Storage talk, supply anxiety, and realizing I may only be halfway there a rambling I invite fellow autists to join. Chapter 3 Half way?

Notafed

Notafed

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Alright, this one's about me. A weight loss check-in. I'm a 6ft 1 guy, on the younger side. My starting point was roughly 365lbs. Responded really well to the meds — probably could've coasted on a low dose, but I kept bumping it monthly until I hit 15mg. Between May 2025 and Oct 2025 I dropped from 365 to 258lbs, and it was remarkably steady, no rebounds, barely any plateau. Averaged close to 5lbs per week — actually a bit over 5lbs weekly across those first 3 months, then things eased off.

I've mentioned before that this wasn't exactly a healthy way to go about it. I'd repeat it if it were the only path — I'm vastly better now — but nobody should copy what I did. Luck, medication, plus brutally strict exercise and eating on my end made that happen.

As of today I'm sitting around 225lbs. And it's tough not to wonder why things have shifted. Around late October, for roughly 12 weeks, I cut my dose from 15mg down to about 9mg weekly. I also dropped the hardcore mindset and ate more or less normally. During those 12 weeks (a work trip, definitely not food-related) I waffled a lot and fought plenty of cravings, but I held the line — honestly better than most would, I think — and I'm better off for it. Folks around me back then thought I was still losing, when in reality by January I landed within 5lbs (luckily less) of where I'd been: 258 -> 253. I share that view and think I looked better after those 12 weeks. It was a solid pause and reset, and I genuinely believe I traded some fat for muscle in that stretch.

Then I got back on track — not the old way, but let's say cookies are out, protein is way up, and the treadmill sees a lot more of me. Dose went back to 15mg too. From late January until now: 253 -> 225, roughly 3.5lbs per week. Part of that is water weight from returning to low carb, though with more flexibility this time. Seems about right given I've been gentler with my eating. Still, it hasn't been a straight line or a smooth slope. Losing is getting tougher — I'm already exercising more now that my body's healthier, but I might need to push my diet closer to keto within another month to keep the momentum. My target is 180 and/or just the faint outline of a 6 pack. Even if it's only temporary, I really want to be able to say "I am half the man I once was and am better for it". After that, alongside tapering my dose, I want to bulk and add muscle to help with loose skin. I'd be content being 225 a year from now but with a very different body composition. On that note — loose skin — I can already tell some minor sagging is coming, but it doesn't look like it'll be enough to damage my self-image or health. Fingers crossed for me guys.

Why am I writing all this? For others. Plenty of people haven't lost as quickly as I have — though fairly, not many have had as much to lose either. I can see what I was told: the nearer the goal, the slower the loss. It's far easier to shed weight when you're over 350lbs. I really didn't want another tism post until I hit goal, but I felt it was worth putting out there. Sometimes you need a vision of how far the goal is, and then one day you look up when you figure you should be past the halfway mark, and it's like the road stretched and now you're just halfway there, living on a prayer as they say. I can tell I'm healthier — just in the last week I stopped being obese for the first time in my adult life — but I want to finish strong and I want you reading this to finish strong too. Even if I don't get a 6 pack, even if I do and don't look like a model, I want better for myself and it's within reach. Time doesn't have to be an enemy, just something to be aware of. Rome wasn't built in a day and even if it was burnt down in one, I didn't get to 365lbs in one night. Time will come one day soon though and this medicine is truly a modern miracle that has been making the journey possible.

Till next tism postings

See you Space Cowboy.

And "You're gonna carry that weight"

....hopefully just not the physical kind too much longer
 
Notafed said:

Alright, this one's about me. A weight loss check-in. I'm a 6ft 1 guy, on the younger side. My starting point was roughly 365lbs. Responded really well to the meds — probably could've coasted on a low dose, but I kept bumping it monthly until I hit 15mg. Between May 2025 and Oct 2025 I dropped from 365 to 258lbs, and it was remarkably steady, no rebounds, barely any plateau. Averaged close to 5lbs per week — actually a bit over 5lbs weekly across those first 3 months, then things eased off.

I've mentioned before that this wasn't exactly a healthy way to go about it. I'd repeat it if it were the only path — I'm vastly better now — but nobody should copy what I did. Luck, medication, plus brutally strict exercise and eating on my end made that happen.

As of today I'm sitting around 225lbs. And it's tough not to wonder why things have shifted. Around late October, for roughly 12 weeks, I cut my dose from 15mg down to about 9mg weekly. I also dropped the hardcore mindset and ate more or less normally. During those 12 weeks (a work trip, definitely not food-related) I waffled a lot and fought plenty of cravings, but I held the line — honestly better than most would, I think — and I'm better off for it. Folks around me back then thought I was still losing, when in reality by January I landed within 5lbs (luckily less) of where I'd been: 258 -> 253. I share that view and think I looked better after those 12 weeks. It was a solid pause and reset, and I genuinely believe I traded some fat for muscle in that stretch.

Then I got back on track — not the old way, but let's say cookies are out, protein is way up, and the treadmill sees a lot more of me. Dose went back to 15mg too. From late January until now: 253 -> 225, roughly 3.5lbs per week. Part of that is water weight from returning to low carb, though with more flexibility this time. Seems about right given I've been gentler with my eating. Still, it hasn't been a straight line or a smooth slope. Losing is getting tougher — I'm already exercising more now that my body's healthier, but I might need to push my diet closer to keto within another month to keep the momentum. My target is 180 and/or just the faint outline of a 6 pack. Even if it's only temporary, I really want to be able to say "I am half the man I once was and am better for it". After that, alongside tapering my dose, I want to bulk and add muscle to help with loose skin. I'd be content being 225 a year from now but with a very different body composition. On that note — loose skin — I can already tell some minor sagging is coming, but it doesn't look like it'll be enough to damage my self-image or health. Fingers crossed for me guys.

Why am I writing all this? For others. Plenty of people haven't lost as quickly as I have — though fairly, not many have had as much to lose either. I can see what I was told: the nearer the goal, the slower the loss. It's far easier to shed weight when you're over 350lbs. I really didn't want another tism post until I hit goal, but I felt it was worth putting out there. Sometimes you need a vision of how far the goal is, and then one day you look up when you figure you should be past the halfway mark, and it's like the road stretched and now you're just halfway there, living on a prayer as they say. I can tell I'm healthier — just in the last week I stopped being obese for the first time in my adult life — but I want to finish strong and I want you reading this to finish strong too. Even if I don't get a 6 pack, even if I do and don't look like a model, I want better for myself and it's within reach. Time doesn't have to be an enemy, just something to be aware of. Rome wasn't built in a day and even if it was burnt down in one, I didn't get to 365lbs in one night. Time will come one day soon though and this medicine is truly a modern miracle that has been making the journey possible.

Till next tism postings

See you Space Cowboy.

And "You're gonna carry that weight"

....hopefully just not the physical kind too much longer
Click to expand...
Here comes the next peptide saviour...
 
Nice work getting to this point!

What's the reasoning behind lowering the dose? At 15mg it's obviously outperforming the lower amounts when it comes to keeping the weight off. Sure, plenty of folks dislike the idea of needing a medication, but continuing it at full strength is probably the best route for long-term maintenance, and the health advantages of staying on it exist on their own, separate from what it does to weight.

Hope you hit your goal, but regardless, going from 365 to 225 lbs already cuts long-term health risks dramatically and boosts daily life quality, which is a solid argument for sticking with the medication even if you never reach the exact number you're aiming for.
 
lessthanhalf said:

Nice work getting to this point!

What's the reasoning behind lowering the dose? At 15mg it's obviously outperforming the lower amounts when it comes to keeping the weight off. Sure, plenty of folks dislike the idea of needing a medication, but continuing it at full strength is probably the best route for long-term maintenance, and the health advantages of staying on it exist on their own, separate from what it does to weight.

Hope you hit your goal, but regardless, going from 365 to 225 lbs already cuts long-term health risks dramatically and boosts daily life quality, which is a solid argument for sticking with the medication even if you never reach the exact number you're aiming for.
Click to expand...
Appreciate it, dude. Staying at the max 15mg would be completely fine by me, though naturally most people would rather not need medication at all if they can manage it. Tirzepatide has me feeling genuinely optimistic—if solid evidence ever ties it to lowering dementia odds or any other net-positive effect (at the moment there's a slight theoretical thyroid cancer risk increase, ask the rats), I wouldn't even consider stopping, weight loss aside. Then there's the chance that once I reach my goal weight and try to add some muscle, I might actually need a lower dose so I can eat more day to day. On top of that, dropping the dose would make my stash last longer. Not that I couldn't restock.

And yeah, I do try to appreciate where I am now. Going from 365 to 225 is a physical difference that's hard to put into words for other people. Still, with the effort I'm putting in and how I understand calories in versus calories out, I'd be frustrated if everything just stopped here. This isn't the end of my journey—again, a 6 pack isn't the point, but I'll keep pushing until I hit a hard stall. I'm aware loose skin might show up once I get there, but I want to follow weight loss all the way down to a normal bmi.
 
skeptick said:

Notafed said:

Alright, this one's about me. A weight loss check-in. I'm a 6ft 1 guy, on the younger side. My starting point was roughly 365lbs. Responded really well to the meds — probably could've coasted on a low dose, but I kept bumping it monthly until I hit 15mg. Between May 2025 and Oct 2025 I dropped from 365 to 258lbs, and it was remarkably steady, no rebounds, barely any plateau. Averaged close to 5lbs per week — actually a bit over 5lbs weekly across those first 3 months, then things eased off.

I've mentioned before that this wasn't exactly a healthy way to go about it. I'd repeat it if it were the only path — I'm vastly better now — but nobody should copy what I did. Luck, medication, plus brutally strict exercise and eating on my end made that happen.

As of today I'm sitting around 225lbs. And it's tough not to wonder why things have shifted. Around late October, for roughly 12 weeks, I cut my dose from 15mg down to about 9mg weekly. I also dropped the hardcore mindset and ate more or less normally. During those 12 weeks (a work trip, definitely not food-related) I waffled a lot and fought plenty of cravings, but I held the line — honestly better than most would, I think — and I'm better off for it. Folks around me back then thought I was still losing, when in reality by January I landed within 5lbs (luckily less) of where I'd been: 258 -> 253. I share that view and think I looked better after those 12 weeks. It was a solid pause and reset, and I genuinely believe I traded some fat for muscle in that stretch.

Then I got back on track — not the old way, but let's say cookies are out, protein is way up, and the treadmill sees a lot more of me. Dose went back to 15mg too. From late January until now: 253 -> 225, roughly 3.5lbs per week. Part of that is water weight from returning to low carb, though with more flexibility this time. Seems about right given I've been gentler with my eating. Still, it hasn't been a straight line or a smooth slope. Losing is getting tougher — I'm already exercising more now that my body's healthier, but I might need to push my diet closer to keto within another month to keep the momentum. My target is 180 and/or just the faint outline of a 6 pack. Even if it's only temporary, I really want to be able to say "I am half the man I once was and am better for it". After that, alongside tapering my dose, I want to bulk and add muscle to help with loose skin. I'd be content being 225 a year from now but with a very different body composition. On that note — loose skin — I can already tell some minor sagging is coming, but it doesn't look like it'll be enough to damage my self-image or health. Fingers crossed for me guys.

Why am I writing all this? For others. Plenty of people haven't lost as quickly as I have — though fairly, not many have had as much to lose either. I can see what I was told: the nearer the goal, the slower the loss. It's far easier to shed weight when you're over 350lbs. I really didn't want another tism post until I hit goal, but I felt it was worth putting out there. Sometimes you need a vision of how far the goal is, and then one day you look up when you figure you should be past the halfway mark, and it's like the road stretched and now you're just halfway there, living on a prayer as they say. I can tell I'm healthier — just in the last week I stopped being obese for the first time in my adult life — but I want to finish strong and I want you reading this to finish strong too. Even if I don't get a 6 pack, even if I do and don't look like a model, I want better for myself and it's within reach. Time doesn't have to be an enemy, just something to be aware of. Rome wasn't built in a day and even if it was burnt down in one, I didn't get to 365lbs in one night. Time will come one day soon though and this medicine is truly a modern miracle that has been making the journey possible.

Till next tism postings

See you Space Cowboy.

And "You're gonna carry that weight"

....hopefully just not the physical kind too much longer
Click to expand...
Here comes the next peptide saviour...
Click to expand...
No deity here, just an ordinary guy

I've got my own identity sorted! I'm the guy acting as the guy, dressed up like a different guy!
 
For people who already have cardiovascular disease, renal failure, or diabetes, the long-term health effects of GLP therapy are established beyond doubt. In younger, healthier groups, showing any effect is far harder, since you need massive studies running for many years to detect outcomes in populations where bad events are rarer. That proof will probably arrive eventually, but it could be decades away.

Thyroid cancer risk may go up, yet the risk of far more common obesity-linked cancers, including colon and breast cancer along with roughly a dozen more, clearly goes down. In higher-risk groups, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke risks are definitely lowered, and for everyone else they almost certainly are too, though that is not proven yet. Lipids and blood pressure also improve.

My argument is that, depending somewhat on age, nearly anyone carrying that much obesity sits at high cardiovascular risk, so full-dose GLP's are warranted long term for prevention. If blood pressure, blood sugars, or lipids are elevated, the case is even stronger. Research into Alzheimer's disease risk is still underway; some studies indicate reduced risk, mouse studies strongly point toward benefit, but not every study finds this effect, so a clear answer will likely take years.
 
lessthanhalf said:

For people who already have cardiovascular disease, renal failure, or diabetes, the long-term health effects of GLP therapy are established beyond doubt. In younger, healthier groups, showing any effect is far harder, since you need massive studies running for many years to detect outcomes in populations where bad events are rarer. That proof will probably arrive eventually, but it could be decades away.

Thyroid cancer risk may go up, yet the risk of far more common obesity-linked cancers, including colon and breast cancer along with roughly a dozen more, clearly goes down. In higher-risk groups, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke risks are definitely lowered, and for everyone else they almost certainly are too, though that is not proven yet. Lipids and blood pressure also improve.

My argument is that, depending somewhat on age, nearly anyone carrying that much obesity sits at high cardiovascular risk, so full-dose GLP's are warranted long term for prevention. If blood pressure, blood sugars, or lipids are elevated, the case is even stronger. Research into Alzheimer's disease risk is still underway; some studies indicate reduced risk, mouse studies strongly point toward benefit, but not every study finds this effect, so a clear answer will likely take years.
Click to expand...
Honestly, when you strip it down, every health gain we're discussing comes back to losing weight. Maybe the Alzheimer's angle is still murky, I'll grant that. But take sleep apnea — tirzepatide isn't fixing it through some separate mechanism, it's just the weight coming off that eases it. Same story for every other obesity-linked condition you named.

If this drug genuinely lowered death rates for everyone, you'd hand it out to every person on Earth. But once the weight is gone, the benefits are already in hand — assuming the lower weight holds without tirzepatide. Wanting that is basically wanting to eat the cake and keep it too. When somebody reaches a healthy weight, there's no good argument against dropping the dose as far as it'll go, or even stopping altogether.

If weight loss holds steady — and we do see that in some people — then they'd probably be safer without the thyroid risk hanging over them. Should weight creep back to an unhealthy point, then yes, continuing the dose makes sense. Personally, once my BMI lands in a healthy range, I plan to cut back: partly so I don't drop below a healthy weight, and partly to locate a solid maintenance dose. If I can keep stepping down and stretching the gap between shots until I no longer need it, that's a win — though I want to be clear that isn't my actual goal.

For most people, the weight returns and they'll need some amount forever, and that's okay. Still, my view is that once you've hit your target weight, the aim should be to either find a lower "maintenance" dose that works or come off it completely. If you end up back at 15mg and staying there, there's no shame in that — but wherever we can, we ought to trim medical dependency. And just to be crystal clear: if maintenance is doable without tirzepatide but the mental toll is brutal, then by all means dose for your peace of mind and quality of life. Nobody should chase a lower dose at the expense of their sanity and food noise.
 
Even though a large share of what tirzepatide and similar drugs deliver can be traced back to shedding pounds and the metabolic knock-ons that follow, research has demonstrated that further advantages exist over and above those tied to weight reduction, specifically for blood sugars, heart attacks, heart failure, renal failure strokes and cancers. I lack the statistical expertise to grasp exactly how the math teases those apart, yet the effect seems to be genuine.
 
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