There is no published week-by-week weight curve for Foundayo. The label reports one weight endpoint, at 72 weeks, and no intermediate figures in text. Any site presenting "week 4: X kg, week 8: Y kg" has invented it. What the label does give you is a different timeline, and it is arguably more useful: exactly when you reach each dose, and therefore when the results everyone quotes actually apply to you.
The timeline that is documented
Foundayo climbs through six strengths with a minimum of 30 days at each. That schedule is fixed by the label, so the calendar below is not an estimate.
| Days | Dose | Where you are |
|---|---|---|
| 1–30 | 0.8 mg | Starting dose. Below the lowest dose ever tested for efficacy. |
| 31–60 | 2.5 mg | Still below the trial's lowest arm. |
| 61–90 | 5.5 mg | First dose with published efficacy: 7.4% at 72 weeks. |
| 91–120 | 9 mg | 8.3% at 72 weeks. |
| 121–150 | 14.5 mg | No separate figure published for this step. |
| 151+ | 17.2 mg | 11.1% at 72 weeks. The number everyone quotes. |
Read the first two rows carefully. For the first two months you are on doses the trials did not test for weight loss at all. The lowest arm in the efficacy table was 5.5 mg. Doses below that exist to let the gut adapt, not to produce results.
This is the single most useful thing to know about the first stretch, and it is why the honest answer to "why have I lost nothing in month one" is usually that nothing was expected to happen yet.
What the 11.1% actually describes
It is the mean weight change of people who had been on the drug for 72 weeks, having spent at least the first 150 days climbing to the top dose. Almost seventeen months in total, of which the first five were titration.
So comparing your month-three weight against 11.1% compares two different things. At month three you have just reached 5.5 mg, the lowest dose with any published figure, and that figure is itself a 72-week number.
The dose-by-dose results are in Foundayo weight loss, and the escalation rules in Foundayo dosage.
What the label does say about time
Two statements about timing appear, and both concern side effects rather than weight.
Nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea were most frequent during dose escalation and decreased with continued treatment. So the difficult period and the ineffective period are the same period: the first months are when you are most likely to feel unwell and least likely to see a result. That is a hard combination to sit through, and knowing it is coming is most of the defence.
The second: in the trial without diabetes, more people abandoned the placebo group than any Foundayo group — 30% against 22 to 24%. Over 72 weeks the most common reason to stop is that nothing is happening, which tells you how long the people who did well stayed on it.
What we would need to publish a real curve
To give week-by-week figures honestly we would need the trial's time-course data as numbers. The label depicts it as a figure — a chart — and reading values off a chart image and presenting them as measurements is not something we are going to do. If Lilly or the trial investigators publish the tabulated time course, this page gets updated with it and the date it changed.
Until then, anyone quoting weekly figures for this drug is either reading a graph with a ruler or making it up.
A realistic way to hold expectations
- Months 1–2: doses below anything tested for efficacy. Judge tolerability, not results.
- Months 3–5: climbing through the tested doses. Side effects are typically at their worst around each increase and settle between them.
- Month 5 onward: maximum dose, if you and your prescriber go that far. Nobody is obliged to.
- Month 17: the point at which the published figures were measured.
And a reminder from the label that cuts against the assumption that higher is always the goal: increases above 5.5 mg are made on response and tolerability. A dose that is working is a dose worth staying on.
Scientific References
1 sourceReferences open in a new tab. Content is reviewed against peer-reviewed literature as part of our editorial policy.
About the author
Editor, Modern Weight Science
Claudiu Gheorghe is the editor of Modern Weight Science. He is not a physician. His role is to synthesize peer-reviewed studies, clinical-trial data, and FDA prescribing information into clear, plain-language explanations, and to make sure every factual claim on the site traces back to a cited source. Any decision about starting, changing, or stopping a medication belongs with a licensed clinician who knows your history.
Every claim is checked against peer-reviewed research through our review process and fact-checking policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Foundayo results week by week?
No week-by-week weight data has been published. The FDA label reports one weight endpoint, at 72 weeks, and no intermediate figures in text. What is documented is the dose timeline: 0.8 mg from day 1, rising in five steps of at least 30 days each, reaching the 17.2 mg maximum no earlier than day 151. Any site giving weekly weight numbers for this drug is estimating from a chart or inventing them.
How long does Foundayo take to work?
Longer than most people expect, because of the climb. The first two doses — covering roughly the first two months — are below 5.5 mg, which was the lowest dose the trials tested for weight loss at all. The published 11.1% describes people who had been treated for 72 weeks, having spent at least the first 150 days titrating. Judging the drug at month one is judging a dose that was never expected to do anything.
Why have I not lost weight in my first month on Foundayo?
Most likely because you are on 0.8 mg, a dose below anything tested for efficacy. The starting doses exist to let the gut adapt to the drug, not to produce weight loss. The first dose with any published figure is 5.5 mg, which you reach at day 61 at the earliest. This is worth raising with your prescriber, but on the label's own timeline it is expected.
When do Foundayo side effects improve?
The label states that nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea were most frequent during dose escalation and decreased with continued treatment. Since escalation runs at least 150 days, the difficult stretch and the pre-results stretch are the same stretch — the hardest months are also the ones where least is happening on the scale.
When do I reach the full Foundayo dose?
Day 151 at the earliest, and only if every step is taken at the minimum 30 days. The schedule is 0.8 mg, then 2.5, 5.5, 9, 14.5 and 17.2 mg. Increases above 5.5 mg are made on response and tolerability, so a longer stay at a dose that is working is normal and reaching the maximum is not a requirement.
Continue learning
Where to read next
Not medical advice. This guide is for general education only. GLP-1 medications, dosing, and treatment suitability are decisions for you and a licensed clinician who knows your full medical history.