Mounjaro - what am I doing wrong?

[mayaknew]

I've been on mounjaro for 10 weeks. I've only lost 6lbs. And those 6lbs was in the one two week period where I was ill after moving up to 5mg. Actually I originally lost 9lbs but put 3 back on.

I do feel suppression and I definitely am eating far less but I only lost weight the 2 weeks I was eating nothing at all. I don't know what else to do.

Are you in one of the monthly threads?

the obvious question is what are you eating/excercise?

mj is good for food noise suppression but it’s important to eat protein and regularly while taking it.

its also not meant for rapid weight loss, remember everyone is different. Or it could be that my is not right for you.

what’s happening on a weekly basis (eating, side effects etc)

What dose are you on? 10mg is the intended therapeutic dose and some people won't get the full effect until they have built up to that dose.
Also worth tracking what you are eating precisely, nutricheck is a great app.

Do you definitely know that you've been eating in a calorie deficit? As in, you've worked out your TDEE and you're eating 500 calories less than that a day? You might be eating less but still not low enough to consistently lose weight each week.

I’m sorry you’ve not had the results so far. I know a lot of hype about WLI is that it’s a miracle drug, but I do think there is still a lot of choices the individual has to make to get the most out of the process.

How much weight are you hoping to lose to get to a bmi of 25?

What is your average daily diet? Do you struggle with portion size, snacking or treats? Have you been drinking alcohol?

I have about 4 and a half stone to lose. I don't track what I'm eating I start then never keep at it life just gets in the way.

I eat 2 meals a day but always have my portions are just a lot smaller when my suppression is good. I also drink a can of red bull every morning I know this is completely terrible but I have an autistic DD and don't get a lot of sleep and it is the absolute highlight of my morning!

I work full time in a mildly active job. I don't do any formal exercise.

I only drink alcohol on occasion and haven't had any since being on the injections.

I've tried loads of fad diets in the past but could never sustain them as I have to go down to under 1000cals per day to see results and that's not sustainable without appetite suppression so I really did think mj would be a miracle for me

I think if you're not losing weight, then it would be sensible to track your calories for a week and check what you're actually eating. Have you worked out your TDEE using a calculator like this one:

https://coach.org.uk/tdee-calculator/

Then, subtract 500 calories from your TDEE and that's what you should be aiming for for your daily calorie totals (averaged out across the week). I know it's a pain to track calories, I don't do it as long as I'm losing weight consistently, but as you're not losing then it's worth checking for one week.

Is the Red Bull sugar free?

I think everyone is different from their starting point. Some people when they start mj have been a stable weight for a long period of time, albeit very overweight, so a reduction will take them from maintenance calories to weight loss calories.

Other people were steadily gaining weight prior to beginning, and for this group then reducing might only take you down to a maintenance level rather than weight loss intake.

Do you consistently drink 2/3 litres of water every day?
Do you drink milky tea and coffee? Do you add sugar?
Do you never go to the fridge/cupboards outside of your two meals a day?

Okay, I think there's 4 main things you need to look at:

1. Calorie intake - I second what others have suggested - tracking calories can be a slog, but it's best to do it for a few days just to get a handle on where you're at actually - are you eating within your deficit, or too little, or too much. You need to google "calculating calorie deficit" and input a few stats to see what you should aim for each day.
2. Protein intake - While you're at it, also track your protein intake - are you eating enough protein? You should aim for 1 g of protein per 1 kg of your body weight. Most calorie tracking apps also give you the macros for the food you're logging. I'm using Nutracheck and it really makes life easy when it comes to tracking calories! If you're eating something store-bought, you can just scan the barcode and all the info gets populated for you. I really rate it.
3. Water intake - you MUST hydrate. 2-3 l of water per day. Tea, coffee, soft drinks is not water. I would not count it towards my water goal.
4. Exercise - for most people, exercise comes last, and it's not really key to losing weight. You have probably heard the saying "you can't outrun a bad diet" and I really truly have discovered this for myself firsthand. It's great if you can squeeze in some light exercise, if not, it's not the end of the world and certainly won't stop your weightloss. Walking is a great place to start.

May I suggest swapping out your morning redbull for a protein shake and a double (or triple) espresso shot instead? Make yourself a nice iced protein latte. You can make your protein shake or buy it pre-mixed, lots of flavour option - maybe something new to look forward to in the morning?

Ok so I just done the calorie counter thing and it says my TDEE is 2245. I am certain I eat less than that a day. I'm going to calculate what I ate yesterday and see how many cals that was

To lose a pound a week, you'd need to be 500 calories under your TDEE on average each day. So 1745 calories or less daily.

This was yesterday:

Red bull 160cals

chicken bagel 450cals

Cereal bar 82cals

2 Weetabix 250cals

This is fairly typical as I had a big lunch I didn't want any dinner so I had some Weetabix after coming in from walking the dog.

Today so far I've had beans on toast and that's all. I will start tracking as of today and see how I get on.

I think its important to track accurately to start - and remember things like oil and butter - they stack up!

I hope you don't mind me asking, but are the calories all weighed out and measured? Do you drink anything else with calories in?

op that can’t be your average, no one sustains 4.5 stone additional weight on less than a thousand calories a day. You’d be losing drastically, so there is something missing here, be it milky coffees,or a takeaway of a weekend. But you need to average over a week.

Op there’s lots to unpick here.

look here for an idea of meals. It’s in the Continuing Mounjaro thread. I do not underestimate the exhaustion of little sleep and toll of looking after an autistic dc but the red bull is calories without the nutrition you need for energy. Stop me if you don’t want to hear more. Do you want some ideas of swaps?

https://wattnext.notion.site/Recipes-588d99fe8dcf41579e9c7e6144df974f

I cannot see a 'big lunch' in there? What do you mean?

Truthfully, are you prone to disordered eating? Are you trying to starve yourself rather than lose weight at a sensible rate? This drug is not intended to support starving yourself - you are at a far greater risk of serious side effects if you try. That is why suppliers screen for eating disorders.

There is nothing particularly wrong with red bull apart from the sugar load it causes, but why on earth don't you have it with some fruit & full fat Greek yoghurt?

Ok so I know it's only been a few days but I've been tracking using MFP the past few days. Today is day 3.

Day 1 - 1078
Day 2 - 1084
Today - 500 exactly so far might have a snack later if I do I'll have a cup of tea and a cereal bar probably.

I also weighed myself this morning and I've put on another 2lbs.

@mayaknew is that all weighed and measured or is it guesstimated?

Possibly a stupid question, are you sure your scales are accurate? If they're battery powered do they have new batteries? Can you calibrate them with something that you know the weight of?

If you're eating a large calorie deficit each day and you're on Mounjaro, yet you're gaining pounds each week then I think you'd need to see a GP and/or ask for advice from your prescriber.

There has to be something you are not tracking or you would be losing weight on those amount of calories

I’m also wondering if you are weighing what you consume?

Please do ensure you are drinking 2/3litres of water every day.

What is your height?
What was your starting weight?
What is your age?
Do you drink water at all?

op, what you’re desribing is humanly not possible if it is accurate.

So either your portions are under estimated so your Calories are wrong, your scales are wrong, or you are a medical marvel and defying science.

it is genuinely not humanly possible to carry 4.5 extra stone, eat 1k calories a day and gain weight. You’d need to be eating over twice that, to maintain, and three times or more to gain.

if you’re very sure on portions and you are not mindlessly snacking and not counting it, then buy new scales.

My scales are definitely accurate.

I'm 165cm I started at 98kg went down to 94kg for 2 weeks and now I'm back up to 97kg.

Yes everything is weighed and measured.

Water intake is definitely a problem I don't drink enough water at all it makes me feel sick and when I've tried before to increase my water intake I've vomited it back up. The red bull usually feels like it's going to come back up as well but it's only a wee can and I drink it slow I like to enjoy it 😳

Sorry that reads like the red bull is the only fluids I'm having it's not! I do drink water/tea/juice I just definitely don't drink enough! And it's not a mounjaro thing I've been like that for as long as I can remember