Tirzepatide to Tomatoes: The Art of Maintenance

Building the habits that make weight loss last.

Weight loss gets all the attention. Maintenance deserves it.

This is the first of a two-part series. In this installment, I want to talk about something we rarely discuss: what happens when the scale finally stops moving. In part two, I will write about maintaining your weight if you reduce or stop a GLP-1 medication.

Maintaining the Plateau

I have maintained my current weight since September of last 2025. I weigh myself daily. I thought the weight loss would go on for more, but am still pleased with my weight. I’m down 50 pounds at a 173 lbs. The scale still wanders a few pounds, but after a few months of the scale not moving, I’ve realized something important. Losing weight and maintaining weight are two skills.

You don’t know when the scale will stop moving. A swing of a few pounds is common, but at some point you realize this is the weight you will hopefully maintain. That is okay. I weigh less now than when President Reagan was inaugurated.

Losing weight is chemistry, maintain the weight loss is what you eat.

I had a goal weight, about five pounds less than where I sit, and I was within a pound and a half of it for a day. But mostly in the last year, I am averaging 5-8 pounds above that mark. .

The early phase

Oh, those early days were amazing. Watching the scale drop, making decisions to increase the dose, and finding clothes hidden in the closet for years now fit, and some were even too large. It was a dream.

I didn’t know what food noise was until 12 hours after my first dose of Zepbound. Before the next dose, I notice three things that signal it is time for the dose: I eat faster, I get hungrier, and I am less disciplined about what I ate.

Initially, after starting Zepbound, I would sometimes have 10-14 days between injections.

Physiologic Signals for Injection

I noticed from one of my wearables that my markers of physiologic stress consistently rise as if I am scheduled for my next injection. Those signs measure my autonomic nervous system, and indicate it is working a little harder. Whether that's related to the return of food noise, changing GLP-1 activity, or something else, I don’t know. But the pattern has been consistent for nearly two years.

Now food noise comes back, not with a roar, but quietly. It isn’t the persistent noise that initially quieted. Like many, I get hungrier, eat faster, and if there is ice cream in the freezer, it “calls me”. What is interesting is that when I was my larger self, ice cream was an occasional treat. I could leave it alone.

How do you know it isn’t a long plateau?

Plateaus are frustrating. No weight loss for a few days, then a few weeks, but ultimately the scale drops. Usually dramatically. At some point you realize the scale is just jumping around a bit and not making those dramatic changes.

You have reached maintenance. Some mistakenly increase their dose, hoping to squeeze a few more pounds. Often this comes with increased stomach issues, more constipation, or nausea, and little weight loss. o

Sometimes the increased dose comes with what we call anhedonia. A lack of interest in everything. Not just food, but no pleasure. If that happens, it is time to talk to your doctor about decreasing the dose, and in a few weeks but you will feel better. I will have an entire section about this later.

Building Habits

Starting on a GLP-1 is like having a baby’s stomach. Much like an infant, sometimes things don’t settle well. Often the things that don’t settle well are high fat items, and sometimes this helps you set up some good habits.

For example, pizza laden with greasy meat will sit like the calorie bomb, but if you order a pizza with no meat, half the cheese, and lots of vegetables, you will have more of a flatbread that is tasty and delicious.

Using the GLP-1 to build better eating habits is key to maintaining. I will go over some of my typical dishes later.

Maintaining - what we don’t get to talk about

Do you remember in the diet world, you thought. If you could get the weight off, would be easy to maintain? GLP-1 makes that possible.

Having reliable foods that are go-to. I have grapes and apples ready almost anytime. Having reliable meals that are easy to make and require little effort.

Here are a few things that I do to maintain (food, recipe to follow):