Life After Mounjaro: How I'm Actually Keeping the Weight Off

In a few days it'll be four weeks since my last dose of Mounjaro, so it feels like the right moment for the follow-up to my twenty-week update.

That 20 weeks was about losing the weight, or more specifically, dropping some body fat, which is the glamorous bit everyone wants to talk about. This one is about what happens once the medication clocks off and you're left doing the actual work yourself, which is a far less Instagrammable story but the one that actually matters.

Why This Bit Actually Matters

Research from Oxford University published this year found that weight regain after stopping newer weight-loss drugs like tirzepatide and semaglutide happens faster than after ending a diet and exercise programme alone, averaging around 0.8kg a month, with many people back at their starting weight within about eighteen months [1].

That's not a scare story, it's just the reality I'm actively working against, and it's exactly why this stage deserves its own post rather than being treated as an afterthought to the exciting bit.

The Numbers So Far

Four weeks in, my body fat percentage has held completely steady, which I'm pleased about. My actual weight has gone up slightly, and that's entirely deliberate. I'm rebuilding the six kilos of muscle I lost while I was running so heavily during the twenty weeks, and by the time this goes out I should have put back around a kilo of it.

I'll be honest, the first time I saw that number on the scales creep up, my instinct was a small "oh shit" before I'd even had my cup of tea. It didn't take long however to remember why the shift in number.

I'm eating more carbohydrates now, which means holding more water, and I'm deliberately eating more calories to support muscle hypertrophy on top of that. As long as you stay aware of how the number actually breaks down, fat, muscle, water etc, there's usually a straightforward explanation for it.

The hunger I get in the days before my period (which in the latter part of my 20 week journey, were absent) hasn't changed one bit, and with the erratic nature of menstruation in perimenopause, it's been a sure fire indicator I'm about to have a period, and that plays into the scales measurements too.

So the big takeaway here is a rising number, in this specific context of gaining muscle, is a win, not a slip.

The Appetite Is Back

I won't pretend otherwise, the appetite returns pretty quickly once you stop the injections. You do need to stay mindful of it. I'm not especially worried about mine, because I actually need the extra calories right now to build muscle, but I know that won't be true for everyone coming off this medication. I'm still avoiding puddings as a rule, though I'll happily have an odd piece of chocolate at the weekend.

I did have a pastry recently, for the first time in about six months, and I'd built it up in my head as some sort of reunion! It was a bit of an anticlimax, if I'm honest. It didn't make me feel great afterwards, and the sugar wasn't anywhere near as delicious as memory had promised. Your palate changes far more than you expect it to, and apparently mine has moved on without telling me.

Training, Properly

This is where most of the real work is happening, and it isn't subtle. I'm getting at least two strength and conditioning classes in every week, and I try to add a targeted leg day on top of that to support my running.

I've also just signed up to a run group challenge on Strava to hit 100km over September, so some days I'm doubling up to squeeze the mileage in, which is exactly as knackering as it sounds. It's a lot, and if you'd told me a year ago I'd be choosing this, voluntarily, for fun, I'd have laughed you out of the room. It's working, though, so I'm not arguing with it.

The Running Club

I joined a running club recently, and I am old enough to be the mother of most of the group, quite literally in the majority of cases. I keep waiting for someone to point that out and nobody has.

I've felt genuinely fortunate to be part of the crew, welcomed without a shred of judgment about my age or my pace. There's a real sense of community in it that I wasn't expecting, and it deserves its own post at some point, so I'll leave the full story there for now.

The Holiday Test

In a few days I'm going away, and I'll be continuing to exercise while I'm out there. I won't be weighing myself, and I'll genuinely be enjoying the food. - nothing beats a Turkish breakfast buffet.

There is life after Mounjaro! What's changed is that I'm just not interested anymore in the things that used to feel like a naughty, indulgent treat. I'm not worried about undoing what I've achieved, because I know a little dietary tidy up when I get back would sort things out if it ever needed to.

Life after Mounjaro. What's Actually Different This Time

I've lost weight before and watched it creep back on, if I'm honest about it. I'd drop the weight, go back to eating normally, and somehow expect to just stay there, as if the maintenance would sort itself out. It never did.

This time I've locked in the physical side of things properly, and the bigger shift has been in my head. I've moved from a mindset of lack, where not eating the sweet treats felt like missing out, to one of fuelling my body properly for the movement I actually want to be doing. That's the fun part now, not the deprivation.

If you're coming to the end of your own course and feeling nervous about what happens next, focus on that shift. The injections did their job. What happens after is about building a relationship with food and movement that doesn't depend on the medication to hold it together.

Be well, my friends. Take good care of you.

With Love. Alex x

References

[1] University of Oxford, weight regain after stopping GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, January 2026