Reta progress slowing after 2 months: increase dose or stay patient?

[koevet]

53-year-old male here.

I’ve been on reta for almost 2 months and I’m down 7 kg so far (around 15.4 lbs). This is my first time using peptides.

I’m currently at 4 mg/week. I started at 0.5 mg and probably titrated up a little too fast. I’m also trying to stay in a calorie deficit, lifting 2–3 times a week, and doing some cardio.

Reta has helped a lot with food noise and staying consistent, and overall the weight loss has been great. That said, over the last week and a half, progress has slowed way down and seems close to a plateau, even though I’m still trying to maintain a calorie deficit.

For people with more experience: what’s the usual approach here? Bump the dose up a bit, maybe to 6 mg/week, or stay where I am and trust the process for a while longer?

At 4 mg/week I’m having almost no side effects, just mild constipation. Appetite suppression and fullness are still working pretty well.

I also had a DEXA scan for the first time the other day. I know I should have done it before starting reta, but here we are. The results were a little disappointing, so I still have a lot to work on.

What I found interesting is that my current weight (73 kg / about 160 lbs) is basically the weight the scan “recommends,” but with the caveat that I need a better body composition: less fat and more lean mass. It also showed lower-than-target bone density for my age, so I’m planning to follow up on that too.

Thanks!

 

[woundcarping]

If you don’t have sides, and you’re at a low dose, the obvious answer is to increase the dose.

 

[BNLFL]

I just stalled for the first time, and did the second pin at 6mg Friday. From 3/20 to 3/27 no loss and jumped on this morning for kicks, nothing. I was averaging about 2.5lbs a week. It happens I guess.

 

[Nerker]

I just bumped up from 2mg to 4mg for the last 7-10lbs.
I was on 2mg for 11 weeks with great results but wight loss slowed and I was eating large portions and not able to pass on the slice of pizza. Since I'm in deficit, I didn't trip on adding carbs but since they were empty, I was like WTF. Much prefer beans, sweet potato, and whole proteins.

 

[Waterheater]

What is your goal weight? If you prefer body composition over weight loss increasing the dose might not be the right thing for you?

 

[ronin365]

I dose up if I stall over a week or two and have no side effects. But you want to be sure you account for water weight. In my case, I have been cycling CJC-1295/Ipamorelin which causes water retention and fluctuations on the scale.

 

[koevet]

What is your goal weight? If you prefer body composition over weight loss increasing the dose might not be the right thing for you?

That's a good question. My original goal weight was 4/5 Kilos below my current weight. But, according to the Dexa scan, I am already at my correct weight, and I should just invert fat/lean mass - less fat, more lean mass. Basically, a re-comp.

I am already hitting the gym and lifting, but I started only a few months ago, so I don't really have an history of "muscles", I have been quite skinny all my life, until I wasn't.

 

[Quailfeather]

it's up to you really, losing weight faster doesn't seem necessary for your health and might not benefit your current aesthetic goals. If the reta is still working so its easier for you to stay consistent on your diet, so you can expend more effort on your exercise routine, you don't have to increase. There's no need to rush if you have only 5 kg to go, it will take longer to build that muscle than lose the fat.

Then again, the advantage of grey is that you can adjust your dosing as you like. In my experience, a too-large increase in dose is easily reversed by reducing the dose the following week. you can always pin 5-6 mg and see how the side effects feel?

 

[BNLFL]

I stalled last week. I weighed the same last Friday 3/28 as I did the Friday before 3/21. Did my second 6mg pin Friday. My body fat was down .2%. I'm gonna jump on tomorrow to see if I lost anymore.

 

[dirtyharry]

I dose up if I stall over a week or two and have no side effects. But you want to be sure you account for water weight. In my case, I have been cycling CJC-1295/Ipamorelin which causes water retention and fluctuations on the scale.

I had no idea about CJC causing water retention. I was wondering why my weight had stalled recently and checked my spreadsheet. Sure enough, my weight stall coincides with my CJC cycle!

Thanks for this! Hopefully this won't last too long cause I enjoy seeing that scale go down haha.

 

[BNLFL]

I stalled last week. I weighed the same last Friday 3/28 as I did the Friday before 3/21. Did my second 6mg pin Friday. My body fat was down .2%. I'm gonna jump on tomorrow to see if I lost anymore.

Update, I had lost 2.4lbs when I jumped on yesterday from Friday. 95% is was water weight from some high salt stuff I took for something.

 

[ronin365]

I had no idea about CJC causing water retention. I was wondering why my weight had stalled recently and checked my spreadsheet. Sure enough, my weight stall coincides with my CJC cycle!

Thanks for this! Hopefully this won't last too long cause I enjoy seeing that scale go down haha.

I haven't finished my cycle yet, but I have heard the water weight comes off pretty quickly after you stop. I'm hoping to see about a 4-5 pound drop when I finish. That is going to be really nice to see 🙂.

 

[MFGamesta]

If you're 53 and already at your goal weight of 73 kilos, I would not increase my dose. You just need to eat better, now. Let the glucagon agonist keep working and burning fat. But you don't wan't to lose more weight. The rest is now on you, pretty much.

I'm 61, 170 lbs and 12 % body fat. Once I hit my goal of 170 lbs, (actually a bit before) I started an evening, fasted CJC-1295/Ipamorelin to help a little bit with the muscle gain. Eat tons of protein...

 

[ronin365]

Something to add here. From what I have been reading, it's important to slowly titrate down to the lowest dose of Reta (say 0.5-.0.75) to allow your metabolism time to adjust and hold its new baseline. I think people who rebound when coming off GLP-1s are people who have not fixed the cause of their weight gain and they came off cold turkey or too fast.

It might even be worth implementing a kind of PCT when coming off Reta, using peptides that blunt hunger and continue to support fat oxidation.

 

[Beardboost]

As crazy as it sounds when you hit a stall, the best thing to do is eat more to a ''maintenance'' level for a couple of weeks, then drop calorie intake back down, Your metabolism is the king of your body, just needs a good kick to get it going again