Week 3 of weight and no weight loss

[jocktamsonsbairn]

i’m bit concerned!! Have done 3 jabs now of .25 and although the ‘food noise’ has gone and I am definitely eating way less than I was before, I’m doing more exercise (started the gym etc) I haven’t lost any weight. Today for the first time since starting I have started craving snacks this evening and ate some crisps and chocolate. I don’t want to go down that slippery slope again!!
have ordered the 0.5 injections which should be with me soon. Should I forget dose 4 of 0.25 (I think I wasted some of it in the original pen as I absent minded twisted it before I put the needle in day of my first jab as I didn’t know what I was doing. I did then twist it round to .25 so not sure if I have myself extra that fist time which would leave less for the last one. ) and go onto .5 if the .25 isn’t stopping the snacking? Am gutted as had hope this would help and I’m not sure why I have t lost any weight as I’ve not eaten anywhere near the amounts I usually do. Have also changed my diet so it’s 99% good stuff! I am aware that muscles weigh more than fat and that o might be toning up but I do t think I’ve done enough in that area to make a difference.

Any ideas on what to do from now? Thanks.

You need to count your calories.

Ah I’ve not been doing that!! Although I have definitely been eating so much less than before.
Greek yoghurt with fruit and some nuts for breakfast
a bit of fruit mid afternoon
smaller portion of dinner.

no greasy food as I tried it once and was sick.

have also been drinking way less alcohol than before.

surely I should have lost at least some weight from all of that alone?

Follow the schedule of increasing doses properly and increase gradually until you reach a dose that enables you to lose weight. Count calories. Trust the process

Be patient and count calories, for now. Don’t skip the next 0.25 dose. The treatment initiation is to do 4 doses of the 0.25mg dose, which builds up the medication that’s in your system each week. I also doubt that you wasted any medication on your first dose, unless you actually saw the medication come out of the needle before you injected so I don’t think that’s a genuine concern.

Unless you know what calories you’re consuming in comparison to your daily calorie need, you won’t know whether you’re actually in a deficit or not. You are eating less than before but that doesn’t mean that you’re in enough of a calorie deficit to lose a noticeable amount of weight.

Thanks everyone. I’ve just totted up today’s calories - worst day so far due to the crisps and chocolate and definitely in a deficit. My fitness pal says I should have 1500 but today I’ve had 1458 plus earned extra from exercise so have just over 200 ‘left’. This is the most I have eaten since starting so I must be in deficit daily.
I’ll keep going and thanks for the reassurance about the potentially wasted dose. I just really want to see a bit of weight come off!!

You say “definitely in a deficit” but you haven’t mentioned what your TDEE actually is?

I’d also never eat back the calories that are supposedly earned from exercise.

Like @SilenceInside I don't include the calories that I exercise off. I counted calories until I was sure I knew what my calorie allowance looked like. The first dose is mostly to prime your body so don't panic. It's a marathon not a race and in less time than you imagine you'll look back and celebrate how far you've come

If you've started exercising a lot more then you'll be retaining water which will make you look heavier on the scales. You won't be building much muscle if any.

I didn’t count calories and lost 35lbs (16kg). For me, it came in waves - so for a month I think I only lost a couple of kg, then around week 8 I dropped like 5kg really fast. It’s done the same ever since - relatively same weight for a few weeks then a sizeable drop.

However it should be noted that I’m fairly knowledgeable about what calories are in what foods so I can make an educated guess when putting meals together. I also would only eat two meals a day and wouldn’t snack unless I needed to to get rid of nausea (usually I’d have a pear or apple).

Thanks. No I’d never add on the calories from exercise, I just mentioned it to say what the app said.
I’ve dieted for years and know roughly what amounts to have etc. I eat a pretty healthy diet normally (Mediterranean based) but it’s the snacking and the wine… it’s just that normally on plans like slimming world I would be losing weight by week 3 of no snacking and reduced meals but I haven’t on this.
I’ll keep going, reassuring to hear others have lost after a slow start too! Thanks for the encouragement!

You need to stop drinking alcohol.

Lots of useless, empty calories.

If you’re not losing you will be Eating to maintenance, you need to be 500 a day under, it’s very easy to over estimate your tdee and or underestimate what you consume averaged over a week, portions, drinks etc.

You're still in the titrating up phase. It can take longer than that to really kick in.

I never counted calories and in maintenance I still don't. It's a choice not a requirement.

Keep going! I had a very similar issue and was loosing my mind putting in all the effort over and above with no results BUT you need to find your groove!

There will be a sweet spot dose that will 100% work for you. For me, it’s 10mgs.

I’ve not lost much and lost that extremely slowly while increasing the dose but got my 10mgs and now it’s dropping off beautifully and I feel great.
keep going!

I would also like to just add that everyone is different therefore what works for one will not work for others.

I have started a couple of threads the same as yours OP and had I listened and followed the advice and “ I mean this gently” posts, I would be eating 3 lettuce leaves and doing weekly triathlons to shift 1lb every 2 months and should feel grateful for that.
MFP as a method of tracking, my nutritional intake, portions, times of eating and even where I inject were ripped to shreds so I gave up.

People could not get their head around me knowing my own body and how it works because it didn’t match theirs.
People have very strong opinions on this and it doesn’t always translate to friendly understanding and sharing.

I wouldn't rely on mfp to give you accurate calorie target. Do a proper tdee calculator and this will be better. Then track religiously for a month including everything you consume and if you're definitely in a deficit you'll lose weight.

That's the only way to do it, tedious as it is.

This, I retain water while my muscles repair and blood volume gets heavier too.
and yes to tracking every calorie

You might need less calories than you think. I’ve always been active, walking everywhere and exercising daily, but since being in peri/ on HRT I put weight on at 1400-500 calories unfortunately. It’s been trial and error to find how many calories I actually need to lose weight (a lot less than many people!).

Surely 0.25 is a tiny dose?

It’s the first dose level of Wegovy which is what I’d assume the OP is taking given she talked about ordering a 0.5mg pen which is a Wegovy dose.

Are you on Wegovy or Mounjaro?

0.25 is a wegovy dose
I've just remembered as well when I tried wegovy one of the worse side effects was constipation. That's probably affecting the scales too!

if this is the first 3 injections, then its not a full dose and therefore there is no guarentee to lose weight and for it to be fully active. Some find the effects straight away, some it takes going up to the next two dosages.
finish the course and got to 0.5 when ready its time and maybe just do a weeks diary of food to confirm there are no hidden calories.
give it time, if your not having bad side effects just see how it goes in the next phase