18 months on Mounjaro and not losing

[Polkadotdash]

Looking for other non-losers!
I’ve been on Mounjaro for 18 months now. I had a period in the middle where I lost some weight (about 2.5 stone). Then I stopped losing altogether about 9 months ago. I’ve since put on half a stone.
My current dose is 10mg. My BMI is 29.
I feel very disheartened. I’m in a lovely group elsewhere on mumsnet who we’ve shared our journey with from the start. I’m the only one who hasn’t reached their goal and has actually gained. I feel like I’m some freak.
Anyone else like this?

Not exactly but I’ve been on it 2 years and am on 15 mg. I got my bmi down to 20ish in the first year and then maintained on 15mg up until last Christmas. Since Christmas though I’ve gained 10lbs back. I don’t really get much suppression from it any more. Don’t know anyone or hear of anyone on 15mg and not losing let alone gaining. My supplier has suggested injecting into the back of my arm. Why don’t you try the 15mg? I do think some people tolerate it better than others so don’t get the suppression as strong

Do you track your calories? It’s a pain, I know, but sometimes necessary when things stagnate.

@Pyjamatimenow does changing the injection site really work? I’ve never understood the science behind it. I can’t afford to go up any higher in dosage. I struggle to afford the 10mg as it is.

@JMSA no, but I eat pretty much the same things every day (I’m really boring) so I know what I’m taking in. I have had some periods where I’ve been eating badly due to stress. And by that I mean eating chocolate at work to get me through the afternoon. But mostly it’s just the same food all the time. I don’t eat meat. I don’t drink (apart from a glass of wine probably once a month).

You do realise it doesn’t just melt the fat away when you inject don’t you? Are you actually eating healthily and counting your calories consumed? You have to put the work in as WLI is just a tool to help in weight loss and it’s on you to do the heavy lifting and make the effort to change your eating habits.

I was on Mounjaro for 15 months and lost 4 stone. I was 10 off target (10lbs under top BMI). And then I stopped losing. Total plateau for 5 months. I continued to eat the same calories(1000/day)/portion size/frequency of meals etc, and put on 10lbs. So now I need to lose 20lbs. My provider reckons I need to exercise more and up my protein.
I read a thread earlier and someone said, "I understand my body now" or some such. I had PCOS(until the Os were removed) and I literally don't think I've ever understood my body. I know carbs and sugar don't work for me, I need masses of water, I can't manage lots of calories, but short of wiring my jaw shut and amputating a leg, I cannot get to a reasonable weight.

Ok, that explains the plateau, you're eating too many calories with the chocolate etc.

You need to reduce your calorie intake. You could also increase your calorie expenditure through physical activity.

Whether it not that can be done without upping your dose for the extra willpower help really depends on you.

If you wanted to post more about what you eat and your lifestyle we might be able to suggest some tweaks?

Why don’t you change what you are eating, especially lunch so you won’t eat chocolate (and how much by the way?) every afternoon?
What are some typical days? What do you eat?

@IwouldifIcouldreachit this sounds like my experience too. Are you still in the plateau?

@MotherTuckinGenius @doctorsleep @Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice would be great if you could share your experiences with using MJ. Have you been stuck in lengthy no loss plateaus? If so, how did you move through it?

If you eat the same things every day that you ate when you were 2.5st heavier and just starting on Mounjaro it’s probably too many calories now.

When you were lugging an extra 35lbs of fat around all day you might have been able to lose weight eating anything under say 1,800 calories a day because every activity took a lot more effort. As you got slimmer the same activities slowly became less effort as you had less body to move around. So to keep losing weight now you need to either reduce your calories so you are still in deficit or increase your activity so you are still burning the same amount of energy you were burning at the start. Or a mix of both.

if you don’t eat meat, do you eat fish, eggs, pulses to get your daily protein requirement? If you don’t you have probably lost some muscle as well as fat which will also be reducing your metabolic rate meaning you also need to eat less to stay the same weight.

i think you really need to log all your food for a few days to see how many calories it is. Your portion sizes may have crept up as time goes on. Plus use a TDEE calculator to get your baseline calories and see how they compare. Good luck.

I think you need to log everything you eat abd all exercise for a week, then adjust both until you start to loose again. I'm on 7.5mg and not lost any weight since Feb really. I need to up my dose but I'm not tolerating it well anymore.

Write a few days food diary’s on here

usually it’s what you eat /the amount

too many calories

need to check your tdee and count every calorie. Chocolate is high for not a lot

I had similar, In a year on mounjaro I lost 4.5 stone but once I hit the year mark it seemed to really slow down, I was losing a half pound a week if I was lucky. I'm only 5 foot with an office style job so to lose weight I was having to only eat around 1000 calories a day which was really hard so I was basically in unplanned maintenance. I still want to lose at least another stone so I upped to 15mg I was on 12.5 and in 2 weeks of being on 15 Ive lost 3 pound so upping the dose worked for me!

I also do not loose weight anymore, if yes it is mainly water retention (I have maybe 5-10kg left) but I managed to recomposition my body a bit and look definitely more toned with regular exercise. Every week about 4-5 times for 20 mins with weights or HIIT and walking, Good resource to find a relevant workout is www.herdailyfit.com

I’ve just rechecked my TDEE as I hadn’t looked at it for a while. I’d been working on my BMR being 1500 and me eating 1300 a day. My BMR is actually 1650. I’ve tried doing a couple of days per week on 1000 and frankly I couldn’t cope. I was so tired I couldn’t manage.

And just to clarify, I’m not eating chocolate every day. I said in the past 18 months I’ve had times of high stress that have seen me using chocolate as a crutch to get through. Not every day.

Try 1200. That’s what I ate to lose weight

Bmr and tdee are different. My bmr is 1200 and tdee is 1470, if I ate more than my bmr I wouldn't lose either, I actually eat 1400 to maintain and that's at 5ft 3 with an office job 5-8k steps a day being on go 11hrs a day incl a 2-3hr commute a day. I had to drop to 900-1000 to lose. Tdee calculators do generalise so don't include metabolic issues like prediabetic, pcos or insulin resistance. I had prediabetes so had to cut the carbs to lose. Also if you aren't tracking your food daily, you could easily go over your deficit without realising. It is worth using myfitnesspal app or similar especially with all the money we spend on mj, we need to put the work in too.

A few people have suggested you post what you eat on typical days so we can offer some more specific advice. Would you like to do that?

But you have lost weight, and the amount you regained is small by comparison.
You could try increasing the dose.
what weight are you at?
Have you worked on your tone/muscle and the fitness side?

@Mysticmaiden i think you must have read my stats the wrong way round. I eat 1300 which is 350 less than by BMR.

@HappyWineDay I’m looking for others who have been on MJ for a long time and not lost anything. I’m not looking for scrutiny of what I eat on a daily basis. I know how these threads unravel very quickly into picking over what people have eaten and offering advice on living on fresh air and dust as being the only way to lose anything. It’s not what I’m posting here for. I’m trying to find others who, like me, are stuck not losing. Looking for solidarity, not advice on my diet.

@BreakingBroken I’m 13 stone. The lowest I got to was 12st 7lb in October last year. To get to a bmi of 25 I need to be 11 stone. So basically I’ve lost half of what I need to be a healthy weight. Gaining half a stone whilst on MJ seems to be a non typical experience.

So the average weight loss on WLI is said to be 20%, did you reach that milestone?
I don’t think it’s unusual for it to stop working.
What options are you considering and what options do you really have?
Clearly some people are on these meds for other reasons as well long term?
Why are you reluctant to increase your dose? I would think most people on a long plateau would give up.

Tho the reason you aren’t losing weight may be down to what you eat esp if don’t track calories

you do have to put the hard work in. Many think it’s just comes off and stops you eating everything in sight. It doesn’t

so by posting what you eat we may be able to help you