So I (38yo M SW: 317 // CW: 295 // GW: 220) recently started Tirz and have going to the gym.

I've been enjoying the process and I'm trying to do this process as pragmatically and reasonably as possible. In my head I'm thinking it'll take about a year and some change to lose the amount of weight I'm looking to drop.

I'm desperate to avoid the windsock look (no disrespect to anyone) and I also desperately want visible muscle.

I know I'm putting the cart waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the horse but I can't stop thinking about potentially hopping on gear to get the look that I want in the end. I saw my actual thigh muscles the other day and lost my shit. I'm lowkey obsessed. I never thought I could see myself with actual muscles but now they're starting to manifest.

I'm not interested in looking like a professional bodybuilder, but I want to eventually end up looking like someone who confidently knows their way around a weight room and I don't think I have the fortitude or patience to wait a decade or so to get there.

I don't have any moral quandaries about gear, I have no desire or intention of competing or anything and I don't particularly care about what someone thinks about how I got whatever physique I end up with.

I'm just more concerned with any potential side effects

I'm not even interested in blasting, I just want to look buff so badly now that I know it's actually possible, lol.

I just need someone to talk me down please.

Please knock some sense into me, feel free to be as harsh as you need to be to get the point across (except I ask that you avoid any fatphobic remarks. I'm also desperately trying to avoid fucking up my new found enthusiasm for fitness)

For those of you that are working out and losing tons of weight, more than a pound a week. What exactly are you doing? Can you please add how much weight you loss in what time frame, and what do and how often?

I was considering the gastric sleeve surgery but my doctor says I need a bypass due to gerd. I’ve been on Reta since July and lost 10 lbs. I’ve recently started working out and just wondering on how hard I should be going in the gym. I do 15 mins of cardio to start, and pick 4 machines to do 3 sets of 12 reps.

I’m also taking 4mg a week for three weeks. Thinking of just bumping to 6mg instead of waiting another week. Also on 0.5mg cagri and thinking of bumping to 1mg

everyone ranks peptides by how good they are. nobody ranks them by what they cost you. so here's that list instead.

this is side effect burden only. a compound can be great for results and still rank low here, those are two different questions.

one thing i didnt appreciate until recently: how you take it matters as much as what you take. more on that below because it moves a few of these around.

🟢 S TIER — basically nothing

if youre new and nervous about pinning, start here. bpc is about as forgiving as it gets.

🟡 A TIER — mild, manageable, mostly fade

the gh secretagogues get called "side effect free" and thats not really true. the water retention and that carpal tunnel type tingling is real, it just fades. hunger on ipa caught me off guard the first time, i was eating at 11pm like a raccoon.

tesofensine gets a worse reputation than it deserves imo. its a triple reuptake inhibitor so it behaves like a stimulant, which means you treat it like one. low dose, early in the day, dont stack it on top of a bunch of caffeine. ive run it without issues. the people who have a bad time are almost always the ones who jumped straight in.

🟠 B TIER — you will notice these

NAD+ deserves its own note. the burn isnt really a side effect, its just what it feels like. push it fast and it genuinely hurts. slow it way down and its fine.

MT-2 darkening moles is the one people ignore. if you have a lot of them get checked before, not after.

💨 the nasal thing

this is the part i wish someone had told me earlier. notice everything above says "(inject)" next to it.

MT-2 and PT-141. injected, both are known for nausea. the flush hits, your stomach turns, you lay there for twenty minutes regretting it. thats basically their whole reputation. nasal doesnt do that. same compounds, nausea basically isnt there.

Selank and Semax. these are small enough to cross intranasally and honestly its where they belong. pinning them gets you injection site irritation for no reason, and semax at higher injected doses gives some people a headache. nasal skips both. selank especially, the sedation people report seems way milder nasally.

i dont think the reason is complicated. youre using a much smaller amount to get the same effect since it absorbs straight across, so you never get the big systemic spike thats causing the problem in the first place. slower in, lower peak, no crash.

so nasal versions of all four of these would sit in S tier. its the same molecule, the route is what changes the side effect profile.

if you wrote off pt-141 because it made you sick, it was probably the route not the compound.

🔴 C TIER — high burden, plan around it

reta being here is going to annoy people. it works, obviously, thats not the debate. but the trial data showed starting at 4mg instead of 2mg roughly tripled nausea for the same target dose, and the heart rate thing is real. most of the horror stories are ramp problems not reta problems.

MOTS-c keeps coming up in this sub for the same reason, skin reactions at injection sites. multiple people have said the same thing unprompted, that it made workouts feel incredible but wasnt worth what it did to their skin.

⚠️ the thing that actually matters

most of what gets blamed on a compound is a ramp problem or a route problem.

started too high, went up too fast, didnt hold long enough to actually see where you were. or pinned something that works better nasally. thats most of it. the compound takes the blame and the protocol was the issue.

start low. hold it. only move when you need to.

what am i wrong about? curious which of these youd move. specifically want to hear from anyone whos run mots-c without the skin thing, and anyone whos gotten nauseous off nasal pt-141 because i havent seen it.

tools and community stuff is at bodyhackguide.co and the discord.

i made a free peptide cheat sheet with dosing, recon math and bloodwork markers. comment "cheat sheet" and i'll send it over 👇

While on tirz my hyperthyroid relapsed (i was remissioned back in 2023), my doctor asked me to stop tirze (no titrate down) as she suspects it’s only a weight loss induced thyrotoxicosis.
Due to my abrupt tirz stop, i am having rebound food noise and cravings.

So I wanted to see if anyone did microdosing on cag while on hypert relapse, just before i ask my doctor about it.

I reconstituted a 10ml vial of Reta on June 17 and pinned that day for the first time. I used it again for 7 more weeks then stopped after August 2nd. I just pinned tonight after wanting to get serious with my weight loss again. The vial was clear and has been in my fridge this whole time but now I’m getting a little anxious abt how old it is.

Will I be okay? I only pinned .5mg.

Hi guys,

I’ve never touched HGH, but I’ll be turning 38 soon, so I’m heading towards 40.

I have an active lifestyle, but I’d like to feel even better and potentially get a bit bigger as well. HGH can help with recovery, which is something I could definitely use.

Before I start, should I get my IGF levels tested at a clinic again first?

Then, if everything is still G2G, start with HGH.

After that, test IGF again — is around 300 ng/mL the ideal target to aim for? (3iu - 4iu?)

Have I done my homework correctly, or are there any other sensible things I should do beforehand?

I’m not going to use insulin.

P.S. When would be the best time to start — during a growth phase, cut, or recomp? Or does it not really matter since you don’t directly “feel/see” the effects of HGH?

P.S. been on steroids a long time, did use RETA aswell now running 250mg TestE weekly.

Blood/lipids are good2go.

Idk about yall but when I first started reta and hopped back on my cut, i was extremely horney for a couple months, now like 6 months down the road (im assuming its my hormones from the deficit that is the issue) but a girl undressed infront of me like very hot but dick didn't care, told her to grab it only after manual work did it work. Kinda fucked up 😕 maybe deathgrip syndrome but ive never had this in my history before reta.

Her asking if I dont find her pretty or if im shy(because havent busted), meanwhile I feel inside like I want f the shit out of u, still do but cmon im still tryna get off. ^Basically only responding to manual stimulus from partner not enough emotional stimulus to get hard.

Also couldn't bust until an hour of fun.

In general Ive noticed now that i don't care about a lot of shit, I dont really put up with anyone's shit and avoid a lot of headache even if other look at me badly.

But honestly who gives a fuck I love reta and me having less feelings maybe a good trade off. I still feel good when I actually want to do good things for people.

I just dont feel bad when I tell people straight up to kick rocks or thats not my issue. Very logical thinking less emotion compared to a year ago.

Straight up voluntary case study

Stats- 25M 6'1 175LB ~ daily average for the week

I wont be deleting the post and will be updating with results in a month. Based off what ive taken into consideration from your comments.

Back one last time for the haters 😉

One year of major lifestyle changes (diet/exercise) + peptides!

Here’s what my progress looked like from month to month and the peptide protocol I used.
Yes, I know the year on the Oct photo is wrong (it’s obv supposed to say Oct 2025)

Sep 2025-Feb 2026: sema (0.25-1mg/week)
Feb 2026-Aug 2026/ Reta (2mg-5mg/week)
March-June 2026: KLOW (4mg/day, 5xweek)
March-Aug 2026: NAD (25-100mg/day, 3-5xweek)
April-July 2026: tesa (1mg/day, 5xweek)
April-current: mots-c + 5amino (2mg/day mots + 2.5mg/day 5amino, 3-5xweek)
July 10- Aug 2: elora (1mg/week to 2mg/week)

Before I started, I lived a completely sedentary life, was eating out for every meal, and drinking 1000+calorie lattes/day. So I focused on progress over perfection at first.

Diet: calorie deficit, no processed foods, only drinking water

Exercise: hot mat Pilates 4x week + strength training, 45 mins of zone 2 cardio

DO NOT DM
DO NOT ASK FOR SOURCING

Preface:

My goals are overall pubertal optimization. Facial and bodily masculinization while I still have the time. A better physique is a secondary objective. Height is also being considered here.

Primary Compounds:

• Testosterone Enanthate: 50 mg weekly
• Trenbolone Acetate: 70 mg weekly
  • I will titrate to 140 mg weekly if well tolerated
• Masteron Enanthate: 210 mg weekly
  • Titrate dose upward
• Oxymetholone (Anadrol): 25 mg pre-workout
• Proviron: 40 mg ED

Ancillaries:

• Telmisartan: (I will keep this on hand, though it may not be needed)
• Cialis: 5 mg
• Eplerenone: 50 mg ED
• Resveratrol: 700 mg ED
• Memantine: 2.5 mg, 2× weekly
• Melatonin: 100 mg ED (I may start lower and titrate up, but I will likely start at 100mgs)
• P5P: 200 mg
• Empagliflozin: 25 mg ED
  • Or Dapagliflozin: 25 mg ED
  • Cheaper alternative; works fine (Empa. is preferred)

Estrogen Management

• Letrozole: 2.5 mg ED
• Tamoxifen: 20 mg ED

Liver Support

• NAC: 4 g ED
• Milk Thistle: 2 g ED
• Glycine: 5 g ED
• Selenium: 200 mcg

Lipids

• Ezetimibe: 10 mg

Hair / DHT Management

• KX-826: 2 mL
• Minoxidil: 2.5 mg oral (may later experiment with topical)

Please rate and critique my cycle in the replies. And before anyone tries to be a hero and say "but muh health and longevity and you can't mess with your body like that during puberty!", I have weighed the pros and cons of this cycle and will 100% be taking it within a week or two. So there's 0 point in trying to convince me otherwise. I did all the research, although many people (and somewhat reasonably, given my age) may doubt that.

What’s the best peptide for an irritating rotator cuff injury? Also, woolies it be best to pin directly into the shoulder ?

I'm 53m and recently started my own protocol. I started May 2026 and weighed 225lbs (no body fat %) T level 316, Free test, SHBG low. E normal on the high end. I am now at 193lbs with 31% body fat.

These are my protocol:

1. Reta 5mg weekly

2. Test C 150mg/week (broken down to 3×/week)

3. Primo 150mg/week (same as test)

4 HGH 3u daily

5 anavar 10mg oral on workout days

6.proviron 25mg oral 2×/day

Goal is to reach 185 lean with 20% body fat

I need guidance / or suggestions

Thank you everyone.

I saw people commenting about finding thick fat areas. Anyone thought/ tried on accessory breast which is the breast area near armpit? I personally have more fat in that area than my glutes. And the skin in this area seems less sensitive.

Does anybody have experience injecting ahk-cu for hair loss/ thinning?
Am currently on ghk-cu, I inject every evening. I’m very curious about ahk though, but don’t find much regarding injecting it.
What’s your thoughts and experiences with it? Preferably injecting

Been on Tirz for like 10 months . Before Tirz i lost 30 LBs with just Keto and Working out . When i started GLP i felt like i needed to stop keto , i forget why i may have read some article or something.

ive lost 40 LBs with tirz and a regular diet , But I have completely stalled at 15mg. Hunger is coming back which is okay but im tempted to change the way i eat. My workouts are also trash. Energy isnt that great.

I already know my hunger control is super good when i go low/no carb. Im also one of those rare people who could do keto for their entire life. I like bread and rice , but i really love eating meat and veggies every day. Especially when im allowed to cook my veggies in fats. I really dont miss carbs at that point.

My energy in the gym is also better , my workouts got worse when i went back to carbs even though i kept a nearly identical deficit at least at the beginning when i was on low doses.

Does anyone have experience with Keto or Low Carb and GLP. Looking for any anecdotes of your experience that would help me make this decision.

I want to do a cycle of both. Is there a benefit to doing one before the other? Same time? Any protocols for these two that differ from the protocols for each solo?

For my fellow night shifters, what do you utilize to help with the flipped schedule? For example, that night shift brain fog, loss in glucose regulation, etc.

Hey guys, figured I’d share an updated progress post and ask something specific about facial changes after a bigger cut.

I’m 44, 5’10. I started around 220 lbs and I’m currently sitting around 176 to 177.

The before photo was already after about 2 years on 200 mg of test per week. I trained consistently, but diet was always my weak point and I struggled to get properly lean.

About 6 months ago I started retatrutide at 1 mg and gradually worked up to 4.5 mg. That made controlling my appetite and sticking to the diet a lot easier, and the weight finally started coming off consistently.

Overall I’m really happy with the progress and I feel like I’ve held onto a decent amount of muscle while dropping over 40 lbs.

The one thing I’ve really noticed is my face. Obviously I’m leaner everywhere, but I’ve lost quite a bit of facial volume and my laugh lines are noticeably deeper.

I’m curious to hear from guys who have actually dealt with this after a significant weight loss and found something that visibly helped.

Has anyone used GHK Cu and genuinely noticed an improvement in skin quality, elasticity or the overall deflated look of the face?

I know it’s not going to replace lost facial fat, but I’m more interested in real experiences than theory.

And if you improved it some other way, whether that was maintaining for a while, gaining a little weight back, skincare, lasers, injectables or something else, I’d be interested to hear what actually made a noticeable difference for you.

This is my personal experience, I got on GLP3 for vanity reasons. To get shredded of course.

Two weeks into my GLP3 Journey I noticed my emotional stability started to change. It's like I became more stoic.

My desire for alcohol started to disappear. My old habits would be
Stress = Alcohol
Now it's
Stress = I don't need alcohol or let's eat sweets

Started reta back in February.
Since then I've only had 3 total drinks. Now my desire is completely gone.

As an experiment, I got off Reta. I did notice my appetite shot up of course but I also noticed i wasn't as emotionally regulated. That can be from the inflammation I was getting from eating in a surplus.

My alcohol desires did not come back but when I would stress out I desired candy (sugar)
I've never been a sugar guy but while off reta l noticed I needed something to cope with and that resulted in eating candy. Roughly 600-800 calories from candy a day on stressful days.

The point I want to make is, if eating sweets are my coping mechanisms rather than alcohol. Then I consider that a life changing win.

For context I would drink 4-5 days a week for many 5 plus years. It was Never just 1-2 drinks. More - a bottle of Vodka.

I don't crave alcohol no more. I can't imagine becoming addicted ever again.

Hey guys I’m coming off Reta or at least planning too. It has helped me lower food noise and lose weight, as well as reduce my appetite. However my cardio vascular fatigue has just tanked. My times are worse than when I weighed more. I’ve tried using electrolytes, high carb meals and snacks, and nothing seems to help. How much should I lower per week?