Life After Mounjaro Weight Loss: What Happened When I Lowered My Dose

I’m coming back with another Mounjaro update, but this time I’m talking less about weight loss and more about what happens afterwards and working towards your Mounjaro maintenance dose.

This is now month two of maintenance for me.

If you’re new here, I’m Emma, a health and wellness coach, and I recently lost 2 stone 4lbs — around 15kg or 34lbs — over approximately five months using Mounjaro alongside strength training, plenty of movement and focusing on my nutrition.

I reached a point where I didn’t want to lose any more weight as such. However, I did still want to continue improving my body composition, getting stronger and hopefully reducing some of the body fat I still carry, particularly around my middle.

So this next stage of my journey has really become about maintaining my weight while continuing to improve my health, fitness and body composition.

And two months in, I feel like I’m finally starting to understand what Mounjaro maintenance might look like for me.

You can either read on or watch the video version below on Youtube.

I’ve Actually Lost Another Couple of Pounds

Since hitting my goal weight, I’ve actually lost another couple of pounds.

That hasn’t been intentional.

During the weight-loss phase, I was much more focused on tracking my progressand used the tracking App Pep. I tracked my weight, measurements, injections and other metrics because I think having that data can be incredibly useful when you’re actively trying to lose weight. You can check out the app Pep HERE for apple and HERE for Android and use code EMMA25 to get 25 % off.

Now I’m in maintenance, I’ve relaxed around that considerably.

And actually, that has been one of the nicest things about this stage.

I feel almost completely free with my eating.

I would probably describe the way I’m eating now as intuitive eating, and that has always been the dream for me.

I want to be able to eat food when I’m hungry, know when I’ve had enough and stop eating when I’m full without constantly having to track or analyse everything.

My portion sizes are still much more balanced than they were before. I’m definitely snacking less and I’m drinking less alcohol, but none of this feels particularly restrictive.

It just feels… normal.

What Happened to My Hunger When I Lowered My Mounjaro Dose?

During my first month of maintenance, there was quite a significant shift in my hunger.

That did scare me a little bit.

I started getting back to that place where, if I became too hungry, I would sometimes feel shaky. I could feel my hunger increasing and there was definitely that fear of, “Oh my goodness, is this all going to come back?”

But I’m really happy to say that even though I’ve continued to reduce my dose, my hunger seems to have levelled out again.

I finally feel like I’m in this place where I have freedom around food and around my eating behaviours.

There just isn’t as much thought going into it anymore, and with that comes an immense amount of freedom.

I’m Still Seeing Changes in My Body

Although the scales haven’t changed dramatically, my measurements and progress pictures are telling another story.

I’ve lost more from around my midsection, particularly around my bra line and stomach.

I’m even starting to see the beginnings of some abdominal definition, which is something I genuinely never thought I’d say!

As someone in midlife who has PCOS, losing fat from around my middle has always been incredibly difficult.

It was also one of the big reasons I wanted to make these changes in the first place.

Yes, I wanted to look better.

Yes, I wanted to feel better.

But more than anything, I wanted to improve my health.

Even as a health and wellness coach, I felt like I was heading down a road I really didn’t want to be on. With my PCOS and insulin resistance, I was seeing signals that concerned me and I genuinely felt that if I didn’t make some changes, I could potentially end up with type 2 diabetes.

That was ultimately what pushed me towards doing something different.

Looking at my most recent pictures now, I feel like all the work I’ve put in throughout this journey is really starting to pay off.

Maintenance Currently Feels… Easy

I almost hesitate to say this, because I’m still only at the beginning of maintenance, but right now it feels easy.

It feels like freedom.

It feels like this enormous load has been lifted, both physically and mentally.

And I think this is something that is so important when we talk about women struggling with their weight.

We’re busy.

We’re overwhelmed.

We’re stressed.

We’ve got work, families and everything else going on, and then we’re adding another burden of constantly thinking about what we’re eating, how much we’re eating, whether we’ve exercised enough, whether we’ve got our steps in and whether we’re doing everything “right”.

It can become exhausting, and quite frankly its a LOT!!

To finally be at a point where I feel like I’m eating normally and don’t have to constantly think about my weight feels incredibly freeing.

That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped doing the things that support my health.

I’m still intentional about getting enough protein.

I’m still training hard.

I’m still working on my strength.

But I’m doing those things without the constant pressure of trying to lose weight.

Why I Think the Way I Lost the Weight Has Helped Me Maintain It

Throughout my Mounjaro journey, I’ve been very intentional about trying to do this in what I consider the right way.

I stayed on the lowest effective dose I could.

I also made a conscious effort to eat enough.

I think one of the potential problems when using weight-loss medication is that because your appetite is so reduced, it can become very easy to simply eat significantly less.

But I didn’t want to lose weight as quickly as possible.

I wanted to keep my energy levels up, continue training and, most importantly, maintain as much muscle mass as possible.

That’s why strength training has remained such a big part of this journey.

When we lose weight, particularly if we’re eating very little and not strength training, we risk losing muscle alongside body fat.

I didn’t want that.

I wanted to come out of this journey lighter but still strong.

And I think the work I did during the weight-loss phase is now helping me enormously in maintenance.

I have more flexibility with my diet.

I’m definitely not eating perfectly.

I go out.

I enjoy food.

I’ll have a drink with my friends.

I’ll enjoy a meal with my husband.

And I can do those things without feeling guilty, then check my weight and find that I’m still pretty much in exactly the same place.

That is something I haven’t felt able to do for a very long time.

I Feel Fitter and Stronger Than I Have in Years

The physical changes have gone far beyond simply weighing less.

I’m currently training around five times a week because I have my HYROX coming up, and I recently went out for my final run before the event.

I don’t love running.

I still have to force myself to get out there!

But over the last few years, running became really hard on my body.

My knees would hurt. My back would hurt. My hips would feel stiff. I was carrying more weight and everything simply felt harder.

On this most recent run, I took another three minutes off my time.

But more importantly, I came back feeling fit.

I felt strong.

I felt powerful.

And I remember thinking, “I feel better than I have done in years.”

My cardiovascular fitness has improved. My heart rate feels more controlled. I’m able to do sprint intervals, HIIT and longer steady-state work without feeling like it completely wipes me out.

Before, I felt like I was stuck in this downward cycle.

Exercise felt harder because I was heavier and less fit. Because it felt harder, I was less inclined to do some of the higher-intensity work. My fitness would then decline further and everything became even more difficult.

I feel like I’ve finally broken that cycle.

Now I’m fitter, stronger and leaner, which means I can do more.

And because I can do more, my fitness continues to improve.

I Feel Like I’m Back in a Body That Feels Like Me

This is probably the hardest part to explain because it isn’t something that can be measured on the scales.

I just feel like me again.

I feel more confident in my body.

My clothes feel better.

I’ve even started wearing more colour again.

Everything feels lighter and I don’t just mean physically.

Mentally, I feel lighter.

I have more clarity. I feel more focused with my work and my training. I feel more physically capable than I have in years.

My confidence has increased enormously, including my confidence as a health and wellness coach.

To say this experience has been life-changing sounds dramatic, but for me it genuinely has been.

I feel like I’m back in a body that feels like mine.

I’m no longer constantly dieting.

I’m not fixating on tracking everything.

And there’s an enormous amount of freedom that comes with that.

I’m still very early in the maintenance phase, so I’m not pretending that I’ve got everything figured out.

I’m taking it week by week and month by month.

But right now, I feel really good.

And I want to continue feeling this way.

Let’s Talk About the Stigma Around Mounjaro

One thing that has really surprised me since sharing this journey publicly is how many people have contacted me privately.

And something that comes up again and again is judgement.

There is still so much stigma around these medications.

People are scared to tell others they’re taking them because they don’t want to hear that they’ve taken the “easy way out”.

That it’s lazy.

That it’s cheating.

Or that they could have simply eaten less and exercised more.

I understand some of that judgement because, if I’m completely open, I had some of those thoughts myself at the beginning.

I was very cautious about weight-loss medication and concerned about the potential longer-term implications.

But I’ve spent a lot of time researching it and my own perspective has changed considerably throughout this journey.

I now look at Mounjaro as a tool.

If somebody has high blood pressure or high cholesterol and they’re prescribed medication to help manage it, we generally don’t accuse them of “cheating”.

And I think we need to start looking at weight-management medication through a similar lens.

That doesn’t mean I think everybody who wants to lose a few pounds should immediately use medication.

Far from it.

I’ve been a health and fitness coach for more than 20 years and I will always champion nutrition, exercise, strength training and lifestyle changes.

But I was doing those things.

I have always trained hard.

I knew what I needed to eat.

What I couldn’t seem to manage was my hunger.

With my PCOS and insulin resistance, I constantly felt like I was fighting against my body. Having a tool that helped me manage that hunger allowed me to make healthier choices consistently.

It helped me reduce my body fat.

It helped me improve my blood pressure.

It allowed me to become fitter and more active.

And now, even as I’ve reduced my dose, my hunger appears to have become much more manageable again.

“You Could Just Eat Less”

There’s always going to be somebody who says:

“You could just eat healthier and eat less.”

And yes, technically, eating fewer calories can result in weight loss.

But knowing that and being able to consistently do it when you’re struggling with hunger, hormones, stress, insulin resistance and everything else going on in your life are two completely different things.

I don’t believe people should feel ashamed for using a tool that helps them improve their health.

Especially when someone has been struggling for years, is carrying excess body fat and is beginning to see other health markers moving in the wrong direction.

For me, this was never about getting a free pass so that I didn’t have to do any work.

I’ve still had to make changes.

I’ve still prioritised protein.

I’ve still strength trained.

I’ve still got my steps in.

I’ve still worked on my habits.

Mounjaro simply made those choices easier to consistently implement because I wasn’t constantly battling my hunger. If you want my guide on Doing It The Right Way you can get that HERE

And I think that’s a really important distinction.

Mounjaro Should Be a Tool, Not the Entire Strategy

I don’t want anyone reading this to think I’m trying to convince them to take Mounjaro.

I’m not.

It is a medication.

It has potential risks and side effects, and it isn’t going to be appropriate for everyone.

I think it should be something you discuss properly with a qualified healthcare professional and consider within the context of your own health and circumstances.

But for people who have genuinely struggled, who have tried to make the lifestyle changes, who are exercising, prioritising their nutrition and still aren’t seeing improvements, I do think it’s something that can be worth discussing with a healthcare professional.

The medication shouldn’t be the entire strategy.

For me, it has been a tool that has allowed me to make better choices for my health and hopefully my longevity.

What Happens Next?

For the next few months, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing because, quite simply, it’s working.

I don’t want to lose any more weight.

And honestly, I wouldn’t be particularly bothered if I didn’t get any leaner from here either.

I’m enjoying my training.

I’m enjoying seeing how much stronger and fitter I can become.

My goal going forward is simply to maintain this.

I want to eat normally.

I want to train hard.

I want to enjoy my food.

I want to go out for a meal.

I want to be able to have a drink every now and then.

And I want to maintain my body without it feeling like a full-time job.

I want to continue feeling fitter and stronger.

And that has probably been the biggest transformation of this entire journey.

I’m not even sure I have the words to express how good I feel right now.

I just want to continue feeling this way.

If you’re also in Mounjaro maintenance or you’ve started reducing your dose, I’d genuinely love to hear how you’re finding it.

Has your hunger changed? Has the food noise returned? And are you finding maintaining your weight easier or harder than you expected?

For me, there’s definitely still the occasional craving for something sweet or more carbohydrate-based, particularly because I’m training hard at the moment.

But overall, I feel like I’m able to manage it.

I’m not constantly thinking about food.

I’m not constantly needing to eat.

And after years of feeling like maintaining my weight required so much mental energy, that freedom might just be the biggest result of all.