Dr.BariatricHTX said:

Body composition tracking via bioimpedance on lean mass (InBody scan every 3 months): Metric Baseline Month 3 Month 6 Month 9 Skeletal Muscle (lbs) 70…

Can confirm. Same sequence, different timescale. The detail I would add is minor and it is already implied above.

Dr.BariatricHTX said:

Body composition tracking via bioimpedance on lean mass (InBody scan every 3 months): Metric Baseline Month 3 Month 6 Month 9 Skeletal Muscle (lbs) 70…

Back pain as a lean mass side effect: not from the medication itself, but from rapid body composition changes. Losing 58 lbs shifts your center of gravity and your core muscles need time to adjust.

Physical therapy has been essential. Core strengthening exercises (planks, dead bugs, bird dogs) daily for 10 minutes have eliminated my lower back pain. Your body is literally relearning how to carry itself.

Adding the numbers, since they settle part of this. One practical note: write down what you did and when, before you need it. Reconstructing a timeline from memory three months later is how people end up unable to answer the one question that would have resolved it.

A narrower follow-up, since the general answer is now clear:

What would you measure differently if you were starting again?

Closing the loop on my own question.

Update — I was wrong in the opening post, specifically about the direction. Correcting it here rather than editing it away.