Storage talk, supply anxiety, and realizing I may only be halfway there a rambling I invite fellow autists to join. Chapter 3 Half way?

[Notafed]

So, this is the personal chapter. Weight loss update. Young male 6ft 1. Started around 365lbs. Was a great responder probably could have stayed low dose, but upped every month till I got to 15mg. From May of 2025 to Oct of 2025 went from 365 to 258lbs very consistently as well no reversals and hardly a stall nearly a 5lb a week average which was really just over 5lbs every week those first 3 months then a slowdown.

I have said before that wasn't healthy necessarily I would do it again if it was the only way I am so much better, but you shouldn't do it how I did. That was luck and medicine and extreme militant exercise and dieting on my part.

Now today I am about 225lbs. And it's hard not to ask what gives. In late October and for about 12 weeks I lowered my dosage to about 9mg a week from 15mg. I also stopped the milatent attitude with myself and ate relativity normally. For those 12 weeks (work trip definitely not fed related) I hemmed and hawed and dealt with a lot of cravings, but I stayed true honestly better than I think most would and am better for it. People around me at the time believed I had continued to lose weight when really I ended in January within 5lbs (less thankfully) of where I had been 258 -> 253. I agree with the sentiment and think I looked better after the 12 weeks it was a good pause and reset and I do believe I lost more fat in that time and gained back some muscle.

Well I got back on the horse, not like before, but let's say no more cookies, and a lot more protein and treadmill time. Also went back up to 15mg. From late January to now 253 -> 225 or about 3.5lbs a week loss. Some of that water loss I believe from going back to low carb diet now with more leanancy. I think this mostly tracks considering I have been more forgiving with my dieting. But again this has not been so much linear and a slope. Weight loss is getting harder I am already exercising more with the healthier body, but I might have to restrict my diet to closer to keto in another month to keep going. I want to get to 180 and/or just the beginnings of a 6 pack. I really even if temporarily want to be able to say "I am half the man I once was and am better for it". Then along with cutting my dosage I want to bulk up and put on some muscle to help with loose skin. I would be happy if I was 225 a year from now but a much different body comp. Speaking of loose skin I can tell already I am going to have some minor loose skin, but it looks like it's not going to be enough to hurt my self image or health. Fingers crossed for me guys.

What this all for? Well it's for others alot of people haven't lost as fast as me though also fairly not a lot of people have needed to loose so much. I can see as I was told the closer to goal the slower the rate of loss. It's a lot easier to lose when your over 350lbs. I really wasn't wanting to have another tism post till I got to goal, but I felt it was good to get it out there. Sometimes you have to have a vision of how far the goal is, and yet you look up one day when you feel you should be over half way to the finish line, and it's like the road stretched and now your just halfway there, living on a prayer as they say. I can tell I am healthyer just in the last week I became not obese for the first time in my adult life, but I want to finish strong and I want you reading this to finish strong to. Even if I don't get to a 6 pack even if I do and I don't look like a model I want better for myself and it's achievable. Time doesn't have to be an enemy just something to be aware of. Rome wasn't built in a day and even if it was burnt down in one one I didn't get to 365lbs in one night. Time will come one day soon though and this medicine is truly a modern miracle that has been making the journey possible.

Till next tism postings
See you Space Cowboy.
And "You're gonna carry that weight"
....hopefully just not the physical kind too much longer

 

[skeptick]

So, this is the personal chapter. Weight loss update. Young male 6ft 1. Started around 365lbs. Was a great responder probably could have stayed low dose, but upped every month till I got to 15mg. From May of 2025 to Oct of 2025 went from 365 to 258lbs very consistently as well no reversals and hardly a stall nearly a 5lb a week average which was really just over 5lbs every week those first 3 months then a slowdown.

I have said before that wasn't healthy necessarily I would do it again if it was the only way I am so much better, but you shouldn't do it how I did. That was luck and medicine and extreme militant exercise and dieting on my part.

Now today I am about 225lbs. And it's hard not to ask what gives. In late October and for about 12 weeks I lowered my dosage to about 9mg a week from 15mg. I also stopped the milatent attitude with myself and ate relativity normally. For those 12 weeks (work trip definitely not fed related) I hemmed and hawed and dealt with a lot of cravings, but I stayed true honestly better than I think most would and am better for it. People around me at the time believed I had continued to lose weight when really I ended in January within 5lbs (less thankfully) of where I had been 258 -> 253. I agree with the sentiment and think I looked better after the 12 weeks it was a good pause and reset and I do believe I lost more fat in that time and gained back some muscle.

Well I got back on the horse, not like before, but let's say no more cookies, and a lot more protein and treadmill time. Also went back up to 15mg. From late January to now 253 -> 225 or about 3.5lbs a week loss. Some of that water loss I believe from going back to low carb diet now with more leanancy. I think this mostly tracks considering I have been more forgiving with my dieting. But again this has not been so much linear and a slope. Weight loss is getting harder I am already exercising more with the healthier body, but I might have to restrict my diet to closer to keto in another month to keep going. I want to get to 180 and/or just the beginnings of a 6 pack. I really even if temporarily want to be able to say "I am half the man I once was and am better for it". Then along with cutting my dosage I want to bulk up and put on some muscle to help with loose skin. I would be happy if I was 225 a year from now but a much different body comp. Speaking of loose skin I can tell already I am going to have some minor loose skin, but it looks like it's not going to be enough to hurt my self image or health. Fingers crossed for me guys.

What this all for? Well it's for others alot of people haven't lost as fast as me though also fairly not a lot of people have needed to loose so much. I can see as I was told the closer to goal the slower the rate of loss. It's a lot easier to lose when your over 350lbs. I really wasn't wanting to have another tism post till I got to goal, but I felt it was good to get it out there. Sometimes you have to have a vision of how far the goal is, and yet you look up one day when you feel you should be over half way to the finish line, and it's like the road stretched and now your just halfway there, living on a prayer as they say. I can tell I am healthyer just in the last week I became not obese for the first time in my adult life, but I want to finish strong and I want you reading this to finish strong to. Even if I don't get to a 6 pack even if I do and I don't look like a model I want better for myself and it's achievable. Time doesn't have to be an enemy just something to be aware of. Rome wasn't built in a day and even if it was burnt down in one one I didn't get to 365lbs in one night. Time will come one day soon though and this medicine is truly a modern miracle that has been making the journey possible.

Till next tism postings
See you Space Cowboy.
And "You're gonna carry that weight"
....hopefully just not the physical kind too much longer

Another peptide GOD...

 

[lessthanhalf]

Congratulations on your hard work to get there!
I wonder why you want to reduce the dose? Clearly it works better at 15mg than lower doses in maintaining the weight loss. I realise that many people do not want to feel that they are dependent on the medication, but staying on it and at full doses is likely the most effective way to maintain the weight loss long term, and staying on it has health benefits not harms independently of its effects on weight.
Good luck on getting to your target, but even if you don't 225 lbs from 365 is more than enough to drastically reduce long term health risks, and improve quality of life, and a very good reason to stay on the medication even if it does not get you all the way to where you want.

 

[Notafed]

Congratulations on your hard work to get there!
I wonder why you want to reduce the dose? Clearly it works better at 15mg than lower doses in maintaining the weight loss. I realise that many people do not want to feel that they are dependent on the medication, but staying on it and at full doses is likely the most effective way to maintain the weight loss long term, and staying on it has health benefits not harms independently of its effects on weight.
Good luck on getting to your target, but even if you don't 225 lbs from 365 is more than enough to drastically reduce long term health risks, and improve quality of life, and a very good reason to stay on the medication even if it does not get you all the way to where you want.

Thanks man, I would be perfectly willing to stay at max 15mg, but obviously if one can be unmedicated it's usually preferred, I feel so good about tirzepatide if they find a solid link to reducing dementia or any type of impact that makes it net positive (right now it can increase risk of thyroid cancer slightly theoretically ask the rats) beyond weight loss I would not even think of getting off it. Also there is a possibility when I hit goal weight and I want to bulk up some muscle that I might even need to go down in dose to naturally increase daily intake. Not to mention going down in dose would extend my stash's longevity. Not that I couldn't get more.

And I get counting your current blessings as well it hard to describe to people how much physically better you feel at 225 from 365. That being said as much work as I am currently putting in and my understanding of calories in calories out physics I would be upset if it all froze right here. My journey is not over yet, again I don't need a 6 pack, but it's the goal till I hit a hard stall. And I know once I get there I might have loose skin, but I want to see weight loss through to a normal bmi.

 

[Notafed]

Another peptide GOD...

Not a god, just a dude infact
I know who I am! I'm the dude playin' the dude, disguised as another dude!

 

[lessthanhalf]

The long term health effects of GLP therapy are proven for certain for those with cardiovascular disease, renal failure and diabetes. Proving any effects in younger healthier populations is much more difficult as you need enormous scale studies over long periods of time to see effects in groups with lower chances of things going wrong. Eventually this proof is very likely but might take decades.
They may increase risks of thyroid cancer but definitely reduce risks of much more common obesity related cancers like colon and breast cancer plus about a dozen others. They definitely reduce risks of diabetes, heart disease and stroke in higher risk populations, and almost certainly do for everyone but not yet proven. They also improve lipids and blood pressure.
I would argue that depending a bit on age almost anyone with that degree of obesity is at high cardiovascular risk, and full dose GLP's are justified for long term for prevention. If blood pressure blood sugars or lipids are high then even more so. Alzheimer's disease risk studies are still ongoing, some research shows reduced risk, mouse studies strongly suggest they work, but not all studies show this effect, so it will likely take years to get a definite answer.

 

[Notafed]

The long term health effects of GLP therapy are proven for certain for those with cardiovascular disease, renal failure and diabetes. Proving any effects in younger healthier populations is much more difficult as you need enormous scale studies over long periods of time to see effects in groups with lower chances of things going wrong. Eventually this proof is very likely but might take decades.
They may increase risks of thyroid cancer but definitely reduce risks of much more common obesity related cancers like colon and breast cancer plus about a dozen others. They definitely reduce risks of diabetes, heart disease and stroke in higher risk populations, and almost certainly do for everyone but not yet proven. They also improve lipids and blood pressure.
I would argue that depending a bit on age almost anyone with that degree of obesity is at high cardiovascular risk, and full dose GLP's are justified for long term for prevention. If blood pressure blood sugars or lipids are high then even more so. Alzheimer's disease risk studies are still ongoing, some research shows reduced risk, mouse studies strongly suggest they work, but not all studies show this effect, so it will likely take years to get a definite answer.

At the end of the day we are talking about all the health benefits of weight loss truthfully. I agree the effect on Alzheimer's is up in the water. But It's like sleep apnea tirzepatide is not doing anything other than causing weight loss to relieve sleep apnea. Same with all the other obesity related diseases you listed.

If this stuff made everyone's mortality rate go down you would give it to literally everyone on the plantet. Once the weight is loss the benfits are had if the lower weight can be maintained without tirzepatide were talking about eating our cake and having it too. Once someone is at a healthy weight there is no reason to not then want to reduce dose to as low as possible or even get off of it.

If the weight loss can be maintained and we DO see it is maintained in some patients then they would likely be better off without the thyroid risk. If at any point weight gain comes back to an unhealthy degree of course we should recommend continuing to dose. When I hit a healthy BMI I am going to reduce dose so that I one don't overshoot a healthy weight and two find a good maintenance dose if I keep lowering and or extending days between shots till I don't need it then I think that is great, I also do not have that as the goal to be clear.


Most people regain and need some amount for life and that's fine, but I believe once someone is at a goal weight the goal should be to lower the dose to either a find a lower acceptable "maintenance" dose or get off entirely. If you got to go back to 15mg and stay that's nothing to be ashamed of, but we should try to reduce medical dependency where possible. And to be clear if the maintenance is possible without tirzepatide, but is mental anguish one should of course dose for the peace of mind and quality of life, one should not strive to reduce dose at the cost of sanity and food noise.

 

[lessthanhalf]

While a lot of the benefits of drugs like tirzepatide are due to the weight loss and subsequent metabolic benefits that come with that , the studies have shown that there are additional benefits above and separate to the effects from weight loss on blood sugars, heart attacks, heart failure, renal failure strokes and cancers, I am not an expert in statistical methods to fully understand how they separate out the effects mathematically, but it is apparently real.