To expect more than 0.5 pound weight loss?

[Epicentre]

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.😡

I’m short. If I ate 1200kcal per day I’d gain weight.

I eat 800kcal a day and maintain my weight at this. To hoard off the comments: I also work full time, have 2 DC (both exclusively breastfed), a full head of hair and a regular period.

5 ft 7 is tall-ish IMO. (For a woman.) I know quite a few women who are around that height who weigh roughly the same as you @Epicentre And they look fine/not overweight.

It could be that you don't need to lose much weight. If any... That's why you have only lost half a pound...

Why are you using weight loss injections though, when you're only 11 and a half stone? (And 5 ft 7, so not particularly overweight..)

.

Weight loss is more complex than just cutting calories. Insulin plays a massive role as it blocks fat burning and will cause your metabolic rate to crash instead.

Your actual weight is probably 11,3 but you gained some water for some reason which is making the scales show a heavier weight.
If you're in a calorie deficit you WILL lose fat. It's that simple.

@Zov you have to be obese (or overweight with a weight related health condition) to start taking WLI. You then continue to take the WLI until you are a healthy weight, and then if you want, you can continue to take Mounjaro to maintain your weight. So, the OP would have been obese when she started.

I don't think anyone is trying to imply that.
I would class myself as not at all dim and pretty clued up on calories etc. But I made mistakes along the way. I had a long stall and was in denial for some time before I admitted I must be eating too much.
Sometimes it is simply that your online TDEE calc is not right. Mine wasn't.
At the end of the day, if you eat fewer calories than you need you will lose weight.

bloody hell… you got the short straw when it came to metabolisms @Flingotheflamingo !!

Exactly

I'm the same height and just under 11 stone, so just a little lighter than you. I'm pretty sedentary and according to my fitbit I only use less than 1400 calories per day. 1370 calories is my average so far this month. Last month was 1445 for the month.

IF you are burning a similar amount, I would expect a little, but not much, more than ½lb. Maybe 1½lbs. I'm eating around 1100 to 1200 per day. And losing around ½lb a month. I'm not really desperate to lose much more, just thinking of slightly better than maintenance, so that's fine by me. I burn more calories gardening in the summer and hope to lose another half stone next year.

If she's on 15mg, OP will have been taking mounjaro for at least 20 weeks, so she won't have been 11.5st when she started.

Weigh yourself every day as a few pounds up and down is normal.
But eating 1200 a day? Are you very short? I’m not on WLI but I lose weight on 1800 a day, and I’m sedentary in my 60s. I am tall though and have more weight to lose than you, but even if just a stone to lose I couldn’t sustain 1200. Are you weighing absolutely everything? I might actually suggest you increase your calories to 1400.

@mondaytosunday TDEE is calculated using height and weight, so you being taller and heavier than the OP will explain the difference in calories needed to lose weight. 1200 is about right for a 500 cal deficit based on the OPs details.

No, I don't drink alcohol at all. X

Try weighing daily as weight does fluxtuate. Mine goes up and down and progress after a year is very slow but so long as I keep getting a new low and chipping away I am happy. I could stop the alcohol to reduce my calories further and will be doing dry January and hope to get a bit of a boost. I have been on MJ for over a year. If you are close to your goal or are already a healthy weight your body may be more inclined to plateau, especially if you have already lost quite a bit of weight. Make sure you are counting/weighing everything (including drinks) and try dropping your calories to 1000 and see if that helps (although that is too low for most people long term). Increasing your exercise would likely be better so you are still getting the nutrition. Some have said that having a weekend off and eating whatever you like can kickstart a loss. Our bodies are weird! Good luck.

I have been taking MJ since June 2024.
I weighed 15 stone 7 pounds at that point, when I started.
I now weigh 11 stone 6.5 pounds, as stated in my OP.
My current BMI is 25.2
(I am 5ft 7)

So not prepared to give pre versus post diet

when I think that will lie at the root of this

What is it that you suspect? Do you think that the OP is eating the "wrong" foods currently?

If you have genuinely been in a calorie deficit since October and are Not losing weight, you need to see a dr

I don't drink alcohol. I'm teetotal.
I don't have periods any more and I don't ovulate.
I am 45 and have stopped menstruating.

45
Post menopause

as much as the poster was blunt, I do suspect she’s right, it’s not about the wrong food, it’s about eating too much.

the simple truth is this forum and many others are littered with people who think they are medical marvels. And not losing weight in a deficit. It is not possible.

if we burn off more energy than we consume, we burn fat or muscle to make up the deficit, this makes our body lighter, we do not consistently back fill that loss with extra blood, fluid, or anything else, not week after week.

the simple undisputable fact is that you don’t loose weight for several weeks you’re eating to maintenance, you take your weekly cals and average them per day. As we drop weight we need less cals. And it is incredibly easy to underestimate calories. From drinks, how we cook, the lot. And it is incredibly easy to over estimate how much we burn,

what is not easy, or even possible, is to consistently eat in a defecit, and our bodies remain the same weight, thus fueling our additional energy needs with will or gaining pounds and pounds of water and blood.

as such, the op is eating to maintenance.

My BMI is 25.2

What weight are you going for? You've lost 4 stone, that is amazing, BMI 25 at 45 years old is fine and healthy. Do you feel healthy now. Listen to your body.

Welcome to my world OP! I'm not on injections but calorie counting and weighing daily (at same time).

I hover at 11 stone 7, up and down a pound or so over the days, but always back to 11 7. My bmi is 25.3 so am overweight.

I'm blaming perimenopause and just trying to persevere, at least I'm not gaining loads...

Oh yes you do!
You have to be a literal idiot to 'not realise exactly how many calories you're eating/drinking'.
Give me strength.