📖 Why did I start Patient023? Honestly, I wish I had an account like this before I started reta. Before joining my Phase 3 trial I spent hours on Reddit, X and Instagram reading about retatrutide. After a while it started feeling like everyone was dropping a crazy amount of weight fast. 80 pounds. 100 pounds. Goal weight in 4 months. Don’t get me wrong those transformations are awesome and I’m genuinely happy for those people. But when that’s all you see, it starts feeling like that’s what’s supposed to happen. If it doesn’t You start wondering if you’re doing something wrong. I’ve fallen into that trap before. Last year I convinced myself I’d lose 50 pounds in 3 months doing carnivore because that’s what everyone online seemed to be posting. When it didn’t happen, I was way harder on myself than I should’ve been. Looking back, my expectations were the problem. Not my effort. That’s a huge reason I started this account. I want to show what a real journey actually looks like. • Bloodwork • Clinic visits • The weeks where nothing really happens • Learning how to eat better • Lifting weights • Mistakes • Questions I still don’t know the answer to • Learning from people who are further along than me I’m not trying to be the fastest transformation on your timeline. I’m trying to be the most honest one. I also want to do my small part in pushing back on the stigma around GLPs. I’ve had enough conversations in real life to know there are people who could genuinely benefit from these medications… But they’re worried about what their family, friends or coworkers will think. Or they feel like they have to lose weight in a way that everyone else approves of. I hate that. If this account helps even one person set realistic expectations, realize their progress is actually normal, or feel okay asking for help Then it’ll all be worth it. Enjoy your weekend!!!

For me 6mg was where everything kind of clicked at once. Suppression got noticeably stronger, but the bigger thing was energy/mood/training/recovery all improved together. I was eating around the same calories, training harder, recovering better, sleeping better and my waist started moving more. It was the first dose that felt noticeably different from the earlier ones.

People ask me what dose “worked.” Honestly: 2mg changed my head. 4mg increased suppression. 6mg changed the whole feel of the drug for me. 9mg has basically felt like a top-up of 6mg, very similar to how I felt when I first started 6, just stronger again. That’s why I hate when people reduce these meds to: “X mg is the good dose.”

Day 196 of trying to become a certified nail gun #DamnDaddy

💉 SHOT DAY — entry//029 Phase 3 clinical trial participant First clinic check-in on 9 mg and probably my slowest 4-week stretch yet lol. • 7 lbs down — 1 lb short of my goal • Waist: exactly the same as 4 weeks ago • No bloodwork • No mental eval • Pretty lackluster visit overall Still moving 💪

Watched this and decided I’m doing a little potassium maxxing this week lol. One easy add has been tomato paste and spinach. Made Mexican rice with a bunch of tomato paste to pair with my chicken. Then cooked my ground beef with tomato paste, garlic, salt and Italian seasoning that gets added to my potatoes. Easy way to bump potassium without completely changing what I already eat.

💭 For me those first 3–4 weeks on Reta had this crazy “great awakening” feeling lol. The benefits didn’t disappear, but after a few months it stopped feeling so new and I settled into a different normal: • Thirst cues came back • I get hungry again • That crazy stuffed feeling faded • Food noise is still way quieter • Focus is still there • Sleep went from awful to great • Sides are basically gone Seeing people post their first few weeks takes me right back 😂

🧠 Seeing all these COVID to now transformations What actually kept you going? Like on the weeks where the scale barely moved, motivation sucked, you felt fat as hell lol. What stopped you from saying fuck it?

It’s been really motivating for me to see.

Tomato paste sales since @PGC1a_RB started talking about it 📈📈📈

Great start to the day

mAkE sUrE yOu’Re EaTiNg PrOtEiN oN a GLP. Thanks tips 😂 Yes, protein matters. So do carbs if you want to train, recover and not feel like death. So does fibre if you’d like your digestive system to keep participating in the program. Protein shouldn’t be treated like the only macro that matters. Carbs and fibre deserve way more respect than they get.

I’ve known lat-focused pulling has been one of my weak points for a while, but I could never really get it to click. Read this, tried it today, and it finally came together. Some really good training content on this page.

I think everyone on a GLP eventually has to learn the difference between: The drug got weaker and I got used to what normal feels like.

These guys are putting out some of the best content in this space.

📌 One thing this trial has taught me is what I’d actually track if I was doing this on my own. If I could only keep 5: • Weight • Waist • Blood pressure • Strength • Bloodwork Knowing what I know now, those five tell me way more about whether I’m actually getting healthier than BMI ever has.

🍎 I don’t know if this is a Canadian thing, but has produce slowly gotten blander over the years?