GLP-1 Maintenance: How to Keep It Off
The hard part isn't losing it — it's holding it. Find your maintenance dose options and the exact calories, protein, and guardrails to keep the weight off for good.
Maintenance dose calculator
Your dose options once you've reached your goal — and the lowest-effective-dose idea.
Maintenance Dose Calculator
Reached your goal? See your maintenance dose options and the lowest-effective-dose idea.
1. Your medication
2. Your current dose
Tirzepatide maintenance doses
- 5 mg — Lowest recommended maintenance dose
- 10 mg
- 15 mg — Maximum dose (your dose)
For weight management (Zepbound), the recommended maintenance doses are 5, 10, or 15 mg once weekly. Many people maintain on whichever dose held their weight steady — not necessarily the maximum.
You're at the top dose. Once your weight is where you want it, some people work with their prescriber to step down toward the lowest dose that still holds their weight, rather than staying at the maximum indefinitely.
Once you reach your goal, the aim shifts from losing to holding. Some people work with their prescriber to step down toward the lowest dose that maintains their weight, rather than staying at the maximum. This is individual and always a clinician's call.
Educational guide only — dose changes, step-downs, and stopping are decisions for your prescriber, based on your response and health. This tool never recommends a specific dose for you.
Weight maintenance planner
The calories, protein, and regain guardrail to hold your goal weight.
Weight Maintenance Planner
Your numbers for holding your weight — calories, protein, and a regain guardrail.
Estimates from the Mifflin-St Jeor equation — a starting point, not a prescription. Adjust based on your real trend over 2–3 weeks. Not medical or nutritional advice.
How long do I stay on it?
It's designed to be long-term
GLP-1 medications for weight management are designed as long-term, chronic-use treatments — there is no official manufacturer taper protocol, because the intended use is ongoing.
Stopping usually means some regain
In withdrawal trials, stopping led to meaningful regain: in STEP 4, people switched to placebo regained about two-thirds of their lost weight over roughly a year, while those who continued semaglutide kept losing. The SURMOUNT-4 trial showed a similar pattern for tirzepatide.
But it's not all-or-nothing
It isn't all-or-nothing: real-world data suggests just over half of people (roughly 52–56%, depending on the drug) kept off some or all of their loss at 24 months. The keepers tend to share two things — they protected muscle on the way down, and they built durable nutrition and activity habits while on the drug.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Effect of Continued Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo on Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: The STEP 4 Randomized Clinical TrialRubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M, et al. JAMA. 2021;325(14):1414–1425. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.3224
- Continued Treatment With Tirzepatide for Maintenance of Weight Reduction in Adults With Obesity: The SURMOUNT-4 Randomized Clinical TrialAronne LJ, Sattar N, Horn DB, et al. JAMA. 2024;331(1):38–48. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.24945
- Wegovy (semaglutide) Prescribing InformationU.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). 2023.
- Zepbound (tirzepatide) Prescribing InformationU.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). 2023.
Tool Information
July 24, 2026
Dr. Jaydeep Sanghani
Meet Akabari
Dr. Jaydeep Sanghani
MBBS, MD, DNB(Anaesth.), PDCC(CCM), DrNB(CCM)
AIIMS Bhubaneswar · AIIMS Rishikesh
Critical care specialist and anesthesiologist with advanced training from AIIMS. Reviews health calculators at Calqulate to ensure medical accuracy and evidence-based standards.