Using GLP1 to kickstart, then stopping?

D

dlgobeavs

Explorer
Joined
Apr 29, 2026
Messages
6
Reaction score
1
Location
Portland Oregon
I'm wondering if anyone here has used GLP1's just to get some quick weight loss going, and then tapered off afterward?

Here's my first intro post for context

My goal is to shed roughly 40-50 lbs, which would make working out a lot easier for me. Worth noting: my weight has stayed basically the same for the past 20 years. I haven't been steadily gaining over time, but I do feel like I need a reset.

What do you all think?
 
There may be a handful of exceptions, but in general that isn't how it works.

Excess weight or obesity is a chronic condition, in the same way that diabetes or hypertension are. That means treatment has to be long-term, exactly as it would be for those conditions.

ETA: the bright side is that sourcing GLP-1s via the gray market can cost up to 100x less than a regular pharmacy, which makes it very sustainable.
 
cheaperseeker said:

There may be a handful of exceptions, but in general that isn't how it works.

Excess weight or obesity is a chronic condition, in the same way that diabetes or hypertension are. That means treatment has to be long-term, exactly as it would be for those conditions.

ETA: the bright side is that sourcing GLP-1s via the gray market can cost up to 100x less than a regular pharmacy, which makes it very sustainable.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your perspective.

Has anyone had a different experience?
 
Everyone's experience will probably differ, but if overeating was an issue for you before, my guess is the food noise will come back. When I hit my goal weight, my plan is to taper to a maintenance dose and then most likely try going without anything at all. I've already built better eating and workout habits. From what I gather, the general consensus is that most people do regain some weight once they stop.
 
For many people this is a delicate subject. I look at fat and body composition in a very clinical, unemotional way. Left to my own habits, I drift into obesity fairly often. Whenever I drop weight, food addictions usually pull me back up.

For the majority, staying on GLPs for life is both advisable and likely. After hitting your goal weight, tapering down to a maintenance dose is an option.

My plan is to shed most of my body fat (60-80 pounds), then come off or greatly reduce doses so I can eat at a caloric surplus without discomfort and build muscle/strength. In some circles that comes across as a controversial statement. Should I get too fat or want help getting lean, I will jump back on.
 
Some people carrying an extra 20-40 pounds could get real value from a brief course of GLP use, since obesity as a disease isn't actually what they're dealing with. For them it's a tool, and once they've used it they move on.

Most of us here, though, aren't in that group. We didn't gain the freshman 20, or get stuck after a pregnancy or a rough patch at work or in life. This disease has been our fight since long before science finally admitted it IS a disease. So unless a real cure shows up, we'll be taking this life-saving med for life, in one form or another.
 
dlgobeavs said:


I'm curious as to whether people use GLP1's to kickstart some immediate weight loss, then taper off?

This is my initial intro post for reference

I'm hoping to get some help dropping about 40-50 lbs, which would really help me make exercising easier. Of note, I've been at essentially the same weight for the last 20 years. I have not chronically continued to gain, but I do need a reset.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...
Click to expand...
What does kickstart mean in your case? Are you thinking of using a GLP-1 to lose 10 pounds, then stopping and handling the remaining 40 on your own?
 
spanky2026 said:

Some people carrying an extra 20-40 pounds could get real value from a brief course of GLP use, since obesity as a disease isn't actually what they're dealing with. For them it's a tool, and once they've used it they move on.

Most of us here, though, aren't in that group. We didn't gain the freshman 20, or get stuck after a pregnancy or a rough patch at work or in life. This disease has been our fight since long before science finally admitted it IS a disease. So unless a real cure shows up, we'll be taking this life-saving med for life, in one form or another.
Click to expand...
My goal was just 30lbs, yet I intend to keep using Reta for as long as I can. Back when I lived out west, I could out-train my appetite — I was outdoors climbing 3 days a week plus doing 4 hot yoga classes of 90 minutes each week.

After relocating to the midwest, I'm likely burning half the exercise calories or less compared with before. The access to climbing and yoga just isn't the same as what I had. On top of that, I kept eating and drinking the way I always had, and that led to trouble.

My brain wants 3000 calories a day, while my body only needs around 2,500 a day. I'm sure plenty of aging and former athletes are dealing with the same issue.
 
That isn't the purpose GLP-1s are designed for. The situation may be different for someone carrying only vanity weight, but the majority of people will need to stay on them long term (for life), even if they never reach their highest dose. (Think of it this way: a person taking an anti-depressant to get through a temporary life event or situation versus a person taking one because of their brain chemistry or lifelong major depression.)

On top of that, research has shown that with tirzepatide (and possibly the others too), if you stop and then restart, you'll need a higher dose to get the same results you had before.
 
loppsy said:

That isn't the purpose GLP-1s are designed for. The situation may be different for someone carrying only vanity weight, but the majority of people will need to stay on them long term (for life), even if they never reach their highest dose. (Think of it this way: a person taking an anti-depressant to get through a temporary life event or situation versus a person taking one because of their brain chemistry or lifelong major depression.)

On top of that, research has shown that with tirzepatide (and possibly the others too), if you stop and then restart, you'll need a higher dose to get the same results you had before.
Click to expand...
That comparison really lands. ❤️
 
I've said this before, and it bears repeating: these medications offer a wide range of health advantages that have nothing to do with losing weight, on top of the benefits that come from reaching and staying at a healthy weight. For those reasons alone, independent of weight loss, I would start and continue taking them.
 
I’m not a physician, but based on what I’ve come across, GLP’s bring down the body’s set point. That means if your weight has stayed steady for that long, that’s likely your body’s current set point — so whatever you shed while on a GLP would come back once you quit, since your body would return to where it was before.
 
dlgobeavs said:


I'm curious as to whether people use GLP1's to kickstart some immediate weight loss, then taper off?

This is my initial intro post for reference

I'm hoping to get some help dropping about 40-50 lbs, which would really help me make exercising easier. Of note, I've been at essentially the same weight for the last 20 years. I have not chronically continued to gain, but I do need a reset.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Hoping these meds will only be a short-term thing seems to be a pretty typical starting point. That was my own plan back when I knew far less about them. Reality, though, tends to look different for the majority — for most people they end up being a lifelong commitment, or at least they should be. Long term, these medications do your health a lot of good.

My own plan at the start was 6-8 months of use: get healthy, then maintain it on my own. Before glp's I had already dropped 40 lbs and was working out every day. I'm a muscular guy in my 40's, so I figured "keeping it off should be easy."

Knowing what I know now, I'll be on glp's for the rest of my life. I feel like I've got a lifetime supply already and I'm still buying more.

Even if keeping my wieght down on my own were possible, I'd stay on glp's anyway.
 
Okay, a follow-up question: you wrote your intro post back in april. Now that 6 months have passed, how are those ideas of yours working out for you?
 
dlgobeavs said:


I'm curious as to whether people use GLP1's to kickstart some immediate weight loss, then taper off?

This is my initial intro post for reference

I'm hoping to get some help dropping about 40-50 lbs, which would really help me make exercising easier. Of note, I've been at essentially the same weight for the last 20 years. I have not chronically continued to gain, but I do need a reset.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...
Click to expand...
As for quitting entirely — no. Still, plenty of people do step their dose down. I'll likely lower mine at some point too, though I couldn't say to what level. Zero isn't in the cards, even if that were my preference.
 
It's notable that many individuals reduce their dose or plan to reduce it after hitting their goal weight. However, in the tirzepatide maintenance trial, just the group kept on their highest dose managed to stay near their lowest weight. Those who lowered the dose put some weight back on, and so did the group moved to oral Sema. Worth remembering.
 
My plan was to use it as a jump-start in the same way the OP described. Instead, I ended up doing the reverse and tapered UP. Once you see how close to miraculous the results are, the fear and hesitation disappear fast.
 
GLP drugs are incredibly powerful for keeping weight off — nothing has ever matched them on that front. They also help you shed the pounds, but once you quit them, the same thing happens as when you end any other diet after losing weight: most people regain it. And that long-term maintenance is genuinely the difficult part. Before GLP's existed, many people with obesity had at some point put in enormous effort to lose a lot of weight, only to discover they couldn't keep it off — which is usually quite depressing after all that hard work.

Particularly when someone has been overweight or obese for a long time, continuing on them is simply being realistic, and it also guards against a large range of chronic serious medical conditions that are far more common in people carrying excess weight. It might even spare you from having to take high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes treatment pills every day for the rest of your life — all of which are very likely to be needed if the obesity persists long term.

Having been through the experience of trying to maintain massive weight loss both with and without GLP drugs, the difference is night and day: permanently hungry versus pretty tolerable.
 
Since June 16th I've lost almost 46lbs, which accounts for most of my body fat. That said, I intend to keep taking it for all of the health benefits.
 
Back
Top