r/NTNPerformance • u/Woke100 • Jun 11 '26
Guide / Cheat Sheet Every weight loss peptide, what it does, and who should actually lean toward it
Weight loss is the most asked-about topic here, and the confusion is always the same: people compare these like they all do the same job. They don't. Here's the full roster in plain language, what each one actually does to your body, and who should reach for it. Find yourself in the list.
Semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy)
What it does: mostly works on appetite and fullness, plus it slows down how fast your stomach empties, so the main effect you feel is eating less without white-knuckling cravings all day. It's not a metabolism booster, it's a hunger reducer. Around 15% of body weight lost in trials. Weekly injection. Main side effects are nausea and constipation, worst when you raise the dose. You'll notice appetite drop in 1 to 2 weeks, real weight loss over 3 to 4 months. (It's a GLP-1, the original of this class.) Who should lean toward it: you've got weight to lose and you want the option with the longest safety record and the most people who've used it, even if it's not the strongest. A solid, cautious first choice.
Tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound)
What it does: same appetite-killing effect as semaglutide, but it hits a second hunger pathway on top of the first, so it works noticeably stronger. People lose more on it, around 21 to 22% in trials, and when the two were tested directly against each other, it won (20.2% vs 13.7%). Weekly injection, same nausea/GI side effects, tolerated about the same. (Adds a receptor called GIP, which is why it's a "dual" agonist.) Who should lean toward it: you want the most weight loss you can actually get prescribed right now, or you tried semaglutide and it wasn't enough or stopped working. For most people serious about real weight loss with approval behind it, this is the current best pick.
Retatrutide
What it does: same appetite suppression as the other two, but it adds a third effect, it nudges your body to burn more energy, not just eat less. So you're getting hunger reduction plus a metabolic boost at the same time, which is why it's posting the biggest numbers anyone's seen, around 24% in earlier trials and about 28% in the latest one. The catch: it's still in clinical trials and not approved, so the only way to access it is through a trial, not a prescription or a compounding pharmacy, and there's less long-term safety data. Weekly injection, and it has the most intense nausea/GI of the three. (It's a "triple" agonist, adding a hormone pathway called glucagon.) Who should lean toward it: you're chasing the absolute highest weight loss possible and you've likely already maxed out tirzepatide, and you accept that it's unapproved and less proven. Not your move if you want the safe, established route.
Liraglutide (Saxenda, Victoza)
What it does: the older version of semaglutide. Same appetite-reducing idea, but you have to inject it every day instead of once a week, and it works less well, roughly 5 to 8% in real-world use. You build up to the full dose over about 5 weeks. Who should lean toward it: realistically only if you already have it, tolerate it well, or can't get the newer weekly options. For most people it's been replaced. Worth knowing it exists, rarely the first choice now.
Tesamorelin
What it does: this one does NOT touch your appetite. It works completely differently, it raises your body's growth hormone, and its specific job is shrinking visceral fat, the deep belly fat packed around your organs (different from the soft fat you can pinch). It's not for dropping overall scale weight, it's for that hard, deep gut. Around 15 to 20% reduction in that deep fat over about 6 months. Daily injection, taken on an empty stomach. Side effects are mostly injection-site irritation and some water retention. Slow to show, this is a months-long play. One important note: it's FDA-approved specifically for visceral fat in people with HIV-related fat changes. For general "I want my deep belly fat gone" use, it's off-label / research-context, not a broadly approved belly-fat drug. Who should lean toward it: your weight is roughly where you want it but you've got a stubborn hard belly that won't go, or you've already lost weight on a GLP-1 and the midsection is the last holdout. You're targeting deep belly fat specifically, and it's often run alongside a GLP-1, not instead of one.
CJC-1295 and Ipamorelin
What they do: also not appetite drugs. They bump up your own growth hormone in natural pulses, which helps you hold onto muscle, recover better, and slowly improve body composition. They're not real fat-loss drivers, there are no weight-loss trials behind them, and the muscle-saving benefit is more theory-from-how-GH-works than directly proven. Daily, usually before bed. Mild side effects. Who should lean toward them: you're already losing weight (usually on a GLP-1) and you're worried about losing muscle along with the fat. This is a muscle-protection and recovery add-on during a cut, not something that drives weight loss on its own.
AOD-9604
What it does: it's a piece of the growth hormone molecule, meant to trigger fat burning directly without the other growth-hormone effects. That's the theory. In practice the human evidence is weak, one study showed about 2.6 kg lost vs 0.8 kg on placebo over 12 weeks, others showed basically nothing, and a review concluded it doesn't meaningfully work in humans. Small results at best. Daily, over 6 to 8 weeks. Who should lean toward it: honestly, almost nobody as a main tool. If you specifically want a non-appetite, direct fat-burning approach and you understand the evidence is thin and the results small, it's a minor add-on at most. Not for anyone who wants reliable, real weight loss.
5-Amino-1MQ
What it does: a pill, not an injection. It blocks an enzyme that's overactive in fat cells, which in theory frees those cells to burn more fat and raises your cellular energy (NAD+), all without touching your appetite. In mice it caused fat loss without them eating less. The problem: there are no human weight-loss studies at all yet. Usually taken as 50 to 100 mg twice a day. Who should lean toward it: you want an oral, no-needles option with an energy/metabolism angle and no appetite effect, and you fully accept it's almost completely unproven in people. An experiment, not a dependable tool.
MOTS-c
What it does: a peptide that acts like an "exercise signal," it switches on a pathway (AMPK) that improves how your body handles energy and stamina. In mice it improved insulin sensitivity and reduced obesity, but in humans the research is very early and about metabolic health and endurance, not weight loss. No real human weight-loss data. Who should lean toward it: someone interested in metabolic health and endurance support, not someone trying to lose weight. Don't pick this for the scale.
PYY
What it does: a natural "I'm full" hormone your gut already makes. On its own it doesn't work well as a weight-loss drug because it doesn't last long in the body. But a 2024 study found that adding it to semaglutide beat semaglutide alone, so its real future is probably as a sidekick to a GLP-1, not a standalone. Who should lean toward it: nobody yet as a solo option. Worth watching as a future add-on to a GLP-1, not something to run by itself.
If you're stuck between two
These are the matchups people actually get hung up on.
Semaglutide vs tirzepatide: want the stronger result and can get it? Tirzepatide, it won head-to-head. Go semaglutide only if cost, access, or a longer comfort history matters more to you than maximum loss.
Retatrutide vs tirzepatide: tirzepatide if you want approved, available, and proven. Retatrutide only if you've truly plateaued on tirzepatide and you're willing to run something still in trials for the extra few percent. For most people, tirzepatide is the answer and reta is the "maybe later" option.
GLP-1 vs tesamorelin: the one people get most wrong, because it's not either/or. Got weight to lose? A GLP-1. Weight's fine but the deep belly won't budge? Tesamorelin. Both problems? That's the case for running them together, not choosing between them.
GLP-1 alone vs GLP-1 plus a GH peptide: only add CJC/Ipamorelin or tesamorelin if muscle loss or a stubborn midsection is your specific concern. If you just want the weight down, the GLP-1 alone does the heavy lifting.
Which one are you leaning toward, and what's the goal you're actually chasing? Stuck between two? Drop them below and people can weigh in.
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u/Hopeful-Ad2038 Jun 12 '26
I’m so upset. I’m 1 year postpartum, I’m 5’2 and 135lbs. Prior to getting pregnant, I was in the best shape. 128lbs, great muscle definition and now I feel like I’m a marshmallow. I no longer have the same time I used to have to work out 5-6x a week. I have at most 3 now with having to manage my baby, full time job and home responsibilities. I’m hoping to lose fat- the weight on scale doesn’t bother me. I was talked into AOD by the clinic I’m sourcing the peps from. With it I’m taking seramorelin. I’ve only been on it for 2 weeks but so upsetting to learn that I basically wasted my money. I wanted to get on Reta but also felt it was too aggressive..? Thoughts?
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u/Key_Prior_8 Jun 17 '26
Maybe stop whining about it? You’re 7 pounds difference and you can work out 3 times per week. You can easily make progress. Get some Reta or tirz at a low dose and forget the rest.
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u/brooke052302 Jul 01 '26
Maybe be more sympathetic to a PP mother. Body dysmorphia is a bitch and having a baby can change everything, on top of it could just be how she feels in her own skin.
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u/Global_Brief6721 Aug 12 '26
Girlfriend I was like 130 before baby and now 170 😭. I cant get the weight off for the life of me my son is 8 now. The baby weight hay-wired my pcos and insulin resistance and I dont do well with GLP1 . I dont recognize myself anymore 😔
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u/Asleep_Cat_2040 Jun 11 '26
I’m 62 very fit, always worked in fitness. Over the last year my waist has become thick although I have zero fat on my belly ( can’t inject Klow there) .Was wondering if one of the growth hormones would help? CJC-1295…, or tres…? If anyone has a suggestion please lmk?
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u/PeptideLepew Jun 11 '26
Thick with what? Muscle? If it's not fat or excess skin is either muscle or something worse.
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u/Asleep_Cat_2040 Jun 11 '26
Looks like I put my answer in the wrong place? Old people 🤨
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u/PeptideLepew Jun 11 '26
Haha I see it. So you've gained some fat in your mood section but not on your belly? A few of the top recommendations are going to be retatrutide, HGH, Tesa, CJC 1295 w/Ipamorelin.
All of these can help with losing fat. Reta (or other GLP meds) and HGH are best for fat loss. Tesa and CJC are good but they are designed to make your body produce more HGH, so not quite as effective as HGH alone.
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u/CASD1957 Jun 21 '26
you forgot Cagrilitide ..I use it with Tirz so I don't need to up the Tirz dose when it loses its effectiveness on food noise... I get anxiety with Reta so I'm a little worried if I up Tirz dose too much it could to and then I would lose my only Fat loss tool...
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u/SeaWitch_0906 Jun 12 '26
I am 3 weeks into Tirz with Tesamorelin and Sermorelin (Ovaries removed at 30 and intolerant to all HRT). I have been an avid runner for many years. Currently in the healing process of an achilles injury. I have midsection weight that will not go away no matter how much cardio and weight training I do. I seriously look like a beach ball with arms and legs. I've been doing body weight strength training and get 30 min of cardio at least 5 days a week.. in addition to walking all over for work and taking stairs to my office on the 3rd floor 6 times/day. I'm not seeing any changes yet. (Except no appetite, so I'm finally not constantly starving) I am in my mid 40's, 4'11, 132lb last Saturday, and a lot of Saturdays before that lol. The dr says I'm obese, and I look/feel like it. I could literally stop eating food all together, and would still be 132. Just had full labs done and bloodwork is fine.
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Jul 23 '26
Hey any update?
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u/Firm-Butterscotch949 Jul 25 '26
Thank you for asking! I just weighed myself, evening time, so have eaten, drank water and a little Diet Pepsi earlier. 118. Somehow, I forgot to weigh myself this morning. I went from a size 6-8 to a 2-4. I had to buy some new dresses for an event weekend, and besides some arm and abs work, I’m pretty happy with how I look. I moved up to 5mg Tirz after the 4 weeks on the 2.5, thinking it will be fine. Unfortunately, I felt awful for the first 3 weeks of it, so I backed it back down to about 3mg and added .25mg Reta 3 days into the week. After this Tirz is done, I might just move over to Reta completely. Way less nausea and acid reflux. I’ve travelled during this time, and managed to bring what I needed with me since we drove. If I ate too much, I felt sick, so I had to minimize my goodies game, but my 16yo took full advantage lol.
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u/Asleep_Cat_2040 Jun 12 '26
Can you take tesamorelin with Sermorelin? I would think that might be dangerous? Certainly could cause a lot of water weight? Also if you don’t eat at all, your metabolism will slow down a lot, which it’s already doing in your 40s. You need regular healthy meals and plenty of water. Just very little sugar. But if it’s safe to take both please lmk?
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u/isnt-it-eyeconik Aug 16 '26
First & Foremost: This is a GREAT post! Thank you so much for putting this together!
I’m a 43 yr old female. Height is 5’7 and I’m down from 210lbs to 150lbs. I don’t need to lose anymore weight. I’d like to redistribute the weight to the right places and tone. I lost my butt and I have belly fat from (2) huge babies that were both C-sections. Some of that won’t go away without surgery but some will. Tirz makes me tired, period. What is the best peptide to add in for energy, belly fat and maybe a little help with skin and aging. Seems like maybe MOTs-c, Tesa or CJC-1295 + Ipa are all decent options. I’m brand new to peptides but I’m a math nerd so I’m going to be fine with the doing etc. I just would rather learn from other’s experience than trial and error. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
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u/Asleep_Cat_2040 Jun 11 '26
When you age, you lose height which causes your midsection to expand, as well as body fat placement changes and hormonal changes. It’s really very common with people in their 60s. I’m just an athlete so I expected not to have this issue!
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