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To expect more than 0.5 pound weight loss?

231 replies

Epicentre · 08/12/2025 07:47

On 25th October I weighed 11 stone 7 pounds.
I stayed that same weight for weeks. Wouldn't budge.
Then eventually a month later I went down to 11 stone 6 pounds.
Then magically last week I dropped to 11 stone 3 pounds.
Hooray! I thought. The looooong plateau has gone. I'd dropped 4 pounds.
Got back on scales today and I weigh 11stone 6.5 pounds.
So in 6 bloody weeks I've lost a grand total of 0.5 pounds.
This is on 15mg mounjaro and 1,200 cals a day.
I weigh myself once a week, no more.
I track my calories carefully.
No I'm not an idiot who vastly overeats more calories than I think I'm eating. (This seems to get trotted out a lot on MN).
I am SO SO SO pissed off.
0.5 pounds on 15mg MJ in SIX WEEKS!!!!!
Humph.😡

OP posts:
Epicentre · 10/12/2025 09:45

Frenchfrychic · 10/12/2025 09:29

Oh dear; op as you lose weight the amount of calories you need reduces, it is called your tdee. As such you need to keep reducing how much you consume to maintain a deficit.

but I’m out, good luck op with the rest of the weight.

Oh dear @Frenchfrychic , that's exactly what I have done! I'm totally on top of my TDEE! Gosh, what terribly wrong assumptions you keep on jumping to!
So glad you are leaving us. Bye!😚

OP posts:
wantmorenow · 10/12/2025 09:30

I'm going to suggest intermittent fasting 2 days a week. On those days aim for sub 500 calories of carb free fresh food. I do boiled egg plus salad and olive oil dressing or prawns or other good protein. No fruit other than berries. That helped my metabolism get going again for the final 4 kg I need to lose.

Frenchfrychic · 10/12/2025 09:29

Epicentre · 10/12/2025 09:18

But wait!
I've lost 4 stone over this past year!
So are you saying this has happened by some divine intervention? Well it must be this! Because quite clearly you have deigned me unable to calculate and track my calorie intake correctly. So I can't possibly have lost 4 stone through careful calorie deficit using the app I've explained about! No it can't be that, because you've clearly said I'm eating more calories than I think I am! In which case, if I am being so silly as to be consuming the 1,900 calories daily that you have stated I'm consuming, whilst foolishly thinking I'm only consuming an absolute maximum of 1,200 calories a day, then gosh, the fact that I've lost 4 stone whilst eating the maintenance level of calories you've decided I'm eating is nothing short of a Christmas miracle, surely!🎅

P.S. There is absolutely nothing 'deeply unhealthy' about eating only a tuna sandwich when I had a viral infection and didn't feel like eating on that one particular day due to feeling ill. Let me reassure you, it is very normal for people to not eat much at all when they are ill. Hope that helps, as you seem dreadfully concerned.

Oh dear; op as you lose weight the amount of calories you need reduces, it is called your tdee. As such you need to keep reducing how much you consume to maintain a deficit.

but I’m out, good luck op with the rest of the weight.

wavecat · 10/12/2025 09:27

Incredibly frustrating for you as you are doing all the right things, perhaps try to eat your kcals in a different way? Reduce your carb intake and up your good fats? Increase your fluids even more?

Epicentre · 10/12/2025 09:18

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 09:02

I’m not really rushing in @Frenchfrychic . It’d just this is a bit of a MN thing; posters sense an OP is a bit flustered or stressed or frustrated, goad and bait her and then repeatedly return to the thread to declare how rude the OP is. It’s both unpleasant and pointless.

Thank you🙏

OP posts:
Epicentre · 10/12/2025 09:18

Frenchfrychic · 10/12/2025 08:39

Honestly you don’t need to rush in, elbows out trying to monitor the thread, this is aibu, the op has asked a question, people are allowed to respond honestly.

The fact is she is consuming more than she thinks. No matter how much she doesn’t wish to accept that fact. And pretending otherwise is not going to help her on her journey, telling her this isn’t goading her. It’s trying to help her.

we all fully understand she doesn’t wish to accept it. And we all fully understand it is annoying her. She claims to be a doctor. So she knows full well she is not gaining weight in a deficit. She knows it. We know it. And she also knows the only way she is maintaining or gaining over such a long period is because she’s eating and drinking way more than she thinks. Again she knows this. We know this. She also knows eating one tuna sandwich in 24 hours is deeply unhealthy.

many doctors do have a very poor understanding of nutrition and weight loss, anecdotally we see examples of this on social media a lot. So instead of hurling insults at people who are trying to tell her she’s consuming too much to lose weight, it would be way better for the op, if she wishes to lose more weight, to really look closely at her diet.

cooking, what does she cook with, ie oils,fats etc.
snacks, if she eats things like nuts or nut butters, how much.
spreads ie butter and mayo etc, could she be underestimating how much
drinks, how many is she consuming, milk etc in them,
little things she consumes throughout the day
alcohol if she drinks
meals out.

and she needs to take seven days in total and then divide by seven to get her average cal intake.

righf now she is effectively eating to maintenance. Her maintenance cals are probably in the 1900 a day range, hard for us to know. So if she’s not losing weight and maintaining, then she is consuming about this much on average.

But wait!
I've lost 4 stone over this past year!
So are you saying this has happened by some divine intervention? Well it must be this! Because quite clearly you have deigned me unable to calculate and track my calorie intake correctly. So I can't possibly have lost 4 stone through careful calorie deficit using the app I've explained about! No it can't be that, because you've clearly said I'm eating more calories than I think I am! In which case, if I am being so silly as to be consuming the 1,900 calories daily that you have stated I'm consuming, whilst foolishly thinking I'm only consuming an absolute maximum of 1,200 calories a day, then gosh, the fact that I've lost 4 stone whilst eating the maintenance level of calories you've decided I'm eating is nothing short of a Christmas miracle, surely!🎅

P.S. There is absolutely nothing 'deeply unhealthy' about eating only a tuna sandwich when I had a viral infection and didn't feel like eating on that one particular day due to feeling ill. Let me reassure you, it is very normal for people to not eat much at all when they are ill. Hope that helps, as you seem dreadfully concerned.

OP posts:
letitallopen · 10/12/2025 09:02

I’m not really rushing in @Frenchfrychic . It’d just this is a bit of a MN thing; posters sense an OP is a bit flustered or stressed or frustrated, goad and bait her and then repeatedly return to the thread to declare how rude the OP is. It’s both unpleasant and pointless.

Frenchfrychic · 10/12/2025 08:39

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 07:52

who is trying to bait her you

Honestly you don’t need to rush in, elbows out trying to monitor the thread, this is aibu, the op has asked a question, people are allowed to respond honestly.

The fact is she is consuming more than she thinks. No matter how much she doesn’t wish to accept that fact. And pretending otherwise is not going to help her on her journey, telling her this isn’t goading her. It’s trying to help her.

we all fully understand she doesn’t wish to accept it. And we all fully understand it is annoying her. She claims to be a doctor. So she knows full well she is not gaining weight in a deficit. She knows it. We know it. And she also knows the only way she is maintaining or gaining over such a long period is because she’s eating and drinking way more than she thinks. Again she knows this. We know this. She also knows eating one tuna sandwich in 24 hours is deeply unhealthy.

many doctors do have a very poor understanding of nutrition and weight loss, anecdotally we see examples of this on social media a lot. So instead of hurling insults at people who are trying to tell her she’s consuming too much to lose weight, it would be way better for the op, if she wishes to lose more weight, to really look closely at her diet.

cooking, what does she cook with, ie oils,fats etc.
snacks, if she eats things like nuts or nut butters, how much.
spreads ie butter and mayo etc, could she be underestimating how much
drinks, how many is she consuming, milk etc in them,
little things she consumes throughout the day
alcohol if she drinks
meals out.

and she needs to take seven days in total and then divide by seven to get her average cal intake.

righf now she is effectively eating to maintenance. Her maintenance cals are probably in the 1900 a day range, hard for us to know. So if she’s not losing weight and maintaining, then she is consuming about this much on average.

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 08:38

I don’t really get what the relevance of the OP being a GP is. Does anyone actually think their GP could help them with weight loss? Absolutely no offence to any GPs but I think you’d be lucky to get an appointment for this and if you did they’d barely glance at you before maybe giving a sheet on healthy eating and exercise!

Notsuchafattynow · 10/12/2025 08:12

Agix · 08/12/2025 08:49

If you are not losing weight but you want to, you need to eat less. That's all there is too it. You're eating too many calories.

I'm not saying you're counting calories wrong, you may be counting them perfectly, but it's too much.

A lot of people do not lose weight on "recommended weight loss calories", because it's too much for them to lose weight on. People don't like really admitting it or talking about it, because it's actually pretty bad for you nutrition-wise to eat little enough to lose weight (for those people).

Many people on the weight loss jabs who are suddenly losing weight when they couldn't before are losing it due to now being able to eat very little. Much less than you imagine. Again, won't be admitted, because it's terribly bad for you.

Edited

This was me.

I lost weight because mj enabled me to eat 1,000 calories and not waiver from it.

I had to go that low to lose any weight, even though tde calculators said I needed 1,100 to 1,200.

Haveyounotnoticed · 10/12/2025 08:10

tootiredtobeinspired · 10/12/2025 08:06

I feel your pain OP. My weight fluctuates by as much as 4kg in the space of a few days. I too am currently stubbornly stuck at a weight that I cannot get below no matter how much I try. I've been on MJ and the weight came off nicely until I got to this weight in September and then it's just stuck. Gone up a bit and then back down to this but never drops below. I'm religiously calorie counting and exercising but cannot shift it. My body is obviously VERY efficient and hangs onto fat very well. Great in times of hardship, not so useful now! I blame my poor ancestors, they were obviously survivors!

Are you still on MJ?

tootiredtobeinspired · 10/12/2025 08:06

I feel your pain OP. My weight fluctuates by as much as 4kg in the space of a few days. I too am currently stubbornly stuck at a weight that I cannot get below no matter how much I try. I've been on MJ and the weight came off nicely until I got to this weight in September and then it's just stuck. Gone up a bit and then back down to this but never drops below. I'm religiously calorie counting and exercising but cannot shift it. My body is obviously VERY efficient and hangs onto fat very well. Great in times of hardship, not so useful now! I blame my poor ancestors, they were obviously survivors!

Haveyounotnoticed · 10/12/2025 07:57

OP says she's a GP

this made me chuckle

Haveyounotnoticed · 10/12/2025 07:56

This reply has been deleted

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Periperi2025 · 10/12/2025 07:55

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 07:48

If you don’t like the OPs style just hide it @Periperi2025

I don’t understand what people get out of trying to bait an OP. Obviously they get pissed off and bite back.

OP says she's a GP, what advice would she give a patient presenting to her asking the questions she's asking?
Presumably she'd congratulate them on the weight they'd lost and the work they'd put in to achieving it, and reiterate that BMI 25 is a healthy weight.

This thread is in AIBU, this is where people post to hear other people's unvetted opinions, not validation, we all need this from time to time.

Reading all of OP messages, she at risk of heading down a slippery slope with her mental health, when she should in fact be celebrating her physical health. Not everyone can be a BMI 18, otherwise the healthy range wouldn't be 18-25.

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 07:52

who is trying to bait her you

Frenchfrychic · 10/12/2025 07:52

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 07:48

If you don’t like the OPs style just hide it @Periperi2025

I don’t understand what people get out of trying to bait an OP. Obviously they get pissed off and bite back.

Who is trying to bait her, the reality is she’s eating close to double the cals she thinks she is. No way round it. She’d know if she was seriously ill and she’d gained a stone of fluid. Trust me I was ill and gained a lot of fluid at one point, and you can see it, even on your knees.

the fact she doesn’t like it doesn’t change it, and snipping at everyone as she doesn’t want it to be true doesn’t change it. Although it is amusing.😂

letitallopen · 10/12/2025 07:48

If you don’t like the OPs style just hide it @Periperi2025

I don’t understand what people get out of trying to bait an OP. Obviously they get pissed off and bite back.

temperedolive · 10/12/2025 07:47

I would be getting my kidneys checked. You must be retaining a LOT of water of these numbers are accurate.

bumptybum · 10/12/2025 07:47

First of all try a longer needle. Not 4mm. Try 6 or 8mm

can’t be arsed explaining but just try it. Get them from med supply stores online

Periperi2025 · 10/12/2025 07:45

Epicentre · 10/12/2025 07:35

Obviously.

Yet here you are in page 7 of this thread still bickering with everyone and anyone. Settle at BMI 25, you may loose again in the future you may not, BMI 25 is HEALTHY. Your weight will fluctuate day to day either side of BMI 25, this is NORMAL. Maintaining on 15mg is NORMAL for some people.

STOP comparing yourself to your colleagues, this is not a path to go down. You have done incredibly well to lose the weight you have. I think you now need to focus more on you mental health not on calorie counting.

isthisrealorarethosefake · 10/12/2025 07:45

Ive not read the full thread so sorry if you have answered this, but what are you drinking? Make sure that all your drinks are not only logged, but AVOID the artificfial sweetener low cal drinks too. Its better to have a few calories from the drinks than diet fizzy or sugar free squashes.

Im another who had to be on around 800 cals to lose weight, im very short (barely 5') and had to drop really low, and the more i lost the lower i had to go with my calories even on the MJ. Ive lost 55% of my body weight and now maintained for 8 months. but i had to keep decreasing cals to keep going down.

It could be worth having a bit of a break from it too, miss a week of the jabs, then go back on at a lower dose and build back up. I was on 15, stopped for 2 weeks, went back on it at 10mg and that helped when i stalled a bit.

Make sure you are measuring yourself not just weighing yourself. Sometimes the scales wont move.

Epicentre · 10/12/2025 07:44

SatsumaDog · 10/12/2025 07:40

This sounds incredibly frustrating op. I think many of us have experienced similar and it’s not fun. The one thing I noticed when I was in a calorie deficit was that I naturally wanted to move less. I was tracking my steps and i
had dropped by around 4k steps. Also, this time of year makes me more sedentary. In the summer it’s easy to get out and do 10k plus steps. When it’s dark and cold, not so much. I found my weight loss started moving again once I became stricter about moving more.

Good luck op!

Thank you.
I am making sure I'm still swimming and jogging. I've just returned from a fast lane swim session.
Perhaps I'll switch up my exercise regime.
Though the main contributer to weight loss is calories.
Ultimately I think I am going to need to reduce to 1,000 daily to shift this final stone.

OP posts:
TempNameForObviousReasons · 10/12/2025 07:43

JaneGrint · 10/12/2025 07:16

Have you started doing a lot more exercise recently OP?

Just asking, because when I started going to the gym frequently, I went through a phase where the numbers on the scales were static despite me slimming down enough to drop a dress size, presumably down to muscle weighing more than fat.

Muscle doesn't 'weigh more than fat' 🙄

SatsumaDog · 10/12/2025 07:40

This sounds incredibly frustrating op. I think many of us have experienced similar and it’s not fun. The one thing I noticed when I was in a calorie deficit was that I naturally wanted to move less. I was tracking my steps and i
had dropped by around 4k steps. Also, this time of year makes me more sedentary. In the summer it’s easy to get out and do 10k plus steps. When it’s dark and cold, not so much. I found my weight loss started moving again once I became stricter about moving more.

Good luck op!

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