[cj]

If there's any mental effect, it's most likely from eating less food (and most likely healthier food) and feeling better because of that.

It doesn't increase your appetite for healthy food. It will punish you for eating bad food. "Don't eat that steak, you're going to have crazy stomach pain tomorrow if you do!"

[stavros]

That's not my experience with tirzepatide. When it worked for me (which was a brief period, admittedly), it kind of turned me off fatty foods, and I wouldn't want to have pizza, for example, but I'd crave a chicken breast and boiled potato, or salad.

When it didn't work, one of the failure modes was that I still craved fatty/fried food, but I got terrible stomach pain from it, which is the worst of both worlds. If I'm still going to be unable to resist food, I don't want to be punished for it any more than I already am by being overweight!

[cj]

> When it didn't work, one of the failure modes was that I still craved fatty/fried food, but I got terrible stomach pain from it

I saw this was a feature, not a bug.

[stavros]

For me, it was definitely a bug, because my issue is I can't restrain myself. I don't lose weight, I just get pains. If I could restrain myself, why do I need the medication?

[taejavu]

What’s wrong with eating steak? Biologically I mean, not ethically.

[fintech_eng]

Absolutely nothing, if you only eat a few ounces. But a lot of places will server you a 12 oz ribeye steak which has 900 calories all by itself. Add on a side of french fries and a sugary beverage and you get a days worth of calories in a single sitting.

When you are on a GLP medication, commonly your digestion slows and will make you really prone to constipation and acid reflux. I've learned to eat just 3-6 ozs when I do steak, and generally opt for the veggies instead of the potatoes now. Feel much better in the morning.

[taejavu]

Yeah I think the fries and sugary beverage would be contributing to the “crazy stomach pain” a lot more than the steak. But the person I’m replying to made no mention of those things..

[fintech_eng]

Yeah, I think I got a little lost with mention of the side dishes in my comment. Point is, I'm on these medications and when a 12 oz ribeye comes out from a restaurant, I don't feel any need to eat all of it. I often eat less than half or split it with my spouse

I know a stomach ache is coming if I do.

[tptacek]

A 12oz ribeye is a pretty generous serving; it's not something that sneaks up on you.

The surprising thing for me, having settled into a ~1400kcal budget, is how tricky it is to hit protein goals. You go into this thinking it'll be like going low-carb, you'll just eat a lot of beef, but the fun cuts are not efficient protein delivery vehicles. Hitting the kcal budget is effortless; getting the protein in, not so much.

[fintech_eng]

Same!

Keeping a small stock of these has helped me a lot with that:

https://fairlife.com/core-power/chocolate-protein-shake-42g/