Hit a Wall on Reta — What Should I Do Next?

[Psicho]

I've been on reta for close to 3 months now, and my weight loss appears to have stalled out. My starting dose was 1mg, and I'm now at 5mg every 6 days. Early on I never had cravings and steered clear of junk food, but these days I'm getting some mild cravings. My body fat is currently at 26%, so there's still a lot I could lose.

I'm trying to figure out whether bumping up my dose is the move, or if I should just wait it out. So far I haven't had any side effects, and that's what worries me about going higher. What's everyone's take or experience? Should I increase?

 

[MountainsoftheMoon]

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

 

[bbbilly]

How many weeks has your weight been stuck?

When did you most recently change your dose?

There is still space to go higher if that becomes necessary. That said, if the new amount hasn’t had time to build up in your system, or if the stall has lasted under roughly 3 weeks, my suggestion would be to hold out 1 more week and reassess. And like moon was asking: are you doing any physical activity at the moment, or is there something you could start doing?

 

[lessthanhalf]

To give a solid answer, I'd need details like age, starting weight, height, and goal weight.

When there are zero side effects, it's tough to justify not going up in dose. Since GLP medications generally improve health, and do so even more at higher doses, remaining at a low dose without a clear reason doesn't really add up.

Typically, fat loss at any particular dose levels off about a year after you begin, so it might not truly be stalled—shifts in fluid balance can make the scale appear stuck. It also ties into how many calories you're taking in and your hunger signals; if your intake matches what previously drove weight loss, you're likely still losing, but water retention hides it on the scale. 3 months is long enough to shift energy expenditure somewhat, though only through lost weight—metabolic adaptation usually takes much longer.

 

[Psicho]

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

I do stick to a diet and work out consistently. Each morning I have Greek yogurt with blue berries, lunch is a high protein small portion, dinner is high protein too, and I might have a little snack midday like a cheese stick. I lift weights at the gym 4-5 days per week (cardio is something I still need to add). For roughly 2 weeks my weight has been stuck within 2-3 pounds. A little over a week ago I moved up to 5mg from 4.

The only side effect I've noticed is feeling cold all the time, plus I've had to buy new clothes because my old ones no longer fit .

Water weight is up a bit, though not significantly. I'm 42, weigh 195 pounds, and have 26% body fat. I'm on TRT and HGH.

 

[2boxers]

Psicho said:

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

I do stick to a diet and work out consistently. Each morning I have Greek yogurt with blue berries, lunch is a high protein small portion, dinner is high protein too, and I might have a little snack midday like a cheese stick. I lift weights at the gym 4-5 days per week (cardio is something I still need to add). For roughly 2 weeks my weight has been stuck within 2-3 pounds. A little over a week ago I moved up to 5mg from 4.

The only side effect I've noticed is feeling cold all the time, plus I've had to buy new clothes because my old ones no longer fit .

Water weight is up a bit, though not significantly. I'm 42, weigh 195 pounds, and have 26% body fat. I'm on TRT and HGH.

When you mention working out, what does that involve exactly? It has to be challenging, and if you haven't started lifting yet, you should add that in. (I'm not assuming you haven't, but it does help)

 

[BNLFL]

Psicho said:

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

I do stick to a diet and work out consistently. Each morning I have Greek yogurt with blue berries, lunch is a high protein small portion, dinner is high protein too, and I might have a little snack midday like a cheese stick. I lift weights at the gym 4-5 days per week (cardio is something I still need to add). For roughly 2 weeks my weight has been stuck within 2-3 pounds. A little over a week ago I moved up to 5mg from 4.

The only side effect I've noticed is feeling cold all the time, plus I've had to buy new clothes because my old ones no longer fit .

Water weight is up a bit, though not significantly. I'm 42, weigh 195 pounds, and have 26% body fat. I'm on TRT and HGH.

When I went up from 5mg to 6mg, the exact same thing happened to me. A few weeks after that, though, the weight started coming off again.

 

[Psicho]

2boxers said:

Psicho said:

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

I do stick to a diet and work out consistently. Each morning I have Greek yogurt with blue berries, lunch is a high protein small portion, dinner is high protein too, and I might have a little snack midday like a cheese stick. I lift weights at the gym 4-5 days per week (cardio is something I still need to add). For roughly 2 weeks my weight has been stuck within 2-3 pounds. A little over a week ago I moved up to 5mg from 4.

The only side effect I've noticed is feeling cold all the time, plus I've had to buy new clothes because my old ones no longer fit .

Water weight is up a bit, though not significantly. I'm 42, weigh 195 pounds, and have 26% body fat. I'm on TRT and HGH.

When you mention working out, what does that involve exactly? It has to be challenging, and if you haven't started lifting yet, you should add that in. (I'm not assuming you haven't, but it does help)

Lifting with progressive overload, going to failure. PPLUL split. Sometimes I use the punch bag at home (Fight Camp).

 

[MountainsoftheMoon]

Psicho said:

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

I do stick to a diet and work out consistently. Each morning I have Greek yogurt with blue berries, lunch is a high protein small portion, dinner is high protein too, and I might have a little snack midday like a cheese stick. I lift weights at the gym 4-5 days per week (cardio is something I still need to add). For roughly 2 weeks my weight has been stuck within 2-3 pounds. A little over a week ago I moved up to 5mg from 4.

The only side effect I've noticed is feeling cold all the time, plus I've had to buy new clothes because my old ones no longer fit .

Water weight is up a bit, though not significantly. I'm 42, weigh 195 pounds, and have 26% body fat. I'm on TRT and HGH.

Your routine sounds quite strong already, and hitting a stall is normal whether or not GLPs are involved.

Three approaches that have helped me:

1): Step on the scale no more than once weekly, or even less often. Numbers bounce around; this is a long game, not a quick dash, and constant weigh-ins can be a pointless mental downer.

2): When tracking calories and staying in a deficit, your body adjusts, which can stall or slow fat loss. One workaround is to spread your calories unevenly. (Example: if 1800 cals is your daily target, then across 1 week include 2 days at 2200 cals and 1 day at only 1500-1600.) (this is sometimes called “cycling”)

3): I may end up as this forum’s “Fiber evangelist”, but I really can’t overstate how much it matters to get plenty of fiber in daily. That goes double when you’re on a GLP and eating lots of protein. Consider swapping part of your protein from dairy/ meat over to plant based choices. Switching rice for quinoa is a simple upgrade. (High protein high fiber). It supports regularity, and it also helps with fat loss and better overall health.

Hope this helps.

 

[MountainsoftheMoon]

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Psicho said:

MountainsoftheMoon said:

Do you have a diet and training routine you stick to at the moment? Walk me through what a typical week looks like.

I do stick to a diet and work out consistently. Each morning I have Greek yogurt with blue berries, lunch is a high protein small portion, dinner is high protein too, and I might have a little snack midday like a cheese stick. I lift weights at the gym 4-5 days per week (cardio is something I still need to add). For roughly 2 weeks my weight has been stuck within 2-3 pounds. A little over a week ago I moved up to 5mg from 4.

The only side effect I've noticed is feeling cold all the time, plus I've had to buy new clothes because my old ones no longer fit .

Water weight is up a bit, though not significantly. I'm 42, weigh 195 pounds, and have 26% body fat. I'm on TRT and HGH.

Your routine sounds quite strong already, and hitting a stall is normal whether or not GLPs are involved.

Three approaches that have helped me:

1): Step on the scale no more than once weekly, or even less often. Numbers bounce around; this is a long game, not a quick dash, and constant weigh-ins can be a pointless mental downer.

2): When tracking calories and staying in a deficit, your body adjusts, which can stall or slow fat loss. One workaround is to spread your calories unevenly. (Example: if 1800 cals is your daily target, then across 1 week include 2 days at 2200 cals and 1 day at only 1500-1600.) (this is sometimes called “cycling”)

3): I may end up as this forum’s “Fiber evangelist”, but I really can’t overstate how much it matters to get plenty of fiber in daily. That goes double when you’re on a GLP and eating lots of protein. Consider swapping part of your protein from dairy/ meat over to plant based choices. Switching rice for quinoa is a simple upgrade. (High protein high fiber). It supports regularity, and it also helps with fat loss and better overall health.

Hope this helps.

On top of that, adding a bit of easy cardio matters too. It doesn’t need to be anything crazy — a 2-mile jog on rest days is a solid way to mix things up.

Plenty of people in the lifting/gym scene get locked onto one specific result. To me, a well-rounded routine is what actually supports your health, and you can still look great and put on muscle that way.

Another thing I’d strongly suggest checking out is the “5 Tibetan rights” — a straightforward daily yoga/stretching sequence that only takes around 15-20 minutes. It’s a nice way to start the day. It also happens to be the oldest exercise routine in human history, older than yoga. Kind of funny, but it delivers amazing results. You can keep doing everything you already do and add this on top. Go against the grain brother and let some alternative options in! lol