Reta and Muscle vs Fat Loss

I was on tirz for a year and a half and bought into the reta claims until a study posted here showed nearly identical muscle-to-fat loss numbers for both. I'm staying with tirz, especially since it seems stronger at quieting food noise for most people.

I began TRT last month and will get bloodwork mid-next month. Next DEXA is a couple weeks after that. I hadn't thought about raising the dose while cutting another fifty-plus pounds. I'll keep the current dose until labs are back, then consider an increase if everything looks fine.

200 mg weekly is a high starting dose. Test cyp has a roughly one-week half-life, so avoid changing doses in the four weeks before bloodwork and usually wait about eleven days after the last shot for the most accurate read. Mention the three-times-weekly schedule to the doctor. I'm also on reta and TRT, 60-year-old male, 6 ft, now at 170 lb and 12 % body fat. Switched from tirz to reta six weeks ago after reaching goal weight. Lost noticeable muscle during the metabolic reset phase. Tirz actually raised my appetite but fat loss is still strong; I'm now lowering reta because eating can't keep up. I lift three or four days and play tennis three to five days but still struggle to hit protein targets.

Include free testosterone in the panel since that's the usable portion.

A full list of tests is ordered, but total testosterone and hematocrit will be the main numbers for deciding whether to raise the dose, assuming nothing else flags.

Many clinics start at 100 mg twice weekly. That amount chronically sits well above normal physiologic levels for most men. They often add low-dose anastrozole because the higher dose raises estradiol. Side effects include elevated DHT and hair loss, thicker blood requiring donations, lipid changes, and acne. Splitting 120 mg into three doses keeps levels steadier and reduces aromatization while still giving good anabolic effects with fewer sides. I moved from 120 mg to 140 mg and now need an aromatase inhibitor.

My daughter is five years from high school, so any dose increase would probably be to 135–150 mg, but hematocrit may not allow it. Extra benefit seems more likely once body fat is already much lower. At 120 mg weekly a 2000 mg vial lasts about 16 weeks.

Once body fat, especially visceral, drops further on reta, aromatization of testosterone to estradiol should decrease and may remove the need for anastrozole. 150 mg will probably still require a couple of therapeutic phlebotomies per year.

That's the impression I had too. Some people describe reta as burning fat more cleanly while others say it burns a higher percentage of muscle. I'm concerned about doing this without TRT because my current levels are already good and I don't want to add it at my age and health status. Taking things slowly makes sense; starting multiple peptides plus TRT at once isn't the approach I'm considering.