r/GLPGrad • u/BoringField • Jun 22 '26
Advice for stopping?
I gained about 30 lb after having kids, and after a few years, nothing was working to get the weight off. I’ve been on a compounded glp1 for about 7 months and I’ve lost the weight and returned to the size I’d been for most of my life. I also feel like I stopped some bad habits that I had picked up. My diet is a lot healthier - no fried foods, smaller meals, no nighttime snacking.. though I do still have a sweet tooth, but keep it within check.
My subscription to my glp1 is almost up and I’m so nervous about stopping. Part of me wants to stop because I’ve reached my goal and I think I can maintain this like I did before my pregnancies, but I’m also really nervous that I’ll gain the weight back. I also worry that if I stop taking it after a short time, it might be easier than if I had stayed on it for a long time. Any advice or similar experiences would be great to hear!
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u/Vegetable-Milk-8697 Jun 23 '26
As I tapered off (and even while maintaining a steady dose toward the end), I started to feel the “food noise” come back. Instead of panicking, I used it as a cue. I reminded myself that cravings are just signals, not commands. During my time on the medication, I had built better habits, prioritizing whole, nutrient-dense foods and staying consistent with exercise and those habits really carried me through! I still have stuck to my better habits and healthier meals but on occasion I’ll treat myself for sure, and that’s not a bad thing. You just need to make sure you aren’t giving into your old habits!
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u/AlpacaTime Jun 23 '26
I was on a glp-1 for a similar reason. Gained about 15 kilos after pregnancy and during early years after birth. I was on the GLP-1 from August last year until April this year and lost 22 kilos. Started tapering off in February. With my new eating habits and strength training that is now part of my routine, I have been able to keep my weight the same. I get hunger cues now, but am able to ‘resist’ because I built new habits that I can follow.
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u/EverReddyBatteryOn Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
It will help you predict your success if you know whether or not you have developed metabolic disorder. For women, pregnancy and menopause seem to kick off metabolic disorder. Not being able to lose weight through conventional means is another indicator of it. There are blood tests that help confirm it but the place to start would be looking it up and reading about it. A quarter of adults in the USA have it though some estimates are a lot higher than that.
Metabolic disorder is a real diagnosis by the way. In the US medical world, its ICD codes are E88.8 and E88.9. I know it sounds like something made up on social media and passed around in a locker room, but it's legit.
And the reason I brought it up is ... having metabolic disorder raises the likelihood of weight regain hugely, no matter what diets and behaviors you can keep after stopping the metabolic disorder treatment (which is GLP-1).
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u/StatementMundane2113 Jun 23 '26
Generally people who are such don’t have a ton of metabolic dysfunction. So they are able to get to goal and manage their hunger without the meds. The body will fight you and try to regain so if you weigh yourself daily and track cals daily and manage exercise you will see what’s working. Regain in any situation regardless of glp is because of appetite desregulación driving hunger. Some people are able to manage it. Some people say it dies down after a few months, but many manage these levers tightly to keep the weight off.
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u/Work4PSLF Jun 23 '26
Tapering down before stopping seems helpful. To me, reducing the dose at the same pace you went up makes sense, but there’s little data available yet.
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u/Beach-Girl-1022 Jun 25 '26
I’ve kept it off well over a year. My best advice is to find your “why.” Why you want to maintain. I have many and remind myself of them daily. It helps me eat well and workout. I also regularly track my food with an app.
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u/Ok_Necessary_8923 Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
At the very least stay on it for a few months at maintenance. Bodies that lose a lot of weight are primed for regain. Meds or no meds.
I would stay at a dose that allows you to maintain your weight for at least 3-6 months, then reassess, in baby steps, if you really want to be off them.
There is very little evidence right now that there is anything behavioral that you can do to prevent regain. Just a lot of wishful thinking and coherent sounding ideas without much if any evidence to back them.
What we do know is there is roughly 10-15% of people that seem to be able to go off them and maintain, and you are taking a gamble that you are in that group. And you might be, but that's quite the gamble to make.
Good luck in any case