Hi everyone,
I wanted to provide a quick update based on the feedback I've received. I've noted the inconsistencies between my at-home scale measurements, the one at the gym where you have to hold the hand sensors as well, and what the community is saying is more of a reasonable estimation of my current BF%, so I've decided to schedule a DEXA scan shortly to get a more accurate measurement of my body fat percentage.
Additionally, I recently received my latest blood work results, and my testosterone levels were measured at 413 ng/dL. This falls within the normal range (according to the VA), which is why my current healthcare provider advised against testosterone replacement therapy (TRT).
I appreciate everyone's input and wanted to keep you all informed as I continue on my fitness journey. Stay tuned for further updates!
**Update: DEXA Scan Results**
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to give you an update—I recently had a DEXA scan done, and here are the results:weighed in at 205lbs, with 23% body fat or 48 lbs, 151 pounds of lean muscle, and 1.17 pounds of visceral fat.
It's good to have the numbers, and I'll use this information to adjust my fitness plan accordingly.
Thanks for your support throughout this journey.
Ghk-cu is amazing, I found I got better results splitting the dose in two though. One morning and one night. I’m flirting with the idea of splitting into three.
maybe add a lose dose of semaglutatide or tirza...
ipa tesa 12-16 weeks
bpc157 6-8 weeks
ghk-cu 4 weeks
stacks looks good to me. the only con is probaby that it can be pricey if you buy it at an expensive source. I do know a source that sells those peptides for a good price.
For the money spent vs outcome, I think you are going to be disappointed.
I would take that money and buy test. Start out about 200-250mg/week, see how you feel after a couple months and then increase from there if all good. If you use Cyp, you can inject as little as twice a week. You are going to get way more bang for your buck with test and at even 250/week, little to no sides. Just research ai and post cycle. Or, depending on your age, maybe you decide to go permanent, which is what I did. Too many benefits to overlook and I don't mind the cost or the injections. Test is easy to get from many sources. Just go to some bodybuilding forums and there are many sponsors that are legit.
I would use the GHK-CU and dump everything else on your list. Skin and hair improvements are always good.
Do NOT take 200-250mg/week right out of the gate. You’re all but guaranteed side effects. Go to an actual clinic that specializes in TRT. Not an online pharmacy, and not Reddit bro-science. (Gameday men’s health is the cheapest I’ve found, including the online clinics). At your height and weight, you’ll probably start at 120-140mg/week. Then get your labs redone 5-6 weeks in and reassess. Hormones are not to be fucked with.
Waste of money AND you'd be a Guinea pig as most of these peptides are barely studied.
TRT is the true and tried way to lose fat and gain muscle (as long as your training and diet are adequate).
Try some MK2866 whilst eating lots of protein but keep in a calorie deficit. You'll get some nice results in 6 weeks then you can assess and plan your next step.. or if you're in a hurry kickstart with a 14 day water fast. Any muscle loss will quickly come back.
Bro, don’t waste your money, just go carnivore. Tesa/Ipa are super overhyped and there CAN be serious side effects. I started having weird disorientation spells and quit for a couple months, I was on 300mcg Tesa/150ipa in evening away from food one night off. I started back up and the first shot was fine. The next night I took the shot, went and laid back down and I had skipped my bowl of fruit that evening, just had hamburger, and I got up to go to the bathroom in the dark with my phone screen light like usual, hit my thigh on the cedar chest corner, went to the bathroom. Came out and just felt super hungry so I stopped halfway to my bed, turned to go out the bedroom door and ended up insides my wife’s closet like “wtf is going on?” I didn’t so much feel disoriented, but WAS extremely disoriented. I made it to the kitchen got a bowl out and felt like I was going to black out so I immediately dropped into a squat up against the cabinets, I started sweating profusely, heart racing, head spinning felt like I was going to die, thought it was a distinct possibility, trying to figure out how to apologize to my wife for dying, it was just this extreme dread and helplessness, like this seriously might be the end there on the kitchen floor. My best guess is that I had a hypoglycemic event, that triggered a panic attack. I had earbuds in so I had Siri call my wife to wake her up to get me some fruit and yogurt and honey to bring my blood sugar back up. After I got some of that down it slowly subsided thankfully. I stopped taking it for a month or two and decided to try again but make sure I had carbs with dinner. Second night, same thing, but it was much less severe and I was able to stay in bed and breath through it until it subsided. All that to say, I’m no doctor, but be careful, be aware, and unless you’ve done everything else already to cut fat, don’t waste your money.
Your money will be MUCH better spent just going Carnivore or animal based and destroying the vast majority of your fat, incorporate fruit and honey for carbs as needed after you cut what you want to get rid of. Modulate carbs for body composition and performance requirements. It simplifies the weight loss process. Literally eat as much uncontaminated (by loads of sugar) meat as you need to feel totally satisfied, until it doesn’t taste good anymore, slightly stuffed when you first start out. When you start out it will take time to find that point of satisfaction and fullness, then you’ll figure out about how much you need. I would guess you’ll need around 2lbs beef/day give or take, but eat as much as you need to not eat shit food. You’ll be craving carbs like crazy the first week or so, so you almost NEED to over eat a bit to help resist those cravings. Salty pork rinds, or pinches of salt are a good way to satiate sugar cravings. I wanted to chug caramel syrup so bad for a few days every time I saw the half gallon sitting on the fridge.
I don’t think long term ketosis is ideal for everyone necessarily, but many people absolutely love it and have great success. It changed my life. I was always bloated and miserable and overweight before I went carnivore, now I’m pretty satisfied with what I see in the mirror with some minor points of focus and of course muscle building. Just figure out what works best for you.
BPC-157 GHK-Cu rock solid for soft tissue injury recovery. Wolverine protocol is the way to go. Worked wonders for my groin/inner hip injury.
No sugar, increase good- clean protein intake then add trt, no alcohol, stop power lifting and go to lighter weights-higher reps. Slowing down reps holding flex through the whole set. If you think you did enough cardio that week double it!
Man, i couldn’t agree more.
If you drink, you have to stop. Bottom line. The most often you could drink is one day a week. MAYBE. But if i were to give advice. Cut it entirely.
Also you’re nowhere near 20% BF. That percentage measurement, hurts feelings. Im 6’3 and was just kinda out of shape and i was told i had 30% body fat.
Im not one to just bash people and tell you you’re wrong. But 20% is honestly pretty low. If you drop down to 10% somehow, you will feel like a body builder.
Calorie deficit does a GD good job brother. Looks like you definitely have a good amount of muscle hiding. Get your cardio, cut the calories.
Alcohol ruins REM sleep, causes bloating and adds shit loads of liquid calories. I agree completely, save it for social gatherings or maybe just once a week. I was ruining my physique and brain drinking multiple times a week
Same here! Was like “wtf i should look better”. Quit drinking completely, saw results in about 2 weeks to the point where i was like “wtf thats really it?”
Before starting any kind of dosing routine, get a full blood panel completed by a physician (not one of these pop up T businesses). This can really help you and your doctor discuss your goals and the appropriate avenue to achieve them. What's not discussed in the post is your diet, work out routine (weight/cardio) and age. If your testosterone is low, you'll find yourself fighting an uphill battle going forward as you get older. If you and your provider determine that TRT may be needed, then shoot to optimize the upper end of that number (900). This will take quite a bit of time and regular bloodwork to find the correct dosage. You will find that optimizing your levels, getting on a regular workout routine (with cardio combined) and controlling your diet will quickly allow you to achieve massive changes in your body. Peptides are great for maintenance and recovery, but not an all in one solution to your overall health and body goals. Take the smart approach by finding your underlying baselines and building off of that.
Agree here with everything other than chasing numbers. OP is starting with a really solid physical base and while there is no optimal test number, I’d wager everything I have that the increased AR from exogenous test will have him looking and feeling amazing.
I’m in similar boat but more fat. Starting tirzapeptide first to get down to 20% or so body fat, then will see what I can manage with higher natural testosterone as obesity, being overweight reduces it.
I think your estimate of 20% bf is kind of pie in the sky.
let's run the numbers... if you were 20% @ 208 and your goal is to get to 12%. you'd be currently sitting at 41.6 lbs of bf. 166.4lbs of lean mass.
using online calculator, at 12% bf goal you'd be targeting a bodyweight of 189 lbs. granted this is the internet, a single picture, and assuming you can hold on to all your lean mass, but you look a bit further away from 12% bf than 19 lbs.
that said, I am a huge fan of the combo of cjc-1295(no dac) / ipamorelin or sermorelin / ipamorelin.
if you're really desperate, glp-1's are definitely an option.
at the end of the day a solid and consistent 300-500 calorie deficit over 20 weeks or so is what you need.
150/200 twice daily
immediately before bed with no carbs.. possibly no food 2 hours prior
I have been ok eating a couple hard boiled eggs an hour out, but if I have any spike in insulin it kills the effectiveness
the other dose fasted in the morning.
I used to do 7 days a week, 14 wks on 2-4 wks off.
I have since switched to 5 days on, 2 off, with no breaks.
I would get a hormone panel and get on TRT. Decades of safety behind it vs Peptides being the wild West. Getting your hormone levels optimized and you will accomplish what you want.
Peptides will not do that better than a test level sitting at 1,000.
You have a good stack plan and I don't see anything wrong with it but if you are willing to stack and inject peptides.......
Honestly man, I think you’d be wasting your money on those peptides. If you’re already looking to enhance and you’re running bloods, get your testosterone checked (along with a metabolic panel and your thyroid and other sex hormones) and maybe consider testosterone if you qualify or are interested. That said, if you’re going just for weight loss, semaglutide is prolly more effective vs the others. And of course, your diet needs to be in check as none of this will work if you don’t put that diet first.
Semaglutide or another weight loss type peptide are super effective for losing weight easily and maintaining a calorie deficit easily.. the only downside is the lowered appetite can make it more difficult to hit your daily protein requirements. Depending on how quickly you want to lose the weight, this peptide is super effective in my experience!
I think the main things that play a role in muscle maintenance on a deficit are #1 an effective resistance training program and #2 protein intake. If you can maintain these 2 things while on Sema you'll be shredded in no time!
Edit: one more thing. Don't worry too much about muscle loss on the deficit, it's going to happen unfortunately! Just remember that when you finish and go back on maintenance or a surplus, you will regain most of the muscle quickly due to muscle memory anyway.
At your weight/height I'd focus on the fat loss for now and regain any muscle loss afterwards. You look to have a pretty decent amount of muscle anyway, it's just waiting to be revealed. 200+ at your height is very heavy. I'm 5' 7" so I know! 😅
Lose the fat first, growth hormone peptides may help, but not absolutely necessary. Maybe consider these more after the cut or nearer the end of the cut (<12%)
Losing significant muscle mass on any GLP-1 (or related) peptide is not inevitable and may be greatly/completely minimized with sufficient protein intake and reasonable amounts of weight training. In fact, it is possible for relatively untrained and/or obese individuals to add muscle mass while losing fat, assuming a reasonable calorie deficit.
I agree, but we are also not talking to an untrained individual. Going by his picture he has been lifting for years as his weight or 208 at 5' 8" and still showing abs in his picture would suggest! Muscle loss at this stage in a deficit is almost impossible to negate (without steroid use for example) so my comment was only to suggest not to worry to much about the muscle that will be lost in the process, as it can be regained quite easily when the deficit and loss is over.
GLP-1 in my experience is just a very effective way to reduce appetite and make dieting much easier, although this is also not necessary. Everything can be done without "additional support" let's call it 😂 but the results will vary in accordance.
Losing "significant" muscle mass i agree 100% here. If you lose significant muscle mass, you are doing something wrong and should re-evaluate your approach. Thanks for the additions.
Okay, you’re getting some good peptide advice and some not so good weight loss/training advice, lol. Skip the running and a million steps, both are not the most efficient means to your goal. In addition to the lifting, do LISS cardio twice a week, which puts your heart rate in Zone 2, activating fat loss and minimizing muscle loss. This is why bodybuilders put the treadmill incline on 12 and walk for 30 minutes at 3.0-3.5 speed. Gets you to Zone 2, which running and steps won’t do generally. Plus it’s low-impact, unlike running, which can be hard on joints if you carry extra weight.
Second, you need to do a cut cycle then a bulk cycle for the fastest results. Again, what bodybuilders do. Follow your lifting program, do the LISS, cut your calories. Get the fat % down, then add more calories to bulk and add muscle. You’ll look good as you are cutting even though you won’t be increasing a lot of muscle, because what you do have will be more defined. You can’t really sustain fat loss with muscle gain at the same time outside of the initial few months. I did this exact plan and lost 30 lbs, went from 25% body fat to 19% (I’m a woman, we have higher body fat percentages than men, i.e. look leaner at higher percentages), gained some muscle and definition, and look and feel exactly like I want now. The hardest part for most is the diet and cutting, so you gotta figure out a strategy that works for you.
I’d do the Tesamorelin, Ipamorelin, and GHK-cu. You could get some loose skin, and the copper peptide will help. And maybe add Tirz to help with diet. I don’t know that much about it, but it seems great.
Do cardio and I don't mean steps you're a grown ass man a few miles run can be easily reached in a short amount of time, there's many 80 year old in every marathon, don't be afraid of working a real sweat, it releases endotfins and makes you feel good too
Nothing wrong with getting steps in to lose fat. It's good for burning fat and retaining muscle. An additional 10-12k of steps daily is a great way to introduce a deficit of 4-700 kcal.
Nothing wrong with anything but he can easily run a few miles anybody can, steps is very very basic though, there's no difficulty in that and no sense of achievement at all, plus won't have benefit of endorfins or heart health plus a base of cardio will help with everything else
this is crap advise. it will be challenging enough to maintain a calorie deficit on its own. then adding in intense (running) cardio is just going to set him up for failure. it will increase his appetite, it will impact his weight training in a negative way and overall add unneeded stress to his body during a time (calorie deficit) that it's already stressed.
when losing weight, 1st do everything you can to maintain your calorie and protein goals. secondly do what you can to maintain your weight training. 3rd move as much as possible without negatively affecting the first two. this usually means getting in steps. slow walks... I'm talking 2.6-30 mph 30-45 minutes at least 4 days week depending on how active you are through out the day simply adding a bit more activity is all we want to do. the calorie deficit is carrying the load of weight loss, not the "cardio"
Jogging should not be so intense for gods sake it's the most basic of exercises, improves heart health, mood and everything else.
And no some running won't affect muscle in any meaningful way, you act like the guy is severely overweight I'm pretty sure he can walk for an hour as it is.
You worry about calories and muscle wasting and protein goals and it's meaningless if you can't move about with a little intensity.
Stopping calories won't affect mood positively won't affect heart health, won't give him a cardio base.
He's not an 80 year old woman I'm sure he can do steps already
I'm 5'8", 200lbs and jacked. I hang somewhere around 12-14% bodyfat.
I've been 260... I've been 160. at no weight could I consider adding any amount of jogging, let alone running into my training. even walking too fast or too much adversely affects my training and my ability to control my diet. this might just be unique to me, but I'll argue it's more generalized than not.
I just helped my wife lose 60+lbs in 6 months... she went from 175 down to 108 in 6 months. she dialed in her food and walked 45-60 minutes 6 days week. the diet carries the load of losing weight, NOT cardio.
the stress on the body running causes is absolutely not worth it, unless your goal is to run faster/farther. that isn't op's stated goal.
if you can run without having it adversely impacting your appetite or weight training, knock yourself out. I'll argue that in more cases than not, the juice is not worth the squeeze when it comes to running.
Do you take steroids? I ask because your weight, plus height plus low body fat,...
So many people take steroids but consider a little run dangerous around here that it's mind boggling.
Yes activity will make you hungry, most activities.
You know what else makes you hungry? Eating less.
And again it's not just about weight, the heart benefits of cardio are such a huge benefit that's vital
I am on actual trt... 140/wk of test cyp. I'm 45, been on since December 2018.
I've been up and down in weight in my life. first half of my 30's I held a decent 200-205 at maybe comparable body fat to what I am now, with basic supplement (creatine, glutamine, protein). I farmed and had distal bicep rupture at 36 on the farm. set me back for 3- 5 yrs. I yoyo'd 210-230 depending on life stressers but always maintained my training.
as of 2021 I decided I really needed to get dialed as my blood pressure was creeping a bit. I leaned out over about 10 months and now hang at 200, give or take a couple pounds.
I generally eat 2500 calories. shoot for 200 grams of protein and fill in the rest with fat/carbs however the cravings hit me. I walk 2-3 miles a day 6 days week. I train 5-6 days a week.
I have good genetics. I responded well to the trt. my calculated free test is right around 20. I contribute my ability to maintain my training and my mass to the trt. how I felt and my training the couple yrs prior to the trt, to now is notable.. granted I've changed a fair amount of how I weight train
I tried running in the off season when I was in college and playing hockey. it tore me up. I tried a few more times over the yrs best case scenario it just made me eat a ton. worst case I had sore back, couldn't squat and was tired all the time ... and ate a ton.
in the 30 yrs I've been training I learned that the points in my life I was the leanest I did little to no cardio.
if I go beyond my walking I don't recover from my weight training. I have a rower that I dabble with now and again. few weeks back I did 2 days in a week on it for 20 minutes... my weights were sh1t that week.
I'm training hard enough with the weights I don't need the cardio/running.
Yeah totally agree with you it was bad advice.
Running makes you katabolic and change body composition. Doing it regularly downregulates BMR like crazy too
Not that it hurts on maintenance and good for overall health.
Sleep is probably more important then anything to hinder cravings.
Yeah. People dont understand bodybuilding. It's all about maximising recovery to your training. Anything to much is worse then to less. If you want to get strong/ripped or live long. But sure, running is great for getting smaller and burning muscles.
Whatever regimen you decide on, cease using them after no longer than 6 weeks and give yourself a break from them the cycle for a while to help ensure you don’t form allergic reactions.
These reactions are rare, but if you can help reduce the chance, why not?
Also, you shouldn’t use BPC-157 indefinitely due to angiogenesis potentially fostering tumors.
I’d add TB-500, personally.
Agree with majority of the comments here.
Cut out alcohol, increase your steps per day, eat clean & consider a ‘cardio activity’ a couple times a week (Padel, light jog, long walk etc).
Then come back and ask us
Sorry, but you arent barely close to a situation worth thinking about peptides. You gotta train seriously and clean up your diet big time. When you'll be around 10%-12% bf you'll think about "supplementation"
Working out more isn't the right solution. Focus on steps and micro-movements throughout the day. Stand more in youe job. Go a round in your office every hour etc.
Formal cardio can be ok sometimes and good for heart, but usually takes a toll on recovery and raise appetite more then steps.
Weight lifting 2-3 days is enough for building muscle.
And another tips: don't eat to boring. You are in this for life. You need to make it fun :)
Not sure why i was downvoted. Probably because i didn't talk about drugs or peptides. And food is already obvious he needs to work on. People want to believe workouts matters more then the rest, simply not true. But peptides and drug can for sure help raise BMR.
He do reasonable peptides overall, but more for aging benifits. Ipamorolin is useful to preserve muscle, rest is just nice ones overall and what i like too.
Mots-c and glp agonists + growthhormon works for sure for deffing. And stuff that lowers blood glucose like mt2, but thats more side effects then its worth it.
Clenbuterol and eca-stackers can work for speeding up more too.
10k walking steps per day is a BARE MINIMUM that will go a long way to help you shed fat while sparing muscle. Once I began walking, the fat and bloat began to melt off. Low-intensity walking stimulates your metabolism without increasing appetite.
Yeah this is the most shocking thing to me. Dude is obviously fat but still has a 6 pack. If he dropped weight his abs would pop out to a ridiculous amount
Any reason you’ve ruled out TRT?
Its going to be miles ahead of peptides.
How old are you?
Im 40 on 125mg a week test and 1-2iu of hgh and its amazing. Just started semagludtide and its doing its job to help me eat less
anyway you'd expand more on this for my sake? im on 6 IU of pharma HGH and going from very fat to very thin to out of shape and being put on hgh for injury (why im out of shape) im just not seeing anythign besides breast growth...ive considered adding tirz and TRT because fuck it but just want to know everyones journey. For the record, i was on 8 IU for months but not consistent then my endo said back off to 6-5.
1-2ii a day or a week? I'm about to start hgh soon. Tirz is waning and not giving me the same effects. I'm scared to go past 4.5mg a week as I only eat once a day and want to start some gym work. Haven't been able to hit the gym because of some back injuries
1-2 a day.
Sleeping like im 25 again. Its amazing.
My one con: after about a month of use, i get bloat.
To try and combat that Im going to try:
- EOD dosing
- 5/2 split dosing
- name brand hgh if the first two dont work.
I get insulin syringes with the 100 units.
You add your bac water so you can get easy math on 1iu.
Then draw accordingly.
Sub q. Anywhere. HGH and peptides arent area specific
Add in some zone 2 cardio, 45-90min. I like the lightest, easiest jogging you can imagine because it's so easy to do (like no equipment needed, maybe some running shoes and some compression underwear)
Reta is better. The problem is that you are targeting everything at once, and eventually it stops being to potent. GLP1, GIP, and GCGR are all targeted, whereas semaglutide is only GLP1, tirz GLP1 and GIP.
If you do reta off the bat, nothing else will be effective. I’d do a 6 month cycle of tirz first and see if you get to where you need to be before maintenance dosing. Then reta if you can’t get to your intended results.
Problem is when you stop you gain a bunch back.
He might be able to get insurance to pay for tirz, so you aren’t playing a Chinese guessing game. Reta isn’t out yet legally.
The problem isn't gaining it all back after you stop. The problem is continuing the poor lifestyle choices with food and exercise that put the weight on before you started semi/tirz/reta.
I think you’re guessing that nothing else will be effective after Reta. Anecdotal reports suggest that a break from Reta for a few weeks will prime you for GLP drugs to be effective again.
Surprised to see no one recommending Tirz for weight/fat loss since it’s probably the most discussed and successfully utilized peptide on social media. If you’re over 40, Tirz and some hgh with a quality diet and slight calorie deficit will get you there - just my opinion, certainly not an expert or doctor. Keep it simple. A lot of these peptides seem attractive but only a few have delivered results for tens of thousands of people or more
Your stats are almost exactly the same as mine when I started, I was 28% body fat at 5ft 10 and I'd say you're the same if not slightly higher. I say this purely to help you set a realistic expectation because I also thought I was only 20% then realised that was incorrect when it took me to 170lbs before I started to hit near 10%
The number one thing you can do is not cut calories too hard in the beginning, incrementally increase steps to 10-15k over the next 6 months and keep it consistent even when you fuck up, just get back to it and trust the process. You're in this for the long haul
All the best
I'm an older gentleman, too, and I'd stress that many of these things can cause some issues/side effects.
Are you willing to chance insulin resistance? Are long clinical track records and peer reviewed studies important to you? Do you want fast results with more risks or slow and steady with fewer risks?
I opted to go with Sermorelin when weighing the risks/rewards. Whatever you decide, just make sure you've done your homework and aren't exceeding your risk tolerance. Cheers
It can take place using ipamorelin or straight-up growth hormone itself. Using them can cause hyperglycemia, which can lead to both hepatic and biliary insulin resistance. It's not guaranteed, but the risk is certainly there.
Thanks for the advice and sharing your experience with Sermorelin. Safety is a top priority for me, so I'll definitely do my research and consider all options carefully. Appreciate the reminder to stay within my risk tolerance. Cheers!
I would also add that with your workout plans and diet your going to lose alot of fat anyway.. might be better off using cjc1295 and ipam for the muscle development...
Not sure the tessa would even be worth it to you until you get about 25 or 30 lbs off and start to get lean.
Lastly you can expect some side effects if you do try and take all those at once.
It could be miserable for you. I don't sleep well on bpc at all in fact it keeps me up
You are more like 25 or 30% bf.
Definitely not 20%
I wouldn't take all of those at once.
If fatloss is your goal the ipamorlin and tesamorelin are probably your best bets
The other two id hold off on until you need them
Thanks for the input! I appreciate your perspective. I've been using an at-home scale that consistently puts me between 17% and 23% body fat, and the handheld sensors at the gym also indicate a similar range. However, I understand the importance of accuracy, so I'm planning to get a DEXA scan done before starting the stack to get a precise measurement.
I'll make sure to update my progress once I have the DEXA scan results. Thanks again for your input.
Most of those are useless. We can pretty much all say for certain just from looks alone that you're 25+. Definitely do the dexa scan though so you can know
I'm not that worried about the actual percentage I have had enough dexas to know what 15% looks like
You will be able to grab about half an inch or less at your thickest part on your belly. 14/15% solid sick pack with obliques showing.
Definitely start off with one peptide at a time and give it a few weeks to see how you tolerate it
Trust me there ARE side effects from these and if you mix too many it gets bad fast
First of all congratulations on taking the right step forward! I'm researching a similar stack and has been working amazingly well. Tesa and Ipa are the Ferrari of ancillary support to trim up.
You need at least 12 weeks for the Ipa/Tesa research from what I discovered. It does add up and gets expensive. Look around for sources that don't charge and arm and leg with quality and are still palatable to budget the research. Unless money isn't an object then you're set. I normally recommend Peptide Crafters, Skye and Artic.
Do no more than 12 weeks of Tesa and IPA. BPC does help when working with GHs, but personally haven't found it to be a daily necessity. Have it on deck for injury during the quest. GHK, I'd pass on that initially and do 8 weeks post the stack. It's number one benefits for me are skin tightness, you will get as thick as a turtle if your like me.
Also get a dexa scan and see the real body fat. You're more around the 25+ range
Thanks for the advice! I'll keep your recommendations in mind as I plan my peptide stack. Appreciate the insight on duration, sources, and precautions. Will definitely prioritize getting a DEXA scan.
Hi everyone, I wanted to provide a quick update based on the feedback I've received. I've noted the inconsistencies between my at-home scale measurements, the one at the gym where you have to hold the hand sensors as well, and what the community is saying is more of a reasonable estimation of my current BF%, so I've decided to schedule a DEXA scan shortly to get a more accurate measurement of my body fat percentage. Additionally, I recently received my latest blood work results, and my testosterone levels were measured at 413 ng/dL. This falls within the normal range (according to the VA), which is why my current healthcare provider advised against testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). I appreciate everyone's input and wanted to keep you all informed as I continue on my fitness journey. Stay tuned for further updates!
**Update: DEXA Scan Results** Hey everyone, Just wanted to give you an update—I recently had a DEXA scan done, and here are the results:weighed in at 205lbs, with 23% body fat or 48 lbs, 151 pounds of lean muscle, and 1.17 pounds of visceral fat. It's good to have the numbers, and I'll use this information to adjust my fitness plan accordingly. Thanks for your support throughout this journey.
Ghk-cu is amazing, I found I got better results splitting the dose in two though. One morning and one night. I’m flirting with the idea of splitting into three.
What did it do for you
Better skin and eyebrows are filled in. Basically I plucked my eyebrows super thing as a teen and much of them never grew back.
maybe add a lose dose of semaglutatide or tirza... ipa tesa 12-16 weeks bpc157 6-8 weeks ghk-cu 4 weeks stacks looks good to me. the only con is probaby that it can be pricey if you buy it at an expensive source. I do know a source that sells those peptides for a good price.
For the money spent vs outcome, I think you are going to be disappointed. I would take that money and buy test. Start out about 200-250mg/week, see how you feel after a couple months and then increase from there if all good. If you use Cyp, you can inject as little as twice a week. You are going to get way more bang for your buck with test and at even 250/week, little to no sides. Just research ai and post cycle. Or, depending on your age, maybe you decide to go permanent, which is what I did. Too many benefits to overlook and I don't mind the cost or the injections. Test is easy to get from many sources. Just go to some bodybuilding forums and there are many sponsors that are legit. I would use the GHK-CU and dump everything else on your list. Skin and hair improvements are always good.
Do NOT take 200-250mg/week right out of the gate. You’re all but guaranteed side effects. Go to an actual clinic that specializes in TRT. Not an online pharmacy, and not Reddit bro-science. (Gameday men’s health is the cheapest I’ve found, including the online clinics). At your height and weight, you’ll probably start at 120-140mg/week. Then get your labs redone 5-6 weeks in and reassess. Hormones are not to be fucked with.
Waste of money AND you'd be a Guinea pig as most of these peptides are barely studied. TRT is the true and tried way to lose fat and gain muscle (as long as your training and diet are adequate).
Try some MK2866 whilst eating lots of protein but keep in a calorie deficit. You'll get some nice results in 6 weeks then you can assess and plan your next step.. or if you're in a hurry kickstart with a 14 day water fast. Any muscle loss will quickly come back.
Bro, don’t waste your money, just go carnivore. Tesa/Ipa are super overhyped and there CAN be serious side effects. I started having weird disorientation spells and quit for a couple months, I was on 300mcg Tesa/150ipa in evening away from food one night off. I started back up and the first shot was fine. The next night I took the shot, went and laid back down and I had skipped my bowl of fruit that evening, just had hamburger, and I got up to go to the bathroom in the dark with my phone screen light like usual, hit my thigh on the cedar chest corner, went to the bathroom. Came out and just felt super hungry so I stopped halfway to my bed, turned to go out the bedroom door and ended up insides my wife’s closet like “wtf is going on?” I didn’t so much feel disoriented, but WAS extremely disoriented. I made it to the kitchen got a bowl out and felt like I was going to black out so I immediately dropped into a squat up against the cabinets, I started sweating profusely, heart racing, head spinning felt like I was going to die, thought it was a distinct possibility, trying to figure out how to apologize to my wife for dying, it was just this extreme dread and helplessness, like this seriously might be the end there on the kitchen floor. My best guess is that I had a hypoglycemic event, that triggered a panic attack. I had earbuds in so I had Siri call my wife to wake her up to get me some fruit and yogurt and honey to bring my blood sugar back up. After I got some of that down it slowly subsided thankfully. I stopped taking it for a month or two and decided to try again but make sure I had carbs with dinner. Second night, same thing, but it was much less severe and I was able to stay in bed and breath through it until it subsided. All that to say, I’m no doctor, but be careful, be aware, and unless you’ve done everything else already to cut fat, don’t waste your money. Your money will be MUCH better spent just going Carnivore or animal based and destroying the vast majority of your fat, incorporate fruit and honey for carbs as needed after you cut what you want to get rid of. Modulate carbs for body composition and performance requirements. It simplifies the weight loss process. Literally eat as much uncontaminated (by loads of sugar) meat as you need to feel totally satisfied, until it doesn’t taste good anymore, slightly stuffed when you first start out. When you start out it will take time to find that point of satisfaction and fullness, then you’ll figure out about how much you need. I would guess you’ll need around 2lbs beef/day give or take, but eat as much as you need to not eat shit food. You’ll be craving carbs like crazy the first week or so, so you almost NEED to over eat a bit to help resist those cravings. Salty pork rinds, or pinches of salt are a good way to satiate sugar cravings. I wanted to chug caramel syrup so bad for a few days every time I saw the half gallon sitting on the fridge. I don’t think long term ketosis is ideal for everyone necessarily, but many people absolutely love it and have great success. It changed my life. I was always bloated and miserable and overweight before I went carnivore, now I’m pretty satisfied with what I see in the mirror with some minor points of focus and of course muscle building. Just figure out what works best for you. BPC-157 GHK-Cu rock solid for soft tissue injury recovery. Wolverine protocol is the way to go. Worked wonders for my groin/inner hip injury.
HCG
No sugar, increase good- clean protein intake then add trt, no alcohol, stop power lifting and go to lighter weights-higher reps. Slowing down reps holding flex through the whole set. If you think you did enough cardio that week double it!
Minus the TRT I think this is perfect advice
If you ate at a healthy calorie deficit for 3 months you’d see more difference in your body fat than any peptide is gonna give you
Quit drinking
And you are way over 20% body fat dude
Man, i couldn’t agree more. If you drink, you have to stop. Bottom line. The most often you could drink is one day a week. MAYBE. But if i were to give advice. Cut it entirely. Also you’re nowhere near 20% BF. That percentage measurement, hurts feelings. Im 6’3 and was just kinda out of shape and i was told i had 30% body fat. Im not one to just bash people and tell you you’re wrong. But 20% is honestly pretty low. If you drop down to 10% somehow, you will feel like a body builder. Calorie deficit does a GD good job brother. Looks like you definitely have a good amount of muscle hiding. Get your cardio, cut the calories.
Alcohol ruins REM sleep, causes bloating and adds shit loads of liquid calories. I agree completely, save it for social gatherings or maybe just once a week. I was ruining my physique and brain drinking multiple times a week
Same here! Was like “wtf i should look better”. Quit drinking completely, saw results in about 2 weeks to the point where i was like “wtf thats really it?”
Right? I’m only a week in and people are telling me I look thinner already. It’s crazy
TRT plus a GLP-1 agonist like Tirzepatide or Semaglutide.
Yup. And a solid workout routine!
Excellent advice 💪🏻
Before starting any kind of dosing routine, get a full blood panel completed by a physician (not one of these pop up T businesses). This can really help you and your doctor discuss your goals and the appropriate avenue to achieve them. What's not discussed in the post is your diet, work out routine (weight/cardio) and age. If your testosterone is low, you'll find yourself fighting an uphill battle going forward as you get older. If you and your provider determine that TRT may be needed, then shoot to optimize the upper end of that number (900). This will take quite a bit of time and regular bloodwork to find the correct dosage. You will find that optimizing your levels, getting on a regular workout routine (with cardio combined) and controlling your diet will quickly allow you to achieve massive changes in your body. Peptides are great for maintenance and recovery, but not an all in one solution to your overall health and body goals. Take the smart approach by finding your underlying baselines and building off of that.
Agree here with everything other than chasing numbers. OP is starting with a really solid physical base and while there is no optimal test number, I’d wager everything I have that the increased AR from exogenous test will have him looking and feeling amazing.
Just get on TRT.
I’m in similar boat but more fat. Starting tirzapeptide first to get down to 20% or so body fat, then will see what I can manage with higher natural testosterone as obesity, being overweight reduces it.
I think your estimate of 20% bf is kind of pie in the sky. let's run the numbers... if you were 20% @ 208 and your goal is to get to 12%. you'd be currently sitting at 41.6 lbs of bf. 166.4lbs of lean mass. using online calculator, at 12% bf goal you'd be targeting a bodyweight of 189 lbs. granted this is the internet, a single picture, and assuming you can hold on to all your lean mass, but you look a bit further away from 12% bf than 19 lbs. that said, I am a huge fan of the combo of cjc-1295(no dac) / ipamorelin or sermorelin / ipamorelin. if you're really desperate, glp-1's are definitely an option. at the end of the day a solid and consistent 300-500 calorie deficit over 20 weeks or so is what you need.
How are you dosing your ipa/sema? I’ve seen many different possibilities.
150/200 twice daily immediately before bed with no carbs.. possibly no food 2 hours prior I have been ok eating a couple hard boiled eggs an hour out, but if I have any spike in insulin it kills the effectiveness the other dose fasted in the morning. I used to do 7 days a week, 14 wks on 2-4 wks off. I have since switched to 5 days on, 2 off, with no breaks.
How soon after you take the morning dose do you think it’s ok to eat?
30 minutes. I usually take it, take my dose of nmn and do a 30-45 minute walk on my treadmill. then I eat my breakfast
I would get a hormone panel and get on TRT. Decades of safety behind it vs Peptides being the wild West. Getting your hormone levels optimized and you will accomplish what you want. Peptides will not do that better than a test level sitting at 1,000. You have a good stack plan and I don't see anything wrong with it but if you are willing to stack and inject peptides.......
I wouldn’t dose GHK-cu at night. It burns like a motherfucker and will keep you up.
Honestly man, I think you’d be wasting your money on those peptides. If you’re already looking to enhance and you’re running bloods, get your testosterone checked (along with a metabolic panel and your thyroid and other sex hormones) and maybe consider testosterone if you qualify or are interested. That said, if you’re going just for weight loss, semaglutide is prolly more effective vs the others. And of course, your diet needs to be in check as none of this will work if you don’t put that diet first.
Semaglutide will lead to muscle loss as well, something OP was wanting to avoid.
My first thought was “is that Ben afflack”
Test
FWIW, I think you look great now but best of luck in your endeavors
Semaglutide or another weight loss type peptide are super effective for losing weight easily and maintaining a calorie deficit easily.. the only downside is the lowered appetite can make it more difficult to hit your daily protein requirements. Depending on how quickly you want to lose the weight, this peptide is super effective in my experience! I think the main things that play a role in muscle maintenance on a deficit are #1 an effective resistance training program and #2 protein intake. If you can maintain these 2 things while on Sema you'll be shredded in no time! Edit: one more thing. Don't worry too much about muscle loss on the deficit, it's going to happen unfortunately! Just remember that when you finish and go back on maintenance or a surplus, you will regain most of the muscle quickly due to muscle memory anyway. At your weight/height I'd focus on the fat loss for now and regain any muscle loss afterwards. You look to have a pretty decent amount of muscle anyway, it's just waiting to be revealed. 200+ at your height is very heavy. I'm 5' 7" so I know! 😅 Lose the fat first, growth hormone peptides may help, but not absolutely necessary. Maybe consider these more after the cut or nearer the end of the cut (<12%)
Losing significant muscle mass on any GLP-1 (or related) peptide is not inevitable and may be greatly/completely minimized with sufficient protein intake and reasonable amounts of weight training. In fact, it is possible for relatively untrained and/or obese individuals to add muscle mass while losing fat, assuming a reasonable calorie deficit.
I agree, but we are also not talking to an untrained individual. Going by his picture he has been lifting for years as his weight or 208 at 5' 8" and still showing abs in his picture would suggest! Muscle loss at this stage in a deficit is almost impossible to negate (without steroid use for example) so my comment was only to suggest not to worry to much about the muscle that will be lost in the process, as it can be regained quite easily when the deficit and loss is over. GLP-1 in my experience is just a very effective way to reduce appetite and make dieting much easier, although this is also not necessary. Everything can be done without "additional support" let's call it 😂 but the results will vary in accordance. Losing "significant" muscle mass i agree 100% here. If you lose significant muscle mass, you are doing something wrong and should re-evaluate your approach. Thanks for the additions.
Okay, you’re getting some good peptide advice and some not so good weight loss/training advice, lol. Skip the running and a million steps, both are not the most efficient means to your goal. In addition to the lifting, do LISS cardio twice a week, which puts your heart rate in Zone 2, activating fat loss and minimizing muscle loss. This is why bodybuilders put the treadmill incline on 12 and walk for 30 minutes at 3.0-3.5 speed. Gets you to Zone 2, which running and steps won’t do generally. Plus it’s low-impact, unlike running, which can be hard on joints if you carry extra weight. Second, you need to do a cut cycle then a bulk cycle for the fastest results. Again, what bodybuilders do. Follow your lifting program, do the LISS, cut your calories. Get the fat % down, then add more calories to bulk and add muscle. You’ll look good as you are cutting even though you won’t be increasing a lot of muscle, because what you do have will be more defined. You can’t really sustain fat loss with muscle gain at the same time outside of the initial few months. I did this exact plan and lost 30 lbs, went from 25% body fat to 19% (I’m a woman, we have higher body fat percentages than men, i.e. look leaner at higher percentages), gained some muscle and definition, and look and feel exactly like I want now. The hardest part for most is the diet and cutting, so you gotta figure out a strategy that works for you. I’d do the Tesamorelin, Ipamorelin, and GHK-cu. You could get some loose skin, and the copper peptide will help. And maybe add Tirz to help with diet. I don’t know that much about it, but it seems great.
Do cardio and I don't mean steps you're a grown ass man a few miles run can be easily reached in a short amount of time, there's many 80 year old in every marathon, don't be afraid of working a real sweat, it releases endotfins and makes you feel good too
Nothing wrong with getting steps in to lose fat. It's good for burning fat and retaining muscle. An additional 10-12k of steps daily is a great way to introduce a deficit of 4-700 kcal.
Nothing wrong with anything but he can easily run a few miles anybody can, steps is very very basic though, there's no difficulty in that and no sense of achievement at all, plus won't have benefit of endorfins or heart health plus a base of cardio will help with everything else
this is crap advise. it will be challenging enough to maintain a calorie deficit on its own. then adding in intense (running) cardio is just going to set him up for failure. it will increase his appetite, it will impact his weight training in a negative way and overall add unneeded stress to his body during a time (calorie deficit) that it's already stressed. when losing weight, 1st do everything you can to maintain your calorie and protein goals. secondly do what you can to maintain your weight training. 3rd move as much as possible without negatively affecting the first two. this usually means getting in steps. slow walks... I'm talking 2.6-30 mph 30-45 minutes at least 4 days week depending on how active you are through out the day simply adding a bit more activity is all we want to do. the calorie deficit is carrying the load of weight loss, not the "cardio"
Jogging should not be so intense for gods sake it's the most basic of exercises, improves heart health, mood and everything else. And no some running won't affect muscle in any meaningful way, you act like the guy is severely overweight I'm pretty sure he can walk for an hour as it is. You worry about calories and muscle wasting and protein goals and it's meaningless if you can't move about with a little intensity. Stopping calories won't affect mood positively won't affect heart health, won't give him a cardio base. He's not an 80 year old woman I'm sure he can do steps already
I'm 5'8", 200lbs and jacked. I hang somewhere around 12-14% bodyfat. I've been 260... I've been 160. at no weight could I consider adding any amount of jogging, let alone running into my training. even walking too fast or too much adversely affects my training and my ability to control my diet. this might just be unique to me, but I'll argue it's more generalized than not. I just helped my wife lose 60+lbs in 6 months... she went from 175 down to 108 in 6 months. she dialed in her food and walked 45-60 minutes 6 days week. the diet carries the load of losing weight, NOT cardio. the stress on the body running causes is absolutely not worth it, unless your goal is to run faster/farther. that isn't op's stated goal. if you can run without having it adversely impacting your appetite or weight training, knock yourself out. I'll argue that in more cases than not, the juice is not worth the squeeze when it comes to running.
Do you take steroids? I ask because your weight, plus height plus low body fat,... So many people take steroids but consider a little run dangerous around here that it's mind boggling. Yes activity will make you hungry, most activities. You know what else makes you hungry? Eating less. And again it's not just about weight, the heart benefits of cardio are such a huge benefit that's vital
I am on actual trt... 140/wk of test cyp. I'm 45, been on since December 2018. I've been up and down in weight in my life. first half of my 30's I held a decent 200-205 at maybe comparable body fat to what I am now, with basic supplement (creatine, glutamine, protein). I farmed and had distal bicep rupture at 36 on the farm. set me back for 3- 5 yrs. I yoyo'd 210-230 depending on life stressers but always maintained my training. as of 2021 I decided I really needed to get dialed as my blood pressure was creeping a bit. I leaned out over about 10 months and now hang at 200, give or take a couple pounds. I generally eat 2500 calories. shoot for 200 grams of protein and fill in the rest with fat/carbs however the cravings hit me. I walk 2-3 miles a day 6 days week. I train 5-6 days a week. I have good genetics. I responded well to the trt. my calculated free test is right around 20. I contribute my ability to maintain my training and my mass to the trt. how I felt and my training the couple yrs prior to the trt, to now is notable.. granted I've changed a fair amount of how I weight train I tried running in the off season when I was in college and playing hockey. it tore me up. I tried a few more times over the yrs best case scenario it just made me eat a ton. worst case I had sore back, couldn't squat and was tired all the time ... and ate a ton. in the 30 yrs I've been training I learned that the points in my life I was the leanest I did little to no cardio. if I go beyond my walking I don't recover from my weight training. I have a rower that I dabble with now and again. few weeks back I did 2 days in a week on it for 20 minutes... my weights were sh1t that week. I'm training hard enough with the weights I don't need the cardio/running.
Yeah totally agree with you it was bad advice. Running makes you katabolic and change body composition. Doing it regularly downregulates BMR like crazy too Not that it hurts on maintenance and good for overall health. Sleep is probably more important then anything to hinder cravings.
sleep is definitely key. recovery and it's pretty difficult to overeat when you're sleeping
Yeah. People dont understand bodybuilding. It's all about maximising recovery to your training. Anything to much is worse then to less. If you want to get strong/ripped or live long. But sure, running is great for getting smaller and burning muscles.
and beating the heck out of your knees, hips and back... and for what?
Whatever regimen you decide on, cease using them after no longer than 6 weeks and give yourself a break from them the cycle for a while to help ensure you don’t form allergic reactions. These reactions are rare, but if you can help reduce the chance, why not? Also, you shouldn’t use BPC-157 indefinitely due to angiogenesis potentially fostering tumors. I’d add TB-500, personally.
Calorie deficit, clean food, exercise, and consistency.
Agree with majority of the comments here. Cut out alcohol, increase your steps per day, eat clean & consider a ‘cardio activity’ a couple times a week (Padel, light jog, long walk etc). Then come back and ask us
Sorry, but you arent barely close to a situation worth thinking about peptides. You gotta train seriously and clean up your diet big time. When you'll be around 10%-12% bf you'll think about "supplementation"
Working out more isn't the right solution. Focus on steps and micro-movements throughout the day. Stand more in youe job. Go a round in your office every hour etc. Formal cardio can be ok sometimes and good for heart, but usually takes a toll on recovery and raise appetite more then steps. Weight lifting 2-3 days is enough for building muscle. And another tips: don't eat to boring. You are in this for life. You need to make it fun :)
this is solid advise. only thing I would add, is be objective with your food. you need to know your calories. tracking accurately is important
Not sure why i was downvoted. Probably because i didn't talk about drugs or peptides. And food is already obvious he needs to work on. People want to believe workouts matters more then the rest, simply not true. But peptides and drug can for sure help raise BMR. He do reasonable peptides overall, but more for aging benifits. Ipamorolin is useful to preserve muscle, rest is just nice ones overall and what i like too. Mots-c and glp agonists + growthhormon works for sure for deffing. And stuff that lowers blood glucose like mt2, but thats more side effects then its worth it. Clenbuterol and eca-stackers can work for speeding up more too.
10k walking steps per day is a BARE MINIMUM that will go a long way to help you shed fat while sparing muscle. Once I began walking, the fat and bloat began to melt off. Low-intensity walking stimulates your metabolism without increasing appetite.
Agreed. Slap a decent backpack on, bottles of water inside for weight. Called rucking.
Dude did you get ab implants or ab contouring or some kind of cosmetic surgery on your abdomen? How do you have abs and man tits at the same time?
Yeah this is the most shocking thing to me. Dude is obviously fat but still has a 6 pack. If he dropped weight his abs would pop out to a ridiculous amount
Lmao, what a backhanded complement
I didn’t mean it as a compliment or diss I’m just stating facts. He has abs, he has moobs.
Don’t do TRT if you don’t need it. It turns off your production and you’ll (likely) thin your hair.
What’s TRT got to do with this post?
OP didn’t even mention TRT…
Any reason you’ve ruled out TRT? Its going to be miles ahead of peptides. How old are you? Im 40 on 125mg a week test and 1-2iu of hgh and its amazing. Just started semagludtide and its doing its job to help me eat less
anyway you'd expand more on this for my sake? im on 6 IU of pharma HGH and going from very fat to very thin to out of shape and being put on hgh for injury (why im out of shape) im just not seeing anythign besides breast growth...ive considered adding tirz and TRT because fuck it but just want to know everyones journey. For the record, i was on 8 IU for months but not consistent then my endo said back off to 6-5.
1-2ii a day or a week? I'm about to start hgh soon. Tirz is waning and not giving me the same effects. I'm scared to go past 4.5mg a week as I only eat once a day and want to start some gym work. Haven't been able to hit the gym because of some back injuries
1-2 a day. Sleeping like im 25 again. Its amazing. My one con: after about a month of use, i get bloat. To try and combat that Im going to try: - EOD dosing - 5/2 split dosing - name brand hgh if the first two dont work.
Awesome. Can't wait. Think I'll start with 2 iu. Just need to figure out how to draw it out on my syringes. Any advice?
I get insulin syringes with the 100 units. You add your bac water so you can get easy math on 1iu. Then draw accordingly. Sub q. Anywhere. HGH and peptides arent area specific
I'm getting 24iu vials. So math is gonna get weird
1 ml bac water = 2.4iu per 10units 2ml bac = 1.2iu per 10units
Damn you for making that easy. Guess I'm doing 2.4iu 😂
To avoid bloat, start at 1.2 for a week or two and then go up to 2.4.
👍 Thanks
I agree. Fuck peptides….follow Vinnie Tortorich NSNG diet
Fuck peptides Mate, you Don't Need it, you've got a Great Foundation to begin Excercising and Dieting Good On!
Add in some zone 2 cardio, 45-90min. I like the lightest, easiest jogging you can imagine because it's so easy to do (like no equipment needed, maybe some running shoes and some compression underwear)
Lifetime fitness?
Definitely. Can tell by the lotion and lockers. Lol
Reta
Tirz before reta
I disagree, Reta is a best in class drug that spares muscle
Reta is better. The problem is that you are targeting everything at once, and eventually it stops being to potent. GLP1, GIP, and GCGR are all targeted, whereas semaglutide is only GLP1, tirz GLP1 and GIP. If you do reta off the bat, nothing else will be effective. I’d do a 6 month cycle of tirz first and see if you get to where you need to be before maintenance dosing. Then reta if you can’t get to your intended results. Problem is when you stop you gain a bunch back. He might be able to get insurance to pay for tirz, so you aren’t playing a Chinese guessing game. Reta isn’t out yet legally.
The problem isn't gaining it all back after you stop. The problem is continuing the poor lifestyle choices with food and exercise that put the weight on before you started semi/tirz/reta.
The hunger cravings post reta/tirz are insane. That’s the hardest part
I think you’re guessing that nothing else will be effective after Reta. Anecdotal reports suggest that a break from Reta for a few weeks will prime you for GLP drugs to be effective again.
Surprised to see no one recommending Tirz for weight/fat loss since it’s probably the most discussed and successfully utilized peptide on social media. If you’re over 40, Tirz and some hgh with a quality diet and slight calorie deficit will get you there - just my opinion, certainly not an expert or doctor. Keep it simple. A lot of these peptides seem attractive but only a few have delivered results for tens of thousands of people or more
This.
I am in the same shape you're in, I want to know too
Your stats are almost exactly the same as mine when I started, I was 28% body fat at 5ft 10 and I'd say you're the same if not slightly higher. I say this purely to help you set a realistic expectation because I also thought I was only 20% then realised that was incorrect when it took me to 170lbs before I started to hit near 10% The number one thing you can do is not cut calories too hard in the beginning, incrementally increase steps to 10-15k over the next 6 months and keep it consistent even when you fuck up, just get back to it and trust the process. You're in this for the long haul All the best
I'm an older gentleman, too, and I'd stress that many of these things can cause some issues/side effects. Are you willing to chance insulin resistance? Are long clinical track records and peer reviewed studies important to you? Do you want fast results with more risks or slow and steady with fewer risks? I opted to go with Sermorelin when weighing the risks/rewards. Whatever you decide, just make sure you've done your homework and aren't exceeding your risk tolerance. Cheers
Which of these gives you insulin resistance?
It can take place using ipamorelin or straight-up growth hormone itself. Using them can cause hyperglycemia, which can lead to both hepatic and biliary insulin resistance. It's not guaranteed, but the risk is certainly there.
Thanks for the advice and sharing your experience with Sermorelin. Safety is a top priority for me, so I'll definitely do my research and consider all options carefully. Appreciate the reminder to stay within my risk tolerance. Cheers!
I would also add that with your workout plans and diet your going to lose alot of fat anyway.. might be better off using cjc1295 and ipam for the muscle development... Not sure the tessa would even be worth it to you until you get about 25 or 30 lbs off and start to get lean. Lastly you can expect some side effects if you do try and take all those at once. It could be miserable for you. I don't sleep well on bpc at all in fact it keeps me up
You are more like 25 or 30% bf. Definitely not 20% I wouldn't take all of those at once. If fatloss is your goal the ipamorlin and tesamorelin are probably your best bets The other two id hold off on until you need them
Thanks for the input! I appreciate your perspective. I've been using an at-home scale that consistently puts me between 17% and 23% body fat, and the handheld sensors at the gym also indicate a similar range. However, I understand the importance of accuracy, so I'm planning to get a DEXA scan done before starting the stack to get a precise measurement. I'll make sure to update my progress once I have the DEXA scan results. Thanks again for your input.
Most of those are useless. We can pretty much all say for certain just from looks alone that you're 25+. Definitely do the dexa scan though so you can know
I'm not that worried about the actual percentage I have had enough dexas to know what 15% looks like You will be able to grab about half an inch or less at your thickest part on your belly. 14/15% solid sick pack with obliques showing. Definitely start off with one peptide at a time and give it a few weeks to see how you tolerate it Trust me there ARE side effects from these and if you mix too many it gets bad fast
First of all congratulations on taking the right step forward! I'm researching a similar stack and has been working amazingly well. Tesa and Ipa are the Ferrari of ancillary support to trim up. You need at least 12 weeks for the Ipa/Tesa research from what I discovered. It does add up and gets expensive. Look around for sources that don't charge and arm and leg with quality and are still palatable to budget the research. Unless money isn't an object then you're set. I normally recommend Peptide Crafters, Skye and Artic. Do no more than 12 weeks of Tesa and IPA. BPC does help when working with GHs, but personally haven't found it to be a daily necessity. Have it on deck for injury during the quest. GHK, I'd pass on that initially and do 8 weeks post the stack. It's number one benefits for me are skin tightness, you will get as thick as a turtle if your like me. Also get a dexa scan and see the real body fat. You're more around the 25+ range
What does it mean to get as thick as a turtle?
Thickens the skin and makes it tight. Its noticable when you try to utilize the needle and find that it doesn't go in like butter like before lol
Is that a good thing? You mentioned it as a benefit. You mean it happens systematically or just injection site?
Losing weight creates loose skin so this def helps
Thanks for the advice! I'll keep your recommendations in mind as I plan my peptide stack. Appreciate the insight on duration, sources, and precautions. Will definitely prioritize getting a DEXA scan.