I Lost the Weight. Now What? The GLP-1 Maintenance Questions Nobody Prepared Me For

Another trial made the same point with tirzepatide

This isn't only a semaglutide story.

In SURMOUNT 4, adults with overweight or obesity first received tirzepatide for 36 weeks. They then either continued tirzepatide or switched to placebo for another 52 weeks.

Those who continued tirzepatide lost an additional 5.5% of body weight on average.

Those who switched to placebo regained 14.0% of body weight on average during that 52 week period.

Again, this does not tell us what will happen to one specific person.

The participants had a defined clinical trial experience, and the study population does not represent every person using tirzepatide in the real world.

But it reinforces an important idea:

Weight maintenance is not necessarily what happens automatically after weight loss.

It may require ongoing treatment.