8 weeks in - barely any loss. Why?!!

[shedroof]

Obviously I’m still eating too much.
i did 4 weeks of 2.5mg, felt no difference.
have just done 4 weeks of 5mg, was hopeful but still no impact on appetite or feeling full etc.

Have lost 8lb in 8 weeks but consciously eating less and feeling hungry. Lost nothing at all in last 2 weeks.

Have ordered 7.5mg in hope I will finally feel what everyone else keeps talking about.
feeling fed up and frustrated.

SW 18st 8lb
CW 18st 0lb

Any other slow starters who got there in the end?

Some people need the higher doses to get the same effect that some people get on the lower doses. That’s all it is.

Have you had any of the intended effects, feeling fuller quicker and staying fuller for longer?

I didn't lose much weight at all until I got to 7.5 and 10mg. I've been on it 6 months now and "only" lost 1.5lbs a week on average but 1-2lbs a week is still a great result!

Lots of protein and LOTS of water. Don't just eat less in general

What is your calorie deficit?

No not had the intended effects of feeling full quicker and for longer at all. Slight improvement on food noise so being better at not snacking.

yes I definitely need to drink more water. Have bought a new big bottle to ensure I’ve got it at my desk to drink more while at work.

You've lost 8lb in 8 weeks. I couldn't do that through dieting alone - could you? I was trapped in a cycle of gaining and losing the same 3lb.

I’ve been targeting 1500 a day limit. I have had a couple of events (a wedding and another one similar vein) where I know I’ve gone over, keeping under 1500 I just feel so hungry and unsatisfied. I’m frustrated because I was hoping this is what the drug would help me with. The problem I have is when I feel unsatisfied for a period of time I binge something bad like sausage rolls or pastry. This is why diets have failed over the years. From everything I’d read the drug help stop this food noise but for me it’s just not happening yet.

OK, but what’s your deficit? You need to calculate this from your TDEE.

It was a revelation when I'd calculated my TDEE and then minus 500 calories to get my deficit. Maybe try that. Also I had to up my protein in a big way to feel satisfied. Glad you are addressing fluid intake, that is really important.

I'd put on weight at 1500 a day, so I think an 8lb loss is pretty good!

Yeah, nothing to add except the more protein and liquid I consume the fuller I feel. My deficit is just over 1200 a day.

You may find that it all kicks in at one of the higher doses, hopefully the 7.5mg. Do you have one of the dose tracking apps like Shotsy or DoseDiary? It is interesting to see the estimated levels of medication in your system and to see how that correlates to any of the intended effects that you notice.

Losing 8 pounds is so much better than putting more weight on or staying the same, and hopefully you will soon see more weight dropping as you work through the dose levels.

I don’t understand what you mean by deficit and I’ve never heard of a TDEE.

@shedroof

I’ve been on MJ since last November and have lost 60lbs. Everyone is different, but advice from me would be:

1. Join a specific monthly weight loss group on MN – you’ll be chatting amongst people who are at the same stage you are and may have a similar starting weight/WL goal
2. Get yourself a set of smart scales to understand your BMR and other important data. Renpho ones are relatively inexpensive (I bought mine for £25 from Argos). I was surprised to find that my BMR is 1340, so if I did not exercise at all and had a sedentary lifestyle – drive to work/sit at screen all day/drive home again and ate the recommended calorie intake for a female in my age group (50s) I would inevitably put weight on at the end of the week.
3. As a PP said, it’s not just about eating less, it’s about eating the right nutrition too. You will need between one to 2 g of protein per kilogram of weight every day. And lots of water. I drink at least 2 L of plain water per day. The higher your protein content, the less likely you are to feel hungry. For a loss of us on MJ, past issues having included mistaking hunger for thirst.
4. In order to create a calorie deficit consistently, you will need to move more. Find some form of exercise that you enjoy because it’s more likely you will stick at it. My favourite is an incline walk that’s a steady pace for a reasonable length of time (for me it’s 45 minutes) whilst watching something on Netflix. I would’ve watched the Netflix show anyway but also I’m occupied and can’t be eating biscuits because that’s what I used to do when I watched the Netflix show 😉
5. Remember, a pound off means you have created a calorie deficit of 3500 across a week. So you are doing really well to have been steadily losing 1.5 thus far.
6. Download one of the free body scan apps (I use MeThreeSixty) because understanding inch loss across your body will keep you motivated even when the scales don’t seem to show much movement.
7. Don’t forget to include weight-bearing exercise in your regime – it’s very easy to lose muscle first if you do not mitigate that propensity.

Try not to be too disheartened, for a lot of us it has been periods of relatives and also a massive slog!

Keep going!

Thank you @Mounjaropen that’s helpful advice ☺️

TDEE stands for ‘total daily energy expenditure’. It is an estimate of the calories that you burn every day. If you Google ‘TDEE calculator’ there are lots of tools to help you work this out. You will need to enter your height, current weight, and your activity level. If you have a desk job then put 'sedentary’.

In order to lose weight, you need to take in fewer calories than you burn. This difference is called a deficit. A pound of fat roughly equates to 3500kcal, so you need to create a deficit of 3500kcal over a number of days to lose a pound. If you can maintain a deficit of 500kcal per day then you can expect to lose approx 1lb a week. A daily deficit of 1000kcal will approximately equate to a 2lb loss each week. It won’t always feel this straightforward as other factors can affect the weight on the scale, such as water retention.

Your TDEE may be quite high at first as it takes more energy to move a larger body around. From memory when I was around 18 stone my TDEE on an averagely active day (say 7k steps) was around 2500kcal.

I hope this helps. You are unlucky not to have experienced any suppression on MJ yet but even once you do you will have to use it as a tool to help you to maintain a calorie deficit. It’s not a magic bullet, I’m afraid.

“Deficit” is your daily calorie deficit, the amount of calories you are below what you would need to maintain your weight. TDEE means Total Daily Energy Expenditure. It’s a calorie total calculated by looking at your age, sex, weight, height and estimated activity levels. There are online calculators that can work it out for you. To lose a pound a week, you need to keep to 500 calories below your TDEE number each day.

I think if you are at menopause or even peri, take 20% off your TDEE. And my daily deficit has to be more like averaging 700 to 1000 calories to lose 1lb a week and I do plenty of exercise.

Thank you guys these replies are really helpful. I will work out my TDEE. I have a sedentary job and I’m definitely peri! Although HRT has helped with that!

I feel your pain. I'm just about to start 7.5 and I have lost a tiny 2 lbs, despite all my efforts. Feeling very disheartened.

Smart scales will actually do this for you. They advise you of your BMR - your basal metabolic rate I.e what calories you need to merely exist. Add your exercise calories on top and that’s your allowance to maintain your current weight. To lose, you need to create a deficit over a defined period - like a week.

Weigh yourself first thing before tea/breakfast etc and naked to avoid fluctuation over the data conditions.

As a pp said, it’s not a magic bullet. It is hard work to get the balance right. You’ll get there but you do need to gen up on what you can do to help things along.

It’s hard isn’t it @bluebellinthewood when all you see are good news stories everywhere. I joined the 5lb or over to lose threads and the new starter threads but because I’m not getting the results I find them demotivating rather than motivating! Plus they move so quickly I don’t have time to keep up with the conversations!

Definately agree!!! plus the expense. I am taking thyroid drugs which may be slowing me down but 2lbs is insane

I only lose on average 1lb a week. I’m more than happy with it, even if it is hard to read about others losing two and three times as fast whilst staying on the lowest dose.

But also if you have inflammation issues the drug sometimes targets those first before you get the weight loss help benefits. Tricky things hormones.

Keep at it and in time you’ll find you’re losing and sticking with it.

@shedroof easiest way to find TDEE

@shedroof there are a couple of “slow losers” threads around, one’s called the Plodders Club and there’s another that’s just started recently although I can’t remember what it’s called, apologies.