Once you meet your goal - Cycle off or find a maintenance amount and cruise...

Status
Not open for further replies.
DunningKruger said:
In the past I have cycled off, so as not to become dependant on exogenous molecules. I've only ever had 10-15 lbs creep back in times of inadequate diet/exercise/stress, and deal with it accordingly with another short cycle.

I find the best maintenance number is not so much a number, but where your body can comfortably sit without excessive effort. To me, too much maintenance effort is a sign that the goals are unsustainable. The lower the body fat the harder it is to maintain without rigorous diet/exercise, and then you have the hormonal BS that goes with it, chronically high cortisol, loss of hair, loss of menses (for women).

What about you? What's your take on it?
Hoping to meet goal and lifestyle change makes it stick, we shall see but it is def something I am already thinking about as I start my journey.
 
gimmeshelter said:
I am just curious with those that have met the weight goal they had in mind. For example, you went from 200lbs to 165lbs. Once you get to 165lbs are some lowering the dosage but staying on a schedule or do you cycle off and then back on as needed?

For those that find a maintenance number is it near the amount you started at? Below? Above? Thanks !
Excellent question... I was thinkin about starting a thread asking for info as to maintenance dose/ frequency of Tirz but curios of other GLP's also. I'm nowhere near going maintenance yet...
 
gimmeshelter said:
Hoping to meet goal and lifestyle change makes it stick, we shall see but it is def something I am already thinking about as I start my journey.
It really can stick, even if we have metabolic or autoimmune issues that make it more difficult for pudge to budge. I lost 70 lbs 26 years ago (the old WeightWatchers way) and have kept it off ever since.

When I do gain, its only ever 10 to 15 lbs, and it's only happened twice in the two plus decades since. Those were times when indulgence increased, fitness decreased, and self care went out the window (stress + holidays + breakups = 😵‍💫).

You really do work on yourself, inside and out. You learn your patterns and consciously work to change them (like going to the fridge when bored or stressed). You learn to love and respect yourself, and change your entire lifestyle. It's possible, and it's glorious.

The better you feel in your body, the better you start to treat yourself, and you decide not to hurt yourself anymore. It takes time, but it can stick. 🙂
 
Calm Logic said:
The lesson from SURMOUNT-4 :

"The consistency of these data across therapeutic classes... suggests that obesity is a chronic metabolic condition ...requiring long-term therapy in most patients. Much of [the] initial improvement in cardiometabolic risk factors had been reversed [after stopping tirzepatide]."
I dunno, Calm. Did you read the conflicts of interest and study funding? If I or my shareholders made money off of you buying it for life, I'd tell you to stay on it too.
 
DunningKruger said:
I dunno, Calm. Did you read the conflicts of interest and study funding? If I or my shareholders made money off of you buying it for life, I'd tell you to stay on it too.
Well, good luck to you. It's painfully obvious to me.
 
DunningKruger said:
I dunno, Calm. Did you read the conflicts of interest and study funding? If I or my shareholders made money off of you buying it for life, I'd tell you to stay on it too.
This. Just like you need to be on that ridiculous titration schedule..

I will see for myself. I may be happiest doing exactly what I'm doing now forever, who knows.
 
If I had more control of my home food environment, I would possibly never have needed GLPs, but it's hard to know with getting older, etc. I was of normal BMI until after I got married at age 35. I never bought mayonnaise and rarely chips, and never donuts or brownie mix.

My lean spouse has a mean sweet tooth, and there is an 870-calore slice of carrot cake on the counter now. With GLPs, I may have a bite or two at the most. Without GLPs, God help me, even with putting temptations out of the way.

Each family kitchen can be a microcosm of our society's food environment as a whole, with the commercials for Papa John's new pan pizza keeping the mental marathons going.
 
Calm Logic said:
If I had more control of my home food environment, I would possibly never have needed GLPs, but it's hard to know with getting older, etc. I was of normal BMI until after I got married at age 35. I never bought mayonnaise and rarely chips, and never donuts or brownie mix.

My lean spouse has a mean sweet tooth, and there is an 870-calore slice of carrot cake on the counter now. With GLPs, I may have a bite or two at the most. Without GLPs, God help me, even with putting temptations out of the way.

Each family kitchen can be a microcosm of our society's food environment as a whole, with the commercials for Papa John's new pan pizza keeping the mental marathons going.
SAME. I am fine on my own, but my family wants chips, appetizers, deserts... and it's Everywhere!

I agree with you. I didn't know what was meant by food noise; until it was GONE!
 
DunningKruger said:
It really can stick, even if we have metabolic or autoimmune issues that make it more difficult for pudge to budge. I lost 70 lbs 26 years ago (the old WeightWatchers way) and have kept it off ever since.

When I do gain, its only ever 10 to 15 lbs, and it's only happened twice in the two plus decades since. Those were times when indulgence increased, fitness decreased, and self care went out the window (stress + holidays + breakups = 😵‍💫).

You really do work on yourself, inside and out. You learn your patterns and consciously work to change them (like going to the fridge when bored or stressed). You learn to love and respect yourself, and change your entire lifestyle. It's possible, and it's glorious.

The better you feel in your body, the better you start to treat yourself, and you decide not to hurt yourself anymore. It takes time, but it can stick. 🙂
Congratulations on having lost weight and kept it off in the pre GLP era. It is certainly something I tried very hard to achieve and failed to do, best ever was getting to normal BMI and staying there for nearly 3 years then putting weight back on and ending up at 145kg about 8 years later. Every bit of research I have ever read says that while it can be done, it is genuinely rare, with only around 5% of people who achieve massive weight loss through diet and exercise keeping the weight off long term.

For most people with significant obesity and especially those with health problems associated with obesity, staying on them long term for weight maintenance and added heath benefits are a better option than stopping them. Most people who have lost a lot of weight who stop them will either end up regaining weight or restarting the GLP's or both.

In most or all people with severe obesity who lose lots of weight there are processes occurring that make keeping the weight off hard. With weight loss hunger increases, and metabolic rate decreases. While obese metabolic rate is above normal usually due to extra lean and fat mass and the extra energy required to move that extra mass around. With massive weight loss this falls to normal as extra mass is lost and then metabolic adaptation reduces daily energy expenditure to below levels that would be usual for someone of that weight, age and activity level. So that to maintain the weight loss calorie intake has to be lower than average, despite the increased hunger, and this problem continues for years or possibly forever. Maintaining this requires mental effort and in nearly everyone this eventually is exhausted and weight regain occurs as food intake increases.

I only started GLP's for maintenance.

I have the fairly recent experience of losing 70kg or so without GLP medication, and staying there for a year. At that point as far as I knew the costs were just not viable for me. Eventually I worked out that there was a reasonably inexpensive legit option for ozempic in Australia and started that. The difference in maintaining that weight loss with and without GLP medication is huge, even with low dose ozempic it was worth putting up with the nausea and malaise for a year in exchange for less hunger. And once I discovered grey GLP's , they made a much bigger difference as I was able to tolerate normal doses of tirzepatide, and added a bit of retatrutide as well to increase the effect.

Trying to keep the weight off without GLP's I was constantly worried that I would mess up and eat the wrong foods or start putting on weight and did not really believe I would be able to keep it off long term, as that is what had happened every time in the past. And was hungry a lot of the time. This was despite daily exercise and a very healthy diet.

With GLP medication I have reasonable confidence the weight will stay off. And life is more pleasant without the near constant hunger and fears of triggering excessive eating. I am asking a lot more than the studies have shown in getting them to assist in keeping off a weight loss of 54%, but so far it seems to be working.

For most people staying on GLP's after the weight loss improves people chances of maintaining healthier lifestyle choices. Several studies have shown people buy and eat healthier, less processed, lower fat and sugar foods while taking them. And exercise is easier, more pleasant and less likely to cause injuries or long term joint damage at lower weights, increasing odds of continuing exercise by preventing weight regain. For most of the population cost is a major factor on staying on them long term. The price for grey GLP's is so low at 25c/mg for tirzepatide and around 50c/mg for retatrutide that this is a non issue even for fairly poor people.
 
gimmeshelter said:
I am just curious with those that have met the weight goal they had in mind. For example, you went from 200lbs to 165lbs. Once you get to 165lbs are some lowering the dosage but staying on a schedule or do you cycle off and then back on as needed?

For those that find a maintenance number is it near the amount you started at? Below? Above? Thanks !
From a starting weight of 232.6 lbs on June 6, 25 (I lost 10 lbs prior from 245 with willpower alone and it sucked), I met my original goal weight (190) October of last year annd then proceeded to take another 5 lbs off for good measure. October of last year I was on 7.5 mg of tirz and 1.8 mg of survo and have stayed on that regimen ever since. I haven't gone above 190 since then and average 187.5 for months now. I eat whatever I want when I want (which admittedly is vastly different and healthier than pre-June 2025) and I do finally enjoy exercising and - believe it or not - walking - especially stairs. I still get a big kick out of being able to do stairs without being completely wiped. Grey glps are dirt cheap and I see no reason whatsoever to judge myself for taking care of myself or believing the old moral effort and backbone bullcrap regarding will power and weakness and character-deficit. What a waste of time, energy, and emotion to think that I have anything at all to prove. To who? For what purpose? Geez
 
My experience, having been on and off GLP1s for over two years, is that its hard to keep all the weight off after hitting goal with the glp1, but if I have improved my lifestyle changes, i.e., clean diet and regular exercise, I wont put all that weight back on. Other people have said it in here, and I concur...if I have to stay on other meds for life and I dont blink an eye at that, why should I expect it to be different with glp1s?
 
RoadRash said:
...if I have to stay on other meds for life and I dont blink an eye at that, why should I expect it to be different with glp1s?
....and why should it even bother you?

That's the part that I don't get.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
4,434
Messages
86,405
Members
7,877
Latest member
jhonpdr
Back
Top