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’d reassess what you eat. Try this for a month

breakfast - either 0% Greek Fage and berries / 5g chia seeds OR white omelette with 100g two chicks and 2 whole eggs with flaxseeds / chia seeds

lunch - salad with olive oil and at least 30g protein

dinner - protein (at least 40g) and cruciferous veg

ditch the sandwich. If you need bread either homemade or buy from a local bakery made old fashioned way (we buy and freeze, better from resistance starch POV)

The only thing I can think of is to try a VLCD for a bit (maybe after Christmas, though!) that always shifts weight for me in no time.

FWIW I have rather enjoyed the OPs contributions, though not her situation of course.

I’d personally try protein and cruciferous veg only (at 1,200) before a VLCD. Not all calories are equal and I think important to establish if the issue is the number of calories or what is being eaten.

She’d have to increase exercise to athelete levels for that to work though.

Yep, otherwise when there was a famine, instead of just giving food aid you could bottle whatever it is in the op that makes her able to not lose weight whilst eating relatively few calories and provide that as well to help prevent weight loss.

it would be a game changer.

I assume you're starving OP, and that's why you're being so snappy with people who are trying to help.

A BMI of 25.2 is barely overweight. Maybe you're plateauing because this is the weight you are meant to be?

I am the same BMI and you and came off my WLI for a few weeks recently and gained 4kg. I'd be pretty pleased to 'just' maintain.

This is why your right every day but don't over react, that will be water retention or hormonal, if you stay in a calorie deficit you should see the scales largely decreasing over each week even if there are a couple of days of a slight increase.

This!
6 pages in and none of us can crack this medical mystery. Would your BMR be very low.
..to.around 1000 kcal (which may not be impossible ) Therefore maintaining might be expected ? Your dose is high, is it from reputable seller? It otherwise seems impossible that you are not losing. Increase weight training?

If you are infact a GP then you’ll know it’s almost a medical impossibility for you to have eaten the surplus that would be needed to gain another 2lbs overnight. And by your own account, you barely ate anything. So it’s almost certainly water weight, for some reason. As, more than likely, is the previous few lbs you’d “gained”. Give it a few more days of weighing daily, drinking plenty of water and otherwise eating normally and it will in all likelihood come back down.

Sadly yes, I hope the op knows deep down she’s no medical marvel they will study and write books about, but is in deep denial and doesn’t wish to accept she’s consuming more than she thinks. Unless she is very unwell.

op do you have other symptoms?

I’m sure you know this sort of weight retention/ gain can actually be due to illness, which is heart or kidney failure,liver disease, thyroid disorder, severe malnutrition/ protein deficiency, lymphatic system disorders, or indeed pregnancy.

if you are absolutely sure you are eating in as big a defecit as you say and for so long, you need to make an urgent appt for bloods. I really hope this is just you’re in denial about how much you eat. But if you’re not, I’d stop the drugs immediately and seek urgent care.x

I'm with previous poster, I'm rather enjoying the righteous fury of the very hungry OP. Be angry - dieting really sucks.

By coincidence three weeks ago I was exactly the same weight and height as OP. I'm now 7lb lighter (taking me from BMI of just over 25 to one of 24). I went on a diet then whereby I try to eat fewer than 1500 calories and I sort of log food, but a little bit haphardly. I drink a couple of times a week, don't restrict carbs or bread in particular, eat more or less healthily and try to have more protein than I'd naturally want. Oh and am not on MJ or other WLI. I'm also post menopausal.

So why I have I lost weight and she hasn't? I know it defies medical knowledge to suggest that it's anything other than a calorie deficit, but I do wonder whether there is a natural weight we default to. The biggest difference between me and the OP is that she's lost a fair few stone to get down to 11.5 stone whereas for me it's the highest weight I've ever been outside pregnancy. So that first half stone fell off fairly easily and I'm hoping the next will come off with a bit more effort.

I've never been thin nor have I been overweight - when I was younger my weight swung between 9.5 and 10.5, then post children between 10 and 11. I'm now hoping to get it somewhere in the range of 10.5 and stay there.

Anyway, am I illogical to think there's a set weight or anything like it?

Rest assured everyone, I am not hungry. So please don't worry about that, as I can see a few of you are concerned about my hunger levels.
15mg MJ takes care of that!

I agree with the daily weighing, I know others advise against it.

But I'm using 15mg MJ.
You're not. You've stopped your GLP-1.
So of course you'd be 'pretty pleased' to be maintaining. But you're not maintaining, because you have stopped your GLP-1 doses.
Whereas I remain on the top dose.
It's a complete nonsense to compare.
Honestly, the mind boggles.

Gold.

I mean op, bit ironic there with the mind boggling thing given the context of whay you’re posting you little medical marvel you 😄

You are unintentionally quite funny OP. 🤣

I do hear you though - although I’m a little further on than you. I started MJ in May 2024 at 15 stone and I’ve maintained my weight of 9 stone 10 lbs on between 7.5 and 10mg for a year now. I am only 5 ft 3 though

id like to lose another 7lbs to bring my BMI to 23. Can I do this? No: For an entire 12 months my weight has stayed between 9 stone 9 and 9 stone 12. It cycles between these few lbs depending on what I’ve eaten but I usually see 9 st 10

frustrating

I am now back on my WLI and will be happy to maintain, yes. My point was when you come off it the weight can pile back on quite easily, so having already lost quite a lot and being down at basically a healthy BMI to 'just' maintain on the WLI is pretty good going. So not a complete nonsense at all.

You seem determined to stick two fingers up to anyone who tries to offer help or support, so good luck to you!

Another way of looking at it is, wow, you've lost 4 stone, that's incredible. 30% of your starting weight. Could you not be a bit happier and self-congratulatory about that? And be grateful to MJ - lots of people want to lose that pesky last stone but either can't afford or are not eligible for it.

Are you 12?
"Good one"!😂

That's interesting to read, that you've maintained for a year whilst still using 7.5 to 10mg MJ. On thst dose I would have expected continued weight loss, albeit slower as you are now at a healthy weight.
What is your BMI now?
Mine is still in the overweight category so I should still be losing on 15mg, not stalling. Once I get into the healthy weight category I'll be happy, but I'm still overweight.
As an aside, lots of our receptionists and nurses are using MJ, starting at a healthy BMI to begin with, and are losing a lot of weight on it to achieve a lower end BMI. I would say some have gone as low as BMI 18 or 19, looking at them. None of them were in the overweight category to begin with. My point being, I see people losing on MJ even if their BMI is already in a healthy range. So I wonder why you and I have stopped losing on it.