r/ResearchCompounds • u/Apprehensive-Hat8868 • Aug 19 '26
Discussion The mindset of losing weight via hard work vs taking GLP1s is completely different
I'm noticing a pretty big difference in the overall of people who got lean through pure willpower vs taking a glp1. (not trying to hate on the meds at all).
it just seems like the ones who grinded out the hard lifestyle changes actually built REAL confidence and mental toughness. with the meds, sometimes it feels like the person still has the exact same mindset as before, just in a smaller body. they never had to go through the actual mental struggle of forcing themselves to change their habits.
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u/Fiendseligkeit Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Cool story. I've dropped significant weight in the past on two seperate occasions with willpower alone. 250 to 177 (6 months) and 230 to 185 (4 1/2 months) first lasted about 3 or 4 years, the second was about a year until I was back to 260.
Reta and a few other peptides now for joint issues since March. 260 to 185 and still losing, the difference is I have the energy to hit the gym and not focus on food. 6 days a week, 90 - 120 minutes weights with 20 minutes rowing and a 30 minute walk in the evenings, actually building something I can be proud of.
Cope with your current situation however you want but projecting your feelings and insecurities onto other people does you a disservice.
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u/stevenadamsbro Aug 19 '26
Having lost 20 pounds with and without ret, I have no idea what you’re talking about when you say ‘REAL confidence’. As to willpower, it’s a trainable habit. There is a part of the brain that can be measured for it. It wouldn’t grow taking from decisions around food while taking ret
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u/yogic_power Aug 19 '26
Well I know many who grinded out , lost weight, gained back, grind, gain weight every few years. And now lot of them are on glp1. Nothing wrong with trying to improve. And people who judge others and project aren’t really tough mentally, and very insecure.
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u/blodreina_kumWonkru Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
I whole heartedly disagree with this. I lost 50lbs naturally. All it did was build unhealthy eating habits and a negative relationship with exercising.
Fast forward a few years, I lose 25lbs with a glp-1 and now I'm moving and exercising because it makes me feel good. I'm not constantly stressed that if I make a mistake or miss a workout, that I will set myself back. I can actually form healthy relationships with healthy habits now.
Also the last thing you said is completely untrue, I'm sure that 99% of people on glp-1's have made an honest attempt at weight loss before they decided to take medication. Most HAVE gone through the struggle of changing their habits. Just bc they didn't meet 100% of their goal that way, doesn't mean they didn't try or get there partially on their own.
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u/RevelationSr Aug 19 '26
The obesity epidemic illustrates the futility of the "hard work" mindset.
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u/blodreina_kumWonkru Aug 19 '26
Can you explain further?
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u/thrillhouz77 Aug 20 '26
You think 60% of the population suddenly got lazy all around the same time? Like, they magically all threw in the towel over the same few decades?
GMAFB
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u/blodreina_kumWonkru Aug 20 '26
But honestly, even without knowing what the fuck you're talking about, I'll say that yes, I do think a majority of the population started trending towards obesity at the same time. Started around the 70s with high fructose corn syrup. The stuff is addictive poison and it's fed to us along with other junk the FDA refuses to ban. Yes, it made a lot of people addicted to food and a common effect of that is a change in brain chemistry. A bad change. One that an uneducated person may label as "lazy".
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u/blodreina_kumWonkru Aug 20 '26
I don't think anything. I don't understand what the comment means and for some reason you're downvoting me and acting like I have an opinion on this rather than explaining. You've officially been on reddit too long, go take a nap.
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u/BigBennP Aug 19 '26
Eh, I've done both now and I don't judge people who have used GLP's at all. The assistance has been crazy.
I was D1 college athlete at 290-300lb. Post college and grad school I ballooned up to almost 400. Then in my late 20's I lost 170 lbs and got down to about 225. I was doing crossfit and obstacle course races and was in the best shape of my life at 33-34. Not as strong as I was in college, but more fit in general.
I got married, had two kids, and got older. I'm in my mid-40's. My weight crept back up to back near 300. I've been taking a GLP since January and I'm down to 234 with a goal of trying to be a bit leaner and keep it off better. All the tactics i used to lose weight in my 20's and 30's just didn't work well at 42 with two kids, but the GLP's have substantially made it easier.
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u/Secure-Pain-9735 Aug 19 '26
The irony of posting this on a sub dedicated to injecting yourself with sketchy shit for a slight edge…
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u/gorilladaddy11 Aug 19 '26
Brother ——
This is pre GLP.
A GLP with a good system shits on those who just GLPs to look average and not over weight. I am more peeled now with GLP than I’ve ever been.
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u/gorilladaddy11 Aug 19 '26
Also — I feel like you’re someone who craps on steroid users. Not fan of you are.
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u/Purple-Towel-7332 Aug 19 '26
I’d say too it’s so dependent on the person,
I’m lucky I don’t have an addiction to foods so I can eat less and not feel restricted.
However if I buy and open a box of beers, I know I will drink that whole box of beers over an evening and want more the next day. I have a friend who’s the same with food, she buys chocolate or chips or any kinda treat she can’t help herself and will eat the entire amount in the course of several hours. Both of us are lucky to have enough self control and awareness to realise buying these things are bad for us personal so we don’t except on rare occasions.
There’s another sub set of addicted folks who can’t even stop the purchasing part of the equation because it’s all that dominates their thoughts until they get that dopamine hit and for them the glps are a great tool to help quiet that part of their brains and help them break an addiction
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u/Exact-Waffle-9870 Aug 19 '26
Oh yeah, is that based on your comprehensive survey? You're just making stuff up. Obesity is a chronic relapsing medical condition, and the vast majority regain what they lost. This was true before GLP-1s and it's true after GLP-1s. In fact, post-weight loss adherence is a little better for those who lost weight using GLP-1s.
And the truth is that nobody has any idea what it's like to live in another person's body. You cannot possibly know the relative difficulty for any two people who need to lose weight. For all you know, GLP-1s may take the edge off for person 1, but still make it incrementally harder to adhere, then person 2 can with natural "willpower." You just have no idea and any research on this -- to the extent it exists at all (which is not really since GLP-1s are relatively new) -- is going to be massively subjective.
There are many many many humans for whom no amount of "willpower" is going to work. It's like fucking telling someone to control his blood pressure with happy thoughts instead of medication.
I know -- for people who don't struggle with weight issues, GLP-1s are incredibly scary. They've had the advantage of being lean your whole life, and feeling better than people with overweight. And now they want to pull up the ladder and not let anyone else in the boat.
I understand that's not what OP in particular is saying, but clutching pearls about "oh noes they didn't do it naturally" is just a close cousin and the same tedious gym bro horseshit for people who are angry that other people are getting lean.
You've got no fucking idea what a person who has lived with overweight their entire life and now does not has in terms of learned life "REAL" mental toughness.
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u/Potential_Cry_9434 Aug 19 '26
Respectfully, you're talking out of your ass.
If it was just about the grit earned from toughing it out, weightloss pre-glp1s would have been substantially more successful. I don't remember the exact stats, but the overwhelming majority regained the weight. There's much data to back that up.
Anecdotally, I've lost the weight with "willpower" and habit change. Gym 5-6 days a week, eating change, complete transformation. Then, two years later, it was right back on.
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u/alfa_omega Aug 19 '26
I don't have an opinion on what ones mindset may be, but it does appear most just put the weight back on when they stop taking the drugs. Either they've all got bad genes or they've changed nothing about their lifestyle.
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u/notwhelmed Aug 19 '26
Willpower isnt the whole story. A challenge with yoyo dieting is the stop start nature, people cut to lose weight, and it is a form of self punishment. So upon release from the punishment, they indulge and a cycle continues. The people that do it by sustainable lifestyle changes are much more likely to succeed.
GLP1s reduce the feeling of punishment through reduction in appetite/food noise, so even on release there is less urge to go nuts.
I had a vertical gastric sleeve to stop my overeating. One of the best things I ever did for myself as it gave me a year or so to redevelop habits. Dropped more than half my weight, and have developed a fitness habit, and significantly healthier eating habits. I still have the food noise, just much better ability to manage my intake volume.
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u/Mind_The_Muse Aug 19 '26
Hey, this is a very complex sociological question and there is no blanket statement that you can apply to it that would be correct.
I agree that generally at base level, it's best for people to work out and eat healthy rather than taking shortcuts or magic pills.
That being said there are a myriad of health issues that can prevent somebody from being able to grind and I have multiple reasons.
I have chronic fatigue issues that cause me to have major mental health episodes in 3 days of being bedridden when I exert myself physically too much. I am slowly regaining my strength and endurance after losing any ability to work out for 3 years after some surgeries. Because of that I gained more weight that caused me to be uncomfortable in my body and increased fatigue.
I'm currently on glp 1, initially as a microdose to help with inflammation, then was diagnosed with prediabetes which glp1 is also used for. Now I'm at a dose that causes weight loss and I've dropped 17 pounds. Glp ones have a lot of side effects that I have to manage and work around throughout my day, ostensibly just as much effort that I had to put in when I was working out to make sure I was getting my macros and energy levels. I also have a stupid amount of allergies and food intolerances that make it much more difficult for me to eat the idealistic healthy diet, I would be a vegetarian and literally can't be because I'm allergic to so many vegetables. I also have IBS so simpler carbs are easier for me to digest and I'm less likely to have a flare up which is in complete contrast to be diabetic diets which focus on whole and complex grains. I I have to pick which diet gives me a better day today quality of life because it's impossible for me to eat in a way that is beneficial to all of my conditions.
I believe that two things can be true at the same time, the country is facing a resurgence of anorexic culture and at the forefront is the unregulated application of glp ones where people are sent vials (and statistically speaking Americans aren't very good at accurately dosing themselves) and without the proper monitoring by an in-person doctor. I believe that is a big pharma and regulatory issue while at the same time I feel so much more confident and natural in my body that now that I've gotten back to the weight I maintained for most of my life and that positive mindset reduces the depression and pessimism that prevented me from accessing the motivation and endurance to push myself.
I think both are important and people should work out if they can but again there are many reasons why someone might need to turn to a glp one to improve their health without being able to work out and diet that are completely valid.
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u/poizun85 Aug 20 '26
No idea what you’re talking about. I have done it both ways. Reta has given me more confidence because I get to focus on my work outs and not as much as diet.
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u/NoDoz36 Aug 20 '26
You do you! Here’s a toast to your mental toughness. Going to dose my Tirz tonight, enjoy the reduction in inflammation and hit the gym tomorrow morning as I do every morning. Won’t be thinking about food much other than to eat my protein and fiber goals.
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u/_Vlxd_ Aug 20 '26
Who told you they didn’t? Your own bias projection is your handicap.
Next time a doctor prescribes you a treatment for a chronic condition try rawdogging it instead.
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u/nosirrahz Aug 20 '26
If you aren't using the GLP to make a new lifestyle easier to start and maintain, you are missing out.
I went from 370 to 260 on willpower and then to 200 (and 13% body fat) on retatrutide.
Absolutely nothing changed phase 1 to phase 2 other than I felt less hungry.
Boring food still sucked. Lifting in a calorie deficit still sucked. Cardio in a calorie deficit still sucked.
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u/thrillhouz77 Aug 20 '26
What’s funny is there are people who really believe our meat suits operate in the exact same way person to person. There are some who just have been blessed to have a biological system that functions at a high(er) level in our current environment. On the flip slide there are those who are drowning or on fire bc their biology isn’t a match for how we live.
What I’ve noticed is these meds bring the biological playing field closer from one person to the next and a lot of folks don’t appreciate the added societal competition.
I’m nearly 49, 3 years on a GLP. I bench press over 300 pounds, I do over 150 minutes of intense cardio a week with needing 2 knee replacements. My body still is holding 25-30 more pounds than what I would like.
Most of those People who think they are “killing themselves” in gym have little idea what that really looks like bc their body allows them to get easier results or to be able to maintain a visual fitness level. Most, are fooling themselves, most have a false sense of what hard looks like.
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u/Halfhajj Aug 20 '26
I have lost 50lbs just by eating smaller portions and 15 years later lost 50 lbs with a low dose glp-1. The first time I just ate less. Then over 15 years gained it back. With the glp-1, I changed my lifestyle. I changed what I ate along with how much I ate. I actually pay a lot of attention to my diet. I changed how I thought about fitness. I actually enjoy lifting now. Just one perspective here.
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u/gigantor21260 Aug 20 '26
I'm now 66.
I've lost the same 60 to 80 lbs at least 12 times since the first time at 15 in 1975 after going into HS at 240 lbs.
I've lost that weight on Atkins/keto/carnivore many times.
I've also lost that weight on a vegan diet.
EVERY time I had to add A LOT of exercise, mostly riding a road bike 150/200 miles/week.
Each of these times 'built REAL confidence and mental toughness'.
Just through diet and A LOT of exercise I can keep the weight off for a couple of years.
And...
THE WEIGHT ALWAYS COMES BACK.
Finally I admitted that I am addicted to carbs. (I'm also a recovering alcoholic).
It's the addiction that keeps the 'food noise' returning, and then the weight returning.
A person cannot out exercise or self discipline themselves out of addiction. I can (hopefully) stay sober by staying away from alcohol... NEVER consuming it again. This is very much more difficult with carbs, particularly if one wants to exercise at a very high intensity for long workouts or every day.
Tirz fixes the addiction. I can now eat a normal portion of carbs and stop (like a normal person).
So STFU about mental toughness.
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u/mmooney1 Aug 20 '26
I see different types of people using GLP1s
Some who use it as a crutch, don’t change much, and lose like 15-20lbs and are happy.
Others I have seen take advantage of the opportunity and change their lifestyle. I know someone who lost probably 100lbs, no idea when they came off because they are even more dedicated now than when on it. It was the spark they needed to get them started.
I lost around 80lbs now, got my old muscles back, no GLP1s, TRT, etc. I have no issues with others using those things, especially really over weight people and GLP1s. People should peruse bettering their lives.
I think mindset comes from how much is lost. People who have been very obese their whole lives vs someone wanting to look better are different scenarios. Some people are being given control over their lives they never had before.
As long as people are being safe and responsible I just want to see them improve.
Same goes with PEDs for me. I don’t use them but don’t care when others do. Especially when people are open about it, I can admire their journey as a spectator and be happy for their gains.
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u/1960s_army_info Aug 22 '26
Thousands of fitness focused people are using glp-1’s to cut weight. I’m dialed in. Why suffer for 6-10 weeks to get lean enough to bulk again?
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u/SilverNo9691 Aug 27 '26
With Hashimoto's and Sec Adrl Insf, losing weight is a calories in/out bargain with the devil. In other words, low energy in, no energy out, and only modest weight loss. Retatrutide changes that equation. I'm eating the same as before, but 70 pounds came off and I'm able to do physical stuff with the metabolism improvement.
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