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!)

Thanks for the thread @WeAllHaveWings !

I'm hoping to come off completely but am currently down to 5mg (from 10) and will stay there for a while, I think. I've hit my goal (11st 4, total loss 6 stone over the course of a year) and have gone below that a bit. Currently hovering around 11st 1. Ideally I want to be 4-5lbs below goal when I do come off completely.

Feel like I haven't got a fucking clue what I'm doing.😂

Know exactly what you mean @GiveMeWordGames thought I had a good idea what I was doing but the last 4-5 weeks are beginning to feel like I am pro actively pushing the limits and trying to tempt fate and I haven't quite worked out why yet. Am I self sabotaging as I want to get back to that exciting weight loss, chasing a goal feeling. Or has it been the introduction of more carbs bringing back bad habits.

Good news this week, end of week 18 of maintenance (week 91 of Mounjaro), last 6 weeks on 2.5mg again, I'm still maintaining around my maintenance weight......so far.

The way I approached maintenance was to "reverse diet" slowly increase calories by adding into what I was eating before (healthy protein based/lots of veg) some additional calories by having a wrap with my chicken and salad meal, or some bread to dook in my homemade lentil soup. Or a peshwari naan with my Indian takeaway 😳

But over a last few weeks I know the balance of calories in carbs is increasing - I don't track, but it is clear it doesn't feel right, and I am lax about correcting it as I don't see it on the scales yet 🙈

Hi. Just popping in from the other thread to say hi.
I have quite a few months till my target weight but would eventually like to be here - at target weight and maintaining! Seems like an impossible dream at the moment.
I will be lurking and picking up tips & tricks in preparation for the day i will happily be a 'maintainer'.

I lost 33-34 in 3.5 months with wegovy from 94kg at 163cm down to 60-61kg. I seem to fluctuate around there. I have never felt healthier and better in myself and it’s the easiest it’s ever been to keep the weight off as I changed my eating habits and exercise routine while on the jabs.

I only ever went up to 1mg of wegovy. I’m not sure if you’d lose more on a higher dose but it wasn’t necessary for me. Do you increase the dose if the hunger returns? I did get hungry but I’d manage to develop willpower whilst on the jabs so I’d be ok without them.

@dovess I have been on Mounjaro for 22 months, maintaining for 4. I was very (financially!) fortunate I never had to increase dose above 3.75mg and lost over 9st in that time and I am planning to maintain where I am now around BMI 24.6, not looking to lose more - as I am older / have quite a bit of loose skin which would probably take me closer to BMI 24.

Eating habits did dramatically change, almost from day 1, during the whole weight loss period, and thinking about it hunger is not significantly different now I have dropped to 2.5mg. The first 2-3-ish months maintaining was ok.

What has changed in the last few weeks - I am seeing, over the longer term, i think due to introducing back in more carbs to increase calories up to maintenance levels, I am starting to lose that good balance of carbs in my meals. I am getting attracted to too many carbs again. Not refined sugar though.

Maybe it is stress at work (working again today - not out enjoying the rarely seen Scottish sun ☀️today!) and not making time to meal plan / food shop order and it is just easier to throw some carbs together.

This thread is hopefully going to reignite my determination to make this stick - starting today!

Just saying Hello and I hope to be joining in about October, so keep going and I'll try to find you if there's another thread by the time I get there...! 😊

Although even with a stone to go, I kind of feel like I'm in maintenance mode a bit already - trying to embed good habits and see this as a forever thing - but am not tapering just yet, so will bugger off and will hopefully be back in a few months!

This came up on my feed. I wasn’t on the original thread but I lost 5 stone on MJ (7 in total). Maintaining on 15mg. Found slight increases in weight on last few months so back to counting to try and get a bit of control again

Hi.

Thanks for setting up this thread. I have been on the other chat, so sorry for the repetition for those who have seen me on that…

I’ve been on Mounjaro since Jan 25 and have lost 55kg - mostly in that first year, and on max dose was on 10. I’ve overhauled my diet (focussing on protein and fibre) and discovered exercise in a big way (doing it because I enjoy it rather than the food it “buys” me) and have never felt better.

Over the last month or two I’ve been trying to come to a soft stop (by that I mean I’m happy to lose a few kg more, but equally very happy where I am) by slowly decreasing the dose (now at 8.5) and increasing calories. However, my body seems to have other ideas and on a mini whoosh having lost 2kg this month.

I have no idea what I’m doing really, especially on fuelling my exercise, never having been so active before. I’m fully intending on staying on a low dose long term, but no idea what that’ll end up being.

So very keen to find a place to share maintenance ideas!

Thanks!

I had a similar idea to your soft stop @Questions1234 but did it because I am in my late 50s and didn’t want to over shoot.

I was very lucky that I lost consistently for 18 months, I never plateaued or stalled, and was still averaging 1lb a week loss. So to slow it down I started tentatively reducing (I didn’t have far to go as only got as high as 3.75mg) to 3mg when I was around BMI 27 and continued to lose, but slightly slower, until I hit BMI 25.

I started increasing calories for another 3 months before reducing to 2.5mg 6 weeks ago. Now planning to stay put until I get a handle on my carbs!

I was getting into an exercise routine, nothing major (walking and dumbbells at home) but consistent , but it has suffered with my ankle fracture/drop foot, needing HRT increased and project deadlines/different timezones or weekend working over the last 6 months. I really need to stop making excuses, prioritise and kick start it. I’m off work next week for first break from work this year and that is one of my goals (hope the Scottish 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 weather keeps up for me!)

Hi everyone.

So my weight is continuing to go down, despite my lowering my dose to 8mg (though appreciate this will take a while to work through) and increasing my calories. I’m miles off being underweight (BMI was 24 this morning) but really do want to stabilise soon as I’m vain and not liking my emerging bony shoulders!

Anyone got any tips? Should I increase calories faster? Decrease dose faster? Though everything I’ve read about maintenance seems to suggest slow/gradual changes? I wish I’d started my soft stop sooner, but it’s so hard to know how it’ll play out!

I am quite active now - lifting and running - so wondering if I need to be eating even more? I don’t trust the calorie estimates on my Apple Watch (seem v high), but my “have a banana before I run” approach is probably not enough?

To anyone thinking about maintenance my advice would be - start to slow before you think you need to!

@Questions1234 what about spacing out your doses a bit more?

I still seem to be rumbling around between 11st 0.5 - 11st 1.75 which is fine but I'd rather get a tiny bit lower if I can. Feel like I'll need that 4-5lb buffer zone below 11st 4 if I'm aiming to come off completely.

@Questions1234 would a post workout snack as well as your banana help increase your calories, some carbs to replace the energy and protein to support muscle repair and align with your now active lifestyle/fitness?

I think you are right to do everything gradually, I am the same, make a change then see the effect over several weeks, I am trying to gauge dose around food noises rather than weight. I am decreasing only by 0.5-0.75mg at a time for a full pen (8+ weeks) to see the effect, but that is because I am sensitive to Mounjaro (top dose was only 3.75mg), so dropping 0.5mg feels like a bigger % drop for me.

If you are on higher doses I would imagine dropping in larger increments (1.5-2.5mg) would be similarly gradual as long as you feel comfortable with that - I do think a fair part of this stage will be "psychological" too, if that makes sense.

2lb "gain" for me this week, I want to be more into the green zone (picture) and trying not to overreact to a teeny tiny "upward trend" since changing to 2.5mg 🙈 I maybe need to resize my graph as it is only 4lb difference between now and lowest! 🤣

Been maintaining exact dose and weight for over a year, not planning on stopping. Calories for maintenance are about 1100 now, not possible to do it without the MJ.

Feel absolutely great, incredibly active, wear whatever and do whatever I want. No side effects apart from the ongoing cost. Have had to tweak my protein as I do much better on 80-90gms rather than the minimum of 60gm for me.

Really happy I’ve had an entire year staying exactly the same weight with no dieting, best year ever 😊

What is the advantage of spacing doses as opposed to lowering? Doesn’t stretching the doses give you more peaks and troughs in terms of medication in your system? Or have I misunderstood?? I was thinking of stretching if I ever got down to minimal doses, but feels at 8 I have a lot of space to move down still? But very open to suggestions?

I find judging what I need in terms of buffer zone hard to get my around, and I imagine it will change over time? I love the shape I am now, but mainly because I’m working out a lot. I imagine if I’m ever injured/cant exercise as much, I might want to tweak my goals?

It’s all in the scale - I totally would change it 🤣📈.

Good call on the post work out snack - especially for when I’m running (burns lots of calories according to my watch). I’ve rediscovered trail mix which feels a good option.

You’re probably right that I could drop in bigger increments (I’ve been doing 0.5 at a time), but I’m terrified of the food noise returning. But guess if that happened I could just nudge up again the next week? I might see how my weight goes over the next couple of weeks (as I said - miles off being underweight, but odd to be aiming to slow but scales still going down).

That’s so impressive to hear you’ve been maintaining for a year - very reassuring for people like me dipping my toe into maintenance.

Out of interest, how did you settle on your maintenance calories? Was it trail and error? And do you keep track of calories? I’ve recently switched from watching everything most of the time, to mainly tracking fibre and protein to make sure I’m hitting 30g fibre and 100-130g protein (which feels high compared to yours - I’m around 61kg now), and keeping a rough eye on calories but not stressing too much. I’m wondering if this will work in maintenance, or whether I’ll ever actually be able to just “be” with food?

So my maintenance calories are the maximum I can eat without putting on weight. I’ve been taking the same dose (10mg MJ) for almost the whole time. A year ago I stopped losing (and didn’t need to lose more, BMI 21.3) and I just stayed on the dose. I’ve not lost or gained at all in the last year.

If I focus on protein I don’t need to do anything else, I don’t even really need to track calories as I just let the MJ do the work of maintaining me. Unfortunately after 40 years of ‘dieting’ I know the calorie content of everything. I know that before I do the injection the last couple of days I’m eating about 1400-1500 and the first 3 days after injection only 900-1000 so it all evens out.

It would go all to shit for me if I didn’t eat protein first, if I didn’t eat protein every meal, if I ate white bread. Being peri I’d end up feeling really rough if I ate sugar first.

I tried stretching it out by a couple of days, so hopefully not creating a massive trough/peak situation. Also, I'm back down to 5 now so less peak.

For me, because I'm planning to stop eventually, it was a way of seeing/reminding/preparing myself how I feel with less support from MJ a couple of extra days a week. Without actually coming off yet. Actually, I realise, it's just extending what @LaurieFairyCake is describing happens appetite-wise on a normal 7 days schedule.

I've stopped and gone back to 7 days for now mainly because, as above, I do still want to actively lose a little bit more but also it was baking my tiny brain a bit not having a nice, easy, regular jab day each week. 😂