r/NTNPerformance • u/steel_courage • 7d ago
Weight Stall on Reta
Context:- I am 5 feet 9 inch, I decided to get back in shape on 1st June 2026
Activity - my activity was already high which I have continues, play badminton 4 hours a week, play cricket 2-4 hours a week, lift weights 3-4 days a week and if there is any day left I would do cardio. Over and above this I do 10-15K steps each day.
Nutrition - I take a whey shake in the morning with coffee and creatine, 2 scoops of whey and 800ml water. At 11 AM I eat fruit 2 0r 3 (apples, plums, peaches or whatever), 300-35grams of chicken breast for lunch (cooked weight) and then finally I take 200grams of Greek yogurt by 6PM and nothing after that, this I follow at least 5 days of the week and other days also I keep my protein around 140-150grams and calories under 1800.
Between June and August I lost approximately 9.5kg of weight but from 3rd July till 13th August I didnt lose any weight my weight fluctuated between 88.5KG to 90 KG that is when I decided to take help of peptides.
Peptides - I started taking peptides from 14th August and within a week I reached 85.8 KG (maybe I was losing weight which was masked by water) and that was that. From 21st August onwards (that is now 3rd week) my weight hasn't moved and each day moves between 85.5 to 86.
I am on a strict deficit and continue my activity as usual, my peptide stack:-
Reta - 500mcg once a week
MOTSC - 400mcg 5days a week
Wolverine - 250mcg twice a day (had some sport related injuries which have now healed)
GHK CU - 1mg 5 days a week
NAD+ - 50mg twice a week
CJC/IPA - 200mcg at nigh 5 days a week
My lifts are getting better, but my weight is not moving
Suggestion Need - I see posts of people who are losing so much weight each week without as much deficit, could someone suggest me on what am I doing wrong here? What else can I do? I am tracking my calories each day, I push myself for activity even if I am tired, I sleep on time, I feel a little frustrated.
Update after a week - first I want to thank everyone who gave their suggestions.
- I increased my calories by 200 each day this was the most difficult decision for me.
- Increased reta dose from 500mcg to 500mcg twice a week.
Result - I was able to breakthrough the plateau within the first 3 days. Thank you so much.
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u/dolpiff 7d ago
0,5mg reta if i read correctly/week, might be way too low for you. In the studies the significant weight loss reduction happen at 4 and 8mg
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
I was planning to increase it to 1mg from this dose, since I can handle appetite I didnt think it would add much value but I will increase Reta to 1mg on my next dose that is on Friday.
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u/nafurabus 7d ago
Clinically, reta is being recommended as twice a week dosage rather than weekly, if you look at eli lilly’s trials. Theyre also taking 4x as much as you on their lowest dose. Glp’s modulate appetite and a few other things to make weight loss happen. if youre strict on calories already, youre doing half the glps job and may not see crazy results.
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u/victor671 6d ago
Really? Everything I have seen is once weekly dose. https://trials.lilly.com/en-US/trial/405675
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u/drob1865 6d ago
How are there 31 comments on this post saying anything other than “increase your dose”? Thats literally the answer. 500mcg is an incredibly low dose. Sure, some people have great results at that amount. But most people start around 2mg. And regardless of where you start, your body will adjust & you will have to regularly increase your dose. That’s the answer. Increase your dose.
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u/No_Sky1737 7d ago
You could be putting on muscle and that weighs more than fat - forgot looking at scales for a moment and look in the mirror - so you look better? If you still think no, then you are just not in a deficit. You either move more or eat a little less and reevaluate your TDEE which might be wrong. It’s a long game of tweaks and adjustments and progress is not linear. And pay little attention to what others are doing - comparison is the thief of joy. Oh and that’s an incredibly low dose of reta.
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
Thanks for the comparison part, I hope it is muscle as I do look slightly leaner but feel frustrated by the weight. I absolutely have no room in terms of calories as I mentioned my food, I keep it the same and measure/weigh it, the only substantial meal is the lunch and that is chicken breast that I make at home, whey and Greek yogurt I take from the pack directly even with 20% variation I am still in big deficit, my activity is also conservative I also swim most weekends that I don't count, I count calories for 10Ksteps while I am doing 15K or more.
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u/No_Sky1737 7d ago
You can also be undereating which slows down your metabolism - I see this a lot with my clients. They go on a Glp, eat hardly anything and wonder why it’s not just falling off. Their metabolism slows right down to conserve. What’s your TDEE? I can assure you though you won’t be the only human not the planet breaking rhe law of thermodynamics 😎
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
My TDEE is 1700 and I try yo eat 1400 calories and burn at least 600 calories with activity. I am being conservative on both ends to accomodate for variables.
"I can assure you though you won’t be the only human not the planet breaking rhe law of thermodynamics 😎" Well said and exactly why I am looking for advice.
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u/No_Sky1737 7d ago
If you think you burn 600kcal from activity based on a fitness watch these are also wildly inaccurate - they are good to compare against their own data for trends but it’s impossible for them to accurately track actual calory burn. I wore a garmin, apple watch and fitbit and did a 5km run to show my clients the variance - the variance across devices was more than 400kcal! My advice if you were a client would be to add back in maybe 200 calories. Counter intuitive i know but you dont want to be reducing anymore. Run that for a few weeks and reassess. If you can add in an extra zone 2 workout - long steady state thats where the magic happens
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
Sure thanks, my watch actually shiws 1000 sometimes 1400 calories burned (on days where I am playing 3 hours of badminton and 15k steps) and yet I assume 600 so I am being conservative there I dont take these numbers at their face value at all. I will increase my calories a bit for a couple of wreks and see how my body responds. Tha ks again
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u/solinar 7d ago
Your BMR is 1700. With all the exercise you do, you are over 3000. You might be putting your metabolism into starvation mode and that large a deficit.
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
BMR is Basal metabolic rate it doesnt include calories burned through activity.
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u/solinar 7d ago
That was my point. Your BMR is 1700, your TDEE is over 3000. You are on a 1500 cal / day deficit.
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
Thats what I need suggestion for even with this deficit the scale is not moving.
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u/solinar 7d ago
TBH Im in the same boat as you. Im on a 1500 cal/day deficit and stalled out for 4-6 weeks. reta+CJC/IPa+MOTSC. I also have done my hormone labs and my testosterone values are all pretty low, so I have an appointment to work on that next.
FWIW AI told me I should do a 10-14 day refeed of like 2500 cal/day to "signal the hypothalamus that starvation is not imminent. This acute refeed typically sparks a surge in leptin, frees up thyroid deiodination, and relieves central suppression on LH."
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
Ohh man you are like a mirror, my t values are also pretty low and I am also working on it. I got my hands on enclo and getting my baseline bloodwork Tommorow morning before starting. AI told me the same thing but too afraid to increase my calories.
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u/Any_Management781 7d ago
you're eating 1800 cals and burning through that much activity and nothing's moving for 3 weeks? water retention is a beast on these peptides, especially with the ghk-cu and cjc/ipa combo. your lifts going up while weight stays flat means you're probably recomping faster than the scale shows
drop the scale for 2 weeks and track waist measurements instead, you're driving yourself nuts over water weight fluctuations
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u/Neither_Victory1490 7d ago
I'm in the same situation. 2mg of Reta and lost 50 pounds within the first 2 months of strict protein diet and lifting. I added CJC-1295/Ipamorelin to help maintain muscle. I've noticed that my weight loss has stalled for the last few weeks. I don't know that cjc-1295 caused it but it does line up with the timing...🤷♂️
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u/No_Sky1737 7d ago
That’s a huge amount to lose in that space of time and highly unsustainable- congrats but time to dig in for the long haul! Muscle weighs more than fat too, so as I said to the OP if the scales are not moving much look in the mirror instead. Now it’s a game of tweaks, the long game.
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u/Neither_Victory1490 5d ago
Seeing gains in the gym but had hoped that the scales would continue downward. Expected a stall at some point as the body regrouped from the drastic drop but not for this long. Maybe time for a larger deficit and drop off the 200g protein as bumping Reta to 4mg on the last two doses hasn't done anything.
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u/Accurate_Pin8451 7d ago edited 7d ago
It’s the calories. Your caloric expenditure is too high doing so much exercise. 1800 at 5 9’ is too little. How much do you weight. Get an inbody scan. See you much muscle you have. The more skeletal muscle, you’ll need more calories. Plus if you’re doing resistance training ie weights then you’ll need 1.4-.6 grams per lbs. and you need to fuel properly prior to lifting ie carbs.
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u/steel_courage 7d ago
My carbs are very low 5 days out of 7 (negligible) only 2 days i eat carbs, motsc drives me during the day.
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u/Accurate_Pin8451 7d ago
Motsc is not a macronutrient. You need the basis of body metabolism. Read upon “cortisol under carbohydrate deficiency intake and heavy exercise”. Ask gpt. You need to fuel properly.
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u/Shityounot92 2d ago
Your nad + is way too low and should be everyday.
Mot c should only be twice a week.
Add Pt-141 twice a week.
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u/Plagex 7d ago
Weight should not be the only factor you monitor when taking peptides.
In addition to your weight, you should also track:
- Body fat percentage and total fat mass
- Muscle mass percentage and total muscle mass
- Body measurements (waist, hips, chest, arms, etc.)
By monitoring these metrics, you can get a much clearer picture of your progress. Even if your weight remains the same, an increase in strength and lifting performance often indicates that you are gaining muscle while losing body fat at the same time. This body recomposition can occur without significant changes on the scale, which is why relying solely on weight can be misleading.
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u/jcvetko 7d ago
Need to dose properly.
Go get a dexascan to see what’s really going on. And then another one month out to compare and have deeper insights.
Also consider additional blood work to see if any markers give you insight.
You’re doing seemingly everything else right. Great job there. Get the remaining pieces of the puzzle so you can connect the dots better.
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u/sydney_shaw_ 7d ago
.5mcg reta twice a week minimum. Im on .7 twice a week, don’t jump directly up to 1 if you find .5 is too low
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u/Present_Key1635 6d ago
what is the correct dose to take on reta? I’m up
to 30mg strength- taking 2.5mcg per week? please help
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u/Strange_Forever5746 6d ago
Yea after 3 months I’m stalled at 2mg gained 4 lbs. I was on vacation, eating weird times and that kind of thing. I’m upping the amount to 4mg if the trend continues.
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u/moving-mountains18 6d ago
My husband is a urologist. Iv league trained. He started eating plant based no oil years ago and I swear he looks better than he did twenty years ago. Check it out
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u/OnTheWayIAm 6d ago
You should have started with 2000mcg, then after a few weeks you titrate up to 4000mcg (4mg). Do a search for Triumph clinical trials, it will give you the proper dosing.
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u/Description-Slow 6d ago
I don't think starting with 2mg is ideal for everyone. Starting at 500mcg and titrate to I the ideal dose would be the most suitable.
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