienced by the end of the two weeks, once I was better, was insane. There is no way I could deal with that at the moment.

Ultimately there will be a decision about low dose forever or try without but I’m hoping that will become clearer over time.

That’s insane to me to eat so little and I think it is probably the key to a lot of peoples failure. It’s absolutely fine to eat a proper meal when out, a duck pancake and a dumpling really is nothing. I think when you try to be so restrictive you inevitably fail. I’m have lost almost 10 stone now and I’m currently on 5mg of Mounjaro and if I went out for a Chinese I would eat slightly less than a whole portion but I would absolutely be having a full meal even at that. I do plan to stay on WLI for the long term though as I know I couldn’t maintain without them. They take the edge off but they don’t stop me from eating or enjoying. Perhaps if you stop trying to restrict so badly you will stand a better chance of maintaining wit a tablet or nothing?

I think that different people have different metabolisms. I've been losing weight at the same time as a friend, and I'm taller and more active and loose weight rating eating more than her maintenance amount.

I've managed to eat out whilst losing weight, and would generally eat half my starter and half my main course and save the rest for the next day. I went out last night while trying to very gradually lose my final 2 kg to get to the bottom of my ideal weight range and ate all of my starter and most of the main course. I'm still in my goal weight range.

This is certainly true for me. I'm ND, and I have to have my special interests that I hyper-focus on. This last year (since beginning MJ), I've really enjoyed the process. I'm just a few pounds off goal now, and I'm nervous of losing my special interest. Hopefully I can hyper-focus on maintenance. The suggestion of finding an alternative hobby is a good one

As for my plan, I never went higher than 2.5 mg, so once at goal I think I'll halve the dose for a few months and see how I get on. I do intend definitely to come off completely, so I want to be very careful about how I do it, and not rush. I have never calorie counted at all; it's not for me for various reasons which include the reasons mentioned by other posters. I just try to eat intuitively. I always do intermittent fasting, and will carry on with that. Also avoiding sugar (but not giving up completely).

I’m two kilograms off my goal weight. However my plan is to stay on 3mg but extend to say every 8 days then every 9 etc etc

Ive also made a window weight 65kg -69kg and if I hit 69 kg I will go back to weekly injections

Then next year my window will be 64-68kg

What I’m struggling with is the mentality of I’m not always the fat girl … I’m not the big girl … it was my unwanted identity for so long and now I feel very self conscious in a different way without all my spare tyres on my belly .

so I’m happy tapering off slowly still through the next few years

This is absolutely how you need to see it. You won’t be losing your special interest because it is for LIFE. Maintenance is working hard at it every day same as the losing weight
I’m similar, I’ve made it into one of my ocd traits haha

Thank you. This sound very much like something I could do (oh and congrats on the fantastic loss!) I’ll need to investigate how to split doses.

I had a plate of food as well! When losing I wouldn’t have done the pancake or the dumpling as well- I pushed the boat out this time 🤣

Oh sorry; I completely misread.