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Do people tend to stall around 210 after starting at 250-300 lbs with GLP-1s?

26 replies15 peopleMay 28, 2026☆ Follow
Summary

Do GLP-1 users starting from 250-300 lbs commonly plateau near 210 lbs?

Many users report hitting a persistent stall in the 205-220 range even after steady earlier losses, often near weights they held before. Breaking through sometimes requires raising the dose, adding protein, inserting a brief refeed week, or tightening calorie tracking to a true deficit. Prior GLP-1 exposure may blunt response until higher doses are reached, and some find the body resists dropping below familiar set points. Others stress that accurate daily weighing of food and consistent lifting matter more than cardio for continued progress.

What this discussion establishesWhere people disagree

Some insist 1200 calories is necessary and effective while others call it unsustainable and recommend staying closer to 2500 to avoid metabolic slowdown.

Still open

Whether further losses below 200 are realistically sustainable long-term for taller men with prior obesity.

Nothing here is advice.

26 replies · 15 people
CopperSparrow21archiveopening postMay 28

I started on Wegovy and dropped from 270 down near 215 before things stopped moving. I paused the shots, regained to 240, then restarted and reached about 217 until coverage ended. On reta for the past couple months, even while having a half pint of vodka daily, I still reached 211. After quitting alcohol I hit 207. The 205-215 zone keeps acting like a wall for me. Other graphs I see also flatten out around there. At 6 foot and 30 years old my target is 185 or less. I carry decent muscle now but still hold fat on my legs and lower belly. Planning to switch to grey-market reta for a higher dose, yet I wonder if my metabolism will let me go much lower.

SlowLedger31archiveMay 28

I wish that were happening for me. I remain stuck in the high 260s and am adding more cardio to try to push past the plateau.

CopperSparrow21archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @SlowLedger31

At that stage my endocrinologist suggested aiming for 1200 calories daily. It felt extreme but the approach worked when I logged everything in myfitnesspal.

QuietSignal61archiveMay 28

No details on your actual intake or activity level. Are you logging calories and movement? The daily drinking also raises flags that things may not be fully controlled yet. Work out your TDEE, then subtract 1000 calories. After four to eight weeks without movement, eat at maintenance for a week before cutting again. Weight can stay flat one week and drop the next. A higher dose might help, but tighter consistency and more fiber plus fewer late carbs would probably matter too.

SlowLedger31archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @CopperSparrow21

The problem is I cannot push hard in the gym while eating like a mouse.

CopperSparrow21archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @QuietSignal61

I was drinking a lot but have been sober for a bit now. I take fiber and keep protein high. My TDEE sits around 3000 but I do not follow that number closely. I lift several times a week and add a mile run each session. I aim near 1200 calories though I often land higher and may raise the target to support more protein. The alcohol mention was mainly to note that daily drinking seemed to cancel out the reta effect.

QuietSignal61archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @CopperSparrow21

Good on the sobriety. Sounds like you could use a refeed week at maintenance before returning to 1200.

CopperSparrow21archiveMay 28

I could not hit 3000 calories even if I tried, but I can raise intake. Thanks for the congrats. I quit heavier drugs years ago and that left me isolated, so I slipped into drinking instead. Not drinking feels manageable since I never enjoyed the daily habit much. Same to you on staying sober.

WarmMeadow92archiveMay 28

Nice work dropping the alcohol. Your body may simply defend the low 200s as a set point. I began tirz at 335 and noticed resistance first in the 260s then again in the low 240s, both weights I had carried for years. More protein and adding other medications helped me push through. I sit at 217 now aiming for 205 and expect the last stretch to fight back. Prior GLP-1 use can blunt later response, so higher doses of the next medication often work better. Reta also tends to keep working longer than sema or tirz, giving more runway.

WarmHarbour28archiveMay 28

6'2" starting at 330, now 270 on 20 mg tirz. I figured out the stall was purely from not maintaining a calorie deficit. Lifting helps health but does not drive the scale much and can muddy the picture. Individual variation and the specific medication add more noise. The answers are already discussed on the forum.

WarmAnchor59archiveMay 28

Cannot wait to get stuck at 210. Currently 6'2" at 265, week three on reta at 1 mg weekly after starting at 0.75. Scale barely moves but I am staying committed.

PatientFenwick39archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @CopperSparrow21

1200 calories is far too low and will not last. Your body registers famine, cortisol rises, and you shift into a catabolic state. If 3000 is accurate for maintenance, try 2500 for four or five months, then refeed and recalculate before repeating the cycle.

QuietThistle43archiveMay 28

Started near 277 and cannot seem to drop below roughly 192. I have been flat there for three weeks. That weight may be fine for my 6'2" frame given my history. I would like to reach 176 for a 100-pound total loss but suspect it is too low. I keep lifting to add muscle while losing fat. My body has needed short reset periods a couple times already.

PatientFenwick39archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @SlowLedger31

Extra cardio is unlikely to move the needle much. Focus on lifting to build muscle instead.

SlowLedger31archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @PatientFenwick39

Only real options left are lowering calories further while keeping moderate cardio and continuing daily resistance work.

BrightSparrow36archiveMay 28

Yes, it happens. I spent over three weeks sitting right around 212 while holding calories steady near 1200. This morning the scale read 201. Keep the same intake and do not overhaul anything; the weight will keep coming off.

ClearBramble68archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @WarmMeadow92

Fellow 6'4" guy here. Are you sure the real target is not 204.9?

WarmMeadow92archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @ClearBramble68

Yeah, 204.9 it is. I just want to experience what a normal BMI feels like.

WryHarbour43archiveMay 28

Also 6 foot male, a little older. I have yo-yoed from the 260s down to 210 multiple times. Now on tirz for the first time and heading downward again. I wonder if the same 210-220 area will act as a plateau or if I can go lower. That range feels like a natural weight given my activity level and lifestyle preferences. I have added muscle since the last time I was at 220, so body composition should look better. Why is 185 the specific goal? Are you especially muscular? Dropping below 200 would probably require very low body fat or losing existing muscle, neither of which appeals. At 30, simply staying under 210 for the next decade would already be a strong result.

PlainTimber26archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @BrightSparrow36

What do the abbreviations wr and NM stand for? I like seeing the data laid out visually.

BrightSparrow36archiveMay 28

They mark the brand or vial cap color so I know which compound I am using each day. Some entries are doses in milligrams, others in units because the concentrations differ between vials I am finishing off.

ClearBramble68archiveMay 28
↳ replying to @WarmMeadow92

At my heaviest I was over 400. I once reached 189 about twenty years ago before regaining. Now on 15 mg tirzepatide I have gone from 365 in January to just under 315. Goal is 204.9, or maybe 199 for the fun of being under 200. Bodies that have carried obesity for years push back hard against further loss. These medications help even the odds. The Biggest Loser study still feels relevant.

ClearBramble68archiveMay 28

Would a short, aggressive deficit phase help push past the current sticking point? It is tough mentally and not sustainable, but a defined short window might work. I once did four protein shakes daily at 720 calories for 100 days without any GLP-1 and lost 90 pounds, though it all returned. Near goal the same approach feels even harder, yet it could be worth considering if maintenance on the medication will hold the result afterward.

WryThistle17archiveMay 28

Low-dose reta every two weeks. I expect the stall to worsen soon. A weekend of good eating and beers two weeks ago did not help. Once the initial large fat loss phase ends, progress naturally slows. Early on I was dropping a pound a day. Discipline still matters for the medication to keep working.

BlueTimber11archiveMay 28

If calories are tracked consistently yet weight stays flat for weeks, that intake is your actual TDEE at your current activity. Calculator estimates have larger errors than typical deficits. Most people also under-count what they really eat. Weigh and log everything precisely, then adjust. Fear of starvation mode is overstated; users on these drugs often sustain 1000-1500 calorie deficits and lose two to three pounds weekly with only modest adaptation as body size decreases.

CopperMarble29archiveMay 29
↳ replying to @BrightSparrow36

I track everything in a detailed spreadsheet: daily supplements, peptides, resting heart rate, blood pressure, scale readings, tape measurements, and calorie intake. Rolling five-day averages and weekly momentum calculations let me see how intake correlates with changes in weight and body comp. The data has made recomp straightforward and helped me reach 10-11 percent body fat while adding 15 pounds of muscle without GLP-1 assistance.

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