What weight loss treatment actually achieves
Averages from the pivotal clinical trials, alongside stories from our own patients. We publish the difficult weeks as well as the good ones, because knowing what the first month feels like is the single biggest predictor of whether people stick with it.
Clinical trials
Average weight loss by treatment
Each figure is the mean percentage of starting body weight lost at the maintenance dose, alongside diet and activity changes. Individual results vary widely, roughly a third of trial participants did considerably better than the average, and a minority did not respond at all.
Mounjaro
SURMOUNT-1 · 15mg weekly · over 72 weeks
21%
For someone starting at 100 kg, that is around 21 kg.
Wegovy Pill
OASIS-4 · 25mg daily · over 64 weeks
16%
For someone starting at 100 kg, that is around 16 kg.
Wegovy Injection
STEP-1 · 2.4mg weekly · over 68 weeks
15%
For someone starting at 100 kg, that is around 15 kg.
Foundayo
ATTAIN-1 · 36mg daily · over 72 weeks
12%
For someone starting at 100 kg, that is around 12 kg.
Saxenda / Nevolat
SCALE · 3mg daily · over 56 weeks
8%
For someone starting at 100 kg, that is around 8 kg.
Orlistat / Xenical
XENDOS · 120mg 3x daily · over 52 weeks
5%
For someone starting at 100 kg, that is around 5 kg.
Reading these numbers fairly. Trials are not head-to-head unless stated, so comparing across them has limits, participant profiles, trial length and the intensity of lifestyle support all differ. Everyone in these trials also received structured diet and activity support, which contributes meaningfully to the result. Medication is a tool that makes the changes easier to sustain, not a replacement for them.
Patient stories
In their own words
Verified patients who bought through us. Names shortened and details published with permission.
“What surprised me most was not the scales. It was that I stopped thinking about food constantly. I had spent fifteen years with a running commentary in my head about what I would eat next, and it just went quiet. Getting that mental space back was worth more than the weight.”
“The first three weeks were genuinely rough. Nausea most evenings, and I nearly gave up twice. What changed it was the team suggesting I hold at 0.5mg for an extra month instead of stepping up on schedule. Completely different experience after that. I wish I had known that was an option from the start.”
“I have a real needle phobia, so injections were never going to happen no matter how well they work. Taking a tablet with breakfast and getting on with my day has made this the first thing I have actually stuck with. Slower than my friend on Mounjaro, but I am still going and she stopped.”
“I had tried the weekly ones and could not handle a full week of feeling rough if a dose disagreed with me. Daily suits me far better, if a day is bad, it is over by the next morning. Slower progress, but I am still on it after nine months, which is longer than anything else I have tried.”
“The half-hour wait before breakfast is genuinely annoying and I will not pretend otherwise. I set an alarm for 6:30, take it, go back to sleep for twenty minutes. Once it became routine I stopped noticing. Results have been steady, about a kilo a fortnight.”
“It does what it says, but you have to respect the low-fat diet or you will find out very quickly. One takeaway taught me that. Six kilos in six months is not dramatic, but it cost me a fraction of what the injections would have, and my cholesterol is down.”
See where you would start
Check your BMI, then complete a free assessment. A prescriber will tell you which treatments are suitable and what to expect in the first month.