Up 0.5kg at week 6 — what changed?

[ultima thule]

It's week 6 on Reta for me now, and so far so good....but like every Friday morning I stepped on the scale today and boom! Surprise! I began at 1mg per week. By the 3rd week I was up to 2 mg. Results were simply perfect — 1.5kg/3.3lbs a week coming off on average. But today the scale showed 0.5kg/1.1lbs more than the week before. So I tried to work out whether anything in my routine had changed over the last week. First up is Epithalon, which I began a week ago at 0.5mg/day, and second, my daily protein is now a touch higher (around 30g). Can't see either of those driving a gain within the last week. Nothing else has shifted from the way it was. Gym 5 days a week, 2 meals a day, plenty of protein and little carb or fat, sleeping well, around 7h...I'm a little confused, since Monday is my shot day and I'd planned to move up to 3mg now, but I've since read plenty about that 4mg Reta figure being some kind of magic threshold, and I'm tempted to jump straight there. And btw, food noise, fullness while eating, cravings — all of that still works properly. And zero side efects on 2mg so far. So first of all, I'm puzzled about where that gain in week 6 on Reta came from, and what dose you'd suggest I move to now. Or should I hold at 2mg a while longer and watch?

 

[Smiter]

ultima thule said:

It's week 6 on Reta for me now, and so far so good....but like every Friday morning I stepped on the scale today and boom! Surprise! I began at 1mg per week. By the 3rd week I was up to 2 mg. Results were simply perfect — 1.5kg/3.3lbs a week coming off on average. But today the scale showed 0.5kg/1.1lbs more than the week before. So I tried to work out whether anything in my routine had changed over the last week. First up is Epithalon, which I began a week ago at 0.5mg/day, and second, my daily protein is now a touch higher (around 30g). Can't see either of those driving a gain within the last week. Nothing else has shifted from the way it was. Gym 5 days a week, 2 meals a day, plenty of protein and little carb or fat, sleeping well, around 7h...I'm a little confused, since Monday is my shot day and I'd planned to move up to 3mg now, but I've since read plenty about that 4mg Reta figure being some kind of magic threshold, and I'm tempted to jump straight there. And btw, food noise, fullness while eating, cravings — all of that still works properly. And zero side efects on 2mg so far. So first of all, I'm puzzled about where that gain in week 6 on Reta came from, and what dose you'd suggest I move to now. Or should I hold at 2mg a while longer and watch?

Two things would be worth verifying... the real number of calories you take in each day... plus whether any lean tissue has been gained... that's exactly why I step on the scale every day, so that if anything goes sideways I can catch it fast and fix it right away.

 

[ultima thule]

Smiter said:

ultima thule said:

It's week 6 on Reta for me now, and so far so good....but like every Friday morning I stepped on the scale today and boom! Surprise! I began at 1mg per week. By the 3rd week I was up to 2 mg. Results were simply perfect — 1.5kg/3.3lbs a week coming off on average. But today the scale showed 0.5kg/1.1lbs more than the week before. So I tried to work out whether anything in my routine had changed over the last week. First up is Epithalon, which I began a week ago at 0.5mg/day, and second, my daily protein is now a touch higher (around 30g). Can't see either of those driving a gain within the last week. Nothing else has shifted from the way it was. Gym 5 days a week, 2 meals a day, plenty of protein and little carb or fat, sleeping well, around 7h...I'm a little confused, since Monday is my shot day and I'd planned to move up to 3mg now, but I've since read plenty about that 4mg Reta figure being some kind of magic threshold, and I'm tempted to jump straight there. And btw, food noise, fullness while eating, cravings — all of that still works properly. And zero side efects on 2mg so far. So first of all, I'm puzzled about where that gain in week 6 on Reta came from, and what dose you'd suggest I move to now. Or should I hold at 2mg a while longer and watch?

Two things would be worth verifying... the real number of calories you take in each day... plus whether any lean tissue has been gained... that's exactly why I step on the scale every day, so that if anything goes sideways I can catch it fast and fix it right away.

Last Staurday I stepped on the gym scale. Over the course of that month, 5kg of fat came off along with 1kg of muscle. That is why I chose to increase the protein in what I eat each day. The calorie deficit has not changed, though — the only addition is 30g of whey isolate.

 

[Smiter]

ultima thule said:

Smiter said:

ultima thule said:

It's week 6 on Reta for me now, and so far so good....but like every Friday morning I stepped on the scale today and boom! Surprise! I began at 1mg per week. By the 3rd week I was up to 2 mg. Results were simply perfect — 1.5kg/3.3lbs a week coming off on average. But today the scale showed 0.5kg/1.1lbs more than the week before. So I tried to work out whether anything in my routine had changed over the last week. First up is Epithalon, which I began a week ago at 0.5mg/day, and second, my daily protein is now a touch higher (around 30g). Can't see either of those driving a gain within the last week. Nothing else has shifted from the way it was. Gym 5 days a week, 2 meals a day, plenty of protein and little carb or fat, sleeping well, around 7h...I'm a little confused, since Monday is my shot day and I'd planned to move up to 3mg now, but I've since read plenty about that 4mg Reta figure being some kind of magic threshold, and I'm tempted to jump straight there. And btw, food noise, fullness while eating, cravings — all of that still works properly. And zero side efects on 2mg so far. So first of all, I'm puzzled about where that gain in week 6 on Reta came from, and what dose you'd suggest I move to now. Or should I hold at 2mg a while longer and watch?

Two things would be worth verifying... the real number of calories you take in each day... plus whether any lean tissue has been gained... that's exactly why I step on the scale every day, so that if anything goes sideways I can catch it fast and fix it right away.

Last Staurday I stepped on the gym scale. Over the course of that month, 5kg of fat came off along with 1kg of muscle. That is why I chose to increase the protein in what I eat each day. The calorie deficit has not changed, though — the only addition is 30g of whey isolate.

That can't happen. Protein provides 4 calories per gram, so 30g of protein alone equals 120 calories. If nothing else gets cut back, the deficit stays unchanged. Still, that figure isn't massive — it wouldn't lead to weight gain on its own, unless you take 120 calories and multiply by 7 days. That comes to over 1000, yet even that falls short of adding 1 pound, since 1 pound of gain needs a 4000 calorie surplus. And without test, putting on 1 pound of muscle in 1 week doesn't seem plausible. Water retention wouldn't explain it either.

 

[ultima thule]

Smiter said:

ultima thule said:

Smiter said:

ultima thule said:

It's week 6 on Reta for me now, and so far so good....but like every Friday morning I stepped on the scale today and boom! Surprise! I began at 1mg per week. By the 3rd week I was up to 2 mg. Results were simply perfect — 1.5kg/3.3lbs a week coming off on average. But today the scale showed 0.5kg/1.1lbs more than the week before. So I tried to work out whether anything in my routine had changed over the last week. First up is Epithalon, which I began a week ago at 0.5mg/day, and second, my daily protein is now a touch higher (around 30g). Can't see either of those driving a gain within the last week. Nothing else has shifted from the way it was. Gym 5 days a week, 2 meals a day, plenty of protein and little carb or fat, sleeping well, around 7h...I'm a little confused, since Monday is my shot day and I'd planned to move up to 3mg now, but I've since read plenty about that 4mg Reta figure being some kind of magic threshold, and I'm tempted to jump straight there. And btw, food noise, fullness while eating, cravings — all of that still works properly. And zero side efects on 2mg so far. So first of all, I'm puzzled about where that gain in week 6 on Reta came from, and what dose you'd suggest I move to now. Or should I hold at 2mg a while longer and watch?

Two things would be worth verifying... the real number of calories you take in each day... plus whether any lean tissue has been gained... that's exactly why I step on the scale every day, so that if anything goes sideways I can catch it fast and fix it right away.

Last Staurday I stepped on the gym scale. Over the course of that month, 5kg of fat came off along with 1kg of muscle. That is why I chose to increase the protein in what I eat each day. The calorie deficit has not changed, though — the only addition is 30g of whey isolate.

That can't happen. Protein provides 4 calories per gram, so 30g of protein alone equals 120 calories. If nothing else gets cut back, the deficit stays unchanged. Still, that figure isn't massive — it wouldn't lead to weight gain on its own, unless you take 120 calories and multiply by 7 days. That comes to over 1000, yet even that falls short of adding 1 pound, since 1 pound of gain needs a 4000 calorie surplus. And without test, putting on 1 pound of muscle in 1 week doesn't seem plausible. Water retention wouldn't explain it either.

You're definitely right that protein carries calories as well, but as you pointed out, 30g technically couldn't account for this increase. And I doubt I packed on nothing but muscle over the course of the week. If that were really possible, I'd be looking at a career as a pro bodybuilder Tomorrow I'll step on the scale at the gym so I can see what I actually put on during the week. Even so, I'm still torn about the titration. 4mg is appealing, yet at the same time, most of the wise men say go slow, go low....

 

[Smiter]

ultima thule said:

Smiter said:

ultima thule said:

Smiter said:

ultima thule said:

It's week 6 on Reta for me now, and so far so good....but like every Friday morning I stepped on the scale today and boom! Surprise! I began at 1mg per week. By the 3rd week I was up to 2 mg. Results were simply perfect — 1.5kg/3.3lbs a week coming off on average. But today the scale showed 0.5kg/1.1lbs more than the week before. So I tried to work out whether anything in my routine had changed over the last week. First up is Epithalon, which I began a week ago at 0.5mg/day, and second, my daily protein is now a touch higher (around 30g). Can't see either of those driving a gain within the last week. Nothing else has shifted from the way it was. Gym 5 days a week, 2 meals a day, plenty of protein and little carb or fat, sleeping well, around 7h...I'm a little confused, since Monday is my shot day and I'd planned to move up to 3mg now, but I've since read plenty about that 4mg Reta figure being some kind of magic threshold, and I'm tempted to jump straight there. And btw, food noise, fullness while eating, cravings — all of that still works properly. And zero side efects on 2mg so far. So first of all, I'm puzzled about where that gain in week 6 on Reta came from, and what dose you'd suggest I move to now. Or should I hold at 2mg a while longer and watch?

Two things would be worth verifying... the real number of calories you take in each day... plus whether any lean tissue has been gained... that's exactly why I step on the scale every day, so that if anything goes sideways I can catch it fast and fix it right away.

Last Staurday I stepped on the gym scale. Over the course of that month, 5kg of fat came off along with 1kg of muscle. That is why I chose to increase the protein in what I eat each day. The calorie deficit has not changed, though — the only addition is 30g of whey isolate.

That can't happen. Protein provides 4 calories per gram, so 30g of protein alone equals 120 calories. If nothing else gets cut back, the deficit stays unchanged. Still, that figure isn't massive — it wouldn't lead to weight gain on its own, unless you take 120 calories and multiply by 7 days. That comes to over 1000, yet even that falls short of adding 1 pound, since 1 pound of gain needs a 4000 calorie surplus. And without test, putting on 1 pound of muscle in 1 week doesn't seem plausible. Water retention wouldn't explain it either.

You're definitely right that protein carries calories as well, but as you pointed out, 30g technically couldn't account for this increase. And I doubt I packed on nothing but muscle over the course of the week. If that were really possible, I'd be looking at a career as a pro bodybuilder Tomorrow I'll step on the scale at the gym so I can see what I actually put on during the week. Even so, I'm still torn about the titration. 4mg is appealing, yet at the same time, most of the wise men say go slow, go low....

Hold off on adding more until you get to the bottom of this, and during the early phase I'd log my weight every day. That 4000 extra calories works out to 660 surplus calories per day. If you're certain you didn't eat that much, and it isn't muscle, then it must be water retention. You could bump the dose up by 0.5mg, or even divide it into 2 smaller doses.

 

[NagChamp]

Every morning I step on the scale, and that habit helps me a lot. It lets me watch how the things I ate and drank over the past day or days shape the pattern, so a sudden spike doesn't send me into a panic. Instead of relying on a single weekly weigh-in, I look at the average direction over 7 days.

When you only weigh in once a week, other variables become harder to follow. Unless every day's food is identical (carbs and salt included), some fluctuation is going to happen, for instance with water retention.

 

[yrrdead]

When body weight goes down, calorie intake has to come down too if you want to keep a deficit going. I don't know how many additional times this point has to be repeated. Along with that, take measurements more often. And check a trend line that covers a longer period. Said differently: step on the scale daily, at the same hour, then compare your trend across 2 weeks instead of 1 week.

 

[NagChamp]

yrrdead said:

When body weight goes down, calorie intake has to come down too if you want to keep a deficit going. I don't know how many additional times this point has to be repeated. Along with that, take measurements more often. And check a trend line that covers a longer period. Said differently: step on the scale daily, at the same hour, then compare your trend across 2 weeks instead of 1 week.

For sure.

RP Diet is an excellent option for keeping tabs on things (it costs money, though in my view it's worth it*). The plan emphasizes protein, centers on macros, and can tweak your calories weekly whenever you'd like or need to, whether you're dropping pounds or stuck at a plateau.

*this isn't a promotion

 

[lessthanhalf]

Day-to-day and week-to-week shifts in fluid balance are completely normal, and what you're seeing fits that pattern. The scale can move by a kilo or 2 in either direction. When calorie intake and exercise haven't meaningfully changed, there's no basis to expect energy balance to shift, so fat or non-fat mass should change at the same rate—meaning fluid balance is the variable left over. The timing also lines up: early weight loss often includes extra fluid as glycogen stores drop, and later this tends to level off somewhat.

Track weight long enough and you'll hit stretches that look like a plateau, or even a small increase. At 1 point my scales showed no changes for 6 weeks, yet averaged across time the rate of weight loss hadn't really shifted. At 6 weeks, it's too soon for changes in energy expenditure from lowered mass or low calorie adaptation to be significant factors.

 

[ultima thule]

yrrdead said:

When body weight goes down, calorie intake has to come down too if you want to keep a deficit going. I don't know how many additional times this point has to be repeated. Along with that, take measurements more often. And check a trend line that covers a longer period. Said differently: step on the scale daily, at the same hour, then compare your trend across 2 weeks instead of 1 week.

I'm eating at a calorie deficit. The only thing I added last week was 30g of whey isolate each day. I doubt that would lead to a 0.5kg increase, especially since I'd been dropping 1.5kg weekly for the first 5 weeks. That doesn't add up, which is why I started this thread.

 

[BNLFL]

3.3lbs weekly strikes me as slightly elevated at first glance, possibly from water retention. That can occur—I've experienced weeks with gains myself. Nothing to worry about. I'm aware there's no need for me to increase, since I only began 8mg last Friday.

 

[px1984]

I'd really recommend stepping on the scale each morning and logging it in an app—my own scales can swing by 0.5kg within a single day. That way you won't get caught weighing in one week at a freak low, then the next week landing on a day when you're well hydrated and full. After that, it's all about watching the trends.

I also step on three times and check that the readings are roughly consistent.

 

[ultima thule]

px1984 said:

I'd really recommend stepping on the scale each morning and logging it in an app—my own scales can swing by 0.5kg within a single day. That way you won't get caught weighing in one week at a freak low, then the next week landing on a day when you're well hydrated and full. After that, it's all about watching the trends.

I also step on three times and check that the readings are roughly consistent.

Yep, I'll start doing that from now on. On top of that, I'll step on the scale 2-3 times back to back so nothing gets mismeasured. My thinking had been that tracking week over week was good enough...that's basically the approach I used during keto 2 years back, and I dropped 42kg that way...watching it come down bit by bit felt great. That said, now that I'm on Reta, checking every morning might work better.

 

[px1984]

ultima thule said:

px1984 said:

I'd really recommend stepping on the scale each morning and logging it in an app—my own scales can swing by 0.5kg within a single day. That way you won't get caught weighing in one week at a freak low, then the next week landing on a day when you're well hydrated and full. After that, it's all about watching the trends.

I also step on three times and check that the readings are roughly consistent.

Yep, I'll start doing that from now on. On top of that, I'll step on the scale 2-3 times back to back so nothing gets mismeasured. My thinking had been that tracking week over week was good enough...that's basically the approach I used during keto 2 years back, and I dropped 42kg that way...watching it come down bit by bit felt great. That said, now that I'm on Reta, checking every morning might work better.

Back when I was doing Keto, I handled it the same way—stepping on the scale weekly to keep tabs. Keto felt like such a grind, but with this, it's way less of a hassle

Since we're putting stuff into our bodies, I figure the scale needs closer attention so I don't end up making a bad call

 

[UnusualLLama]

Adding my agreement to what's been said about stepping on the scale every day.

Weight can bounce around from one day to the next for all sorts of reasons, so if you only check once a week, it's easy to get a reading that looks "unexpected."

A case in point: when I weighed myself yesterday morning (I do it daily), I was up roughly 0.5kg from the previous day, despite being 100% certain that I'd taken in fewer calories than I'd burned.

Here's the catch, though — I know precisely why the number was higher yesterday. The day before, I'd done a really tough leg workout, and from experience I've learned that once DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) kicks in, my muscles retain extra water, which throws off any weigh-in.

So my advice: step on the scale every day, then work out your 7-day rolling average. That way, the noise from any single day gets smoothed out.

 

[BNLFL]

Every Tuesday and Friday, I step on the scale right after waking up. The Renpho app logs those readings for me. I also keep a spreadsheet where I record weight, BMI, BF% and pin amounts.

 

[ultima thule]

UnusualLLama said:

Adding my agreement to what's been said about stepping on the scale every day.

Weight can bounce around from one day to the next for all sorts of reasons, so if you only check once a week, it's easy to get a reading that looks "unexpected."

A case in point: when I weighed myself yesterday morning (I do it daily), I was up roughly 0.5kg from the previous day, despite being 100% certain that I'd taken in fewer calories than I'd burned.

Here's the catch, though — I know precisely why the number was higher yesterday. The day before, I'd done a really tough leg workout, and from experience I've learned that once DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) kicks in, my muscles retain extra water, which throws off any weigh-in.

So my advice: step on the scale every day, then work out your 7-day rolling average. That way, the noise from any single day gets smoothed out.

Actually, that could explain why I gained. This week I went at weight lifting a lot harder than I normally do, and I missed cardio on 2 occasions because I was too worn out. Even now, my muscles are a bit more sore than they typically are.

 

[UnusualLLama]

ultima thule said:

UnusualLLama said:

Adding my agreement to what's been said about stepping on the scale every day.

Weight can bounce around from one day to the next for all sorts of reasons, so if you only check once a week, it's easy to get a reading that looks "unexpected."

A case in point: when I weighed myself yesterday morning (I do it daily), I was up roughly 0.5kg from the previous day, despite being 100% certain that I'd taken in fewer calories than I'd burned.

Here's the catch, though — I know precisely why the number was higher yesterday. The day before, I'd done a really tough leg workout, and from experience I've learned that once DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) kicks in, my muscles retain extra water, which throws off any weigh-in.

So my advice: step on the scale every day, then work out your 7-day rolling average. That way, the noise from any single day gets smoothed out.

Actually, that could explain why I gained. This week I went at weight lifting a lot harder than I normally do, and I missed cardio on 2 occasions because I was too worn out. Even now, my muscles are a bit more sore than they typically are.

Muscle soreness can definitely lead to retaining additional water. How much this happens depends heavily on the individual and on muscle mass, among other things, but yes, that might explain it.

 

[Cannonball72]

Hold steady, take a breath..

Watching that number on the scale drop can become compulsive, and plenty of things can trigger these "stalls". Dropping 3.3 lbs in a week is substantial, likely more than is ideal at that pace. For most people the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, and the majority of problems we see with GLPs usually stem from inadequate nutrition or from eating heavily again after a stretch of near-starvation.

What you're seeing might be inflammation from training, water or glycogen being held onto, undigested food remaining in your stomach, and so on, so there's no need to worry.

Use this moment to double-check that your nutrition approach supports reaching your goal, measured against a pace where you're losing roughly 1-1.5lbs/week.

Sticking to the plan ought to be quite straightforward with Reta. If you worked the numbers out properly, they'll hold up. Avoid jumping to a higher dose unless you find you can't stay on your nutrition plan and begin overeating.

The biggest takeaway from all of this is that the math works! What's left is for you to supply those calories through high-quality nutrition, and to trust in that plan (rather than fearing your progress is brittle and bound to fall apart).

I suspect every one of us has felt this way, I went a whole month without movement and then across 2 days, 7 pounds came off.

Nothing about my dose or nutrition changed. I did introduce ipamorelin alongside my tesamorelin and I believe that led to some water retention.

Look at my picture. Started at 220 and got to 205, then spent a month stuck between 202 and 198, at one point even climbing back to 205 before abruptly falling to 198, and 195.

I disliked every bit of it, but I kept following the plan and I didn't raise my dose since I was certain of my deficit, and I wasn't eating too much.

You can do this.