From Lean to Shred with Ret

This was a short cut, taking me from 83 kg to 78 kg in 5 weeks. I was already lean, so the goal wasn’t just to lose weight, but to go from lean to shredded.

I didn’t follow a meal plan. Instead, I used MyFitnessPal and a flexible “If It Fits Your Macros” approach. Some days I was 1,500 calories in a deficit, while other days I ate at maintenance or above.
still ate out every weekend and occasionally went all out at a buffet.
On some days, I also incorporated 22-hour fasts.

Rather than eating tiny portions, I switched to less calorie-dense foods so I could still enjoy big meals.

Retatrutide was a tool and I used 1-2 mg per week. I never wanted to suppress my appetite. My goal was simply to take the edge off sweet cravings while getting a bit of help with insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure.
I did try 3 mg, but it gave me nausea after meals, so I quickly went back to the lower dose.

Training stayed the same throughout: weight training plus 20-30 minutes of Zone 3-4 cardio every day. That’s my routine year-round, whether I’m cutting, maintaining, or bulking. Alongside a TRT-based protocol, I also used 150 mg Primobolan per week and 20 mg Anavar on training days.

Looking back, I could probably have made the cut a little slower, as some of the very low-calorie days affected my training. But I do much better with a short, focused cut than dragging it out for months.

Pics in white shorts are "After" and brown shorts are "Before"

 

[Donvitosharkone]

This was a short cut, taking me from 83 kg to 78 kg in 5 weeks. I was already lean, so the goal wasn’t just to lose weight, but to go from lean to shredded.

I didn’t follow a meal plan. Instead, I used MyFitnessPal and a flexible “If It Fits Your Macros” approach. Some days I was 1,500 calories in a deficit, while other days I ate at maintenance or above.
still ate out every weekend and occasionally went all out at a buffet.
On some days, I also incorporated 22-hour fasts.

Rather than eating tiny portions, I switched to less calorie-dense foods so I could still enjoy big meals.

Retatrutide was a tool and I used 1-2 mg per week. I never wanted to suppress my appetite. My goal was simply to take the edge off sweet cravings while getting a bit of help with insulin sensitivity and energy expenditure.
I did try 3 mg, but it gave me nausea after meals, so I quickly went back to the lower dose.

Training stayed the same throughout: weight training plus 20-30 minutes of Zone 3-4 cardio every day. That’s my routine year-round, whether I’m cutting, maintaining, or bulking. Alongside a TRT-based protocol, I also used 150 mg Primobolan per week and 20 mg Anavar on training days.

Looking back, I could probably have made the cut a little slower, as some of the very low-calorie days affected my training. But I do much better with a short, focused cut than dragging it out for months.

Pics in white shorts are "After" and brown shorts are "Before"

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Hi Fluffyde!!

First of all, thanks for being such an active part of the community and for always sharing your experience here. Posts like this are useful because they show a realistic approach: not suffering, not disappearing from life, but still getting the job done.

And honestly, you are genetically blessed with those ab insertions. Even when you are “just lean” and not in full freak condition, the rectus abdominis already pops clearly. That kind of structure is not something you build with drugs or dieting, you either have it or you don’t. In your case, once you get lean, the look becomes very aesthetic very quickly.

I also like that you understand Retatrutide as a tool, not as the whole process. The real win here is that you managed food flexibility, training consistency and cardio without turning the cut into a miserable prison. That is a mature approach.

My only advice would be: don’t abuse the very low-calorie days too often if performance starts dropping. With your structure, you don’t need to suffer hard to look good. A slightly slower cut, keeping training output high and staying full, will probably make you look even better.

Great work, mate. This is a very clean “lean to shredded” example, and I’d definitely like to see how you look if you keep this condition while slowly adding more quality size. (Is your next step a serious bulk? )

Keep me posted!!

Shark

 

[AustrianOak]

Insane Transformation, holy, keep it up man!

 

[fluffyde]

Hi Fluffyde!!

First of all, thanks for being such an active part of the community and for always sharing your experience here. Posts like this are useful because they show a realistic approach: not suffering, not disappearing from life, but still getting the job done.

And honestly, you are genetically blessed with those ab insertions. Even when you are “just lean” and not in full freak condition, the rectus abdominis already pops clearly. That kind of structure is not something you build with drugs or dieting, you either have it or you don’t. In your case, once you get lean, the look becomes very aesthetic very quickly.

I also like that you understand Retatrutide as a tool, not as the whole process. The real win here is that you managed food flexibility, training consistency and cardio without turning the cut into a miserable prison. That is a mature approach.

My only advice would be: don’t abuse the very low-calorie days too often if performance starts dropping. With your structure, you don’t need to suffer hard to look good. A slightly slower cut, keeping training output high and staying full, will probably make you look even better.

Great work, mate. This is a very clean “lean to shredded” example, and I’d definitely like to see how you look if you keep this condition while slowly adding more quality size. (Is your next step a serious bulk? )

Keep me posted!!

Shark

Hey, and thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it.

To be honest, I’m not sure what my plan is right now. My motivation is not at its highest at the moment, so just sticking to my training and cardio without skipping sessions feels like a win.

I’d definitely like to put on a few more kilos of muscle, but at the same time, I know from experience that once the scale starts going up and my definition gradually fades, body-dysmorphia tends to show its ugly head. And it is easy starting second-guessing the plan

for now, I think my main goal is simply to maintain my physique and stay consistent with my routines.

 

[Donvitosharkone]

Hey, and thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate it.

To be honest, I’m not sure what my plan is right now. My motivation is not at its highest at the moment, so just sticking to my training and cardio without skipping sessions feels like a win.

I’d definitely like to put on a few more kilos of muscle, but at the same time, I know from experience that once the scale starts going up and my definition gradually fades, body-dysmorphia tends to show its ugly head. And it is easy starting second-guessing the plan

for now, I think my main goal is simply to maintain my physique and stay consistent with my routines.

Hey Fluffyde!

Just checking in on you, brother. How are things going now? Has the motivation come back a little, and are you still maintaining the physique and keeping consistent with training and cardio?

Would genuinely love to hear an update.

Shark

 

[fluffyde]

Hey, thanks for checking in.

Honestly not much to update from my side, which is probably a good thing. I’m very consistent with everything.
Hitting the gym and doing cardio six times a week, with one rest day.

My protocol is basically unchanged.

regarding reta. Im keeping it in as a low dose background anchillary at 1 mg per week, and im very happy with that.
I tend to start noticing the side effects and nausea if I go up to 2 mg per week or higher. Since im not using it as a cutting agent, im perfectly happy keeping the dose low.

Motivation comes and goes, but you cant base your fitness journey on motivation.
For me, its about discipline and structure. It’s like brushing teeth before bed. Sometimes I dont feel like doing it, but ofc do it anyway.

 

[Donvitosharkone]

Hey, thanks for checking in.

Honestly not much to update from my side, which is probably a good thing. I’m very consistent with everything.
Hitting the gym and doing cardio six times a week, with one rest day.

My protocol is basically unchanged.

regarding reta. Im keeping it in as a low dose background anchillary at 1 mg per week, and im very happy with that.
I tend to start noticing the side effects and nausea if I go up to 2 mg per week or higher. Since im not using it as a cutting agent, im perfectly happy keeping the dose low.

Motivation comes and goes, but you cant base your fitness journey on motivation.
For me, its about discipline and structure. It’s like brushing teeth before bed. Sometimes I dont feel like doing it, but ofc do it anyway.

That’s actually a pretty damn good update Fluff!

“Not much to update” after several months is sometimes exactly what you want to hear. You’ve found a routine you can sustain, you’re training and doing cardio six days a week, and you’re not constantly changing things because of how you feel on a particular week.

And I completely agree with your last point. Motivation is useful when it shows up, but it’s unreliable. Structure is what keeps the work moving when motivation disappears.

I also remember what you said before about gaining weight and losing definition messing with your head a little. So honestly, I wouldn’t force a bulk just because gaining muscle feels like the logical “next step.” If maintaining this condition, enjoying training and slowly improving performance keeps you consistent and happy with your physique, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with staying there for a while.

If at some point you decide you want to add size, we can make it boringly slow and controlled rather than watching the scale shoot up and immediately regretting it.

Keep doing your thing, mate. And throw us another physique update sometime. Would be cool to see how this condition has evolved since the original pictures.

Shark