Coming Off Reta - Is My Logic Correct?
For context, I'm a 40 year old male, 6'1" 194lbs (88kg), lift 5x per week, 10k steps daily, no cheat meals for the past 4 months, and crushing 200g+ protein daily. I was an amateur body builder in my 20's, got chubby in my 30's after multiple injuries derailed my fitness routine, and now back in the gym after BPC157 has healed these ailments. I'm no stranger to proper nutrition and exercise. I've never been morbidly obese.
I've been on Reta for 10 weeks (2mg for the first four weeks, then 4mg since). I lost 31 pounds (14kg). I'm not ripped with chiseled abs, I still have a little lower belly fat to lose, but overall I'm happy where I'm at. I'm now researching for how I plan to come off Reta.
I've been reading and listening to a lot of people's experiences and the general consensus is that you WILL re-gain after stopping Reta. This makes sense because you're no longer receiving the benefits of the insulin response or metabolic rate or appetite suppression. One person suggested going into deficit from your Reta macros to offset the regain. The problem with this, for me, is that the appetite suppression hit me HARD and for majority of the 10 weeks, I've been averaging 1300 calories per day. I know this is too low, but when I tried to force feed myself to get to 2000, it felt nauseating and horrible, so I've just been listening to my body and only eating when I'm hungry. I don't think getting under 1300 cals is a good idea anyway, nor possible once the appetite suppression is gone (and I'm aware this is probably why that last bit of lower belly fat is being stubborn, because my body has been in starvation mode for so long being at only 1300 cals). Maintenance calories for my body stats and activity levels are around 2800 calories. My logic tells me I should force feed myself (no matter how difficult) to get up to those maintenance levels while on Reta, so I can deficit from it when I come off, maybe down to 2300, and this will stop me from regaining the weight.
Another factor is I see a lot of people on here saying not to titrate up until you start feeling the effects of Reta fading. Do long periods of the same dose really degrade effectiveness? (I have my doubts, because so many people claim to microdose for maintenance over extended period of time). If it does eventually fade the effects, then logic tells me I can just stay at 4mg for an extended period of time and it will eventually bring my appetite back; so effectively I can stay at 4mg until I can gradually get to 2800 cals, and then come off Reta and go into a 500 cal deficit. Alternatively, I can go back down to 2mg to help the appetite return so I can get to maintenance calorie levels, and then hop off Reta and go into a deficit.
At the end of the day, I'm leaning towards tapering off, letting my calorie intake come up slowly, and tweaking the dose/macros along the way. Looking for any advice from people who are similar to me (body stats, activity levels, experience, dosage, etc) that have come off Reta while simultaneously improving their body composition.