Cut and then lean bulk on Tirz
Hey all — first time posting here, so please be kind!
I’m an early-40s dad who started out skinny fat. Over the past 10 months, I’ve lost 35 lbs through macro tracking (MyFitnessPal), eating “clean-ish” (probably 80/20), meal prepping, increasing daily steps (10–15k/day), and lifting full body 3x/week. The weight loss was actually pretty sustainable overall at about 1 lb/week.
At this point, I’m trying to lose the final 5–8 lbs to get down to around 10–12% body fat before starting a lean bulk. The problem is that these last few pounds have been dramatically harder than the first 35. The food noise and cravings are intense. Whenever I lose another pound or two, my cravings for junk food, chips, sweets, etc. go through the roof. Eventually my willpower cracks, I eat something like a whole bag of chips, and then I spend the next week just trying to get back to baseline. It's been some weeks since I've actually lost any weight and kept it there without rebounding.
I’m wondering whether something like a very low dose of tirzepatide (1.25mg? Half of the normal 2.5mg starting dose) could help me get through the finish line and possibly help regulate cravings during a future lean bulk as well. My goal after cutting is to lean bulk slowly — around 1.5–2 lbs/month for a year — but I’m worried that without some help controlling appetite and food noise, I’ll end up overshooting and turning it into more of a dirty bulk.
I don’t necessarily want to suppress my appetite completely. I’d just like to turn the volume down a bit on the constant food thoughts and improve satiety enough to stay consistent long term.
Curious if anyone here has experience with this, especially for body composition goals rather than major weight loss.