INTRO Starting GLP/PEPS, advice

P

Pierez

Explorer
Joined
Apr 11, 2026
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Location
Southern Ohio
I’ve been digging deeper into peptides and GLP’s, and that’s how I ended up finding this forum. I’ve poked around a bit here and there, but reliable sources were tough to pin down on a consistent basis. Finding this place is a relief, and I hope to eventually become part of the community. I realize the restrictions mean it won’t happen overnight, and that’s fine with me — it’ll clearly take more than a single post lol.

A bit about myself: I’m a young adult male living in rural Ohio. “Big boned” or “heavier set” have always been labels that fit me. My favorite is “skinny fat” — honestly, how does that even make sense? I get the concept, but if body fat isn’t low, I don’t see how “skinny” applies, and that definitely includes me. I’ve tried cuts and fat loss several times, yet every time I hit a plateau and wound up heavier than before I began. I want to get started with some form of GLP or pep, but I genuinely don’t know where to begin, or how to go about it. Reta (for fat) is what I’m leaning toward, while also staying with GHK (because my hair is thinning wayyyy too much for my age, plus skin health and clarity).

Even with all that, my main goal is simply to learn more. If anyone believes I should head in another direction or has advice, I’d love to hear it. If there’s an existing post where this advice or these thoughts already appear, I’d be very grateful to be pointed toward it.
 
To begin with, I'd want to know which other paths you've pursued when it comes to fitness and health. Do you follow a diet, train regularly, and use any supplements? You mentioned trying cuts and diets, but how exactly did that go? If dieting has led to additional weight gain, my guess is that you're following some kind of crash diet. Get bloodwork done before touching any peptides. Confirm that your hormones aren't out of balance.
 
Heya, Pierez.

Glad you made it — welcome aboard!

You've come to the right spot for sure; there's plenty of good knowledge and folks here who are happy to pass along their genuine experiences.
 
Hi there! Nothing beats Reta, though keep in mind that it's merely an aid toward your objectives. It definitely won't repair poor routines—you've still got to adopt certain lifestyle adjustments that you're able to stick with! =)

Lots of folks really like GHK-CU. After using it for a while, we've switched to KLOW these days to cut costs and avoid so many separate injections each day. You're going to be happy with it!
 
When you're cutting, do you still train with heavy weights? Usually you'd limit a cut to a set number of weeks, then spend 2 weeks eating at maintenance, and after that pick the cut back up.
 
breefree31 said:

To begin with, I'd want to know which other paths you've pursued when it comes to fitness and health. Do you follow a diet, train regularly, and use any supplements? You mentioned trying cuts and diets, but how exactly did that go? If dieting has led to additional weight gain, my guess is that you're following some kind of crash diet. Get bloodwork done before touching any peptides. Confirm that your hormones aren't out of balance.
Click to expand...
My routine involves 4-5 weekly workouts. Each session combines hypertrophy-focused lifting with no less than 30 minutes of cardio. When cutting, I simply monitor my intake, mainly through a calorie deficit (for me, 400-500 below maintenance, which is around 2000 calories), and prioritize protein as much as possible, targeting 1g per 1lb of body weight. I supplement with creatine, a multivitamin, and ashwagandha. In the initial weeks, I drop about 2lbs or more due to water. Around week 3, it tapers to roughly 1lb weekly, and by weeks 5-6, it's only 0.5 to 0.7 per week. Whenever I hit a plateau, I switch to maintenance calories for a break, then resume. The issue always arises after that second maintenance pause. I try to restart the cut, but no further weight or body fat comes off (so it's not a matter of gaining muscle while losing fat, which wouldn't shift the scale much). I've even tried pushing the deficit lower and my weight stays put. At that stage, I'm tracking everything I eat and how much, doing the work, but weeks go by with no progress. It gets discouraging, and then I 'relapse' lol on calories and just get fat again
 
Pierez said:

breefree31 said:

To begin with, I'd want to know which other paths you've pursued when it comes to fitness and health. Do you follow a diet, train regularly, and use any supplements? You mentioned trying cuts and diets, but how exactly did that go? If dieting has led to additional weight gain, my guess is that you're following some kind of crash diet. Get bloodwork done before touching any peptides. Confirm that your hormones aren't out of balance.
Click to expand...
My routine involves 4-5 weekly workouts. Each session combines hypertrophy-focused lifting with no less than 30 minutes of cardio. When cutting, I simply monitor my intake, mainly through a calorie deficit (for me, 400-500 below maintenance, which is around 2000 calories), and prioritize protein as much as possible, targeting 1g per 1lb of body weight. I supplement with creatine, a multivitamin, and ashwagandha. In the initial weeks, I drop about 2lbs or more due to water. Around week 3, it tapers to roughly 1lb weekly, and by weeks 5-6, it's only 0.5 to 0.7 per week. Whenever I hit a plateau, I switch to maintenance calories for a break, then resume. The issue always arises after that second maintenance pause. I try to restart the cut, but no further weight or body fat comes off (so it's not a matter of gaining muscle while losing fat, which wouldn't shift the scale much). I've even tried pushing the deficit lower and my weight stays put. At that stage, I'm tracking everything I eat and how much, doing the work, but weeks go by with no progress. It gets discouraging, and then I 'relapse' lol on calories and just get fat again
Click to expand...
What's your current weight? Back when I was at 280lbs, I gave Keto a try for a few months and dropped nearly 30 pounds. The biggest lesson from that was realizing I have to actually read what's listed on food labels. Some carbs are shown on the package, but others are "hidden carbs" that can throw your insulin off. After that first year I made it down to about 199Lbs, though I was lifting weights, doing cardio, and taking jiujitsu classes, all while keeping my daily carbs under 100g. Wishing you the best!
 
Welcome. This forum holds a great deal of information. Searching through it has taught me quite a bit. pep-pedia.org and peptidedosages.com are also solid places to find info.
 
Welcome aboard! My recommendation is to get bloodwork first, since that lets you review your hormones, metabolic panel and vitamin levels. Having a coach guide your nutrition and training is also important. Personally, I need to be in the gym 3-5 days each week and do fasted cardio every day. On top of that, I take many vitamins and supplements daily. As far as peptides go, I spent more than a year on Tirzepatide and just moved over to reta. I also stack Sermorelin, BPC 157 and TB500 alongside it.
 
Pierez said:

I’ve been digging deeper into peptides and GLP’s, and that’s how I ended up finding this forum. I’ve poked around a bit here and there, but reliable sources were tough to pin down on a consistent basis. Finding this place is a relief, and I hope to eventually become part of the community. I realize the restrictions mean it won’t happen overnight, and that’s fine with me — it’ll clearly take more than a single post lol.

A bit about myself: I’m a young adult male living in rural Ohio. “Big boned” or “heavier set” have always been labels that fit me. My favorite is “skinny fat” — honestly, how does that even make sense? I get the concept, but if body fat isn’t low, I don’t see how “skinny” applies, and that definitely includes me. I’ve tried cuts and fat loss several times, yet every time I hit a plateau and wound up heavier than before I began. I want to get started with some form of GLP or pep, but I genuinely don’t know where to begin, or how to go about it. Reta (for fat) is what I’m leaning toward, while also staying with GHK (because my hair is thinning wayyyy too much for my age, plus skin health and clarity).

Even with all that, my main goal is simply to learn more. If anyone believes I should head in another direction or has advice, I’d love to hear it. If there’s an existing post where this advice or these thoughts already appear, I’d be very grateful to be pointed toward it.
Click to expand...
hey brother, my suggestion is to begin with just 1 peptide, no stacking right away. Keep things simple. Also, if reta is what you decide on, spend at least a month building habits (gym, diet, etc) before you begin. Even if you don't fully succeed, just get started. Once you come off whichever GLP1 you pick, that will make staying healthy easier down the road.
 
Back
Top