Should I increase Mounjaro dose or stay at my current weight?

[Electra50]

Hi, I started Mounjaro 5 months ago:

SW: 85.6kg, BMI 30.3
CW: 72.5kg, BMI 26.1

I am delighted about this, but have plateaued a bit recently and can't decide whether to go up to 7.5mg (currently on 5mg) or even whether I want to lose any more.

I'm 54 and am now back to the weight I was for most of my adult life, i.e.always carrying a little bit extra, but not a health concern. That was until menopause hit and I went into the obese range.

I'm worried that if I carry on losing, it won't be sustainable - but part of me would like to lose a bit more and be properly slim (and healthy).

Should I stay on 5mg and plateau at BMI 26 or increase to get to the 'healthy weight' 25 bracket?

I kept going till I reached a healthy BMI and now am maintaining

I was on 5mg for several months and then stopped losing. I moved to 7.5mg which got the last lot of weight off and then moved back to 5mg which I’m currently maintaining on.

As someone not much younger than you, I did find that I didn’t look right too slim and ended up a bit saggy with my face aging. I started weight training and gained a few pounds back and look much better for it. I’m still in the healthy BMI range though.

I would increase and get to a healthy weight. I feel so different being into the healthy weight bracket than just over it. My BMI is 19.5 now and I feel so healthy. BMI 22 for me previously was comfortable, I am on a low maintenance dose right now and its working for me. I cant see me ever coming off it.

I used 7.5mg to get to my goal weight. I then maintained on 5mg for 10 months, but had to go back up to 7.5mg as my body had got used to it, food noise was coming back and I put on 6lbs over the course of six months.
I’d go up to get to your goal weight, drop down for a bit for maintenance and see how you get on.

Have you actually reached a plateau (how many weeks has it been? Over 4 weeks with no loss at all?) or is it that weight loss is slowing down - which is normal closer to healthy bmi? Sometimes your body can spend a couple of weeks not losing then bump down a little bit etc.

People talk about a healthy BMI, but that was originally meant as a population level measurement-some instructors at my gym have a BMI above 25, but it is much healthier to have some muscle and that BMI, than to have a BMI of 24 and no muscle.
So my answer would be to assess your body (speak to a trainer) and focus on what will be healthier and better for you. It might be you want to lose a little bit of fat and focus on gaining some muscle, or it might be you're like my instructors who are already very fit, even if their BMI is not "ideal".

@Electra50 what does your diet look like? Are you in a calorie deficit? Is this an area you could explore to see if this is why you have plateaued?

I kept going until I reached a healthy weight. You are still in the overweight zone.

Up to you though…

Thanks for all the different comments. It makes me realise I have lost a lot of motivation five months into this process.

I know I would never have been able to calorie count for more than a week- something in me revolts against that type of restriction. I have to let myself think I am 'free eating ' whilst surreptitiously eating less/more healthily. As such I have never had a definitive 'goal weight'.

However I'm now coming round to thinking I would like to aim for a range of 10.5 - 11 stone , so another 6-13lb loss.

This will take some discipline and motivation at this point.

Sustained weight loss is psychologically very complex I'm learning - the numbers (scales/calories/BMRs) are only a very small part of the picture...

Just looked at your numbers. Youre averaging 1kg a week!!! Thats incredible!

I'm not convinced you need a ton more discipline/motivation as you've made incredible progress so far.

Have you actually stalled for a month? Or getting to the stage where the line is more bumpy?

Your stats are very similar to mine OP
although I’ve been on MJ for just over 3 months. I have seriously plateaued too-lost nothing now for a month. So I’ve moved up to 5mg but it’s nowhere near like it was at the start. Not much in the way of food noise but I’m finishing my meals easily. Trying to focus on protein and sticking to my calorie deficit. It’s frustratingly slow but I’m determined not to settle for what I’ve lost so far. Too invested now! I was hoping being on 5mg would be enough but I suspect I’ll have to move up again soon.

How is your weight to height ratio OP? If that’s ok I’d consider staying where you are, but if it’s not I’d probably keep going until all metrics are in the healthy range.

I also hit a plateau at about BMI 26.5, have stayed the same for a year on 5mg. If I go to 7.5mg it makes no difference, 10mg gives me bad nausea and still no weight loss. So I'll take being technically slightly overweight, it's way better than being BMI 34 where I started. I guess everyone is different.

I think I'm going to stick on 5mg and chill for a bit - I'm in this for the long haul.

Thanks for all the responses 😊