Is maintenance harder than weight loss?

For many people, yes. Weight loss on a GLP-1 can feel unusually easy because the medication suppressed appetite, quieted food noise, and slowed gastric emptying. Maintenance happens after those effects fade. Energy needs may also sit lower than they would have at this weight, since lean mass lost during the cut is harder to rebuild than to preserve. The combination, returned appetite plus a lower calorie ceiling, is why many people drift up. The published picture reflects this: loss data is impressive and widely shared, while maintenance data is quieter and rarely featured. Knowing this going in is the first step to handling it well. As always, your individual situation is best discussed with your clinician.