Anybody still doubting their success long term?

[Delphyne]

I am not at my goal weight yet, but I have lost already a substantial amount of weight - again?

So, as many may relate I have done numerous diets in the past, lost some weight, regained all back, with all the shame and blame.

What makes you believe this time it will be substantial and for good as long as you take the medication?

 

[dirtyharry]

That's definitely somthing that has crossed my mind. I understand the questioning of what essentially equates to a miracle in drug form.

For me, calorie tracking was somthing I've been doing for over a year now (not counting the 8 months I did it in 2020). From 2020 to 2021 I went from 240lbs to 185lbs without ever stepping foot in a gym by just tracking all my calories. Eventually though, I stopped tracking and went back up to 225lbs where I hovered at for a long time. Begining of last year (2025) I started both tracking calories and hittign the gym 5 days a week. From that point to early 2026 I went from 225lbs to 190lbs of MUCH leaner muscle.

All of this is to say; because I created this new healthy lifestyle, I think Reta is somthing to ADD to my already established routine as opposed to REPLACING it. If that makes sense. I'm truly trying to use it as a tool instead of relying on it completely. In that regard, it has been game changing in more ways than one sense I started only 5 days ago.

I hope this adds some experiance or insight into your question and best of luck to you!

 

[ambot88]

I am sure I would start to gain pretty fast if I went off Reta, I too have white knuckled many a diet only to gain back as soon as my concentration slipped - I mostly just plan to be on a low dose for the foreseeable future - I'm currently on 5mg and about 10lbs from goal weight, when I hit goal I plan to titrate down, will prob have to play with doses a bit to see where the sweet spot is but I've accepted it will prob be a long term part of my life.

 

[CNCCurrency]

I am prepared to use it until the end and am stocked for a decade or more.

 

[Mc_ppka_tp]

What makes you believe this time it will be substantial and for good as long as you take the medication?

Hope and belief. If I didn't hope it would work I wouldn't of started using a glp. Belief because I am seeing the change and effect of it not only on the scale but in the mirror.

Hope that I can keep this progress up. Belief that I can because this time I'm making changes to my life that I wasn't able to (or just didn't do) before on previous diets and that these changes will be the difference in the long term (along with taking the glp)

Like I tell my players, trust and believe in the process it will get you there depending on the work you put into it. Well I'm trying to follow my own advice and trust and believe in the process and put in the work.

I'm sure many of us using glp for weight loss have been knocked down in life when our diet didn't work out as planned but I see all of us getting back up again and trying. Just using a different tool this time.

 

[Grogu]

I am not at my goal weight yet, but I have lost already a substantial amount of weight - again?

So, as many may relate I have done numerous diets in the past, lost some weight, regained all back, with all the shame and blame.

What makes you believe this time it will be substantial and for good as long as you take the medication?

After about 6 months on tirzepatide and losing a good amount of weight, I literally asked myself what you’re thinking, “Why is this time going to be any different”. (Yo-Yo dieter my entire life).

So, it was about this same time that I was binge watching My 600-lb life and seeing many people struggle with weight loss (even after bariatric surgery) and I finally came to the realization that some of my weight issue might be psychological. I did some “work” around that, so I’m hopeful that with continued glp-1 usage for the rest of my life and my behavioral work that this time will be different.

 

[Sasquatch]

I suppose this question isn't for me, cuz I never lost a pound, not for the lack of trying, in 60 years. So if it takes me another sixty years to gain it back, so be it. I ain’t gonna take this shit forever. I could, but how would I find out what could happen if I kept it up?

 

[Chris Thomas]

Yup, I am 54 and thinking that there will always be some sort of a maitaining dose or a swith-a-roo like reta to tesamorelin.
I’m 5’8”, and went from 190 down to 168 in under two months on reta. Looking back, I realized I was dosing too high, considering the minor side effects, but I didn’t care much because the results were incredible.

I did lose quite a bit of muscle mass, but it was the middle of winter and I couldn’t lift weights anyway due to a shoulder injury. The plan now is to heal the shoulder with the help of BPC-157 and start lifting again (hopefully). If the shoulder doesn’t cooperate, I can still enjoy running, leg work, and core training.

Even after dropping that weight, I’m still carrying a residual belly, the dad bod survives! I’m planning to either stop reta or lower the dose significantly and try tesamorelin and ipamorelin to focus more on the midsection.

Overall, I’m very happy with the weight loss from reta, but has anyone else found a good strategy for targeting the midsection fat with tesamorelin, any suggestions, do’s or don’ts?

 

[CNCCurrency]

Yup, I am 54 and thinking that there will always be some sort of a maitaining dose or a swith-a-roo like reta to tesamorelin.
I’m 5’8”, and went from 190 down to 168 in under two months on reta. Looking back, I realized I was dosing too high, considering the minor side effects, but I didn’t care much because the results were incredible.

I did lose quite a bit of muscle mass, but it was the middle of winter and I couldn’t lift weights anyway due to a shoulder injury. The plan now is to heal the shoulder with the help of BPC-157 and start lifting again (hopefully). If the shoulder doesn’t cooperate, I can still enjoy running, leg work, and core training.

Even after dropping that weight, I’m still carrying a residual belly, the dad bod survives! I’m planning to either stop reta or lower the dose significantly and try tesamorelin and ipamorelin to focus more on the midsection.

Overall, I’m very happy with the weight loss from reta, but has anyone else found a good strategy for targeting the midsection fat with tesamorelin, any suggested do’s or don’ts?

Tesa takes months to show results, I did it for almost 4 months and eventually just switched to hgh with great results. Low dose to be clear, being of the upper age.

 

[Chris Thomas]

Tesa takes months to show results, I did it for almost 4 months and eventually just switched to hgh with great results. Low dose to be clear, being of the upper age.

Thank you. So that would be HGH 191 correct, and did you stack it with anything?

 

[deluge]

I am not at my goal weight yet, but I have lost already a substantial amount of weight - again?

So, as many may relate I have done numerous diets in the past, lost some weight, regained all back, with all the shame and blame.

What makes you believe this time it will be substantial and for good as long as you take the medication?

I sure am worried. I really hope this time is different.

Lost this much weight on Atkins. Did it for 10 yrs. Atkins is incredibly dangerous long-term. My opinion; you don't lose fat on Atkins, you dehydrate it. And when pushed to the extreme, if you slip up and eat a brownie and a glass of milk and the next day you've gained 4 lbs and your lips crack from the dehydration of pulling every available drop of hydration to pump back into the fat cells.

Calorie counting with apps, lost weight, piled it all back on, and more.

One time I lost 30 lbs by just focus and a job offshore where I was mostly alone 24/7. Gained it all back, and more, when I repatriated.

 

[Quatroskin]

Yup, I am 54 and thinking that there will always be some sort of a maitaining dose or a swith-a-roo like reta to tesamorelin.
I’m 5’8”, and went from 190 down to 168 in under two months on reta. Looking back, I realized I was dosing too high, considering the minor side effects, but I didn’t care much because the results were incredible.

I did lose quite a bit of muscle mass, but it was the middle of winter and I couldn’t lift weights anyway due to a shoulder injury. The plan now is to heal the shoulder with the help of BPC-157 and start lifting again (hopefully). If the shoulder doesn’t cooperate, I can still enjoy running, leg work, and core training.

Even after dropping that weight, I’m still carrying a residual belly, the dad bod survives! I’m planning to either stop reta or lower the dose significantly and try tesamorelin and ipamorelin to focus more on the midsection.

Overall, I’m very happy with the weight loss from reta, but has anyone else found a good strategy for targeting the midsection fat with tesamorelin, any suggestions, do’s or don’ts?

What dosage of Reta are you dropping to when you add BPC and Tesa? I posted about using these 3 together a couple days ago. I’m on my 4th week of 2mg Reta and will be bumping up to 3mg starting Monday morning. I just picked up some BPC and am thinking of grabbing some Tesa as well.

 

[bogardbilla]

Yup, I am 54 and thinking that there will always be some sort of a maitaining dose or a swith-a-roo like reta to tesamorelin.
I’m 5’8”, and went from 190 down to 168 in under two months on reta. Looking back, I realized I was dosing too high, considering the minor side effects, but I didn’t care much because the results were incredible.

I did lose quite a bit of muscle mass, but it was the middle of winter and I couldn’t lift weights anyway due to a shoulder injury. The plan now is to heal the shoulder with the help of BPC-157 and start lifting again (hopefully). If the shoulder doesn’t cooperate, I can still enjoy running, leg work, and core training.

Even after dropping that weight, I’m still carrying a residual belly, the dad bod survives! I’m planning to either stop reta or lower the dose significantly and try tesamorelin and ipamorelin to focus more on the midsection.

Overall, I’m very happy with the weight loss from reta, but has anyone else found a good strategy for targeting the midsection fat with tesamorelin, any suggestions, do’s or don’ts?

Tesamorelin doesn't target the midsection fat which is subcutaneous, it targets visceral fat which surrounds your organs.

 

[Omxxl]

El problema radica en que pensamos que la obesidad es solo un problema médico a nivel fisiológico, pero tiene un componente psicológico muy importante. Creo que muchos pacientes deberían usar inhibidores de GLP-1 de forma crónica, al igual que quienes padecen hipertensión y diabetes, ajustando sus dosis. Algunos podrían suspender la medicación, pero la realidad para las personas con problemas graves de obesidad es que usar inhibidores de GLP-1, con sus efectos secundarios, es preferible a la obesidad en sí.

 

[Lovedog100]

I did lose quite a bit of muscle mass, but it was the middle of winter and I couldn’t lift weights anyway due to a shoulder injury. The plan now is to heal the shoulder with the help of BPC-157 and start lifting again (hopefully). If the shoulder doesn’t cooperate, I can still enjoy running, leg work, and core training.

Even after dropping that weight, I’m still carrying a residual belly, the dad bod survives! I’m planning to either stop reta or lower the dose significantly and try tesamorelin and ipamorelin to focus more on the midsection.

Overall, I’m very happy with the weight loss from reta, but has anyone else found a good strategy for targeting the midsection fat with tesamorelin, any suggestions, do’s or don’ts?

I had some muscle loss from Ozempic and started back at the gym to try and stop the loss. I was reminded very soon that I had a torn rotator cuff that I never had repaired. I gave up any exercise that involved shoulders. I got on BPC 157 and TB500 which I didn't notice any help from. I started using the elliptical and weight training that didn't involve shoulders. Then I switched to Reta. I have since added Tesamorlin to the Reta. In just the last few weeks I have taking baby steps to add shoulders into my work out. I'm using such light weight that I'm embarrassed to be seen. I have added some weight, not enough to cause pain. So far, so good. If Reta worked for you, I would think that a lower maintenance dose along with the Tesamorlin would be a good fit. Together they worked very will for me. You may have to experiment to see what works best for you. It sounds like you're on the right track

 

[Omxxl]

Tesa tarda meses en dar resultados; lo usé durante casi cuatro meses y finalmente cambié a HGH con excelentes resultados. Para ser claros, la dosis es baja, ya que soy mayor de edad.

¿Qué protocolo utilizaste con HGH?

 

[Chris Thomas]

What dosage of Reta are you dropping to when you add BPC and Tesa? I posted about using these 3 together a couple days ago. I’m on my 4th week of 2mg Reta and will be bumping up to 3mg starting Monday morning. I just picked up some BPC and am thinking of grabbing some Tesa as well.

What dosage of Reta are you dropping to when you add BPC and Tesa? I posted about using these 3 together a couple days ago. I’m on my 4th week of 2mg Reta and will be bumping up to 3mg starting Monday morning. I just picked up some BPC and am thinking of grabbing some Tesa as well.

I am dropping my reta from 2mg a week to 1mg a week just to manage food noise. I have lost all the lbs that I wanted to, just not all in the right places, lost a lot of muscle. I have now been taking BPC for just over three weeks. I started immediately after a PRP injection in my shoulder, nagging partial tendon tear that has prevented me from lifting weights. To me the BPC and the reta had no influence on each other, from what I read, they shouldn't. Like you, I thought bringing tesa in would be a good idea to help target belly fat, I do understand that it targets the visceral fat, so it’s not going to make my dad bod vanish, but at my age I am sure I have some visceral fat that I could get rid of, Also, tesa helps release HGH which can help with burning fat. Welp, that was my plan but I think my plan has been flipped upside down because CNCCurrency just informed me that he had better results when he stopped taking tesa and just went to HGH, which would make sense I think, plus I would bet the farm that he is way more experienced than I am. But yeah Quatro, I was planning on doing tesa and reta together, reta at a low dose, all subject to change depending on effects. Man, going to 3mg of reta sounds like a lot to me, but everyone is different i guess. I am curious how 3mg performs for you.

 

[Chris Thomas]

I had some muscle loss from Ozempic and started back at the gym to try and stop the loss. I was reminded very soon that I had a torn rotator cuff that I never had repaired. I gave up any exercise that involved shoulders. I got on BPC 157 and TB500 which I didn't notice any help from. I started using the elliptical and weight training that didn't involve shoulders. Then I switched to Reta. I have since added Tesamorlin to the Reta. In just the last few weeks I have taking baby steps to add shoulders into my work out. I'm using such light weight that I'm embarrassed to be seen. I have added some weight, not enough to cause pain. So far, so good. If Reta worked for you, I would think that a lower maintenance dose along with the Tesamorlin would be a good fit. Together they worked very will for me. You may have to experiment to see what works best for you. It sounds like you're on the right track

Thanks for the reply. Yeah the pink weights are scary to me right now! I don't know if this BPC is doing anything for me but I want to do all I can, I feel like I have one shot at getting this shoulder issue under control. Thank you for your input, it is comforting knowing that it worked well for you.

 

[Chris Thomas]

¿Qué protocolo utilizaste con HGH?

Sí, por favor comparte.

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

I can speak to maintenance a bit. I lost 60 pounds after my first pregnancy: 40 of it was pregnancy weight and 20 was weight I needed to lose pre-life-creation-ing. 185->225ish-> 162
So: 3 ish years of maintenance until we knew sweet #2 was coming.

I couldn’t track 100% of every day, my brain couldn’t. I lost on an old WW program and was tired of weight-loss-mode.

What I settled on was yellow zone and red zone. Being female and cyclical, I needed +- 5 pounds for sanity. Yellow zone was 5 pounds over goal, once at +5 it meant smart snacks, smaller portions of birthday cake, cutting out the junk that creeps in.“Non tracking” positive behaviors.

Red zone meant measuring and tracking, using the tools that got me to goal on the first place.

I got to red zone twice in about three years. Once, the ww system got me back down, and the second time my brain hated it so I went to CICO successfully.

Normal maintenance is going to have ups and downs. The person who talked about yellow and red zone set their red zone by deciding they didn’t want to diet more than a month. So when they got to that number, it was lock-it-in time.

Isn’t that a crazy idea?? Deciding “I don’t want to diet more than a month ever again” is mind blowing. Even still, maybe because I am far away.

Q: Anybody still doubting success?

After #2 my chemistry shifted, it was a series of things. My thryroid kind of broke (postpartum thyroiditis, often a precursor to Hashimoto’s ), baby woke up every other hour so I’d go to bed 6pm-6am —breaking up sleep every couple of hours is a form of POW torture (seriously) and I basically broke.

Lexapro and Wellbutrin were important but Lexapro made me gain. Today I would call it an antiGLP, I would never feel full or satisfied, I would eat until physically full-full. 20 pounds later I got off of it. And um-teen years later I’ve got enough other things mostly under control to tackle weight.

I haven’t found my stack. GLP-1s come with anhedonia in my chemical-soup-self and it is very disappointing. I have a few things ordered just working through a crypto deposit to see if they help.

My sister prefers sema over tirz but has no mental health symptoms with either. Sigh.

And I have to remind myself there is much that CAN be done in the meantime. Yes I doubt success but I am an engineer and am still hacking my way to get the system to cooperate.

 

[RubbaDubba1]

After about 6 months on tirzepatide and losing a good amount of weight, I literally asked myself what you’re thinking, “Why is this time going to be any different”. (Yo-Yo dieter my entire life).

So, it was about this same time that I was binge watching My 600-lb life and seeing many people struggle with weight loss (even after bariatric surgery) and I finally came to the realization that some of my weight issue might be psychological. I did some “work” around that, so I’m hopeful that with continued glp-1 usage for the rest of my life and my behavioral work that this time will be different.

I lived the 600lb life and the struggle is real, even after weight loss surgery. The GLP-1, is the game changer or the other piece of the puzzle for me. I'm very optimistic about the ability of Tirz & Reta to help keep the weight off, I've been off of it 3X and the weight just comes right back on. I feel very fortunate, that I only seem to need 2mg of either one or 1mg of both it keeps me compliant and keeps the weight off. I got to 10mg of Tirz during the weight loss and it was to much and found 7.5mg was the highest dose and was able to come back down. Then added Reta and it was so strong, only need 4mg and lost the last 23lbs in a month. I don't plan on ever coming off of it long term, but feel cycling it once in a while will help me to continue to appreciate it and not take it for granted or my freezer stash.

 

[SpiralJetty]

This really is a game changer, it directly changes your body chemistry in a way that ordinary diets don't.

 

[HidingInPlainView]

Well... if you told me in January that I would be down 35lbs I'd have called you a liar... but here we are. I've hit my personal goal. I'm back to where I wanted to be, back to 6 years ago which is one of the lightest I've been in my adult life.

That said, If I can lose 35 more I'll be firmly in the medical "healthy weight" by BMI and at a weight I haven't seen since middle school. I might actually cry if I see the scale show me that number.

However, right now I'm planning for a joint repair surgery so I'm going to stop my GLP1 for a couple of weeks prior to anesthesia to avoid complications. I don't know what makes me more scared/nervous, the idea of learning to walk again or the idea that lack of mental discipline could cause me to regain weight.

I will resume my GLP1 after returning home from surgery, but 14 days without something that helped me so much, seems like an eternity to me right now.

 

[lessthanhalf]

After getting fat for some weird reason between 7 and 8 years old going from 22kg to 40 kg in a year ( I think I might have caught the adenovirus 36 that causes infectious obesity, look it up it is actually real despite sounding ridiculous ), I got to close to normal weight at about 16 yo, 18, several times in my 20's, once in my early 30's with lots of amphetamines, from 122kg to 64.9 kg a decade ago, and from 145kg to 66kg this time.
Am I doubting my success? Absolutely , given past experience I would be stupid not to.
There are 2 differences this time, the consequences of putting the weight back on are much more severe in terms of medical risk, being almost guaranteed a very serious health problem within 10 years at current age of 57, and cheap Chinese GLP medications. I have periodically looked at the research for nearly 40 years thinking they must finally make a drug that actually works and does not kill you, and although it took a lot longer than I hoped, they got there in the end. So thanks to big pharma and a lot of hardworking researchers over decades, even though they won't be making any money out of me as I cannot afford the legit versions.
Losing the weight and trying to keep it off without GLP's was hard, I am still sticking to an extremely restrictive diet to keep the weight off but it is definitely not as difficult to do with GLP's.

 

[testyonenow42]

I'm confident I will maintain a healthy weight this time. I have realistic goals and plan to continue to be realistic as I age. I have no desire to be 20 again (not that I was healthy when I was 20). I still have 15 lbs to lose and am taking that slowly to let my body adjust and my habits get stronger. I plan to reduce my dosage once I'm at my goal and find my maintenance dose. I'll evaluate at that time but will probably take the maintenance dose for a year just to solidify my habits. At that time I may try to stop the medicine completely but I'm prepared to continue taking a maintenance dose long term, if needed.

 

[miss-sanne]

I'm a bit scared of it yes. I feel my good habits slipping some these last few months. I'm at my almost goal weight (2-3 kg from it).
But mostly, I'm scared my good 10 y long stash won't be of use, because I get pancreatitis or NAION or whatever.

 

[Birdie]

I am prepared to use it until the end and am stocked for a decade or more.

This is exactly how I feel. I have decided to be kind to my body for the remaining time I have in it. I have come to accept that obesity is a chronic disease and that I will benefit from continuous treatment.

 

[Birdie]

Well... if you told me in January that I would be down 35lbs I'd have called you a liar... but here we are. I've hit my personal goal. I'm back to where I wanted to be, back to 6 years ago which is one of the lightest I've been in my adult life.

That said, If I can lose 35 more I'll be firmly in the medical "healthy weight" by BMI and at a weight I haven't seen since middle school. I might actually cry if I see the scale show me that number.

However, right now I'm planning for a joint repair surgery so I'm going to stop my GLP1 for a couple of weeks prior to anesthesia to avoid complications. I don't know what makes me more scared/nervous, the idea of learning to walk again or the idea that lack of mental discipline could cause me to regain weight.

I will resume my GLP1 after returning home from surgery, but 14 days without something that helped me so much, seems like an eternity to me right now.

I can only imagine your fear and wish you the best of luck with your surgery.
I am also wondering if anyone here has had surgery without holding the med, as mentioned in the 2024 updated guideline I read about here:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/surgery/anesthesiology/112653

 

[HidingInPlainView]

I can only imagine your fear and wish you the best of luck with your surgery.
I am also wondering if anyone here has had surgery without holding the med, as mentioned in the 2024 updated guideline I read about here:
https://www.medpagetoday.com/surgery/anesthesiology/112653

Thank you wishing me luck on this journey. I saw the old and new guidelines when doing my own research as well. Ultimately I was advised to take 1 week off of the GLP, as it significantly reduces the chance of liquid aspiration during general anesthesia. My wife insists she'd feel better about it if I did two weeks instead. So, as much as the thought pains me, I'll hold off for two weeks prior. I still have over a month before surgery, but that doesn't change the fear and anxiety of relearning to walk or regaining the weight.

 

[Snuki]

I lived the 600lb life and the struggle is real, even after weight loss surgery. The GLP-1, is the game changer or the other piece of the puzzle for me. I'm very optimistic about the ability of Tirz & Reta to help keep the weight off, I've been off of it 3X and the weight just comes right back on. I feel very fortunate, that I only seem to need 2mg of either one or 1mg of both it keeps me compliant and keeps the weight off. I got to 10mg of Tirz during the weight loss and it was to much and found 7.5mg was the highest dose and was able to come back down. Then added Reta and it was so strong, only need 4mg and lost the last 23lbs in a month. I don't plan on ever coming off of it long term, but feel cycling it once in a while will help me to continue to appreciate it and not take it for granted or my freezer stash.

I think it's fantastic that you've found a solution to lead a carefree life, at least when it comes to food. And it's also great that these options are now available.