u/Dipping-Out6325

Sharing some lessons in case it helps others. This is what has been working for me. Obviously, I'm very lucky to respond well to tirz with few side effects.

You can see from chart I have played around with split dosing over the last five weeks or so — initially splitting doses of 3.2 & 3.6 and now trying 5mg with a little piggy back of 2.5 mg five days later, which essentially works out to 7.5 mg / week. I have had some fatigue and am trying to still figure out what works best for me.

YMMV.

• I aim for TDEE-500 calories. (And don't forget to re-calculate as you lose weight. I already had to adjust mine once.) Although I do exercise 3-4 days a week, I don't try to make up those calories. My current caloric goal is 1,250-1,350 / day. I aim for minimum of 80g protein, but try to hit 100g
• I've had almost no side effects except some fatigue and constipation.
• For constipation, it has been critical for me to *escalate interventions* immediately if no BM in two days. (I already was slow in that regard.) What works for me: generic Miralax daily (one capful) in coffee every morning. Will sometimes add another at night in Gatorade Zero. If no progress, I add 2 or 3 Mag07 pills before bedtime. The mag07 *always* works by next day noon. I probably use that once a week.
• I don't mind eating the same thing a lot. Breakfast of nonfat plain greek yogurt and banana. Lunch is almost always a large salad. (I just buy the bag salad kit flavors -- mediterranean crunch, thai sweet chili or whatever, and add extra veggies). Dinner is almost always something simple like Korean beef rice bowl with edamame or a Lean Cuisine Protein Kick meal — favorites is chicken parm (350 calories + 22 g protein)
• Most days, I try to boost protein with Ratio Protein yogurt (blueberry) and Fair Life 26g protein shakes (vanilla or chocolate, with a little Redi Whip on top. It's my nightly treat!)
• I probably only get about 80 oz of water a day. I know I should do more, but so far this is working OK
• I have been able to eat small "treat" restaurant meals with no ill effects ... fish & chips even, but just one filet and a half serving or less of fries. This has helped my control so much that last time, I didn't even want to take the second filet or fries home. I was fine with just having a treat at the restaurant. (before Tirz, I would have absolutely destroyed the entire meal AND wanted more fries off someone else's plate)
• My taste for salads are through the roof. I have no interest in alcohol or carbonated drinks anymore. (I was never a big drinker)
• I use Shotsy to track shots (photo above) and love Happy Scale, which smooths out the ups and downs of weight loss and helps you predict future weights depending on current rate of loss. I use Chronometer to track food.