Keeping the weight off
Reaching your goal is one thing. Holding it is another. Ongoing, supervised treatment and the right habits help protect the progress you have made.
Why weight tends to come back
Losing weight changes your biology in ways that push to regain it. Knowing this is not discouraging, it is what a good maintenance plan is built around.
Appetite returns
When treatment stops abruptly, the appetite signals it quietened tend to return. The old hunger and food noise can come back within weeks.
A lower set point is slow to settle
The body defends its previous weight for a long time. Research shows much of the lost weight can return if both treatment and habits stop together.
Metabolism adjusts
A lighter body burns fewer calories. Without protected muscle and steady activity, weight can creep back on even on the same diet.
Life gets in the way
Stress, travel and busy weeks pull old habits back. A plan that expects this, rather than hoping it will not happen, is the one that holds.
Maintenance is not failure to finish. For many people, staying well means staying supported, and that is a sensible plan, not a setback.
How maintenance works with us
There is no single right answer for everyone. Some people stay on a maintenance dose. Some step down gradually with clinical support. Some move off medication entirely and lean on the habits they have built. Which route suits you is a decision to make with your prescribing pharmacist, based on your progress and your health.
Whatever the route, your prescription is reviewed every 3 months. At each review we check your progress, confirm the plan still fits, and adjust it if needed. Stopping suddenly and without support is the pattern most likely to lead to regain, so we plan any change with you rather than leaving you to work it out alone.
The habits below carry more weight in maintenance than at any other stage. They are what let you hold your result when the medicine is doing less of the work.
The habits that hold your result
Protect your muscle
Protein at every meal and strength work two or three times a week keep the muscle that keeps your metabolism working.
Keep weighing in
A weekly weigh-in catches small regains early, while they are still easy to reverse. What gets measured gets managed.
Guard your sleep
Short sleep raises hunger hormones the next day. Protecting sleep protects your appetite control.
Stay in review
Three-monthly reviews mean any change to your treatment is planned and supported, not sudden.
Maintenance: your questions
Want to read more about weight loss and GLP-1 medication?
Read our Weight Loss Health GuideFind out if treatment is right for you
Check your eligibility in under three minutes. A qualified prescriber reviews your answers personally. No GP appointment needed.