Big Jump in Weight Loss After Starting Reta – Anyone Else?

[jimmybimmy]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been on Reta for about 3 weeks now and noticed something quite interesting. For context: I recently finished a long cutting phase, during which I lost around 20 kg (from 85 kg down to about 65 kg). Toward the end of the cut, my weight loss had really slowed down — hovering around 0.25 to 0.4 kg per week, even though I was sticking to my diet and tracking calories meticulously (within 10% margin max).

Then I started Reta — and suddenly, I’m losing 0.8 to 1.2 kg per week. That’s a pretty significant jump, especially since I haven’t changed anything major in my diet, training, or activity levels (I even lowered my cardio a bit because of the sudden heavy loss of weight). My strength in the gym has stayed pretty stable, so I don’t suspect lean muscle loss to a large extent.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this. Could it be water weight (I’ve noticed I’ve been slightly more dehydrated lately), or could Reta be having some unexpected metabolic effect even in someone who’s already quite lean and dialed in?

Would love to hear your thoughts or similar experiences.

Thanks!

PS: I am on about 3mg per week

 

[Fisherman2356]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been on Reta for about 3 weeks now and noticed something quite interesting. For context: I recently finished a long cutting phase, during which I lost around 20 kg (from 85 kg down to about 65 kg). Toward the end of the cut, my weight loss had really slowed down — hovering around 0.25 to 0.4 kg per week, even though I was sticking to my diet and tracking calories meticulously (within 10% margin max).

Then I started Reta — and suddenly, I’m losing 0.8 to 1.2 kg per week. That’s a pretty significant jump, especially since I haven’t changed anything major in my diet, training, or activity levels (I even lowered my cardio a bit because of the sudden heavy loss of weight). My strength in the gym has stayed pretty stable, so I don’t suspect lean muscle loss to a large extent.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this. Could it be water weight (I’ve noticed I’ve been slightly more dehydrated lately), or could Reta be having some unexpected metabolic effect even in someone who’s already quite lean and dialed in?

Would love to hear your thoughts or similar experiences.

Thanks!

PS: I am on about 3mg per week

My problem with your post is not that you are losing more on Reta, my problem is what the fuck are you doing losing 2lbs per week when in fact you only weigh 143LBS. To me a 143lbs man is very pathetic looking one so you better stop it before you totally disappear dude. In comparison I lost 25lbs from 245 to 220 and I'm thinking I might have lost a bit too much. Are you that thick in the head that you think you need to be that thin in the body?

 

[GLP1Pharmacist]

Switching to Reta broke my stall or more accurately change from very slow weight loss. As we lose it does slow down naturally. It was easier to lose 0-60 than down 60-80.

I do echo the concern about loosing too much, healthier should be the goal. A little reserve, decent muscles and healthy balanced diet is ideal.

 

[MsGizmo]

My problem with your post is not that you are losing more on Reta, my problem is what the fuck are you doing losing 2lbs per week when in fact you only weigh 143LBS. To me a 143lbs man is very pathetic looking one so you better stop it before you totally disappear dude.

Maybe he is shorter than average? If I were 150 pounds I would still be considered overweight because I am 5'4" .. I mean I would be happy about it considering where I am now .. but still ..

 

[Fisherman2356]

Maybe he is shorter than average? If I were 150 pounds I would still be considered overweight because I am 5'4" .. I mean I would be happy about it considering where I am now .. but still ..

You are a woman. A 5'4" man at 150 lbs. is still not overweight.

 

[penewbie]

You are a woman. A 5'4" man at 150 lbs. is still not overweight.

Bro...

 

[hexagonal]

View attachment 7998

Bro...

BMI is a pretty useless metric, particularly for people who engage in regular strength training. Since the OP is talking about lifting regularly, cutting phases, etc., they probably are more muscular than the average person and as such further skewed.

All of this is pretty meaningless without knowing bf%, honestly. 143 at 8% BF is quite a bit difference than 143 at 20%

 

[jimmybimmy]

185cm @67 kg right now

 

[penewbie]

BMI is a pretty useless metric, particularly for people who engage in regular strength training. Since the OP is talking about lifting regularly, cutting phases, etc., they probably are more muscular than the average person and as such further skewed.

All of this is pretty meaningless without knowing bf%, honestly. 143 at 8% BF is quite a bit difference than 143 at 20%

My highly unscientific number that I pulled out of my ass, >90% of the people who say that BMI is a useless metric, are overweight or obese by any metric.

Not you. But generally.

 

[MsGizmo]

The point I was making was that we did not know his details. I did not say that he was 5'4" .. I said that I am 5'4". Heck he could have been 4 foot tall for all I knew. None of that was even answering his question which was about water weight loss being linked to reta.

 

[lemon lady]

My problem with your post is not that you are losing more on Reta, my problem is what the fuck are you doing losing 2lbs per week when in fact you only weigh 143LBS. To me a 143lbs man is very pathetic looking one so you better stop it before you totally disappear dude. In comparison I lost 25lbs from 245 to 220 and I'm thinking I might have lost a bit too much. Are you that thick in the head that you think you need to be that thin in the body?

a bit harsh, not everyone has the same aesthetic goals - are you "thick in the head"?

 

[hexagonal]

My highly unscientific number that I pulled out of my ass, >90% of the people who say that BMI is a useless metric, are overweight or obese by any metric.

Not you. But generally.

Well, I'm here for a reason, though I've moved out of the 'obese' category, and I'm getting closer and closer to that <20% bf category, too.

GLP-1s are big in the bodybuilding community for helping with cuts, though, and for bodybuilders it really is a useless metric. The verbiage of the OP makes me think they are likely part of that community.

But I think we should move away from it in general for anyone that regularly strength trains or has significant muscle mass because of their job, etc. And since everyone in our community should be doing regular strength training to not lose large quantities of LBM (and we're all doing this, right? Right?) , this should be a metric that quickly becomes useless for people posting here in general.

There are some health risks just around size, regardless of whether that weight is pure muscle or pure fat, but most of the ones we concern ourselves with are pretty dependent on it being fat mass. I would rather be 180lb at 150lb of lean body mass than 160lb at 120lb of lean body mass, despite the latter being a lower BMI.

 

[zpped]

Well, I'm here for a reason, though I've moved out of the 'obese' category, and I'm getting closer and closer to that <20% bf category, too.

GLP-1s are big in the bodybuilding community for helping with cuts, though, and for bodybuilders it really is a useless metric. The verbiage of the OP makes me think they are likely part of that community.

But I think we should move away from it in general for anyone that regularly strength trains or has significant muscle mass because of their job, etc. And since everyone in our community should be doing regular strength training to not lose large quantities of LBM (and we're all doing this, right? Right?) , this should be a metric that quickly becomes useless for people posting here in general.

There are some health risks just around size, regardless of whether that weight is pure muscle or pure fat, but most of the ones we concern ourselves with are pretty dependent on it being fat mass. I would rather be 180lb at 150lb of lean body mass than 160lb at 120lb of lean body mass, despite the latter being a lower BMI.

Even in that population BMI isn't useless, it's just not complete information. You need to know BMI and FFMI to find target weight. Knowing both of these numbers tells you a ton about someones physique but neither of them alone is enough.

Also someone who is both near the lower end of healthy body fat and still overweight is EXTREMELY jacked. Not just someone who regularly strength trains.

 

[Fisherman2356]

are you "thick in the head"?

Yes, in the head and other places also 😂

 

[micropapaya]

a bit harsh, not everyone has the same aesthetic goals - are you "thick in the head"?

yeah, definitely was an unnecessary comment. We didn't initially know OPs height and there are people who have legit eating disorders. This dude calling him "pathetic" looking isn't in any way helpful.

But I tend not to listen to guys who feel men have to look a certain way and are "pathetic" if they don't. But then again I'm a nonbinary femme, so I'm sure my body goals would equally pass off this type. 😊

 

[micropapaya]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been on Reta for about 3 weeks now and noticed something quite interesting. For context: I recently finished a long cutting phase, during which I lost around 20 kg (from 85 kg down to about 65 kg). Toward the end of the cut, my weight loss had really slowed down — hovering around 0.25 to 0.4 kg per week, even though I was sticking to my diet and tracking calories meticulously (within 10% margin max).

Then I started Reta — and suddenly, I’m losing 0.8 to 1.2 kg per week. That’s a pretty significant jump, especially since I haven’t changed anything major in my diet, training, or activity levels (I even lowered my cardio a bit because of the sudden heavy loss of weight). My strength in the gym has stayed pretty stable, so I don’t suspect lean muscle loss to a large extent.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this. Could it be water weight (I’ve noticed I’ve been slightly more dehydrated lately), or could Reta be having some unexpected metabolic effect even in someone who’s already quite lean and dialed in?

Would love to hear your thoughts or similar experiences.

Thanks!

PS: I am on about 3mg per week

To answer your question, many people do find reta to "kickstart" their metabolism.

I do caution you to make sure you're listening to your body and taking care of yourself as you are already quite lean at your height and weight. You are currently just straddling the line of underweight and "normal" weight. Please take care of your body. You only get 1 (at least until they figure out how to turn us into cyborgs lol)

 

[hexagonal]

Even in that population BMI isn't useless, it's just not complete information. You need to know BMI and FFMI to find target weight. Knowing both of these numbers tells you a ton about someones physique but neither of them alone is enough.

A lot of experts would disagree with you - I won't say there's universal agreement, but there's a wide variety of issues with BMI that many argue are so fundamental that it really is useless. https://web.archive.org/web/2022120...com/health/why-so-many-think-the-bmi-is-trash / https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthf...rs-suggest-new-approach-calculate-your-health / https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2021/05/21/health-measure (I can link hundreds more if necessary.)

We've taken a metric that wasn't developed to have anything to do with health and started using it as a health marker because insurance companies figured out that it could be useful as a ballpark indicator when looking at populations on the whole. Cheap and easy and works well enough. At the population level. Lots of things work well at the population level that are not useful when looking at any given individual.

Also someone who is both near the lower end of healthy body fat and still overweight is EXTREMELY jacked. Not just someone who regularly strength trains.

You're misunderstanding my point - that's an extreme example to illustrate the issue in the most easily understandable way. But for most people it's still a sliding scale - the more LBM you have the lower your bf% at any given weight and the more inaccurate BMI is as an indicator of metabolic health. And that's before we get into the basic statistical flaws with it that have to do with height. Or the the medical parts where fat distribution is one of the most significant factors. But I don't have to be a stage lean IFBB pro to be at a healthy bf% with minimal or no visceral fat and still be in the overweight BMI category. A 5'8 male with 150lb of LBM and 30lb of LBM is squarely in the middle of the overweight BMI category yet only ~16.7% bf and nowhere near extremely jacked. You don't need to be 5% bf and huge for BMI to be wildly unrelated to your actual cardiometabolic health.