Can't believe how little my body needs :(

[GLPGal]

I've been on the Wegovy pills since July, having battled with my weight for a long time. Over the last three months I have tracked my calories meticulously, and have not exceeded 1000 calories per day. This consists of two Protein Works meal replacement shakes, and one healthy, home cooked meal with a focus on vegetables and protein. I have stopped snacking entirely.

I've lost a steady 1lb per week. I'm very pleased. But how on earth can I sustain this long term? I've always said that 1200 calories does not result in weight loss for me. And believe me, I was MISERABLE on 1200 calories without the help of meds. I just don't understand why my body needs so little.

I'm 5ft 3 and, as of this morning, a healthy BMI at last! Would like to lose another 7-14lbs. But how on earth will I maintain it unless I want to be on these tablets for life?!

With willpower. You would have to eat very low calorie foods; a lot of veg and high protein. This is why people struggle in this day & age to be slim; when food is such poor quality and made to be addictive. It’s a struggle!!

And exercise to burn off the excess and build/maintain muscle. Xo

Well done on the loss! Maybe it’s about enjoying the calories you do have? Do you enjoy the protein shakes? If not, can you find nutritious things to swap them out for some times? If having them is about time efficiency? It is mad how our bodies seem to hold onto every calorie!

also, if you’re a healthy bmi do you need to lose more?

You have my sympathy op. I also have to cut my calories very low to lose weight, although once I’m there I seem to be able to maintain around 1800-2000.

You don’t say how old you are or if you do any exercise. I found building muscle helped raise my maintenance calories. So lifting weights and alongside consistent movement (10-12k
steps). You may find that helps when you maintain your goal weight once you get there.

Congratulations btw. Getting to a healthy bmi is a great achievement!

What weight are you. If you are trying to achieve what is a low weight for your height then it will be difficult to maintain.

Thank you all!

I'm 35, and each week I swim either once or twice for an hour, go to Rock Fit and do Pilates. I might have to think about upping it a bit.

I do enjoy the protein shakes, and they are a life saver when short on time! But I will probably try to mix it up a bit so I don't get bored of them.

Although I'm over the moon at being 10st for the first time in years, I am still at the very upper end and would like to be a bit more comfortably into the healthy zone.

I'm just really worried about stopping the meds. I used to think about food constantly, and found it extremely difficult to resist chocolate binges! Wegovy has made a tremendous difference in that respect, all the sweet treats have lost their appeal which is amazing and so freeing.

Being fat is hard. Weight loss is hard.

Choose your hard.

I watch all the science podcasts on this topic and in the studies the group that manages to maintain weight loss the best after coming off the meds is the group that adds strength training to increase muscle mass and switches to a low carb or ketogenic diet.
I have attached one link to one paper on the topic so you can see the kind of terms you should search for if you are interested in reading about the research.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12389659/

If you fancy a general overview of the subject Ben Bikman is a good place to start he explains the mechanisms really well.

Staying slim is a daily battle without meds, a lifelong “diet”. I’ll be on them for life like most people who will keep the weight off.

I used Mounjaro injections and reduced the dose rather than stopping once I hit maintenance

I’m accepting that I’ll be on them for life tbh. I’m so much happier for being thinner and not having the food noise.

Due to similar interests, I recently met a guy who does weight loss surgery, pills, jabs, etc for work.
Being overweight myself, I asked him about the pros and cons.
In short, you need to use this time to rewire yourself. Start to eat fulfilling meals, exercise religiously, and ensure you gain balance in your diet. Without that it'll the jabs for life

It might depend on whether you were obese (over 30 bmi) or just overweight. With obesity we can sadly set our metabolism so it’s harder to stay slim. It’s frustrating but I’ll have to make the best of it, maybe I’ll be swapping WL meds for blood pressure meds. I do remind myself that every day weighing less is better for my health. You sound quite active already Op. I’m going to look up rock fit as I’ve never heard of it!

1200/day for sedentary at 5'3" sounds about right, normal.
About 20 yrs ago I remember friend saying similar, when she was maybe 35.
Friend loves to cook realised about 1200 was all she needed.

She didn't like to exercise so wanted to figure out how to make 1200 work for her.
She compensated by throwing dinner parties so she could invite people round to eat all the food she liked to prepare.

I've been a healthy weight almost all my adult life.
I don't have food noise. Sometimes I say nowadays that I exercise so I can even get an appetite going. I find it really easy to skip eating otherwise.

You’re not wrong! 😭

My DH and my sis are both long term skinny folk who eat very little food and do a fair bit of exercise. If they ate ‘normal’ portions, they’d be fat like I was.

Since losing the weight myself, I’ve realised that I simply ate far more than was necessary and I need to follow their example. It’s crap but that’s the only way to stay slim.

Lifting heavy weights regularly will improve your metabolism and up your calorie needs. I loft heavy 4 times a week and can eat between 2000 to 2500 calories a day without gaining. It's also almost impossible to train and lift heavy on such few calories. Granted, I am taller than you at 5ft 7, but I also used to believe that in order to be slim I had to eat like a bird. I do hardly any cardio, just focusing on weight training, a weekly yoga class, and walking as much as I can.

If you’ve been a yo-yo dieter (hi that’s me) then metabolic adaption is at play. Your body learns to make do on less and adapts to that. Is it healthy? Nope but it’s why my weight is now a steady 75-76kg. If I used medication I’d get it to 65kg but maintaining that would be very hard as I’m in my 60s. Muscle mass is important and I prioritise this.

Why are you worried about being on the pills long term? Most people regain the weight when they stop medication. Your concern is legitimate but the only real solution is to stay on the meds. Otherwise you face a daily battle to stay within the calorie limit. Majority of people lose that battle sooner or later.

If you’re losing 1lb a week on 1000 calories then it seems that you’re generating a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories. So your maintenance calories should be around 1500. If you can add some more physical activity maybe you could push it to 1600-1700. That sounds much better than 1200!

I get it that shakes are convenient and it’s a personal preference. Personally, I’m always more hungry if I drink my calories than if I chew them.

I totally get that it’s hard. I’m 5”4 and I’ve lost a lot of weight on mounjaro. I’m reducing my dose but have no plans to stop taking the meds because I’m scared I would gain all the weight back

Your body has adapted to lower calories. Mine did too. I used chatgpt to help me reverse diet and now eat 1900 calories a day. I am 5ft4 126 pounds. I also use weight machines and dumbells to gain muscle, with progressive overload. I do cardio at home once a week and around 7-10 thousand steps a day (i have a sedentary desk job). I was at 12.5mg mounjaro but now on 4mg. Could you try reverse dieting? You will gain at first but it settles quickly and its great to be able to eat more normal amounts of food

Small and inactive yes you don’t need that much food. Large portions have been normalised. The idea that women need far less than men is scoffed

build muscle and exercise and you can increase what you need. 1500 should be achievable with lots of exercise

the idea that 1900 cals a day is “normal” for a short female is nonsense

1800 is normal for an average female - based on typical exercise and movement levels uk today

This is what I find hard to understand. In the past, and especially during and after WW2, very few people were overweight. Yet protein was limited (and so was sugar) and everyone was filling up on veg and starches.

Build muscle. Lots of it. And you will be surprised at how much you can eat and not gain a pound!

For context, I am 5 foot. I no longer have time to weight train but I used to 3 x per week. Even now I still have a good muscle mass and can easily eat 1900 cals a day on a normal day and I do not gain weight. I do not walk a lot either. It's muscle mass that is the secret.

I think maintaining is easier than losing. And I’d recommend weight training and increasing protein as building muscle will divert calories.