Super Trips
Explorer
The great debate: "feels" vs 'results" for dose and plateau. Lets hear what your exp. has been and what makes you step up.
The great debate: "feels" vs 'results" for dose and plateau
- Thread starter Super Trips
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ChAsEr435
Explorer
The only point where I needed a higher dose was for the final 5lbs to reach my goal weight. I pushed the dose as far as it could go just to hit that target. Now that I've reached it, I'm tapering down to a maintenance dose.
Gt3294a
Explorer
When it comes to GLP dosing, my approach is based on what I intend to eat. I ended up with 3 distinct doses: 1 that supports a solid calorie deficit (eating that amount feels effortless and I don't go beyond it), 1 for maintenance (eating at that level is effortless), and 1 for times when I want to eat more. Initially, I believe I was taking too much since that was the standard titration or whatever it's called. So from my experience, the key is simply to find what fits your needs.
for me, raising the dose just because the scale isnt moving fast enough doesnt make sense. if 1lbs weekly isnt cutting it, the answer isnt automatically more medication. i have lost 1bout 135lbs so far, and tirz accounts for roughly 80 of those pounds. i began on 2.5mg and kept it there for the majority of the time, other than a couple months when i experimented with 5mg and then dropped back due to sides.
Seasonal1
Explorer
Nice work. Really impressive.
HARLEYV2
Explorer
Fantastic strides forward!
Mochizuki0124
Explorer
For me personally at this stage, the main thing I pay attention to is "how I look," not so much how I feel or what the scale results say. When the number on the scale stalls, yet my waist is getting smaller and I'm leaning out — particularly if I'm not sacrificing much strength — that tells me Reta is doing its job. Sure, in the early days I had a target weight in mind, but as I got nearer to that number, it mattered less and less.
BNLFL
Explorer
I began with 2mg and kept to the 4-week intervals from the Lilly trial schedule. A few of those doses I actually stretched to 6 weeks, since they were doing their job. The only reason I increased after that was because the scale refused to budge. Eventually I reached 9mg, which took me past my target by a small margin. As of last Friday, I’ve moved onto a maintenance dose, so whether that holds will depend on what the scale says. Losing any further isn’t something I need or want.
moodymama76
Explorer
I began with the brand version, so 2.5, then 5 during month 2, and I stayed at 5mg for 4 months. After month 3 I switched to compound. Forcing calories got old, so I lowered my dose to 4.5mg. There are still days I have to force calories, but that's usually the day after my shot, and on the other days I eat around 1500, whereas before I was averaging 1100 daily (1700 on a bad day and roughly 900 to 1100 across the week). The weight loss is the same whether I'm at 1100 or 1500.
I use mj vape to sleep (I know, naughty) because of inflammation while I sleep from PsA. Before I fall asleep I'm always planning what I'll eat once the munchies hit. Usually cheese or plain greek yogurt with a scoop of whey.
When I have a no loss week (or 2 weeks), I don't raise my dose. I haven't had a no loss month. I figure it's hormones, stress, etc., and I wait it out. Even if I don't see losses for 2 weeks of the month, I average 1.6lb a week.
I use mj vape to sleep (I know, naughty) because of inflammation while I sleep from PsA. Before I fall asleep I'm always planning what I'll eat once the munchies hit. Usually cheese or plain greek yogurt with a scoop of whey.
When I have a no loss week (or 2 weeks), I don't raise my dose. I haven't had a no loss month. I figure it's hormones, stress, etc., and I wait it out. Even if I don't see losses for 2 weeks of the month, I average 1.6lb a week.
As far as I'm concerned.... GLP1s are something I'll be on for life as part of my health. That's why my strategy for weightloss is built around the long haul and keeping the dose as low as I can, so my body still gets everything it requires.
Starving myself isn't the goal... the goal is quieting the food noise just enough that I can take in the calories my body needs, and get them from the right sources.
Back when I was losing, my target was 1-2 lbs per week... A healthy amount of weight for me. No rush, no race, just a comittment to my long term health.
I did both at once: when the schedule called for 4 weeks @ Xmg, I'd finish those 4 weeks and then stay put for as long as the number on the scale kept dropping.
Once it stalled, I'd take a stab at what the next step up should be and increase to that.
Hardly a rigorous method, yet it got the job done.
Between Sept 2024 and Apr 2025 I dropped 63lbs and reached my target
on top of that.. fad diets never got me past a loss of roughly 20lbs- Tirz turned my life around.
Seasonal1
Explorer
That line really speaks to me. At 63, I've shed pounds more than once through various diet plans. There were stretches when I kept it off for years, but in time the same routines crept back, and I'd return to the weight my body seems to prefer. The dishes I was raised on, the ones I ate at home as a kid, are what I truly enjoy. My problem isn't sugar, processed food, or dining out — it's how much I serve myself. I had no intention of starting yet another diet. Why bother? Only to wind up back at square one a few years down the road?
Within 6 hours of my initial injection, I understood my life was different. I had learned what food feels like to ordinary people. My condition finally had a medical solution I could continue for the rest of my days. My doctor made it clear this isn't a diet. It's a lifelong commitment. In the coming months I'll hit my target weight and begin the hardest phase of the fight: dialing in the drug dose that keeps me healthy and active for 30+ more years. That struggle will never truly be over.
Began reta 18 months back. Over time worked up to 8mg/wk, and by around Dec. hit a standstill at 200lbs (previously 300lbs). A few months later, tried raising the dose to kickstart loss again, but got severe diarrhea, so dropped back to 8mg, where no side effects occurred. In late april added 1mg Carga; now at 180, and my 175 target is within sight. Once I hit my goal, the plan is to quit the carg and then slowly reduce the dose (over many, many months) to hold a steady weight. I concur—until something else emerges, I'll continue with the Reta. It's comparable to managing hypertension; you have to take meds consistently (though I no longer require blood pressure pills, statins, and am off CPAP, A1c went from 7.1 to 4.2, and latest EKG came back normal—so I view it as a favorable exchange). Monitoring food intake, more protein & creatine, gym 3 days weekly, and walking 3 or biking 10 miles/day (something impossible at 300lbs since my hips ached terribly after just a few hundred yards). For me, Reta has been life changing!
BNLFL
Explorer
My approach mirrors the spreadsheet, except I'm using Reta. I began at 2mg for 4 weeks and stuck to the Lilly trial protocol. Like you, I held steady at a dose until the scale quit moving. That's what I did at 4 and 6mg. After that, I sort of picked my own dose amounts. Eventually reached 9mg, and after 4 weeks at that level, I met my 2nd goal and then some. I just began a maintenance dose of 6mg last Friday. Whether I stay or reduce further will be decided by the scale. In my view, tracking the scale is the best method for this. I weigh myself just once a week, on Fridays, using the same scale.
I chose Wednesday as my injection day because it meant I'd head into the weekend at full strength. With my weekdays too packed for mindless snacking, Friday ended up being when levels were highest.
I made it a rule to step on the scale just once—Wednesday morning, exactly 1 week after the previous shot.
My thinking was that this kept me from getting discouraged by any ups and downs midweek.
BNLFL
Explorer
100%. I do it for the exact same reason. Friday has been my pin day since day one. About 6 weeks back we were away, so I skipped that Friday, and since we got back late on Sunday, I pinned on Monday instead. To fix the schedule, I shift it one day later each time until I'm back to Fridays.