2nd week @7.5mg MJ plateaued again!

[DoubleBusy2026]

Hi

I don’t know what I’m asking for really. Solidarity?! Someone to tell me it’s normal?
My starting weight was (embarrassingly) 23st 5
and 10 weeks later I’m at 22st 5. I know, I know, you don’t want to lose weight too fast, especially at such a high starting weight, or else you’ll end up with the worst loose skin ever and looking like a zombie etc etc. I guess I just thought it’d be a little bit more than a stone in 10 weeks??
Especially given that when you’re extremely obese like me, you can often end up losing/gaining a stone without even changing anything or even noticing. I can’t tell you how many times over the years that the GP has said “Oh you’ve lost a stone since I last saw you” when I’ve not changed anything and then of course, it’s gone straight back on by the time I’m back there again. Same has happened re: gaining a stone.
Yet here I am, barely eating and paying money I can barely afford and ultimately trying so, so hard for 10 looooong weeks, yet I’ve only lost a stone? It’s making me so, so sad.
At this slow & painful rate it’s going to take me 5 years (& £18,000!) to get to a healthy weight…🥺

Anyone else?
Please tell me it gains some momentum when you’re further along?!

Thanks!

I was on MJ for 5.5 months and I lost 1.5 stone. I haven't got nearly as much to lose as you, but I still found it frustrating compared to all the people who lose a lot. Basically it's just more effective for some people than others, who knows why. I've come off it now, as it seemed like a lot of money to pay for not much of a result. I guess you should continue going up to higher doses before you give up - maybe it will start being more effective for you.

There’s a couple of things you’ve said that stand out which might be worth looking into - I use YouTube a lot and especially watch videos where experts and obesity doctors etc are featured and it’s really helped. Firstly you say you are barely eating. There is a lot of evidence to say that if you don’t have enough calories then your body will hold onto weight because it goes into survival mode as it tries to figure out what the hell is happening. Make sure you are eating enough. Secondly, you’re already on 7.5mg after just 10 weeks. Is this because you didn’t have any appetite suppression or is it because you weren’t happy with how fast you were losing?

Some people really do struggle to respond to the drugs and are very unfortunate but there’s definitely things you can try alongside the usual drinking loads of water and protein and fibre focus…

@DoubleBusy2026 When you say "barely eating" are you tracking calories and comparing what you're eating against your TDEE?

You say you are "trying so, so hard" - does that mean that you aren't getting much effect from the Mounjaro?

Please don't be sad about losing a stone. The benefit of Mounjaro (or any GLP1 that works for you) is that the weight loss will continue, so that stone won't go back on again and over time it will become 2 stone, 3 stone and more.

It will take a long time to lose weight when you start off in the sort of weight range that you and I (22st) started at, that's inevitable really. I would also consider that many people decide to stay on the medication long term after getting to their target weight as it's so beneficial in many different ways. You might need to factor that cost into your long term planning.

@madeinthe80zThat’s the normal timeline for Mounjaro. My pharmacy started me at 2.5mg then sent me 5mg after 4 weeks and then 7.5mg just over a week ago?

As for barely eating, I wasn’t very clear. I’ve never been a big daytime eater as my parents weren’t either (they were raised during WW2 when more emphasis was on the evening meal) and I can never eat on a morning. So normally I’d either not eat lunch or if I am peckish, have something small like lentil crisps and a yogurt. Then I’d have a big meal. I’ve cut out snacking.
Since starting Mounjaro, I’ve been cutting my portion sizes so my evening meal is substantially less than normal although I do still have a 27g piece of chocolate after dinner as it’s my only treat! Perhaps that’s why I’m not losing much?!

I don’t have a clue how to calorie count when my meals are 9/10 homemade from scratch. I do have the suggested portion sizes for pasta and then make sure I only eat say, two thirds of it and most of the time I’m full then anyway. Anything I can count the calories of though, I absolutely do.

What exercise are you doing? In order to be in a deficit, your 'out' calories need to be more than your 'in calories'. If you are sedentary, even 3 meals a day can be difficult to get you into a deficit. Especially if you aren't calorie counting. I would say that if you're not losing, it's because you are taking in more calories than you think.

I've been on MJ for about a year and lost almost 6 stone. I'm at the gym 5 times a week and get minimally 7k steps a day, trying to at least double that on a weekend / WFH day.

I've only recently moved up to 10mg, at probably the 10 month point. It's different for everyone, of course, but I'm surprised to hear you're already plateauing at 7.5mg at 10 weeks.

You don't have to move up doses just because the pharmacy suggest it. The usual titration is to go up every 4 weeks, but that assumes you are not having significant side effects and that you need to move up because you aren't getting the same feelings of appetite suppression and fullness. Many people stay on a dose long term because it's working well for them.

Calorie counting is a bit of a hassle initially, but using something like MyFitnessPal, you can define your own recipes and save them. You can then work out the calories in the portion that you serve yourself, and get a reasonable daily total. If you are only eating one meal a day that will also be easier. I don't normally calorie count, but I do for a week or so if I am not losing weight so that I can get a handle on what kind of deficit I'm in.

The daily chocolate is probably about 150 cals, so probably not the cause of you not losing the weight at the rate you were hoping for. Although it's around a 1000 cals a week that could be cut out easily.

Presumably you’re still eating too much, if you’ve only lost a stone in 10 weeks? Now, it might be that you need a higher dose to kick in and help keep you satiated so that you don’t over eat. Some people need to be on 10mg before they feel the full effects.

I’ve lost 5st on Mounjaro (the first stone came off in 3 weeks) and I probably eat about a quarter or third size portion of what I used to eat for my main meal. So your 2/3rds is probably still too much. Can you put your meal onto a tea plate rather than a dinner plate and try that for a couple of weeks. Honestly, it is surprising just how little food I really need just to maintain my weight and MJ stops me feeling ravenous.

I also fill up on protein and fibre over carbs so if I made a Spaghetti Bolognaise, I’d add a load of chopped veg to the sauce and only have a tiny portion of spaghetti.

I also think you might need to carry on moving up the doses until you find the dose that really works for you. However, Mounjaro is a game changer but it’s not a miracle worker. You know you’re going to have to make significant long term changes to your diet in order to lose the weight, and more importantly, keep it off. You have to ask yourself honestly, “what am I prepared to change?”

Good luck. 🤞

I’m disabled so I can’t do much but I do walk the dog. I only eat once per day!

But that’s exactly why I did go up, because 5mg just wasn’t quite doing it enough? 2.5mg certainly didn’t either.

No I didn’t say I’m still eating two thirds of what I normally have I said I’m having two thirds of the suggested portion size of pasta. I’m eating substantially less portion sizes than I used to eat

@DoubleBusy2026 you did say that you moved up doses because that’s what the pharmacy told you to do. But if you aren’t getting any effects from the Mounjaro then yes you’d need to move up and keep doing so until it kicks in. Does the 7.5mg work well for you at the moment?

Part of the issue is that social media makes you think you’ll drop loads every single week. Your average weekly loss is well within the 1-2lbs a week advisable limit. It’s also not a plateau, which is classed as four weeks without any losses.

it would be worth you checking your TDEE calculations to see how many calories you should be having a day. It can be less than you think, especially if you’re very short and mostly sedentary. Agree with other suggestions on calorie counting, sadly it’s very very easy to guess at the calories and be vastly out, and that makes it harder when you think you’re denying yourself food and aren’t getting the results you want! Calorie counting is easy if you cook for yourself as you can scan the barcodes as you go.

when you say you’re trying really hard - what does that entail? If you can expand on that a little, it might give some clues as to what might help.

It’s not a plateau until you’ve stayed the same for at least 6 weeks, sometimes hormones etc mean the scales don’t move for a few weeks, that’s just the way it goes, you have to get used to weight loss not being linear. You’ve got a long way to go, you just have to trust the process. Assuming you’re still within your calorie deficit you eating chocolate won’t make a difference. I eat a bar of chocolate most days (I calorie count and count the chocolate) and I’m over 11st down in 18mths so I can’t imagine it’s had a big impact!
I really recommend calorie counting, even if you just do it for the first few months until you have a better idea of portion sizes etc

Sometimes people can have medical issues, and weigh more than people who eat far more, so it might be worth checking with a doctor if possible?

It could be the only eating once per day which makes you feel like the 5mg and 7.5mg are ‘not working’ - you can (and should) still feel hunger on these medications, it’s your body asking for energy when required

There absolutely is NOT evidence of this. It's a completely made up concept. There is no way a 23 stone body is not losing fat in a calorie deficit because she's 'not eating enough'.

2 weeks is not a plateau. A stone in 10 weeks is fairly slow but it's impossible to understand what's happening if you don't calorie count. There are lots of apps you can use to track your food including creating your own recipes for homemade food.
What is true is that you only lose weight by being in a calorie deficit, and at the rate you're losing weight your deficit is around 750 calories a day which is not insignificant. Can you tell us your age, height and average daily steps?

You say it is impossible to count calories because almost everything is homemade. That makes it much easier to count calories since you know the exact ingredients and amounts. There are numerous online calculators (my fitness tracker is free and popular, for example), where you can put in your food (i.e. ingredients) and get an estimate of calories.

If you are making all of your food homemade then it's easier to count your calories as you know what's in your food. What type of things are you making?

You don't give your age but going off how you describe your parents' upbringing I'm guessing you yourself must be at least 50+ unless you were a very later life baby!

It's definitely harder the older we get, particularly as women (I'm 54). I actually think, particularly given you say you have a disability which limits movement, you've done really well to lose over a lb a week.

The age thing adds to why you don't want to lose fast. Not about skin but muscle strength and bone density. You haven't given much detail of your diet but the more you can prioritise protein over carbs the better.

It may well be that you're one of those who does need to be on a high dose to fully feel the effects, that's something only you can tell by how easy or hard you're finding it to eat less (rather than by how much you've lost).

You might want to look at the types of food you’re eating in addition to calories. Many people have great success this way, so consider cutting back on the four main groups - pasta (which you mention you’re eating), bread, potatoes and rice.
mare you eating much of those now?

@DoubleBusy2026 You sound very similar to another poster who posted recently, and I wonder if you’re expecting the medication to do most of the heavy lifting for you.

From what you’ve described, your relationship with food sounds like it could be quite disordered. If you want to give yourself the best chance of success, you will need to work on this alongside the medication. Rather than focusing on your parents or WW2, try to focus on what you can do now to move forward.

Start by educating yourself about nutrition: calories, macros, and how to work out appropriate calorie deficit, protein and fibre targets for your needs. Then think about how to meet those targets consistently throughout the day, rather than relying on one binge meal.

It won't be easy, start maybe with a protein yoghurt for breakfast, a small bowl of soup with lentils and meat for lunch, then a calorie counted protein focused main meal in the evening until your body gets used to eating regularly again.

Keep an honest, detailed record of what you eat and drink, including oils, snacks, treats and anything else that can easily be overlooked.

Track your progress consistently. If you’re not seeing the results you expect, review your tracking, perhaps try to drop calories a little further, but not too much. If you do this and still don't lose weight speak to your doctor. Bringing your food records/app will help them to offer appropriate support.

So for 14 pounds in ten weeks you will be eating in a defecit of just under 750 cals a day, to lose 2 lbs a week it’s 1000 defecit . You probably need approx 2500 a day to maintain a 22 stone body, depending on how your disability impacts you,and how active you are,

which means you are likely eating approx 1700 odd cals a day, if you only eat once, it’s either a very large portion or it’s whay it is, and how it’s cooked,

if you wish to lose more, you need to try to cut back, say to 1500, as two pounds a week would give more of a boost and is within healthy guidelines

but you need to explain what your weekly losses are, as the above is assuming linear, which it won’t be, and usually the first week or so are big ones,

@Herewegoagainandagainandagain some good advice there

Ah I feel for you, you read so much about people whose weight flies off them. But a stone is a stone and you won't regain it if you carry on- would you have lost a stone without the mj?

I'd reset. Download nutracheck (a quick forum search will show you how popular it is) and log every single mouthful. You can save your meals as you make them then serve yourself a portion.

Make sure you're not under eating. I started losing more when I added in breakfast (greek yogurt, blueberries, honey) and having more to eat on Sundays. Do a TDEE calculator.