INTRO Like it or Not This is What Peak Performance Looks Like

[birdwhacker]

Greetings from the Sunshine State!

Some context about me:

I'm a 27-year-old guy, 6'0". I became quite overweight when I was 8-10, my parents put me on a diet and I shed the pounds by age 14, then at 16 I started misusing prescription amphetamines, which escalated into heavy polysubstance/RC/whatever-you-can-name abuse lasting many years. I began tapering off that lifestyle in my early twenties and these days I'm essentially finished with it.

I was blessed with solid genetics and a fast metabolism, but overeating and staying disciplined are constant battles. When I exercise or cut calories the results show up fast, yet doing either of those consistently is brutally hard, at times seemingly impossible.

At my worst I ballooned into the 240s, and I even hit 250 once.

Right now my parents support me financially and I don't have a job.

That detail matters, since the progress I'm making would be far tougher if I had my own obligations to handle.

My first retatrutide dose was the Monday before last, so roughly 3 weeks ago.

I started with 0.5mg that Monday, followed by another 0.5 on Wednesday, 0.5 on Friday, and a final 0.5 late Sunday night.

For me this approach seemed to work well. The hunger-reducing effects accumulate gradually, and I could gauge some minor side effects along the way. Pretty much right after that first injection, I picked up on a lasting shift in how I perceive smells. Certain odors and flavors hit me harder now, mostly unpleasant ones, though it's not a dramatic change. In those early days I also felt differences in skin sensation, a crawling feeling, and itching. I have a separate chronic histamine condition for which I take fexofenadine (Allegra) every day, and that has kept those symptoms under control without issue. I also notice I'm calmer and more focused, but that's likely mostly due to the changes I've made in my daily habits.

When I stepped on the scale the following Monday, I was down four pounds from when I started the reta. I bumped up to 1mg and injected that on Wednesday, which delivered the appetite control I was after. It's now been four days since that shot, and I'm planning to take another milligram tonight to maintain the pace, even though the appetite suppression honestly hasn't worn off yet.

My eating has consisted mainly of fruit throughout the day, something sweet right after waking to kickstart my metabolism, then an apple or banana every couple of hours, capped off with a big low-carb evening meal featuring 1lb of chicken or beef plus eggs and some greens. I've since adjusted this to distribute protein across the day, after finding out the body can only take in 40-50g at one time.

Worth mentioning: my sleep, which was already bad, took a serious hit in the beginning and led me to give up caffeine completely. That's not something I could or would normally do, since underneath it all I'm still an addict.

I caused a lot of cardiac damage in my younger years, and I need daily magnesium supplementation to prevent palpitations. Retatrutide hasn't caused any issues with my heart rate or blood pressure. I still use nicotine, and when I checked my blood pressure a few days back it read 126/87 with a pulse of 70bpm - one of the lowest resting heart rates I've seen in years.

Clearly none of this is perfectly optimized, but I'm thrilled to finally have control over my eating and to see results from my effort. I look significantly better than I did at the start. I've also been walking 2-6 miles daily and jogging when possible.

Beyond that, I enjoy how I feel.

Apologies for the messy structure. Hello everyone.

 

[Flexon]

Eating that frequently probably isn't doing your body or health any favors. When you follow a species appropriate diet (mostly animal fat and protein), a few meals per day ought to suffice, since that keeps hunger in check, particularly when your body already holds extra energy as fat. If your goal is to get your metabolism going, physical exercise of some kind would accomplish that far better than sugary food. Retatrutide can help you begin dropping weight, but the point should be to use it as a tool for steadily upgrading your lifestyle: your food choices, plus how much and how often you move.

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh! Welcome to the forum!

 

[birdwhacker]

Flexon said:

Eating that frequently probably isn't doing your body or health any favors. When you follow a species appropriate diet (mostly animal fat and protein), a few meals per day ought to suffice, since that keeps hunger in check, particularly when your body already holds extra energy as fat. If your goal is to get your metabolism going, physical exercise of some kind would accomplish that far better than sugary food. Retatrutide can help you begin dropping weight, but the point should be to use it as a tool for steadily upgrading your lifestyle: your food choices, plus how much and how often you move.

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh! Welcome to the forum!

So you figure having 3-4 apples or bananas daily is a screw-up on my part, lol?

And you're saying a species appropriate diet means mostly animal fat and protein?

Sure, animal proteins are top tier, but the majority of people—especially anyone not actively trying to shed pounds—don't have to track whether they're getting enough fat. Sounds like you're approaching this from a doctrinistic mindset.

As I already mentioned, I take in a pound of meat and multiple eggs on most days, all while running a 500+ calorie deficit, steering clear of excess fat, and aiming for 50-100g of protein daily.

 

[Flexon]

birdwhacker said:

Flexon said:

Eating that frequently probably isn't doing your body or health any favors. When you follow a species appropriate diet (mostly animal fat and protein), a few meals per day ought to suffice, since that keeps hunger in check, particularly when your body already holds extra energy as fat. If your goal is to get your metabolism going, physical exercise of some kind would accomplish that far better than sugary food. Retatrutide can help you begin dropping weight, but the point should be to use it as a tool for steadily upgrading your lifestyle: your food choices, plus how much and how often you move.

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh! Welcome to the forum!

So you figure having 3-4 apples or bananas daily is a screw-up on my part, lol?

And you're saying a species appropriate diet means mostly animal fat and protein?

Sure, animal proteins are top tier, but the majority of people—especially anyone not actively trying to shed pounds—don't have to track whether they're getting enough fat. Sounds like you're approaching this from a doctrinistic mindset.

As I already mentioned, I take in a pound of meat and multiple eggs on most days, all while running a 500+ calorie deficit, steering clear of excess fat, and aiming for 50-100g of protein daily.

Most likely, your blood sugar is surging every couple of hours, which may cause significant issues for you, and those issues build up as time goes on. For a few weeks, you might want to wear a Continuous Glucose Monitor and observe what the readings show. Once you have that information, only you can decide which approach is benefiting you. Should the outcomes turn out well, then, well, wonderful!

 

[birdwhacker]

Flexon said:

birdwhacker said:

Flexon said:

Eating that frequently probably isn't doing your body or health any favors. When you follow a species appropriate diet (mostly animal fat and protein), a few meals per day ought to suffice, since that keeps hunger in check, particularly when your body already holds extra energy as fat. If your goal is to get your metabolism going, physical exercise of some kind would accomplish that far better than sugary food. Retatrutide can help you begin dropping weight, but the point should be to use it as a tool for steadily upgrading your lifestyle: your food choices, plus how much and how often you move.

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh! Welcome to the forum!

So you figure having 3-4 apples or bananas daily is a screw-up on my part, lol?

And you're saying a species appropriate diet means mostly animal fat and protein?

Sure, animal proteins are top tier, but the majority of people—especially anyone not actively trying to shed pounds—don't have to track whether they're getting enough fat. Sounds like you're approaching this from a doctrinistic mindset.

As I already mentioned, I take in a pound of meat and multiple eggs on most days, all while running a 500+ calorie deficit, steering clear of excess fat, and aiming for 50-100g of protein daily.

Most likely, your blood sugar is surging every couple of hours, which may cause significant issues for you, and those issues build up as time goes on. For a few weeks, you might want to wear a Continuous Glucose Monitor and observe what the readings show. Once you have that information, only you can decide which approach is benefiting you. Should the outcomes turn out well, then, well, wonderful!

I'll give that some thought. You make a convincing case. From here on, I'll attempt to cushion my carb intake using psilium husk, then observe the results.

Given that my daily exercise runs 2+ hours, a certain amount of carbs is required.

Beyond that, it seems I should be more consistent about getting protein in. Fasting is far simpler than 100+g each day, split across 3-4 servings.

 

[moodymama76]

birdwhacker said:

Flexon said:

birdwhacker said:

Flexon said:

Eating that frequently probably isn't doing your body or health any favors. When you follow a species appropriate diet (mostly animal fat and protein), a few meals per day ought to suffice, since that keeps hunger in check, particularly when your body already holds extra energy as fat. If your goal is to get your metabolism going, physical exercise of some kind would accomplish that far better than sugary food. Retatrutide can help you begin dropping weight, but the point should be to use it as a tool for steadily upgrading your lifestyle: your food choices, plus how much and how often you move.

I hope this doesn't sound too harsh! Welcome to the forum!

So you figure having 3-4 apples or bananas daily is a screw-up on my part, lol?

And you're saying a species appropriate diet means mostly animal fat and protein?

Sure, animal proteins are top tier, but the majority of people—especially anyone not actively trying to shed pounds—don't have to track whether they're getting enough fat. Sounds like you're approaching this from a doctrinistic mindset.

As I already mentioned, I take in a pound of meat and multiple eggs on most days, all while running a 500+ calorie deficit, steering clear of excess fat, and aiming for 50-100g of protein daily.

Most likely, your blood sugar is surging every couple of hours, which may cause significant issues for you, and those issues build up as time goes on. For a few weeks, you might want to wear a Continuous Glucose Monitor and observe what the readings show. Once you have that information, only you can decide which approach is benefiting you. Should the outcomes turn out well, then, well, wonderful!

I'll give that some thought. You make a convincing case. From here on, I'll attempt to cushion my carb intake using psilium husk, then observe the results.

Given that my daily exercise runs 2+ hours, a certain amount of carbs is required.

Beyond that, it seems I should be more consistent about getting protein in. Fasting is far simpler than 100+g each day, split across 3-4 servings.

There's no need to spread your protein intake across the day. The idea that your body can only use 40g at a time and dumps the rest is a myth. When you take in a large amount of protein at once, it does get used — just at a much slower pace. Picture a gradual drip rather than a single burst. Every day, your body requires somewhere between 250 and 300g of protein to maintain all its cells and produce certain hormones. Whatever your diet doesn't supply, your body salvages through recycling. Professor Luc van Loon has videos on YouTube worth checking out. Solid material.

I'm hoping this doesn't come across as presumptuous. Back when I first joined, you were generous and shared information with me, so I wanted to pose something. My cousin phoned me recently and I went to get her. She's reached out for support to stop using crack, and I suspect there are other drugs involved, though she won't confirm. So, did reta — or maybe even tirz — make any difference with cravings for you?