Peptide bloat vs. recomp waist: what are you actually measuring?

I lift four days a week, keep protein around 180 g, sleep 7–8 hours, and have been recomping for about a year. Scale is flat-ish, but my waist tape has dropped 2.5 inches, so I care more about how my midsection looks than the number. Lately I keep seeing gym guys who pin peptides and swear they're leaner, yet their gut looks harder and more pushed-out than before. Maybe it's just a huge food volume and heavy training, maybe it's the distended-ab thing older lifters warn about. I'm not touching the stuff — too many unknowns, and I'd rather fix my own consistency. But I'm curious: if you've been around this longer, what actually separates temporary bloat from the thing people worry about? Any non-scale markers you trust, like waist at the navel, morning vs. evening, or how shirts sit? Not asking for medical advice, just patterns from people who lift.