I am 45 years old and aiming to get from ~15 - 17% body fat down to 10 - 12%. I’ve done this in the past with strict keto, intermittent fasting, impaired sleep, and lots of “food noise.” I am unable to maintain this body fat % beyond a couple weeks.
I’ve been on rapa for a year (5mg weekly) with no effect on weight. I also take berberine daily and consume a high fiber, high protein diet. Did 4 months of CJC/Ipa injections with 0 effect. I have wondered about using tirzepatide to make the process to get there much easier and to make it feasible to maintain. Anyone with experience doing this? Not particularly interested in the “just do this…” exercise or diet advice as you can be assured I do it all or have done it all, e.g., resistance training, HIIT and LISS cardio, diet modifications and restrictions, etc.
I’ve had significant weight loss when using metformin, and also the SGLT-1 inhibitors (Canagliflozin and empagliflozin) and would recommend that approach also for quick weight loss with minimal side effects. I quickly (2 to 4 weeks) lost about 15lbs with metformin (and it stayed off after I stopped taking it), and another 10lbs with the initiation of canagliflozin (in about 2 weeks). So, another potential approach you might try. I will also be taking empagliflozin for the long term for health benefits.
Thank you that’s extremely helpful! I’ve studied metformin quite a bit and talked with my doctor about it who was generally negative on it and pushed berberine as a reasonable alternative. What is your means for securing canaglifozin and empaglifozin? I can’t imagine many doctors are on board prescribing for use by non-diabetics?
I lost about 45kg of weight from 130kg to 85kg over a period of 9 months. This was mainly through eating less, but I think also taking melatonin during the night helped.
I have just looked at my records for when I was doing this (8/20-5/21) and I was perhaps taking about 30mg during the night to get back to sleep.
I do now frequently take more melatonin (always at night), but I think there is a record of melatonin assisting with weight loss. Whether it does that much for people who are already relatively low in terms of BMI is another issue.
I have used the GLP-1 class for a few years on many patients with mostly good results. Because your body fat is not significantly high, you probably do not qualify for insurance coverage. If you choose to use tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound or compounded version ) it would be off label and can be pricey, but not more than your CJC/ IPA. Consider a high protein diet ( 0.5 - 1.0 gms/ pounds of weight), weight training and hydration to decrease the loss of lean weight. Other than some nausea and your body adjusting to the medications, most tolerate it well and have success in losing stubborn weight. Long term becomes another Rubik’s cube, but many figure out what works for them. Good luck!
