The Melina Method, Episode 9: Peptides 101 — What You NEED to Know & How I Started!

The real conversation around peptides — no fluff, no misinformation.

This is the episode everyone’s been asking for… and I’m giving it to you straight.

In this POWER episode, I’m breaking down my personal peptide journey — how I got into this space, what I’ve learned over the years, and why most people are getting it completely wrong.

Because here’s the truth…
Peptides are everywhere right now — but the information? Confusing, inconsistent, and honestly… dangerous when used the wrong way.

So we’re clearing it up.

Side NOTE — they literally changed my postpartum journey!

I walk you through what peptides actually are in a simple, digestible way — no science overload, just real understanding. Then we get into the categories that matter:

—Fat loss support (GLP pathways, Retatrutide)
— Healing + recovery (BPC-157)
— Longevity, cellular energy + performance (NAD+, MOTS-C)

But this is where most people mess up…

They copy protocols.
They guess their dosing.
They buy from random sources.
They think peptides will fix a lifestyle that isn’t dialed in.

And that’s exactly why they don’t get results.

In this episode, I break down why dosing, sourcing, timing, and YOUR individual biology matter more than anything — and why peptides should never be a one-size-fits-all approach.

You’ll also hear my philosophy when it comes to integrating peptides into a high-performance lifestyle:

Peptides don’t replace discipline — they ENHANCE strategy.

This episode is about education, not shortcuts.
It’s about understanding how to use tools the RIGHT way — with intention, structure, and a plan built around YOU.

⚠️ Important: The information shared in this episode is for educational and research purposes only. Peptides are not a substitute for medical advice, and everything should be approached with proper guidance, awareness, and responsibility.

And if you take one thing from this episode, let it be this:

“This is not a shortcut — this is a STRATEGY.”

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi guys, I'm Melina, and for 23 years, I literally can't believe I'm saying that. I've been helping women get unstuck and feel healthy, fit, and confident in their own skin. This is the Melina Method Podcast, where nutrition meets mindset, fitness gets unraveled to be your superpower, and we really dive in to see the real you for who you are. Alright, you guys, we are back with probably one of the most trending things right now. Well, especially in my world, and I'm gonna bring it to your world. Um peptides. Peptides 101. This is the first of many. I've dabbled in a few times, dropped some, you know, info on peptides. But this is gonna be a peptide 101 convo, uh what you need to know before you start, and just have a real conversation around them. Um, no fluff, no misinformation. And again, everything I'm telling you is for education and information only. I'm not a doctor. Um, and you should consult with one before you decide to dabble or work with a professional who knows what they are doing. So I'm excited about this episode because for me, peptides are a game changer in your health and fitness and wellness overall. They're a game changer and people just don't know enough about them. I would say they've probably been around for uh 10-ish years, maybe longer. Maybe some expert's gonna correct me, but I feel like as far as like being out there, it's 10-ish years. Being consumed by the public, celebrities. The first was like the Ozempics and the and the terzepatides came later. Those are peptides. Okay, the Wagovi, the Zepbound, those are peptides. Um, the weight loss GLP ones came out, and that's when everyone started hearing about peptides, but peptides have been around longer than that. There's studies probably dated back, most of the studies that I have saved and kind of researched are about 2016. So we're looking at like the last 10 years of data and information on um peptides that we're kind of referring back to. At least I do. I started getting into the peptide space uh three years ago more. I was postpartum with my daughter, who's will be four here in the next couple weeks, and it was something that really changed the game for me. And I worked with a hormone clinic, worked meaning hired, because I had some internal stuff going on and I knew something was like wrong with me. Like I just did not feel right. I woke up tired, I was like, something is seriously wrong with me. I had this like hormone weight that I've talked about before on previous episodes. Like, I had this hormone weight that like I just felt like I couldn't get rid of. I was like a year postpartum with my daughter, and I was like, I need help. So I got my full detailed lab hormone, but not general, I got a full detailed lab panel done. And you can reach out to me on what exactly I did. Um, and I'll send you the labs that you should get done. I got these labs done, and I worked with a nurse practitioner and a telehealth clinic, and they helped me fix what was going on with me. As a nutritionist and a person who takes pride in her my expertise, this is where I do call myself an expert because I feel like you're an expert when you've worked with thousands of people. Like you can like look at something and like really put a good hypothesis together. I could not put myself together. And it was super frustrating. Like somebody especially knows themselves, knows how to get lean, knows how to burn fat, knows how to like manage their weight, regulate my blood sugar. I literally couldn't figure it out. That's because cellularly, I was all kinds of things were wrong. And I had to get myself out of it. And so there were things that I had to do to shift in my diet, in my supplementation, and then I started using peptides, and I was new to this. And the person I was working with, a nurse practitioner, was like, you're gonna do this, you're gonna do this, and you're gonna feel amazing in the next three to four weeks. And within those three to four weeks, not only did I freaking feel amazing, that like weight went away, and my diet, we guys, was like the same. It was the same as far as like macros went, like calories, how much I was eating. It was just like certain tweaks I had to I had to make to eliminate certain in um uh inflammation in my body. Like I had to get on an anti-inflammatory diet, which worked well with my butt, my blood type, which was huge. And again, I was on a couple different peptides that I felt like un unreal, like amazing. And I was like, oh my gosh. And that's when I started learning about them. And then as I was like working with clients and I was like maybe getting stuck in some of their protocols, I was like, they need to get their labs done. There's something cellularly wrong. Because if there's something cellularly wrong, you can eat right till you're blue in the face. The diet won't work. Like, let me say that again. The diet won't work if there's something cellularly wrong. I'm a walking example of that. So I started referring all my clients out to this clinic. I was on the phone. I love the girl that I worked with. I was on the phone learning, learning, learning, learning. What's this peptide? What's that peptide? What's this peptide? What's that peptide? Then I got um, this really is an intro to peptides with me. Uh this is the episode that is like dialing in how I got into the peptide space. So peptides 101 with me, Melina. So then I got hired um at, you know, the the club that I work at, and I started meeting friends, and then we started talking about peptides. And I have like a really close colleague of mine, and I was like, yeah, I was on this, I'm on this. And she's like, Oh my gosh, how do you feel? I've heard about this, I've done this. And so we started, and this is again, this is like three years ago, and then we started talking about it. Well, then I got pregnant again with my son. And so I I I had I got off of everything and I I ate and did supplementation based around what I was going through being pregnant. And, you know, there's not enough research and stuff to say whether certain peptides are healthy or not pregnant. So, like, let's, you know, let's go off. Um, the only peptides that are FDA approved are certain GLP ones, things like NAD, glutathione, things that you get in like your vitamin bags if you go to like, you know, a health clinic. Um, but there's a lot of peptides and supplements, you guys, and beauty products and all kinds of things that are not FDA approved that are phenomenal for you. And so that's why we we have to call it research peptides, and there's like that gray area there. Um, that doesn't mean you can't use them. It doesn't mean that they're not good for you, okay? Um, it's just a government-regulated thing. So I got off everything, um, focused on my pregnancy, but I knew when I was postpartum, I knew I was gonna, I was gonna get my labs done. I was gonna let my body kind of normalize for three months, and I was gonna get my labs done, and I was gonna go head in on fixing myself on my postpartum journey. And let me tell you, I am like, I feel like a million bucks. I'm 16 months, you know, postpartum. I feel amazing. My pregnancy was super hard, and I have to give thanks to peptide space for changing my life. And again, though, along with my proper supplementation, my diet, my workout ethic, because I work out like a machine. I worked out my entire pregnancy, even though I gained this weight. I ate very well during my pregnancy, even though I gained weight. I guess I gained 90 pounds, 90 pounds. Like it's just what my body did, and it was hormones. It was hormones. It wasn't like I gained a bunch of fat, it was hormones. And I wanted to fast track my postpartum, and I could with the help of these peptides. So I got my labs done. I get them done every six months, and I base my diet, my supplements, you know, like you don't need to take vitamin D if you're not deficient in vitamin D. Like, you don't need to take a multivitamin. That's just a marketing thing. Like it's giving yourself insurance, covering all the all the vitamins that maybe you're deficient in, but just get your labs done. Work with a professional, get guidance so you can see what you need. And these labs are gonna be able to tell you what you need cellularly. And the cellularly thing, what which comes with cellular health is gonna be your peptides. Your peptides go directly into your bloodstream. They are chains of amino acids. Some are five, some are 15, some are, these are things that your body already produces. They've just gotten shifted and miss signaled from poor lifestyle choices, pregnancy, hormone changes, environment, alcohol or toxin abuse over the years, aging. I mean, no, it just happens. If you have yo-yo diet, you throw things off cellularly. So these these these peptides are chains of amino acids that resignal things. The most popular are gonna be your GLP ones. Those help resignal insulin response and hunger control. Okay, that's what those do. Okay. Your GLP1 is like your Ozempic, which is semiglutide. All Ozempic is as a brand name. It's like saying, you know, this is a water jug, but no, it's a Stanley, right? That's literally what we're doing here. Okay. GLP1 is a semi-glutide. A GLP2 is gonna be your trisepatide, hits two different receptors, okay? And then the most popular in my world that's coming out, it's not FDA approved yet, but it is in um clinical trials, is the retitrutide, and it hits three receptors. Reditrutide is phenomenal. It does hit that GLP one, but it hits your glucagon, which really helps your body target insulin and insulin usage. So you therefore are burning stored fat, nothing else. It like targets the fat loss. I love retitrutide. Um, this was a big thing that helped me six months postpartum. I got on a fat loss peptide to help me get dialed in faster. I was very depressed. Being a fitness person, building muscle my whole life, not looking a certain way. I'm just being real and honest with you. It was so depressing. Was I just on that? No. Is that why I lost the weight? No. My body was gonna normalize eventually. Why? Because I know how to regulate my insulin, I know how to eat clean based on my life, lifestyle, goals, muscle, metabolism. Most people do not have certain habits in store and they get pregnant and they gain this hormone rate, and then their hormones are out of whack and they never really lose it. If you know what you're doing before you're pregnant, after you're pregnant, how come you see so many, there are so many fit moms out there? Because they got dialed in. They know what to do for their body, okay? Um, but if you, if you're one of those people that doesn't and you're like, I've piled on the weight over the years, I've my I can tell I'm out of whack. Then all of a sudden you hit your 40s perimenopause, then you hit your 50s menopause, and you're like 30 pounds overweight, 40 pounds over. I see it every single day, you guys. You need to talk to someone to fix, you can get fixed. This isn't like, oh, give up on life. Okay. We want to be able to burn fat correctly. We want to be able to have healthy hormones, we wanna be able to signal things internally correctly, and you can do that with the help of peptides. There's anti-aging peptides, there's sleep peptides, there's things that will resignal multiple things in your body. Again, these peptides are just mimicking what you already produce. It's not a medication, it's not a drug, it is a peptide. It's it's mimicking something that your body already produces. So, with use of these, you are now resignaling and shifting things internally. Now, another common thing that can throw things off is when people are on HRT or hormone replacement therapy, or they are on medications for different medical conditions. And then the signaling can kind of get because medication forces things and it's not natural. It's not normal. Your body doesn't mimic that, right? So there's a little bit of a miss signaling issue, or or things can you that's maybe when you can kind of see some side effects or or things can kind of kick in. Everyone, everyone has questions about side effects, right? What peptides uh do side effect-wise. Pep side effects usually come in because other things aren't done correctly: dosing, protocol, diet, supplementation, or again, the medication confusion. Okay. But, you know, there's so again, there's differences in in in regards to what you take and why you take it. And this is why I do peptide consults and I educate people on this. So really save this episode and absorb it because I'm giving you a lot of education here, that basic stuff on um on these peptides. So um there's amazing peptides, like I said, not just for weight loss. That's the most probably common thing, because that's what started this whole peptide marketing space. Um, there's healing peptides, there's longevity and energy peptides, anti-aging peptides, skin peptides, um uh things, uh uh libido peptides. I mean, there let me tell you, there's stuff for everything. And again, this is why you need to sit down and map out what it is that you need and what you're lacking. And I have a 10 questionnaire that I give to all my clients that I work with before I even start deciding what I think they need and what I educate them on. Um, I don't recommend texting doses over social media or asking someone and getting a protocol from what someone posts. Do not do that, you guys. You gotta work one-on-one with someone, at least when you're starting. Okay. Just like supplementation. You ever like maybe try a supplement or take a supplement, and you're like, this isn't this isn't working. Well, why isn't it working? Are you sure you need that supplement, or you just watch some ad and you're like, oh, I'm gonna try taking that? That might not be the right thing. This is why I do my full nutrition. I mean, I've been a nutritionist for 24 years. It's like where I go into deep dive on like what specific supplements you need based on like your goals and your lifestyle. So that's a big mistake people make. They're not in the right protocol. Like, so many people have come to me and they're like, oh, like the sagging skin, and like I don't want the osempic face, and this and that my people are getting osempic face because yes, do the peptides make you have saggy skin? No. Do the peptides make you lose muscle? No, it's the poor lifestyle choices along with the protocol. Okay, that's what it is. And stacking things matter, they help, they shift. There's mitochondrial peptides, there's peptides that help regenerate new cellular turnover. Like, it's crazy, you guys. There's so much information and uh health benefits in this space. Like it's it's it's unreal. Okay. Again, I'm super passionate about it. So you need to understand your body, you need to understand what you need, you need to work with someone that is educated enough on the topic to guide you. Okay. This isn't like, oh, my bro sells peptides. He's doing this, so I'm gonna do this. It doesn't always work the same. I've had people that come to me and were on Ozempic and it didn't work for them. I had people that come to me and were on something, it didn't work for them. There, there's a reason why things aren't working. They're not working because they're not on the proper protocol. What was your dose? I have a doctor friend. She literally was like, because they get, you know, stuff, right? Being doctors, the pharmaceutical, the FDA approved ones, the pharmaceutical brand ones. And she showed me a sheet on the dosing. She goes, Yeah, this is the dosing they gave me. Like, this is a doctor. But she's asking me for advice because she knows I know the space and I'm launching my own company. Launching my own company, that's a big deal. Like, I'm not just doing this, isn't just a game for me. I want to help change your life. So she shows me, I'm like, yeah, of course, that's what they give you. They give you a sheet of paper with a dose, and then people just follow it. And there's people that'll, because the doctor will give it to them, they're on something for three years. Not everything you need to stay on. There's things you cycle, that's another very common question. There's things that you cycle, there's things that you can stay on. You can go again, you have to look at your labs. You have to look at your cellular health. You can't just go into this stuff blindly. Oh, I'm gonna take this. Now, there's a few peptides that I would say like probably everybody could take. Like things like NAD, things like um GHKCU, amazing copper peptide for your skin, skin tightening, skin healing. Love it. Like, I feel like lately people are like, oh my god, did you do something in your skin? I'm like, I'm on GHKCU, like pure, and I'm obsessed. So there are things like that that like sure, probably everybody can take, right? Um but again, like you don't always just want to copy a protocol, right? You gotta have it customized to you. That's a big mistake. Um, and again, the other mistake is the skipping of the nutrition and training. Like you you gotta be dialed in with your nutrition and your training. Like you don't people lose muscle because they're malnourished on GLP ones, on the fat loss ones. There's and there's also other metabolic driving peptides that aren't specifically fat loss peptides, but will help you metabolically and therefore you might drop a bunch of weight, even though you're it's not something that's controlling your your hunger hormone, your GLP. One wild so much with the space. It's like I'm I it makes me so excited. So you don't want to skip your nutrition and your training. You gotta be nourished, you know? Um my philosophy really with this all, you guys, is like again, peptides don't don't replace discipline. I'll say it again and again. I was at this event, everyone knows I'm Greek, and I post a lot about different peptides lately. Like I'm I talk about it, I'm being vocal about it, and I'm trying to just give information based on my research and my experience. And I ran into this, these people at this Greek event, and she was like, good for you and your GLP ones. That's what she said to me. And I was like, girl, I'm not even gonna argue with people like that. But I was like, that is not GLP just because I'm talking about it, just because I I I've done I've done Reditrutide, I've do, I love I love Reditru Tide. I'm on a low dose of reditrutide to this day. I don't even know if I'll go off of it. Okay. There are so many studies that show how much it improves Alzheimer's, dementia, shrinks cancer tumors. I mean, like, let's go on and on. And it's in clinical trials to get FDA approved. There's so many benefits on it, but that does not replace discipline. It does not replace a diet, it does not replace protein. Okay. It enhances strategy. I'm gonna say that again. It enhances strategy. There's a strategy. You can fast track how you feel and your health by taking these peptides. That's amazing. Women don't have to go through postpartum and struggle as much as they do to let their hormones normalize. They can have peptides help them, dial them in faster. Like I'm all for it. Like, you want to feel amazing. That's the first thing. You want to feel amazing. Okay. Mental health is huge. And peptides shift that NAD shifts that. MOTC can help with that. Okay. So again, I have to say that this disclaimer that this is for educational purposes only. Um, a lot of peptides right now are in the research stages. It's for research purposes only. Um, they are research websites, research, research peptides for purchase. And I just have to emphasize that you need to get educated. You need to have customization, and it's not a shortcut. It's straight up a strategy, a strategy that I help walk people through. Okay. So you can comment, DM peptides, reach out to me on social media. I will be linking my website soon, my brand soon. I can walk you through exactly what your body needs. You book a peptide consult with me and we can strategize. Um, I'll have all that information in the show notes, you guys. But again, super powerful topic that I want to continue. I'm gonna bring guests on here. We're gonna be talking so much. We're gonna deep dive so much in the peptide space, especially as these months roll out, years roll out, and all this stuff keeps running out. I mean, right now, there's, you know, your peptides usually come to you in a powder form and you mix them with with uh backwater. You used to be able to get backwater on Amazon. Literally yesterday, I was on a peptide consult telling my client to get more backwater on Amazon, even though I can ship it to her through my company. She's like, I can't find it. And I'm like, what do you mean? Amazon has banned backwater. Like, there's no backwater to be found on Amazon. So they are making it harder and harder for people to just be healthy, okay? And we we find loopholes to all this, but let me just tell you right now, this is the new health and fitness space that is changing people's lives. It will keep you healthy, younger, and living longer. Okay. So I'm excited to talk about this more. Again, thank you for joining me today. Please DM me and send questions, comments, reviews on whatever platform you're watching this on. I want to help people in this space. Okay. And I want to be a trusted person. And if I don't know something, I ask. I have teams of doctors, uh, peptide experts, people. That I talk to. Okay. I don't call myself an expert in this space yet. Diet, nutrition, training, all day. I'm I'm a guru who's passionate about it, and I wanna be a source where people can get their hands on things that will change their lives. All right, you guys, I'll see you guys soon. Thanks for tuning in to the Molina Method podcast. I hope you're fired up to make a shift in your life. That's the whole point. So if this episode spoke to you, subscribe to my weekly insider. It's MelinaFitness.com slash subscribe. It's all the fun things that you want to get to know me and know what's coming up and what's the latest tea on the Melina Method. So I will see you guys next time.