In depth 3 month update (22M)

This is my fitness story from a moderately experienced gym rat, as well as my retatrutide story. My dosing protocol and results are in the end of this post if you wanna skip the story. It might be long but I hope you enjoy and get some good information from it. Lifetime natty until I tried reta for the first time, everyone on gear told me reta alone basically counts as natty but ill be honest I do not have what it takes to cut weight like this in three months without it.

Around 3 months ago I decided to pull the trigger and try retatrutide. A few weeks before starting my journey I made a post on this subreddit about taking reta and sema, the reason why was because I have an insane appetite and I was just beginning my research on GLP-1 peptides, so I thought reta would not suppress my appetite enough. That wasn't true it was very effective in reducing appetite, controlling insulin, and helping me further develop my discipline with food.

Long story short I lost 24 lbs in a little less than 3 months, I was in decent shape at the time, but I wanted to trim some fat, and was having difficulty controlling my urge to overeat, or eat junk food. For context I've been working out pretty consistently for 4 almost 5 years, at my smallest I was 180 lbs 6ft tall (unknown fat percentage but I looked skinny) at my biggest I was 240 lbs at AROUND 25 percent fat probably higher I was low key fat but I was a tank. Yes I was strong but was not in good shape. I cut down 190 over a long period of time without taking anything. My weight would typically fluctuate between 190-200lbs averaging 195. I could not get smaller even if I tried. Even small calorie deficits made me feel like I was starving. I averaged 195 for a year before deciding to cut. For further context for that whole year I was active but consumed on average 3500-4000 cal a day. I trained cardio and strength regularly as well.

At 195 I had decent cardio 2 mile run in 16min 30 second. Good bench for natty 225*5 or okay squats 315*6, very nice OHP 100*12 and good muscular endurance for calisthenics like 15 pull ups max 60 push ups max but I was fluffy. at around 20 percent fat even I could never get lean enough to get that hard muscle look. I looked great in a shirt, and kinda mid when I took it off, and when I went to the beach last summer I was disappointed in the way I looked despite training for a years. Body dysmorphia is a bitch.

I wanted to cut, I wanted a lean beach ready physique for when the weather got nicer Im down south so that's not far away so I started the cut in late fall early winter. I got what I wished for, I just weighed in at 171 and that was before dropping a deuce so I'm probably 170 on the dot now.

I lost a lot of lean mass. I did the math and assumed if I lost mostly fat while accounting for some lean mass Id be shredded at 180, no I had to go down to 170 to see abs definition. and they're defiantly not popping like crazy but they are visible. It is lovely to be lean, Id say i'm roughly 15 percent fat, even with dropping all that weight like crazy I wanted to be at 10 percent but I will get too weak if I get any leaner.

I ate 2100 cal daily, at least 150g protein daily, and did 6 gym days 3 of them being strength days 3 of them being cardio days one rest day. Why so much lean mass lost? I didn't slouch on my strength training days. I know some gym guys are gonna say I should've ate 1g protein per pound but that would've left me with low carbs while taking a drug that lowers blood sugar (bad idea). And low fats which could mess with your hormones (specifically test) in a deficit. If I was 195 and went down to 170 shouldn't I be shredded to the gills if I ate good amounts of protein? If majority of my meals were clean? If I stay consistent with strength training? Yes, but you will lose lean mass in a deficit, especially one that will have you dropping 24lbs in 3 months. Be realistic.

Let's ask the question again, why so much lean mass lost? I didn't take AAS. Not even TRT. Im young, and I have decent testosterone. So I just thought Im gonna eat in a deficit, and take my supplements (vitamins ashwaganda boron) and I won't lose too much muscle. Well, I look pretty good but my lifts are pretty weak now compared to what they used to be, and now I'm tired so it's time to taper off and get into maintenance zone calories.

If you want to lose lots of fat and maintain lots of muscle to where you got washboard abs and shoulder veins, you need to strength train, eat your protein, eat in deficit and take anabolics or TRT at least (like 200-250 mg weekly test) or you will lose a decent amount of muscle tissue in the process. Even if young and healthy. Let's keep it real. Not saying hop on gear, but if you're a body builder that's looking for crazy cuts you're probably already on it. This was just an experiment for me.

Reta routine: First dose NOV 5 2025

1st month 1mg E3D (2mg/Wk) Weight lost 10 lbs 195 to 185

2nd month 1.5mg E3D (3mg/Wk) Weight lost 8.6 lbs 185 to 176.4lbs

Almost 3rd month 2mg E3D (4mg/wk) Jan 29 today I weighed 171 lbs which is a 5.4 lb lost

If this post reaches enough people and its found to be informative enough. I will do an after cut progress photo but I don't have any pictures of me without a shirt until now. I was a little disappointed in being fluffy muscular but not insecure, I just don't take progress pictures, I see my body everyday and know what I look like and have a very small presence online so I rarely post anything. Anyway hope y'all enjoyed the post.