mrcurtain said:
I would love to give each of you a personal response, but there simply aren't enough hours to write back to every single person! Instead, I'll cover the main themes and touch on a few particular points.
For everyone who said I'm clearly dropping weight quickly (or that asking the question means I already suspect it), I appreciate the confirmation. Of course I already knew it was pretty fast, but my main worry was probably my health, plus wanting to see how my rate stacked up against what others typically experience. I'm getting close to my target of 160 lbs, though whether that number is actually healthy is another matter (and I'm happy to talk about that). Hearing that I'm probably physically fine as long as I feel okay and aren't having bad side effects did ease my mind somewhat. The one side effect I genuinely don't like is a tiredness that hangs over my non-work hours, though at least it isn't crippling fatigue. The lack of motivation isn't great either, but I can live with that temporarily until I reach where I want to be.
Many of you suggested adding a multivitamin, starting to exercise, increasing protein, and generally making sure I'm set up to eat properly once I transition to maintenance. I'll absolutely pick up a multivitamin and maybe some meal replacement shakes for days when I can't use the kitchen. Someone specifically asked what my exercise looks like, and honestly it's just walking. I love walking. That said, how much I walk has clearly dropped off since I started retatrutide. Typically I walk at least 15-30 minutes daily, and most weeks I'll take a couple days to walk for a few hours depending on how I'm feeling. One thing that worried me early on about this fast loss was that my multi-hour walks now leave me sorer than they did before. I still do the longer walks, but I've been doing the shorter ones less often. It's also winter here, which naturally cuts down on walking. Beyond walking, I don't really do anything except try to move around as much as possible. So if I had to guess, most of my weight loss is definitely coming from appetite suppression and slower digestion.
As for getting into the habit of cooking and eating healthy, nutritious food, that's something I do want to begin, but the reduced motivation plus my living situation make it extra hard. I'll do my best to start eating better as soon as I can, and I always intended to do that before stopping or moving to maintenance. I think my first nutrition priorities will be a good multivitamin, getting some form of protein into my diet, and picking up meal replacement shakes for when I lack the motivation to figure out when and how to cook.
The motivation shortage and constant tiredness I mentioned make it hard to picture exercising beyond my walks. I know it needs to happen, though, and I'm sure a lot of the fat I still see would look much better as muscle. The main reason I've delayed it is that I knew I probably wasn't taking in nearly enough protein, or nutrients overall, to build muscle. Once my nutrition is in better shape, I'll look into exercises beyond just obsessive walking.
On the topic of rebound weight gain, quitting reta entirely, or choosing maintenance, that's clearly a very personal call. I definitely agree that for some people retatrutide works almost like a corrective medication for appetite, and honestly, I feel like I might be a lifer on this stuff. That's not the plan, obviously, but it wouldn't shock me to find myself on it forever at very low doses. My hunger is insatiable, and frankly I'm almost disgusted by how much food I used to be able to eat. Being able to make sensible choices about what I eat instead of impulsively grabbing something, being able to stick to portions, and just not thinking about food every god damn 5-10 minutes has been a godsend. Personally, I do plan to taper down very slowly once I hit my goal weight. Since I intend to do a more formal recomposition phase then, I plan to come off retatrutide for that period to see how I do without it. After that I'll assess and decide whether I want to continue on a long-term maintenance dose. I appreciate having that choice, and I think either path is perfectly acceptable and should be up to the individual and what they feel benefits them most.
To wrap up this very long reply, thank you to everyone who took the time to write these responses. They felt very thoughtful, and I appreciate all the advice and suggestions given to me. While I obviously know all of this generally, hearing it from real people going through this same wild journey is very helpful. Feel free to ask me any more questions, and if you have suggestions for simple, equipment-free exercises I could do outside the gym, please throw them at me! I could at least start doing little things at home until I get my nutrition in order.
Seth
