Anyone else losing weight slowly on Mounjaro?

[Wishfulshrinker25]

Anyone else a very slow loser? Wegovy seemed to have no impact on me at all and I was on it from November to March. I am now on Mounjaro and have been for 4 months. I'm currently only on 5mg, but wondering if I should move up to feel more impact. I'm 1.5 stone off and on holiday at the moment and I feel the difference in my clothes but not the massive weight loss that a lot people seem to have. I'm aware I'm snacking less but I'm definitely eating more than normal and don't have the complete resistance to food noise that others talk of. Just musing really - glad to be on it, interested to see where I'll be in a year!

How much weight are you hoping to lose?
It took me 3 months to lose one stone and a following 4 months to lose the next stone.
I was happy with the progress.

@Lifecircle,7 stone in total so a way to go!

You shouldn’t have total resistance to food noise, you still need to be hungry and eat healthy portions. Anything else is too high a dose and letting the drugs do the heavy lifting, which means you’re never getting off them or titrating down,

on saying that is is slow loss. With a lot to lose, so you’re eating close to mainemamce so I’d move up.

people are weird on here about moving up, I think it’s a cost thing. You should move up to find your optimal dose, based on your hunger signals and food consumption. I’ve seen mad things written like plateau for three months, you’d never get the weight off.

for me I moved up each month to 10mg. Which was my optimal dose, it was perfect, 24/7 suppression, still hungry for meals, full after a healthy portion, no snacking. I now maintain on 5mg.

Losing 1.5 stones in 4 months isn’t necessarily slow, depending on your starting point.

Have you actively changed your diet to healthier choices, prioritising protein and fibre and cutting out the crap? I think this is key to losing effectively and especially when you start maintenance.

If you’ve got a lot to lose and you don’t feel much appetite suppression, you should move up to 7.5mg for your next pen and see what happens.

Different people approach WLI in their own ways. There is more to it than just the dose.

Personally I wanted Mounjaro to help support me as much as I needed, but not be the full solution. I thought what would be best for me long term to maintain any losses (and of course a bonus financially!) was if I learnt more during the weight loss journey. I didn't mind how long it took as long as the trend stayed in the right direction. I always thought maintaining would be the hardest part, I have lost before but never sustained it, and this time in my late 50s and morbidly obese it had to be different.

I used Mounjaro to help quieten the food noises enough to allow me work on my diet and mindset. Both of these really helped me alongside Mounjaro to succeed, but it took a long time to work out how my body and mind was responding to different foods and eating habits. The medication helped keep me on track.

There are some things that I knew I needed to do before I start if I wanted to succeed and some I found out as I went along -

• I found that stopping skipping meals, including breakfast, reduced my food noise and made me less likely to snack later in the day.
• Protein at every meal to reach protein targets and help with satiety throughout the day (for me, replacements for protein such as bars weren't as satisfying as whole foods, and anything sweet tasting seemed to amplify cravings)
• Eating more high volume / low(er) calorie foods that also help with fibre and satiety - veg, salad, fruit, pulses, beans
• Minimising carbs and upf - I found that highly processed foods and some refined carbohydrates increased my food noise very soon after eating.
• Eat mindfully. I concentrate on eating when I eat not my phone or the TV. Eating slowly and chewing well gave my body more time to register fullness - it really does make a surprising difference. Eat protein and fibre first. Stop when I lose interest.
• Drinking enough water - I eventually used an app to remind me and to log how much I was actually drinking (less than I thought) until I got used to it
• Stopping habits - the 3pm biscuit, the ice-cream after dinner because it was hot - as they encouraged food noise - sure have them now and again but daily becomes a habit. This was really brought home to me the two Christmases during my weight loss period - the regular treat foods, snacking, out of a routine - and the food noise really ramped up, it took a good 2-3 weeks in January back in a routine for them to dampen down again, but they did while staying on same dose.

If my current dose wasn't consistently helping me stay in a calorie deficit over the week, I'd first look at whether there were sustainable changes I could make to my eating habits. If those weren't enough, I'd then consider increasing the dose to get the bit of extra support I needed.

It isn't about avoiding increasing dose as different people respond to the medication in different ways and the ideal dose will be different, it is about doing it in a considered way.

I lost over 9st in around 19 months, and what I learnt during my weight loss phase has helped me sustain for a further 7 months so far.

I'm 1.5 stone off

I read this as you are 1.5 stone off target but I see someone else read it as you've lost 1.5 stone. If you're 7 stone overweight I would expect it to go a bit faster at first. How much on average are you losing a week? It might be time to go up a dose.

It's taken me around 16 months to lose 4 stone on Mounjaro. It was quicker at the start, now it's around 1kg per month. I got up to 12.5mg but the suppression was much too strong so I'm going back down to 10mg today. I'm happy with the slow rate of loss, I know I couldn't have done it any other way.

I loose on average 1-2lb per week, some weeks less than 1lb, some just above 2lbs. So far that meant 33kg in 13 months.

I am on 5mg and will stay with that. I have suppression but only enough to stay with smaller portions in my calorie deficit. I still want to think about what I eat and learn how to avoid the snacks and how to eat better, my whole diet has changed to more protein and a lot less carbs, especially sugary ones.

I am 1 stone away from goal now.

Interesting to hear that you went up. I can absolutely see that it's a cost thing, it would be a big factor for me too.
I'm really keen to lose it sensibly and keep it off but at this rate, it could take me 20 months so thinking about going up. Agree about finding an optimal dose but thinking 5 isn't it.

Yeah, I dont think it's too bad but if I include the wegovy time too, it's pitiful! Otherwise it's just under 1lb a week.

I don't really feel the appetite suppression, it's like I'm still waiting for it to click.

Brilliant tips thanks, and an amazing weight loss 👏👏

Oh no, 1.5 stone off, and 7 to lose in total!

According to shotsy, if i include my time with wegovy too, it's 0.7lb a week but if i just count the last 6 months, it's 1.2lb a week.

Absolutely, and I can't remember the last time I lost weight and hadn't lost my mojo/regained by now. Maybe slow and steady really is the way forward here!

Great, well done, only a stone to go must feel good! 👏👏👏

Yep, if I think 1.5 stone in 4 months then that sounds great for 4.5 stone after a year.

Maybe all of these responses are a good reminder that it's not comparable! Perhaps my biggest lesson is not to compare myself to others and focus on my journey. Sorry, journey is a sickly expression but I cant think of a better way to put it!

28 weeks today and 30lbs. Still on 3.5mg. If I get comparisonitis I get very frustrated and panicky. I try and remind myself I feel better than I have for years. Weight loss albeit slow is painless, it’s not a constant war of me vs hunger. I’m sleeping better than I have for a long time. I’m strength training 5 days a week and seeing a lot of body recomp. 80% of my aches and pains have gone. I’m eating well. I’ve done fast weight loss in the past and the moment I stopped, the rebound gain started. I’m trying hard to do it differently this time and MJ is making that much easier. It also means no one, and I mean no one, has asked if I’m on them.

That's great @RedApplePie - basically 2 and a half stone in 6 months. Sounds like setting a good pattern for life.

yes, journey is a bit sickly, but I struggle to find any other term to phrase it quite as well ..........weight loss phase/chapter/project, deficit mode.....downsizing, deflation, melting phase (I do look a bit like a melted candle now!) , the descent....

Nothing else quite captures it where we are all travelling at different speeds, learning as we progress and perhaps take the odd wrong turn or detour along the way but (hopefully) all eventually reach the final destination.

That’s a really good weight loss over the time you’ve been on Mounjaro. And don’t forget the longer it takes to come off the longer you’ll have to cement your new habits into habits of a lifetime. Two years in I’m now maintaining after losing 30kgs at a pound a week and whilst people may think it’s a slow weight loss I never once had a week where I didn’t lose weight though I did have a stall lasting 6 weeks. I also never went higher than a dose of 7.5 as I wanted to have a bit of a fight on my hands in order to manage in future without Mounjaro. Anyway what I did and what I’m now doing has worked for me and I think your rate of weight loss is great and sustainable.

I have been talking MJ for 15moths with the odd month not using it . I have lost 20kgs and feel generally so much better. I am on 7.5 which lasts about 6 weeks and am happy with my weight.Starting weight 96kgs now 75ish .

How many calories are you eating a day and are you managing to stick to your planned calories?

@MeridaBrave have you looked into your TDEE? You can calculate it online and then take off 300-500 calories to find how many calories should let you lose 1-2 pounds a week.
For me my TDEE is 2100 so I aim for 1600 calories a day. I track carefully and usually stick to that.

That sounds like such a good way to be doing it all. I think the lack of battling myself at all times is definitely new. A few weeks ago, I had a proper PMT binge and realised afterwards that I hadnt eaten like that for months. Also that's over 1lb a week loss for you, which is a really sensible weight loss 😊

Oh god, i didnt realise you'd used the expression 'journey', I'm sorry, I'll remove my foot from my mouth now..!

You're right though, love the bit about travelling at different speeds 😊 also great minds - I used the expression a melted candle when referring to my body the other day!

Thank you @CariadDarling! Brilliant to hear about the maintaining, sounds like you're smashing it!