New research on life after weight loss drugs
Robert Price | Last update: 25th May 2025
There’s a new study from Oxford University that shows the risks of weight gain after you’ve stopped taking drugs like Mounjaro or Wegovy. It really underlines and emphasises how important it is to have a weight maintenance plan in place.
Here’s what you need to know…
It was a big study
This was a comprehensive analysis by researchers at the University of Oxford’s Biomedical Research Centre, looking at multiple studies on weight loss drugs. A clear finding is that life after weight loss drugs seems to lead to faster weight gain compared to losing weight just by traditional dieting. This underlines the SlimrChat community advice: for long-term weight loss success you need to have a plan – before, during and after treatments.
So what did the study show
Positive news – newer weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro lead to people losing weight initially more significantly, compared with older treatments. On average this loss was c.16kg as reported by The Guardian.
Negative news – when people stopped the newer treatments they gained about 0.8kg per month. This means, without having a maintenance plan successfully in place, they could return to their original weight within 2 years. For those on the older types of GLP-1 treatments this process was shown to be quicker – within a year.
What the experts say
Professor Susan Jebb, a co-author of the study, states that these medications are “very effective” for weight loss. However, if used as directed by guideline they might “only offer a temporary solution”.
She speculated that one reason for faster weight gain after the drugs might be that they significantly suppress hunger, meaning people may not develop the helpful “behavioural strategies in place that help keep the weight off” that are often required when not using the medication.
Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said that it “shouldn’t surprise anyone if people regain weight having used GLP-1 drugs without seriously attempting to improve their lifestyle”.
Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, provided a statement to the BBC saying that while there is “no evidence to indicate that patients will completely regain all the weight after stopping the medication,” their own trial findings showed participants regained two-thirds of their prior weight loss within a year of withdrawal.
SlimrChat view
This new study won’t be a surprise for many of us. We all know, and it’s common sense, that our weight loss journey has to include a range of changes. That’s why we started SlimrChat to be a safe and positive place to learn about everyone’s experiences and to easily share yours.