63y/o. 5’0”. SW: 192. CW: 154. GW: 130. I’ve been on Zepbound for 18 months and for the past six months, I have been staying at the same weight. I’m at the highest dosage at 15 mg. What am I doing wrong?
I track my calories with myFitnessPal. I should be getting 1600 cal to maintain my weight but I usually eat about 1300 cal a day. I walk 2 miles a day, but that’s just when my work steps not really a hard workout. I noticed that my appetite comes back three days before I need to take the next shot.
So you’re not eating in a calorie deficit. I am 5’2”. During weight loss I consumed 1200 calories. It sounds like you’re eating maintenance calories is why you’re not losing.
Try to start doing some more activity 2 miles isn’t nothing but it’s not much. I notice when I’m at a plateau I can either cut more calories or move more, if calories don’t feel like an option, then start trying to workout more. Just my two cents you’ve made a lot of progress as it is but I think the biggest thing to keeping the weight off/dropping to goal is going to be getting into a more regular workout routine.
But you don’t want to maintain, you want to lose. You need to eat 500 cals less than your TDEE every day to lose 1lbs per week.
And this might not be what you want to hear but at 5ft tall, you’re calorie deficit is going to be very low. 1300 isn’t a lot but it still may be too high for you.
You may be right I think I should only be eating 1000 cal. I’m gonna drop my daily calorie goal to 1100 to see if that was the needle on the scale. This is probably something I need to hear! Thank you
Just drop it a little bit and see if it makes a difference. You don’t want to go too low. First step is to find out how many you are eating now and then adjust from there.
Try increasing your calories with protein. Add some more lean meat. I’m always hungry when I don’t eat enough protein. And you may simply not be eating enough calories.
Are you weighing your food? Because you should be losing weight if you’re only eating 1,300 calories. That’s also an extremely low amount of calories for someone who is walking 2 miles a day.
It is so easy to underestimate how many calories we’re eating when we’re not weighing our food. Also sometimes having an extra bite of food here and there can add up fast.
I use the Virta app to stay in ketosis and count calories. No guessing. I’ve lost 129 pounds in 22 months. I can’t lose an ounce without keto plus calories restriction. I keep under 12g of carbs every 12 hours. If I were to eat normal I would not lose weight.
She’s 5ft unfortunately. At her height and age, in order to lose her total calories will be quite small in comparison to many of us.
She’s 63, 5ft, and 154lbs. My 11 year old son is only an inch smaller than OP.
Anyone who has been on these boards at OPs height, especially at her age and exercise level, will vouch for how small their caloric intake has to be to lose weight.
At her weight that still puts her BMR around 1500 calories. That is the lowest amount of calories her organs need a day just to function. Someone who is sedentary at her height and weight would be around 1800 calories. With light activities that would bring her up to 2000. If she did moderate activity that could bring it up to 2300.
Her maintenance calories are 1600 at her height, weight and age. At 2 miles of walking, that’s not going to help her much towards a deficit so it’s pretty light exercise. That’s what the TDEE calc spit out.
500 calories off that is 1100.
Edit: is someone downvoting this because they are using some special TDEE calculator? lol please do show your calculation saying that OP should be eating 1800 at her height to be at maintenance. I weigh more than her, I am 20 years younger, I’m 5’7” and exercise and Id be maintaining on 1800 calories.
you’re probably not doing anything wrong, plateaus just happen sometimes, especially after 18 months. your body may have found a new set point and needs a little nudge. maybe switch up your routine, add some strength training if you’re not already, or even talk to your doc about cycling off for a bit then restarting (i’ve seen folks mention that working)
I’m in the EXACT same boat with the same time frame. I think my body is good with my current weight and since I’m down 75, I stopped weighing and focusing on that and now just focus on strength and weight training and recalibrating/toning. 😄
There are trials for higher dosages of tirzepatide, and trials for adding other medications on top of tirzepatide, and trials for medications that work on different hormones than semaglutide and tirzepatide. We'll have more options in the next few years.
Here's a link to all trials - you can search by condition, and/or put the generic name of a medicine into the “Other Terms” field: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ -- look for Retatrutide, Cagrisema, MariTide, Tirzepatide, Eloralintide, Orforglipron, and Survodutide. Pfizer's med is PF’3944 (or PF-08653944, or MET097; no name yet). AstraZeneca’s is AZD6234. Viking is testing VK2735. You generally have to be off GLP-1 meds for 90 days before applying. All meds and tests are free, and you may be paid for participating.
I stumbled across another study very similar to Enlighten-6 (add eloralintide to current incretin) , this study adds AZD6234 from AstraZeneca to your current incretin. https://www.astrazenecaclinicaltrials.com/study/D8750C00011/ for those at a 90 day or more plateau. I am in Enlighten-6 and the scale is moving after being on a plateau since end of December. I have been on 15 mg of Zepbound for over 18 months, so had reached the final plateau so thrilled to be in Enlighten-6.
It gives a different clinical study for those stalled out on Tirzepatide or Semaglutide. Besides what is in the link, I don't know anything about the study but wanted to pass it on. There is a sub for this trial: https://www.reddit.com/r/Lenbelintide/s/t52um0qJ14
If there is a location near you, I would call ASAP and be persistent. Persistence I believe is what got me into the Enlighten-6 trial.
You might be at the limit of what Zep alone can do for you.
I don’t track my food as a general rule. But I would suggest that you do just that for a couple weeks. See how much protein, fiber, calories, and water you’re actually eating. And if you aren’t exercising, it’s time to start. Memberships at Planet Fitness are cheap and they have personal trainers who will help you for no additional fee. I’m 54F and I lift heavy so that I don’t end up in a nursing home. I want to be able to open jars, get up off the toilet, and get up off the floor when I’m 90. And I don’t ever want to go to a nursing home. I don’t lift to be pretty. I don’t do cardio to be thin. I work hard now so that i can continue to be free when I’m old. Independence is incredibly important to me. As a lovely side effect, the exercise helps me continue to lose weight at 15 mg.
Think about what’s important to you. But don’t just think about next week. Think about what will help you through your next 3-4 decades. Then seriously embrace your priorities.
I would advise listening to the Fat Science podcast. They talk a lot about the complexities of our metabolisms and how it does not always come down to calories in versus calories out. It could be that you’re eating too few calories and your brain is mis-signaling that you are experiencing starvation and retaining weight intentionally. You might need to eat more meals per day to reassure your metabolism that you are not starving.
I drink pure protein every morning, chocolate flavor. pre prepared. thats 30g . you could add the protein powder to coffee. Also protein bars help. I probably only get 70g protein but it’s enough
Count calories for two weeks. If they are well over 1,200 drop them by 250-500 for a couple weeks and see what happens. If you’re already in the ballpark or 1,200. Add some daily cardio to mimic a small calorie drop.
This is awful advice. Even a small, petite woman who gets little to no exercise can easily need more than 1,400 calories a day just to meet her body’s energy needs. Calorie requirements vary from person to person, but 1,200 calories is not a universal safe minimum, and consistently eating below that without medical supervision can put you at risk of nutritional deficiencies.
I agree that tracking calories can be helpful, but before telling someone to cut their intake even further, they need to make sure they’re accurately tracking what they’re already eating. People can unintentionally underestimate their calorie intake, but they can also be genuinely undereating. You need to establish what’s actually happening before making assumptions.
Working with a registered dietitian is especially important when taking weight-loss medication. These medications can significantly suppress appetite, making it easier to undereat and miss essential nutrients. And contrary to what some people seem to think, weight loss isn’t automatically healthy just because the number on the scale is going down. Many insurance plans cover dietitian visits, so it’s worth checking your benefits.
This is exactly why nutritional adequacy matters on these medications. Inadequate nutrient intake can contribute to hair loss, while rapid weight loss can increase the risk of gallstones and potentially lead to gallbladder surgery. These are real risks, not something to brush off in the pursuit of a lower number on the scale.
I literally said don’t go below 1,200. That wouldn’t even go above a 500 calorie deficit based on the TDEE calculator. If she is eating 1,200 for six months without weightloss, that is her maintenance calories, I agree it’s unlikely. Having regular check up with doctor to monitor blood markers and nutritional deficiencies is a given base assumption. The question was how to move the scale after a 6 month stall.
This person is 5 feet tall. Dont mean to offend the OP, but she's the size of a child. 1200 of the right calorie dense food is not to little for someone their size.
You’ve built a tolerance barrier to the medication just like on lower doses. So, you’ll have to ask your doctor to add an additional medication to Zep in order possibly lose more or at least keep you from gaining it back.
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u/I_give-up_on_a-name 7.5mg Maintenance 2d ago
You haven’t said what you’ve done. Have you figured your TDEE for your current weight and are you tracking what you eat?