Slow digestion – Managing capacity & Exercising

[birdwhacker]

Reta has really put the brakes on my digestion, and it hits hardest the day after I inject. I take it every 3 days to keep my appetite in check — honestly, starting with tirz would have been the smarter move, lol.

Running is a big part of what I do. When you're exercising, how do you deal with the limits on how much your stomach can hold?

A whey shake first thing in the morning still lets me run, but after a normal-sized meal I'm stuck waiting at least 2 hours, and occasionally 3, before I can really run. And if I add too much water to that meal or take psyllium husk, forget it.

What tricks do you all use to handle what you drink and eat while still getting your workouts in?

 

[xbigshot123]

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

 

[birdwhacker]

xbigshot123 said:

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

Working out on an empty stomach isn't an issue for me at all! The thing is, my targets are 150g protein daily plus roughly 1500 calories.

Were a gym available to me, chances are I'd manage to get more food down lol

 

[thisaccountisntme]

Liquid-based calories ... shakes, clear protein, soups, and so on

My workouts happen fasted at 5:30am, then I have a protein shake once I'm back home. Since today was job day, all I could handle at lunch was some chicken soup... I got through a small evening meal. Tomorrow looks to be the same, though normal eating should return over the weekend.

 

[anhydrous]

Getting these two things to line up was tough for me, particularly in the beginning. My experience was that eating within 6 hours of a workout meant the session would end up pretty half assed. That happened plenty of times during those first 2-3 months.

 

[birdwhacker]

anhydrous said:

Getting these two things to line up was tough for me, particularly in the beginning. My experience was that eating within 6 hours of a workout meant the session would end up pretty half assed. That happened plenty of times during those first 2-3 months.

Mind if I ask what your total loss is at this point? I'm in week 5 now and began 2mg every 3 days. The first 3 weeks gave me 12lb, then last week the scale told me nothing had changed.

 

[anhydrous]

birdwhacker said:

anhydrous said:

Getting these two things to line up was tough for me, particularly in the beginning. My experience was that eating within 6 hours of a workout meant the session would end up pretty half assed. That happened plenty of times during those first 2-3 months.

Mind if I ask what your total loss is at this point? I'm in week 5 now and began 2mg every 3 days. The first 3 weeks gave me 12lb, then last week the scale told me nothing had changed.

Since Jan 7th, I've dropped 30lbs. Right now I'm on 1.5mg twice per week. Earlier I had worked up to 4mg weekly for 2 weeks, but it was messing me up badly, so I chose to miss a dose and start over.

 

[xbigshot123]

birdwhacker said:

xbigshot123 said:

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

Working out on an empty stomach isn't an issue for me at all! The thing is, my targets are 150g protein daily plus roughly 1500 calories.

Were a gym available to me, chances are I'd manage to get more food down lol

Yeah, once your appetite drops to nothing, it's really not simple to pull off

A few of the high protein staples I used to rely on now gross me out, and I can't even get through a protein shake or bar

For me, the simplest option for getting in some calories (protein/fat/carb) before or after training has been Fairlife chocolate milk.

 

[birdwhacker]

xbigshot123 said:

birdwhacker said:

xbigshot123 said:

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

Working out on an empty stomach isn't an issue for me at all! The thing is, my targets are 150g protein daily plus roughly 1500 calories.

Were a gym available to me, chances are I'd manage to get more food down lol

Yeah, once your appetite drops to nothing, it's really not simple to pull off

A few of the high protein staples I used to rely on now gross me out, and I can't even get through a protein shake or bar

For me, the simplest option for getting in some calories (protein/fat/carb) before or after training has been Fairlife chocolate milk.

Wow, that's wild! Meanwhile I'm over here thinking about adding cagri or tirz since I can put away big meals without any issue lol. My struggle isn't appetite — it's hitting the right protein-to-calorie ratio, staying under my calorie limit, and doing it with actual food rather than protein powder!

 

[bbbilly]

What's your current dosage? Have you thought about reducing it? I mean, if your progress is on track then absolutely stick with it. But if you're finding it really hard to consume everything you want or need, you might drop the dose slightly to improve your eating, which would let you run better and perhaps push a bit harder, burning some extra calories to make up for it?

 

[birdwhacker]

bbbilly said:

What's your current dosage? Have you thought about reducing it? I mean, if your progress is on track then absolutely stick with it. But if you're finding it really hard to consume everything you want or need, you might drop the dose slightly to improve your eating, which would let you run better and perhaps push a bit harder, burning some extra calories to make up for it?

My dose is now 2mg every 3 days, which was raised from 1mg. That works out to roughly 4mg each week.

Appetite suppression is the reason I'm on it. At this level it's working well. Really, it's just a matter of rationing how much room my stomach has lol, and things have gotten easier lately. The annoying part is wanting to run a lot while also needing solid food in me. I'm aiming to keep a stiff deficit and still reach the low end of my protein targets.

 

[jason370]

Start the day with coffee, then hit the weights, go for a run and stretch. After that, down a protein shake, and only a couple hours afterward sit down for a real meal.

 

[bbbilly]

birdwhacker said:

bbbilly said:

What's your current dosage? Have you thought about reducing it? I mean, if your progress is on track then absolutely stick with it. But if you're finding it really hard to consume everything you want or need, you might drop the dose slightly to improve your eating, which would let you run better and perhaps push a bit harder, burning some extra calories to make up for it?

My dose is now 2mg every 3 days, which was raised from 1mg. That works out to roughly 4mg each week.

Appetite suppression is the reason I'm on it. At this level it's working well. Really, it's just a matter of rationing how much room my stomach has lol, and things have gotten easier lately. The annoying part is wanting to run a lot while also needing solid food in me. I'm aiming to keep a stiff deficit and still reach the low end of my protein targets.

so what i'm getting at is this: you went up by double, and now both your eating targets and your running targets are a struggle. with grey peptides we've got total freedom, so you could just as easily run 1.75mg every 3 days and perform better. alternatively, keep 2mg but space it out to roughly every 84 hours (3.5 days) so it sits more comfortably.

i haven't gone the reta route since triz is my favorite, and i'm only at 1.25 every 8-9 days, adjusted by feel. that way hunger starts edging back, and the difference lets me truly notice the suppression for a few days post-injection.

experiment with both your amount and your timing. this is your lab rat, so try things and figure out the best configuration to get more of what you're after, like appetite control AND running performance. maybe 1mg every 2 days would do it, given how much you said your digestion slows.. that keeps your blood concentration fairly high while your total dose stays about the same. there's only one way to know!

 

[birdwhacker]

bbbilly said:

birdwhacker said:

bbbilly said:

What's your current dosage? Have you thought about reducing it? I mean, if your progress is on track then absolutely stick with it. But if you're finding it really hard to consume everything you want or need, you might drop the dose slightly to improve your eating, which would let you run better and perhaps push a bit harder, burning some extra calories to make up for it?

My dose is now 2mg every 3 days, which was raised from 1mg. That works out to roughly 4mg each week.

Appetite suppression is the reason I'm on it. At this level it's working well. Really, it's just a matter of rationing how much room my stomach has lol, and things have gotten easier lately. The annoying part is wanting to run a lot while also needing solid food in me. I'm aiming to keep a stiff deficit and still reach the low end of my protein targets.

so what i'm getting at is this: you went up by double, and now both your eating targets and your running targets are a struggle. with grey peptides we've got total freedom, so you could just as easily run 1.75mg every 3 days and perform better. alternatively, keep 2mg but space it out to roughly every 84 hours (3.5 days) so it sits more comfortably.

i haven't gone the reta route since triz is my favorite, and i'm only at 1.25 every 8-9 days, adjusted by feel. that way hunger starts edging back, and the difference lets me truly notice the suppression for a few days post-injection.

experiment with both your amount and your timing. this is your lab rat, so try things and figure out the best configuration to get more of what you're after, like appetite control AND running performance. maybe 1mg every 2 days would do it, given how much you said your digestion slows.. that keeps your blood concentration fairly high while your total dose stays about the same. there's only one way to know!

Those are solid observations.

Tirz would've been my preference from the start, but at that moment reta was the only option I could get. At some stage I'll probably add cagri into the mix.

The reason I jumped my dose by 2mg instead of 1mg comes down to trial data pointing to that as the most effective amount for dropping weight, and from what I can work out, this entire undertaking has a clock on it. I'm not putting stuff from China into my body just to drop a pound each week, you know?

Going 1mg every two days could work too, honestly. That approach appeals to me.

 

[thedrifter]

xbigshot123 said:

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

Since beginning Reta 3 weeks ago, oatmeal has solved my constipation.

xbigshot123 said:

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

 

[thedrifter]

Sorry, I put my phone down while I was in the middle of replying, and when I picked it back up I got this doubling effect?

 

[birdwhacker]

thedrifter said:

Sorry, I put my phone down while I was in the middle of replying, and when I picked it back up I got this doubling effect?

Posts remain editable for a period after publishing; use the 3 dots located at the bottom left of the post.

 

[thedrifter]

Appreciate the suggestion, I went ahead and made a practice edit, haha

 

[itsmenotyou]

xbigshot123 said:

birdwhacker said:

xbigshot123 said:

Get comfortable training while only partially fasted.

My sessions start at 5am, so my old routine was to grab some fast-acting carbs beforehand — but these days even that sits too heavy. The upside of reta is that when I wake up, last night's oatmeal plus protein and extra fiber is still being broken down, which means my lifts keep inching up even as I've shed a fair amount of weight.

Working out on an empty stomach isn't an issue for me at all! The thing is, my targets are 150g protein daily plus roughly 1500 calories.

Were a gym available to me, chances are I'd manage to get more food down lol

Yeah, once your appetite drops to nothing, it's really not simple to pull off

A few of the high protein staples I used to rely on now gross me out, and I can't even get through a protein shake or bar

For me, the simplest option for getting in some calories (protein/fat/carb) before or after training has been Fairlife chocolate milk.

I'm in the same boat - the idea of a protein shake has me ...

 

[gimmeshelter]

I hit the weights 3-4x per week, plus road cycling 2-3x and walks with my dog. My daily calorie target is 2k or under. I've switched to eating smaller portions more frequently — no big meals these days. Tried a big meal once and spent 24 hrs feeling awful. Protein is a priority, and I drink plenty of protein shakes. Before lifting, I'll have a bit of honey or another glycogen source roughly 90 min out. When cycling, I'll eat a few small snacks over a 2 hr window. You'll get the hang of it!