What Can Tirzepatide Realistically Do for Me?

[therealdlg]

woundcarping said:

Alright then — since charts are going up, here's mine. It shows Tirz for roughly the first month, then I moved to Reta because I figured that was a better match for what I wanted.

Based on this linear regression, my average loss works out to .35lb/day.

View attachment 10433

W/W%

View attachment 10434

How did Tirz and reta differ in your experience?

 

[woundcarping]

therealdlg said:

woundcarping said:

Alright then — since charts are going up, here's mine. It shows Tirz for roughly the first month, then I moved to Reta because I figured that was a better match for what I wanted.

Based on this linear regression, my average loss works out to .35lb/day.

View attachment 10433

W/W%

View attachment 10434

How did Tirz and reta differ in your experience?

My time on Tirz was under 1 month, and that was month 1 for me… I doubt I’ve got any helpful personal stories to share from it.

 

[Gr33dyOctopus]

QueenMuntha said:

F68. My first GLP1 dose was June 6, 2025. One year later: I started at 393 pounds, and I now weigh 323 pounds. Given my situation — female, 68 years old, dealing with hormone problems, AFib, Gout, CKD, Venous Insufficiency, and degenerative spine issues — dropping 70 pounds in 12 months, almost entirely on Tirzepatide, with zero calorie tracking and no added workouts, feels like nothing short of a miracle. That works out to a 17.8% loss for me across one year. And believe me, it did not come off in anything close to a straight line. (see image)

In your case, being a man and not carrying those same conditions, my guess is you'd drop no less than 100 pounds within a year.

View attachment 10432

Between august25 and may26 I dropped 115, then put some back on because I've needed to stop and restart around surgery and doctor-related things — still, over roughly 9 months, that's a very large share of my body weight, isn't it?

 

[Sasquatch]

therealdlg said:

woundcarping said:

Alright then — since charts are going up, here's mine. It shows Tirz for roughly the first month, then I moved to Reta because I figured that was a better match for what I wanted.

Based on this linear regression, my average loss works out to .35lb/day.

View attachment 10433

W/W%

View attachment 10434

How did Tirz and reta differ in your experience?

Grogu put it about as well as I could have, maybe even better.

Still, here's my take: reta didn't do anything for me personally. Was my trial period too short? Should I have gone through other vendors in case the potency was off? That's exactly why this call has to be your own.

 

[lessthanhalf]

therealdlg said:

These stories are really motivating! Still, what concerns me is how Tirzepatide and Reta compare when it comes to curbing appetite...Ive come across claims that reta isnt very strong in that regard..Is that accurate?

This comes up constantly, and it always catches my attention: plenty of members here report that reta does less for appetite suppression and food noise than tirz, yet every study points to greater weight loss with reta. In real-world use, I doubt the gap in appetite control is actually all that large.

Take glucagon agonism as adding roughly 100 kcal/day to metabolic rate or energy expenditure compared with tirz. Over 12 months that is about 36500 kcal, and at 7700 kcal/kg of fat, it comes to roughly 5 kilos per year (a bit simplified). The extra yearly weight loss seen with reta is right around that figure, 29% versus 24/25%, if you begin at 100kg and are 30% or more overweight. So theoretically, when appetite suppression is equal, the numbers line up neatly. That said, reta might raise daily energy expenditure by as much as 200 kcal, which would let it produce more weight loss even with weaker appetite reduction and a higher calorie intake, but only if the daily calories burned rise by over 100 kcal.

 

[NagChamp]

Whiynot20026 said:

Cut out SOS. SOS stands for Salt, oil and sugar. Stay away from processed junk food. Make protein a priority. Aim for 150 to 200 grams of protein every day. Only track protein. Another thing: give fasting a shot. Go at least 12-14 hours without eating each day. Build up to 16 hours. And it doesn't sound like the gym is an issue. Spend 4 hours per week on weights. 2 hours for upper body and 2 hours for lower body. Don't forget your steps. Try at least 3 times per week. Build up to 5 days. Start with 2-4K steps and work your way up to 10k steps daily when you can. If you follow all of this and use Tirzep, you'll be far healthier within a few months. I guarantee it.

Bill

So I have to give up the trio of tasty treats?!

 

[reta-stacker]

lessthanhalf said:

Best of luck with your goal.

My own experience with GLPs came only after I had already dropped from 145kg down to 75kg, yet I discovered they make maintenance far simpler. Every earlier attempt at weight loss had finished with me putting it all back on, but this time, 3 1/2 years on, my BMI is still in the normal range.

To my mind, this is exactly where GLP medications prove their worth: maintenance. Shedding pounds through a huge diet and exercise push is tough, but holding onto that loss is tougher still. If you use GLP drugs to lose the weight and then continue taking them, the weight generally stays off over the long term. Even surgery is not as reliable for long-term maintenance, though surgery can produce bigger total losses. Knowing that lasting maintenance is genuinely achievable is a strong motivator, particularly for anyone who has lost weight before only to regain it.

Responses to GLP drugs vary enormously from person to person. A small share, perhaps 5-10%, barely lose anything; others drop a great deal even on very small doses; and some run into side effects they cannot tolerate. The only way to learn how well they will work for you is to begin and raise the dose gradually, then hope for a good outcome. For the overwhelming majority, these drugs transform the treatment of obesity.

Typically tirzepatide produces roughly 25ish% weight loss over about a year, while reta gives 29%, so reta is somewhat more potent, though it likely carries a slightly higher rate of side effects. Since you are aiming to lose a large amount, reta could be the stronger pick, but tirzepatide is not far behind on effectiveness.

I understand the exercise problem. For someone who is unfit, intense exercise can be deeply off-putting, leaving you feeling so awful that forcing yourself to continue becomes extremely hard. The best way to begin and stick with it is to make it easy rather than hard. Back when I was still overweight and very unfit, I simply committed to a 5 minute walk daily. I made it so easy that there was no excuse to skip it, and almost no risk of ending up exhausted or unwell afterwards. Over several months I slowly extended the time, turned it into a habit, and eventually reached about 3 hours a day after several months and quite a few kilos lost, which made a big difference. Crucially, I avoided the aversive post-exercise fatigue I had usually felt when I had tried exercising before. The specific exercise does not matter; the principle is to lower the barrier so far that doing it feels effortless, you are unlikely to dodge it, and you have a real chance of making it a long-term habit. That said, you must still do that minimum amount daily or a set number of times each week. I did not even attempt walking until I had reached 115kg, because even then a mere 5 minutes left my feet hurting terribly. Sometimes, if someone is severely obese, waiting before starting exercise is sensible.

Eating well while on GLP drugs is wise, but they work regardless, simply by reducing hunger so you eat less. They probably perform better when not battling a high fat, high sugar diet, and they tend to nudge you toward better food choices anyway. Getting at least 1.5grams of protein per kilogram of body weight is sensible to limit muscle loss during weight loss. High protein intake also fills you up more per calorie than any other food, which helps with both hunger and losing weight.

Nice write-up. For anyone who has a hard time with exercise and diet adjustments, this approach works well. Keep things manageable so you don't resent them, and give yourself room to hit a goal each day, or at least on a consistent basis. As for eating, stay away from foods that are sugary, fatty, or heavily processed. On GLPs, that tends to be far less difficult. In my case, reta made it simple.

 

[reta-stacker]

Since I've never used tirz, I can't offer a comparison, but my personal run with reta showed that food noise basically vanished even on starter doses. Three months is all I've been on reta, yet 30 lbs have come off - and that's while keeping the dosage low at 2 to 2.5 mg every 3 or 4 days. Avoiding my formerly adored Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and other bars from the gods now requires almost zero willpower. Grocery store snack bar aisles are something I can pass through easily, no stopping. Resistance training three times a week was already part of my routine, so no new exercise plan had to be added, though my sessions do feel stronger - possibly tied less to the peptide and more to extra energy gained from losing weight. Another point: because reta's weight loss draws from fat, muscle and bone, resistance training matters for safeguarding muscle mass. Regardless... wishing you the best as you move toward a new you.

 

[Stace_wow]

therealdlg said:

Some context first: 42-year-old guy, 6'2", 370 pounds. If I stay on tirzepatide for 1 year, what's a realistic amount of weight I could drop? Right now I'm fairly inactive and work at a desk, but working out is something I genuinely enjoy, so that part won't be an issue. I'm also trying to put together a diet plan I can actually maintain. In the past, my downfall has been pushing workouts and cardio so intensely that I couldn't keep it up, and eventually I quit. Any advice?

The approach to eating that works best for me is building meals up rather than cutting things out. In other words, when I'd usually reach for chips or similar snacks, I put protein or vegetables and fruit in that spot instead. Nothing is off limits as long as it fits my calorie allowance, and I log all of it. I keep myself in a deficit while also planning meals I actually enjoy, repeating the same ones (I'm in an office setting too) so it stays as simple as possible.

As for exercise, my aim is to raise my tdee without my hunger going up along with it, so I mainly introduced some LISS by walking more. Every day during my lunch break I take a walk, and the goals I set are realistic, like.....a 10 min walk after lunch, which I end up exceeding daily.

With Tirz, my focus is health...and sure, that covers weight loss, but it isn't the only marker I want to see improve. Because of heart issues that run in my family, I pay close attention to how my cardiovascular system is doing....Since starting Tirze my overall health has improved a great deal, but I began at morbid obesity 43% BF on March 27 this year, and I've only seen about 20 pounds of weight loss. Each month I get more dialed in, and I'm so excited to see how far I can take this.

You got this, and with the support of a group like this, you will do very well. Good luck

 

[Hawk_recon]

Stace_wow said:

therealdlg said:

Some context first: 42-year-old guy, 6'2", 370 pounds. If I stay on tirzepatide for 1 year, what's a realistic amount of weight I could drop? Right now I'm fairly inactive and work at a desk, but working out is something I genuinely enjoy, so that part won't be an issue. I'm also trying to put together a diet plan I can actually maintain. In the past, my downfall has been pushing workouts and cardio so intensely that I couldn't keep it up, and eventually I quit. Any advice?

The approach to eating that works best for me is building meals up rather than cutting things out. In other words, when I'd usually reach for chips or similar snacks, I put protein or vegetables and fruit in that spot instead. Nothing is off limits as long as it fits my calorie allowance, and I log all of it. I keep myself in a deficit while also planning meals I actually enjoy, repeating the same ones (I'm in an office setting too) so it stays as simple as possible.

As for exercise, my aim is to raise my tdee without my hunger going up along with it, so I mainly introduced some LISS by walking more. Every day during my lunch break I take a walk, and the goals I set are realistic, like.....a 10 min walk after lunch, which I end up exceeding daily.

With Tirz, my focus is health...and sure, that covers weight loss, but it isn't the only marker I want to see improve. Because of heart issues that run in my family, I pay close attention to how my cardiovascular system is doing....Since starting Tirze my overall health has improved a great deal, but I began at morbid obesity 43% BF on March 27 this year, and I've only seen about 20 pounds of weight loss. Each month I get more dialed in, and I'm so excited to see how far I can take this.

You got this, and with the support of a group like this, you will do very well. Good luck

Hi, losing 20 pounds is a great result! Keep going

 

[Stace_wow]

Hawk_recon said:

Stace_wow said:

therealdlg said:

Some context first: 42-year-old guy, 6'2", 370 pounds. If I stay on tirzepatide for 1 year, what's a realistic amount of weight I could drop? Right now I'm fairly inactive and work at a desk, but working out is something I genuinely enjoy, so that part won't be an issue. I'm also trying to put together a diet plan I can actually maintain. In the past, my downfall has been pushing workouts and cardio so intensely that I couldn't keep it up, and eventually I quit. Any advice?

The approach to eating that works best for me is building meals up rather than cutting things out. In other words, when I'd usually reach for chips or similar snacks, I put protein or vegetables and fruit in that spot instead. Nothing is off limits as long as it fits my calorie allowance, and I log all of it. I keep myself in a deficit while also planning meals I actually enjoy, repeating the same ones (I'm in an office setting too) so it stays as simple as possible.

As for exercise, my aim is to raise my tdee without my hunger going up along with it, so I mainly introduced some LISS by walking more. Every day during my lunch break I take a walk, and the goals I set are realistic, like.....a 10 min walk after lunch, which I end up exceeding daily.

With Tirz, my focus is health...and sure, that covers weight loss, but it isn't the only marker I want to see improve. Because of heart issues that run in my family, I pay close attention to how my cardiovascular system is doing....Since starting Tirze my overall health has improved a great deal, but I began at morbid obesity 43% BF on March 27 this year, and I've only seen about 20 pounds of weight loss. Each month I get more dialed in, and I'm so excited to see how far I can take this.

You got this, and with the support of a group like this, you will do very well. Good luck

Hi, losing 20 pounds is a great result! Keep going

Thanks so much!

 

[Skidude]

With tirz, I dropped roughly 2lbs each week. My initial aim was 185, yet I switched to chasing a normal BMI goal of 163.

A single worry I've come across regarding reta is that it might affect heart rate, so keep an eye on that if you go with reta — although when it came to overall percentage, reta performed better in the trials.

For me, tirz worked really well, delivering +/- 25% over 7 months

 

[FLglpguy]

I'm a good deal older than you are, and my starting weight was a touch higher too — but so far Tirz has been absolutely incredible for me! At 6'2" and 55 years old, I began at 386. My first dose was .25 Triz on May 7th, and I've since stepped up to .50. That's 26lbs gone in just 5 weeks.

Not once have I exercised, and my whole day is spent seated at a desk while working from home. My eating habits got overhauled completely, and honestly it was super simple to pull off — fried food just doesn't appeal to me now, plus there are no snacks or junk of any kind kept in my house.

My meals consist only of salads, raw veggies, tomatoe basil soup, mushroom bone broth soup, split pea soup, fresh fruit smoothies made with almond milk, or fresh fruits, and I eat almost no meat. A couple of Sundays I had a tiny portion of meat — 2-3 small turkey meatballs along with a few strips of skinless chicken breast. Beyond that, everything I've eaten is what I listed above, plus unsalted nuts and protein/high fiber bars.

To my routine I've added B12 2000mcg each morning, 225mg of Magnesium Malate at night for better sleep, 20g of Collagen protein at midday for joints and skin, and Casein in the early evening so protein releases slowly while I rest and sleep. Once I begin working out, Whey protein goes in as a pre-workout. Resistance training starts soon for me, so that after the weight comes off I won't be left with loads of loose skin. The target is 215lbs.

 

[Hawk_recon]

FLglpguy said:

I'm a good deal older than you are, and my starting weight was a touch higher too — but so far Tirz has been absolutely incredible for me! At 6'2" and 55 years old, I began at 386. My first dose was .25 Triz on May 7th, and I've since stepped up to .50. That's 26lbs gone in just 5 weeks.

Not once have I exercised, and my whole day is spent seated at a desk while working from home. My eating habits got overhauled completely, and honestly it was super simple to pull off — fried food just doesn't appeal to me now, plus there are no snacks or junk of any kind kept in my house.

My meals consist only of salads, raw veggies, tomatoe basil soup, mushroom bone broth soup, split pea soup, fresh fruit smoothies made with almond milk, or fresh fruits, and I eat almost no meat. A couple of Sundays I had a tiny portion of meat — 2-3 small turkey meatballs along with a few strips of skinless chicken breast. Beyond that, everything I've eaten is what I listed above, plus unsalted nuts and protein/high fiber bars.

To my routine I've added B12 2000mcg each morning, 225mg of Magnesium Malate at night for better sleep, 20g of Collagen protein at midday for joints and skin, and Casein in the early evening so protein releases slowly while I rest and sleep. Once I begin working out, Whey protein goes in as a pre-workout. Resistance training starts soon for me, so that after the weight comes off I won't be left with loads of loose skin. The target is 215lbs.

One thing worth mentioning, because you brought up protein as something to take before working out: when you consume it across the day isn't what counts, just how much you get in total. That's what newer research has shown. If having it keeps hunger away while you train, that's a separate reason, but for things like muscle effects, the clock doesn't matter.

 

[BlueCoal36]

therealdlg said:

Some context first: 42-year-old guy, 6'2", 370 pounds. If I stay on tirzepatide for 1 year, what's a realistic amount of weight I could drop? Right now I'm fairly inactive and work at a desk, but working out is something I genuinely enjoy, so that part won't be an issue. I'm also trying to put together a diet plan I can actually maintain. In the past, my downfall has been pushing workouts and cardio so intensely that I couldn't keep it up, and eventually I quit. Any advice?

My job has me walking somewhere in the range of 4-6K steps per day, and I don't really do much in the way of strength training, which is unfortunate. Starting from 237, I'm now sitting at about 200lb. Honestly, I didn't change anything about how I live, and the drop happened over roughly 2 months.

These days I'm simply holding steady, using somewhere between 7.5-12mg, with the dose chosen based on how much food noise I'm dealing with.

My take is that if you pair it with lifestyle changes, a substantial amount of weight can come off. It all comes down to how well your body handles the medication. The main thing I'd keep an eye on is the speed of the loss. Many of the longer-term problems people talk about tend to stem from losing weight too quickly, when the body doesn't get a chance to adapt properly. Malnutrition is the other piece, so taking a multivitamin plus other supplements would be a smart move.

 

[therealdlg]

Grogu said:

I began tirzepatide in December 2024 weighing 335lbs (my height is 6'4"), and by December 2025 my weight was around 244 — a drop of 91lbs, which works out to 27% below where I started.





View attachment 10431

Since your starting weight is above mine, multiplying 370lbs by 27% suggests you could lose roughly 100lbs over a year on tirzepatide without much trouble.

That said, I am 100% with @woundcarping about looking into reta. Had retatrutide been available to me in December 2024, I would have chosen it over tirzepatide without hesitation — and I genuinely love tirzepatide.

The one thing that worries me about reta is that I've heard it doesn't curb appetite at all and doesn't quiet food noise either....what has it been like for you? Nice work on the weight loss!

 

[Glenn]

Everyone responds differently. There’s no need to put a ceiling on your results based on someone else’s journey.

When I began, I was 445lbs. At 6’1” and 61 years old, I’m now 210lbs and still losing. It took plenty of changes to how I live and cutting back on how much I eat. My path started with sema, moved to tirzepatide, and lately I’ve been on reta.

 

[Airborne Daddy]

Who are they trying to fool? I don't know what 2.5 tirz will do, but at 5 and 7.5 you'll realize that dropping 60lbs in 4 months would take a deliberate effort to avoid....

 

[Grogu]

therealdlg said:

Grogu said:

I began tirzepatide in December 2024 weighing 335lbs (my height is 6'4"), and by December 2025 my weight was around 244 — a drop of 91lbs, which works out to 27% below where I started.





View attachment 10431

Since your starting weight is above mine, multiplying 370lbs by 27% suggests you could lose roughly 100lbs over a year on tirzepatide without much trouble.

That said, I am 100% with @woundcarping about looking into reta. Had retatrutide been available to me in December 2024, I would have chosen it over tirzepatide without hesitation — and I genuinely love tirzepatide.

The one thing that worries me about reta is that I've heard it doesn't curb appetite at all and doesn't quiet food noise either....what has it been like for you? Nice work on the weight loss!

I'm not going to dispute that . For me, tirzepatide is highly effective and I really enjoy the feeling.

A couple of years back, you used tirz for a few months and dropped 35lbs, correct? It looks like your body does respond to tirzepatide. One thing to remember: if you've had prior exposure to a glp-1 medication, restarting sometimes means you'll need higher doses. So if you choose tirzepatide, you might have to titrate up to higher doses before you get the full benefits. The good news, at least from anecdotes, is that for most people the medication starts working again at higher doses.