By week 12 (~3 months)
2/10
gila
Most people who lose weight gain it back. That isn’t a character flaw.
The question isn’t “Can I lose weight?” It’s “What makes it stay off?”
By week 26 (~6 months)
2/10
By week 52 (~12 months)
4/10
The stakes
What usually happens if you start — then stop
About 35% stop within a year (~1 in 3). About 2 in 10 by ~6 months.
Discontinuation over time
Stopping is common — year-rate band is an illustrative RWE composite; Indian RWE (PMID-41798487) is curated separately on Sources.
If you stop, much of the loss returns
Published systematic review (PMID-41938838): about 60% of lost weight back within a year; roughly half by ~5 months.
Physiology — not lack of discipline. Named systematic review, not a composite.
The turn
Medicine moves the scale. A system decides whether it sticks.
Trial averages can reach roughly 15–20 kg lost from a 100 kg start — only while treatment continues, with help through side effects, dose, food, and the thin months.
gila is built for that gap: a doctor-led plan so staying on treatment isn’t left to chance.
On treatment
What the first year can look like on treatment
Published averages from large weekly-medicine trials — useful shape, not your personal forecast.
Staying on treatment — not dropping out at month four.
- Semaglutide · STEP-1 trial~15% by week 68 (~16 months)
- Tirzepatide · SURMOUNT-1 trial~20% by week 72 (~17 months)
- 01
week 12 (~3 months)
The drop starts
Many people already see clear change. Side effects are also most common here — which is when check-ins matter most for you.
- ~10% average lossSemaglutide
- ~8% average lossTirzepatide
- 02
week 28 (~6 months)
Loss usually keeps building
If you stay on the weekly dose, averages keep moving. This is also when more people in real-world data have already stopped — so support isn’t optional.
- ~12% average lossSemaglutide
- 2/10People who’ve stopped by ~6 months
- 03
week 68 (~16 months)
Where the big averages land
Large trials report roughly 20% average loss on leading weekly medicines by this horizon. That’s the number people quote. It’s an average, not a guarantee.
- ~15% average lossSemaglutide
- 4/10People who’ve stopped by ~a year
In kilograms · 100 kg start
If someone started at 100 kg, those trial averages are on the order of ~15 kg vs ~20 kg lost by the later end-points — enough to feel in clothes, joints, and labs, if it holds.
Starting weight 100 kg — mean loss at peak follow-up in curated anchors
Resolved
Stopping cold vs staying in a plan
The regain pattern doesn’t vanish because you know it. What changes is whether you’re alone when the hard months arrive.
Trial averages live with people still on treatment at month twelve. The job of a system is to keep more of you in that group.
The medicines
The two weekly medicines these charts lean on
Semaglutide (Wegovy-type) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro-type). Both can move weight a lot on treatment; neither is a finish line.
Mounjaro-type weekly medicine
~20 kg
at 100 kg start · ~20% by week 72 (~17 months)
Large clinical trial (SURMOUNT-1)
Wegovy-type weekly medicine
~15 kg
at 100 kg start · ~15% by week 68 (~16 months)
Large clinical trial (STEP-1)
PCOS
If you’re here for PCOS, the goal is often different
BMI ↓
PCOS-specific SR/MA (PMID-42116999): GLP-1 RAs reduce BMI vs control (MD −1.09 kg/m²). That is not an obesity-trial peak WL% borrowed from STEP-1 — PCOS success is often metabolic and reproductive, not matching a multinational headline. Ask your doctor what success should mean for you.
Talk to a doctor before you decide
Public research so you can ask better questions — not a prescription or a personal promise.
Desk: ~4,571 people in key trials · 7 studies · 20 checked figures · 2021–2026
Plain-English view of published research. Not medical advice. Main graphs prefer curated anchors; amber “needs review” bars are auto-extracts still being checked.