Mounjaro making me a couch potato?

Hong Kong Yanpep International
BlairPlus

BlairPlus

Active member
Hey everyone, I've been on Mounjaro for about a month now, and the scale isn't budging much even though I'm sticking to around 1600 calories a day. My energy levels are in the toilet, and I'm lucky if I hit 5000 steps. I'm curious about your experiences. Did exercise kickstart weight loss for you? Did you begin exercising right away, or did you gradually increase your activity? I'm wondering if this fatigue is a vitamin issue, depression, or something else entirely. Any advice would be great. Sorry for the rambling post, but I haven't had much interaction with others lately and don't have anyone irl to discuss this with.

*edit* Just weighed myself and I'm down almost 5 pounds! Ok maybe I can get motivated now haha
 
Definitely get bloodwork done to check for deficiencies. I started taking a vitamin D supplement because I was feeling wiped out, but only after my doctor confirmed I was low. Don't self-diagnose!

While exercise is vital for overall health and maintaining muscle mass, it's not the primary driver of weight loss. It's still early days. The starter dose is just to acclimate your body. If you don't see progress, your doc will likely increase the dose. Is 1600 calories a 500 calorie deficit from what you need? Focus on walking and light activities. Things should improve.
 
I jumped into exercising right away, but I didn't go overboard. Think baby steps, not marathon training, LOL. Start where you're at!

Challenging yourself bit by bit was key for me, especially with cardio. Always trying to push myself a tiny bit further than planned. If I planned 25 minutes on the elliptical, maybe I'd bump up the resistance a notch for a few minutes. Or go for 28 minutes instead. Very small pushes.

Those small changes add up. You don't have to go crazy all at once, and after a while, you'll be amazed at how far you've come. Things that seemed impossible become routine. Get moving, even if it's just short walks. Any movement is better than none. Be kind to yourself, though. It'll be tough at first, but it gets better!
 
Isn't the initial weight loss mostly water? I heard that inflammation goes down, and that's why clothes fit better initially, even if the scale doesn't move a ton. If you're not retaining much water, you might not see the scale drop as quickly.
 
Check out the 'Fat Science' podcast. It might help you understand how to fuel your body properly while on this medication. It's tough to exercise when you're undereating, and it might give you the confidence to eat a bit more to combat the lethargy.
 
If you're not used to working out, start easy and gradually increase the intensity and duration. I started with balance exercises from YouTube to build a foundation before moving on to other exercises. Breaking up your workouts into smaller chunks helps at the beginning. Some movement is better than zero movement. 🙂
 
I agree with LosingtheLbs about inflammation.

However, some people are reporting hair loss after 6-9 months on MJ. So you could consider starting a collagen supplement to help prevent that. Check with your doctor first though.
 
Nat_92 said:
Definitely get bloodwork done to check for deficiencies. I started taking a vitamin D supplement because I was feeling wiped out, but only after my doctor confirmed I was low. Don't self-diagnose!
Click to expand...

Yeah that's a good point about the bloodwork. I have an appointment coming up so I'll ask! Thanks!
 
Hey BlairPlus -- don't get discouraged about the weight loss being slow. I know someone who dropped nearly 70 pounds on this stuff. It took about a year, but she's super happy and keeps posting bikini pics now, haha. Just keep at it!
 
It's great to hear such positive stories! I saw one person who lost 60 pounds in just over a year. They said they didn't even weigh themselves regularly to avoid getting discouraged. Sounds like a good approach if you're getting hung up on the scale! I think it's important for overall mental health to stay off the scale.
 
Low BMR from long-term deficit is the piece a lot of people miss. 2.5 years at 1200 and gaining at 1500 is the metabolic adaptation picture - the body is defending hard. Mounjaro tends to work differently than straight restriction because it's hitting the appetite signaling rather than just forcing intake down. The BMR piece still needs work but at least the hunger isn't the enemy anymore.
 
The medication does the heavy lifting on appetite regulation but the habits have to be there to build on - people who treat the medication as the whole solution rather than the enabler tend to end up back where they started when they stop. The calorie awareness piece isn't optional.
 
The calorie tracking suggestion when the scale isn't moving is almost always the right first step. A month in and not budging much at a consistent dose means the intake is probably higher than it feels. These medications can make food intake feel very low while actually not creating much of a deficit. A week of tight tracking usually makes the picture clear.
 
Feel that completely. Also see people mentioning huge drops in a short window and it can set unrealistic expectations. Also worth noting, some people dealing with other underlying conditions carry a lot of inflammation that this medication reduces, which explains those dramatic early drops for them.

Truth is, for a lot of us it moves slowly. Started earlier this year and lost a solid chunk. The last couple months it's been barely anything most months, even with plenty still left to lose. Eating clean, tracking everything, doing pilates regularly. Now leaning toward thinking that's still not quite enough given a mostly sedentary job. So more movement needs to happen. Also planning to move up in dose.

Not clear what other changes have been made on your end, but that's where focus should probably start. If exercising a few times weekly already, add another day. Or just walk more. If calories aren't being tracked, start there. Also, whatever's been lost so far isn't nothing. If this genuinely wasn't working, nothing would be coming off at all. Don't give up, keep at it.
 
Always despised exercise that wasn't tied to some other purpose. Never walked purely for step count, never went to the gym just because.

Now? Half a year into Mounjaro with 50 pounds gone (another 50 to go) and sitting still bothers me. Find reasons to make an extra trip out to the car or dumpster now.

Genuinely annoyed this weekend since the pool's too crowded for my usual workout, and I've slept poorly two nights running from overworking muscles that had been comfortably dormant for decades.

Made it out to the gym over the holiday weekend.

Is this the medication's doing? No idea, still plenty unknown about the effects. Could I lose weight without moving at all? Probably, since exercise stayed off my plate for the opening stretch and 30 pounds still came off.

Chalking it up to just feeling more at home in my own body, able to do things weight used to hold me back from.
 
Genuinely been putting effort into that already. Was already exercising six days weekly before ever starting mounjaro, and my eating habits have shifted completely too. Just wondering whether the extra weight itself might be behind some of this exhaustion.
 
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