5 pens in and only lost 1st 8lbs . Please help

[Hundredthmillionthdiet]

Hi,

I've been on my weightloss journey for some time. Lost 3 stone through diet and exercise and really struggled to lose more.

I put some weight on, struggled with cravings so decided to try mounjaro.

I'm 5 pens in, just ordered my 6th and upped the dose to 10mg and only lost 1st 8lbs in that time. That's from beginning November, (with a big loss in my first week of mounjaro).

What am I doing wrong ? I eat in region of 1200 calories a day. I try to exercise but not as much due to time.
I'm only grateful that at least the weights not going back on. I have the odd treat but I count everything.

Any ideas/ tips /advice ?

My GP says 1-2lb or a kilo a week is good!

I’m termed obese and have just begun my weight loss. I have half my body weight to lose, nearly! But I’d be happy to get into a size 14 pair of jeans.

I’m reducing my calories slowly, initially by trying to cut out bad habits like eating junk from the cupboard and fridge without too much thought, and cutting out all the crap. After a couple of weeks of that I’ll look at the foods I’m eating on the regular like my breakfast cereal or how much I put on my plate at dinner. Then a I’ll look at exercise and how to build up my activity slowly. I have failed so many times before and I’ve largely identified why, which is I find sudden change difficult to cope with. So if I address each issue slowly and methodically, my brain and body won’t get such a shock. I’m not good at counting calories but know that the pure amount of food I was consuming was too much and I have to cut back. I tended not to care about how calorific things are. I’d consume a medium Dominoes pizza on my own, for example. Bread is my downfall, I could consume so much and not think about it.

Don’t be disheartened, OP, you are heading in the right direction!

I'm losing slowly too and happy with that. I don't like the feeling of full suppression and the inability to eat so I'm keeping on a lowish dose and using it to take the edge off my appetite. I'm trying to get into better eating habits so I can sustain the weight loss once I stop the injections. I haven't counted calories at all. I eat smaller portions of normal, healthy food. This seems sensible to my mind.

Me too and I wak 15 to 20k step a day and swim a couple of times a week.

It’s a shame because if that is true you’ve somehow managed to fuck your metabolism quite badly. Are you at normal weight now?

Back when I had a PT I wasn’t loosing weight and she got me eating more calories and the weight came off. I was doing spin, a PT session and a couple of gym days a week. No drastically more but adding in more calories like peanut butter etc

What are you actually eating? Your calories are low enough but are you getting enough protein? If you lost 3 stone previously it sounds like you know how to track calories properly.

There seems to be some bizarre competition going on here. Unless you’re defying all science, no one is maintaining an obese weight on fewer than 1200 calories. It is simply not true. Can we all stop with promoting disordered eating?

We all need different calorie deficits to loose weight. On 1500 I didn’t loose anything when I was on a diet programme, I dropped to 1200 and lost 1-2lbs a week (no drugs involved, very hard!) Unfortunately unless we are super active (I don’t just mean set exercise, I mean movement in everyday life) we all eat too much it seems, the 2000 calories is not correct, I gain on that!

Yes of course this is true because our TDEE varies depending on height, weight, age and activity level. But it's literally impossible to maintain an obese body weight on 1300 calories a day or thereabouts. And since this is the WLI board the assumption is that posters are obese at least to start with.

No, I’ve just moved into the over weight catergory after nearly 10 weeks on MJ (8 on 2.5 dose). I believe it’s my thyroid, the NHS says it’s within limits but many European countries would give treatment for an underactive thyroid with my numbers.

Some awful advice on here

do not eat noodles and drink coffee and average 800c a day

thats an eating disorder

I’m on 1200c a day and lose often 2lbs a week. Sometimes 1. Sometimes sts

but over all lost 5s since April - but my bmi was almost 38 and I’m still overweight now losing that amount - around a stone off top end of healthy bmi

rem a lb a week is healthy and over a year 52lbs. 56 is 4s

you’ve been on for 20w and lost around that in lbs so normal imo

yes sone lose 3/4lbs every week and others 2 stone in same fine someone has lose 5/6s

but

you need to retrain your body. Eat Healthy meals - drink tons of water

20 lbs in 20 weeks is not slow!!!! It’s a good steady weight loss. If you are 11 stone something you are most probably near goal.

Fast weight loss encouraged on these weight loss these boards is totally irresponsible AND sometimes dangerous.

So you’re bordering on obese and you are extremely active (20k steps would burn 600+ additional calories) yet your TDEE is 1200? I would look into the thyroid thing because that is not normal. You can’t live on appetite suppressing medication and miniscule amounts of food for life.

While there might be outliers who defy science, there are a lot of people who would lose loads of weight eating 2000 calories a day (because they weigh 16+ stone) who choose to chase high suppression from high doses of Mounjaro and eat around 900 calories a day.

I am 5’7” and my BMI is now 26.8 down from 30.1. I walk about 10k steps a day but that’s about it. I can easily lose 1-2 pounds a week on 1700-1800 calories. Which is what the online calculators say too because they are fairly accurate.

You've lost 22 lbs in 5 months? 4lb+ per month? That's great!

I have had my thyroid checked. According to thr NHS it’s within range but many European countries would treat for underachieve thyroid at my level.

I did a post earlier but don't know where it went.

The first week I lost 10/11lbs which a lot of it would have been water weight. If you consider weighloss there after, i have only lost 11lbs in 18weeks, which is in regions of half a pound a week on average.

I'm sure most of you would be questioning the same as me.

I track my calories every day. I am definitely getting enough protein. I usually eat around 80g per day.

1200 cal a day. Diet mainly consist of chicken/beef/salmon with veg, small amount of rice, fruit, occassional snack . All counted for.

Yes I lost 3stone on my own but that took a very, very long time too (since 2023)

Hi Op

I just wanted to say it sounds like you are doing almost everything right and setting yourself up for sustainable long term weight loss. There is some really bad advice on here, especially around reducing calories. If I were you I would try and make time for 3 sessions of weight training a week, building muscle will help increase your metabolism and will give you a nice toned shape as you lose weight. X

I've been on MJ since May 24 and have lost 63lbs with my average weight loss being between 1-1.5 a week. At times I felt it was slow but I think I'm just a slow loser. When I think of my diet history I think that this is what has always led to failure - the blurb would be lose 14lb in the first two weeks and then 2lb a week thereafter and I never ever did that and used to give up thinking nothing would work. MJ is the first thing that's given me faith in a process.

So @ViolaPlains you have lost 4.5s in 11mths

that’s not slow

that’s steady and a good weight loss but healthily done

How is your exercise during these past weeks? You say you try and go to spin and that when you lost weight before you exercised more regularly. I think that is your key here. Useful exercise can be done at home - a quick 20mins weights 3 x a week would be hugely beneficial. Everyone has 20mins if they want to find it.

I’m losing an average of about 1.9lbs pw. I’ve not moved off 5mg since the start of December.do you know your BMR? For comparison My BMR is 1420. I would not lose weight if I ate below my BMR and I’m in my 50’s. You are younger so likely have a higher BMR.

I think the key to your success will be a higher calorie intake and regular activity.

Keep going 💪

I’m afraid you’re wrong. I didn’t start losing weight until I went down to 1000 calories a day most days. I was tracking and weighing everything religiously so I know it was accurate. I lost 6 stone in just over 18 months, eating 1000 calories a day during the week and 1200 calories a day at the weekend. I would maintain on 1200 calories a day.

I’m not a nutritionist or a scientist so I don’t know why, but my suspicion is that years of yo-yo dieting and disordered eating have taught my body to function on a very low calorie intake / encouraged it to store as much energy as possible when it gets it because it can’t know when the next period of “famine” will be.

And it’s all very well saying “go to the doctor” but like you, no doctor would ever believe an obese person saying they only eat 1200 calories a day. So there’s no point.

Thankfully I’ve found what works for me and I will carry on doing that. But it really is possible to need to eat less than 1200 calories to lose weight.

Having said that, at the weight OP currently is, 1lb a week is more than enough so she absolutely shouldn’t reduce her calories any further.

Allow me to offer some perspective. I am the same height as you and started at about the same weight. I am within a few years of your age. I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories per day. I have lost 2.5 stone since last July.

The ones you see losing more are likely to be a combination of: taller, male, starting from a heavier weight, and/or formerly eating massive amounts of calories. Not things you can replicate to accelerate your own loss.

Best thing you can do is make peace with your own circumstances, and enjoy the knowledge that you have a steady weight loss that will get you to your goal if you just keep patiently chipping away at it.

Perhaps calculating your losses as a percentage, rather than the weight itself, will help you to avoid falling into the age old problem of comparison stealing your joy?

Sure, you might get a slightly quicker loss if you starve yourself. You'll also become malnourished and be gambling with gallstones and other serious medical problems.

Would that really be worth it, for the sake of an extra few months?

Hard agree

I know that when I read it in black and white and it’s logical but I think my head is a bit scrambled by the old fashioned diet ads that promised you’d be in a bikini by summer. I’d like to think I’m an intelligent woman but I somehow have a blind spot on diets and weightloss.

You shouldn't be taking weight loss medication if you have a thyroid issue. You could end up with thyroid cancer.