Pre-HRT slim down, questions/advice needed.

[Sophia Hawke]

So im at week 2 of trying to slim down pre-HRT.  im 6ft 190ish lbs.  Ive cut my cals back to about 1600-1700 from about 3-4k.  Now though, since im broke, the 1600-1700 cals is far less protien than the 3-4k cals of protien.  Hell, i ate 1200 cals at mcd's  today in one meal at mcds, just cause it was cheap and i was right there(closest fast food is 20 miles away).
   Anyways,  anyone know, am i still not gonna lose?  All the meat generally just went right through me and i hardly gained anything.  I've never been a sugar eater, and the only sugar i eat comes from breads.
Im mostly concerned with losing my spare tire.  I'm trying to lose about 30lbs, or as much as i can, till i get the cash for HRT.  I know the majority of my fat is just a thin layer of surface fat that will come off pretty easy.  Last time i was 160 i still had a spare tire which is where im carrying the vast majority of my extra weight. 
    Will some of that fat move when i go on hormones, or will i just gain fat in different places?  The majority of women in my family seem to be carrying weight on their hips/butt/chest, just wondering of thats always going to be a problem area or if theres anything i can really do?   I also dont want to lose too much weight and not have enough to spread around to the areas i need.

      On a side note, im hoping for a blender for christmas, so i can blend up smoothies for meals.  I certainly wouldnt mind being able to drink all my meals haha.  Also easier on my budget(eating 3-4k cal of meatyness was very very expensive.)  But, im looking to switch to a diet thats kinda like those green smoothies, just blend up a batch in the morning for the whole day kinda thing.  Looking at blending up something like, Ice, spinach, kale, apple, bannana, carrots, flax seed.  Maybe something more rich in fibre?

advice? thoughts? suggestions?

PS. Exercise is great, but i can barely make it up my stairs with my knee, i know i need some cardio but i cant plan on that since 3 months out of the year i work 120hours a week.

[Phyliciaraine]

I'm right there with you hun. I'm getting a stationary bike to do my cardio and the other thing I've read us to cut back on the meats/protien and eat more veggies.

[Sophia Hawke]

I'm right there with you hun. I'm getting a stationary bike to do my cardio and the other thing I've read us to cut back on the meats/protien and eat more veggies.

Yeah, for someone who hasnt done any exercise in almost 5 years, i have a crap ton of muscle.  Virtually all my extra weight is on my upper body, my legs are incredibly fat free and muscular.  I KNOW ill be able to exersize more when i drop this upper body weight.  I remember being 160 and how easy it was to move.  i miss that.  I never pickup heavy stuff either, so strength is not an issue.

[Xhianil]

Whatever you do, don't starve youerself, bad bad bad idea, i know from experience.

[Sophia Hawke]

Whatever you do, don't starve youerself, bad bad bad idea, i know from experience.

Well, 1600-1700 can be alot i guess depending on what you eat.  Still, if i want to drop weight, im going to need at least a good calorie deficit.  This is double so since i dont exersize really.  Im, down to less than a pack of cigs a day now, from 2.5 packs which is great.  I'm wondering if when i quit smoking that might help with the spare tire.

[Jill F]

Well, 1600-1700 can be alot i guess depending on what you eat.  Still, if i want to drop weight, im going to need at least a good calorie deficit.  This is double so since i dont exersize really.  Im, down to less than a pack of cigs a day now, from 2.5 packs which is great.  I'm wondering if when i quit smoking that might help with the spare tire.

A lot of endos won't give you HRT unless you quit smoking completely.  I recommend cold turkey after you get it down to less than 5.  You'll want to kill everything in sight for 2 weeks, but then it's over.  Do NOT respond to nic fits by eating- take a walk instead.  Been there, done that.  I quit smoking and lost weight at the same tie after my doc(!) told me it was impossible.

[Sophia Hawke]

A lot of endos won't give you HRT unless you quit smoking completely.  I recommend cold turkey after you get it down to less than 5.  You'll want to kill everything in sight for 2 weeks, but then it's over.  Do NOT respond to nic fits by eating- take a walk instead.  Been there, done that.  I quit smoking and lost weight at the same tie after my doc(!) told me it was impossible.

I'm on chantix right now.   just finished the first week of it.  Today i woke up with 19 cigs in a pack. I threw probably 10-15 of those out my car window earlier after lighting them, taking a drag or two, then deciding i wasnt interested.   Overall though, im pretty sure im less than a pack a day now.  It's hard to tell when i waste tons of cigs.  I'm hoping by next week i wont be smoking at all.  After the first 3-4 days i was fine last time i quit cold turkey almost.  I quit cold turkey last time the day i started chantix.  was fine after 3-4 days, things got bad though after a couple weeks in my life and i went back to smoking ((.


I've heard water weight goes on you like crazy after quitting smoking.   Taste has no effect on my appetite thankfully.  I do need to find something to put in my mouth or suck or chew on or something to help break the habit.  Gum is great but too expensive lol.

[Jennygirl]

I used to smoke socially (yuck, I can't believe I used to do that), but then I got a personal vaporizer (aka e cigarette) about 3 years ago right when they were first starting to become popular. I haven't had a cigarette since. These things are awesome because it's not smoke and it still gives the sensation of smoking but also actually tastes good. The liquids come in literally hundreds of flavors. I highly recommend it if you are trying to kick it asap.

Sometimes it takes people a few tries with the personal vapes to fully quit inhaling burned plant matter, but most of my friends have since given up cigarettes in favor of them. They are really cheap now (much cheaper than cigarettes) and there are even stores popping up everywhere that sell them.

If you are interested, don't mess around with the off-the-shelf disposables from the gas station. They taste horrible.

If you are interested in the good stuff, I'd be happy to recommend

[Sophia Hawke]

I used to smoke socially (yuck, I can't believe I used to do that), but then I got a personal vaporizer (aka e cigarette) about 3 years ago right when they were first starting to become popular. I haven't had a cigarette since. These things are awesome because it's not smoke and it still gives the sensation of smoking but also actually tastes good. The liquids come in literally hundreds of flavors. I highly recommend it if you are trying to kick it asap.

Sometimes it takes people a few tries with the personal vapes to fully quit inhaling burned plant matter, but most of my friends have since given up cigarettes in favor of them. They are really cheap now (much cheaper than cigarettes) and there are even stores popping up everywhere that sell them.

If you are interested, don't mess around with the off-the-shelf disposables from the gas station. They taste horrible.

If you are interested in the good stuff, I'd be happy to recommend

Sadly, the thing i enjoy most about cigs is the smoke ((.  Ive got a nice vape on my desk right here. I rarely use it though, mostly when im out of cigs.  Also, isnt nicotine terrible for your skin?  Acne has ravaged my skin pretty bad in the last couple years, so im thinking it needs all the help it can get.  Laser resurfacing is already on the list of things i want to do

[Jennygirl]

Sadly, the thing i enjoy most about cigs is the smoke ((.  Ive got a nice vape on my desk right here. I rarely use it though, mostly when im out of cigs.  Also, isnt nicotine terrible for your skin?  Acne has ravaged my skin pretty bad in the last couple years, so im thinking it needs all the help it can get.  Laser resurfacing is already on the list of things i want to do

I started at 24mg nicotine and gradually weaned myself off of it... to zero!

[SierraK]

I do need to find something to put in my mouth or suck or chew on or something to help break the habit.  Gum is great but too expensive lol.

Have you ever looked into e-cigarettes at all? I quit using one 3 years ago, and relapsed a few months ago - You can get 0mg Nicotine liquids, and with the right kind (I prefer cinnamon/mint flavors mostly) it almost feels like (or better than!) the real thing. It might be something to look into for the psychological side of things? I know that's what gets me the most, it's not the nicotine.

[Sophia Hawke]

Have you ever looked into e-cigarettes at all? I quit using one 3 years ago, and relapsed a few months ago - You can get 0mg Nicotine liquids, and with the right kind (I prefer cinnamon/mint flavors mostly) it almost feels like (or better than!) the real thing. It might be something to look into for the psychological side of things? I know that's what gets me the most, it's not the nicotine.

Its the actual smoke i like i think lol.  At this point it dont matter though.  Its either cigs or hormones and they are completely incompatible.

[Ashey]

Well, exercise will help with a lot of things. Even just half an hour of cardio a few days a week would help a lot. Counting and cutting calories, sticking to serving sizes, cutting out snacks and fast food, eating 5 small meals a day (for the metabolism boost), and drastically reducing sugar intake. Those will help a lot too. I'm at about 192lbs and I try to keep my calorie-intake to 1500 or less per day (doing all the above), and then I bust my ass on the arc-trainer at the gym four times a week, burning about 600 calories at a time. So far I've lost about 5lbs this month. Diet and exercise, it actually works! But if you can't exercise regularly, at LEAST try to keep moving throughout the day. Stand up or move around when you eat, or do other daily activities. If you sit at a desk to use your computer, try standing. Little things like that can add up too. We burn calories doing everything.

As for quitting cigs... well, cold-turkey worked for me, pretty much. But just remember to keep your hands busy.. >_>

[SciNerdGirl]

Well, exercise will help with a lot of things. Even just half an hour of cardio a few days a week would help a lot. Counting and cutting calories, sticking to serving sizes, cutting out snacks and fast food, eating 5 small meals a day (for the metabolism boost), and drastically reducing sugar intake. Those will help a lot too. I'm at about 192lbs and I try to keep my calorie-intake to 1500 or less per day (doing all the above), and then I bust my ass on the arc-trainer at the gym four times a week, burning about 600 calories at a time. So far I've lost about 5lbs this month. Diet and exercise, it actually works!
>_>

I wished that this worked for me, I lost a lot of weight early on in my diet (started 18 mos ago).  I dropped 40 lbs in the first 6 months, and I haven't really lost any weight since.  I go between 225 and 215 (I'm 5'9") despite jogging 6-10 miles per week (or doing equiv cardio).  I typically eat between 1500 and 1800 Kcals/day (although some days I don't do that well, I' usually pretty good about it).  It is maddening since I keep dreaming of having a pretty slim figure, and I'm working so hard for it and not seeing any results

My Dr. recommends strength training (she is unaware of my gender dysphoria).  I used to like lifting a lot, but now I'm scared of it for 2 reasons.  I'm broad shouldered as it is, and I don't really want to put on any additional muscle mass.  And secondly I've got a bad neck, and I scared of making it worse.

Interestingly I have started experimenting with using spiro for it's intended purpose (to treat high blood pressure).  I'm experimenting with a low dose (50mg/day), since none of the treatments my Dr has given me (we've tried 4 so far) has been particularly effective (also I haven't been able to drop my BP despite the diet and exercise).  It actually seems to be dropping my BP (which is good).  Since I'm taking the spiro for BP, I might try some additional strength training with my workout,  since the anti-androgen properties should prevent much muscle mass from building up.

Janet

[TessaMarie]

Interestingly I have started experimenting with using spiro for it's intended purpose (to treat high blood pressure).  I'm experimenting with a low dose (50mg/day), since none of the treatments my Dr has given me (we've tried 4 so far) has been particularly effective (also I haven't been able to drop my BP despite the diet and exercise).  It actually seems to be dropping my BP (which is good).  Since I'm taking the spiro for BP, I might try some additional strength training with my workout,  since the anti-androgen properties should prevent much muscle mass from building up.

Janet

Janet,  I am not surprised to hear your Blood Pressure is being lowered by Spiro.  I was started on only half the normal starting dose of Spiro & have lowered it a bit even from there.  At my GP's office this morning my Blood Pressure was only 100/52, so I may need to reduce my Spiro further.  (I have already sent a mail to my HRT doc requesting advice.)

Sophia,

I used a combination of diet & exercise to lose about 36lbs during the first half of 2013 before going on HRT in June.  I read that your exercise options are limited, which makes losing weight so much harder.  I don't know if my experience can be of help, but maybe you can take anything useful from it.  I described in some detail how I lost the weight in another post:    https://www.susans.org/forums/index.php/topic,156569.msg1327302.html#msg1327302

Here are some excerpts from that post:

Diet:
I stopped snacking between meals & cut out almost all snack foods from my diet.  I ate 2-3 meals per day.  When I absolutely had to snack, I snacked on baby carrots.
I tried eating home-cooked meals as much as possible (pizza, burgers & pancakes are not very slimming). 
I ate until I was full instead of eating until I was stuffed (the difference being being completely not hungry versus not being able to move for 30 minutes). 
I didn't count calories or worry too much about what I ate.  E.g.:  I used real butter when mashing the spuds & full-fat milk in my porridge (oatmeal), tea, etc.  I still put 4 spoons of sugar in my porridge (made with 7 dessert spoons of oatmeal) and 2.5 in my tea (20oz cup).  I did not ration my tea or coffee intake.

Exercise:
I decided to do some exercise as opposed to none.
I started by walking 2 miles per day.  I gradually brought this up to 3 miles, then 4 miles.  When 4 miles became easy I added a few ounces of leg weights, then a few ounces more ... until I had 2.5lbs on each ankle.
I walked every single day.  No matter what.  Snow, ice, rain, single-digit (F) temperatures or heat wave (100°F).  On the really hot days I would usually walk after sundown.  On really cold days, as near to afternoon as possible. 
I gave myself permission to shorten my walk or to leave off the leg weights whenever I felt I needed to, which was about once every 2-3 weeks.

This graph shows how my weight changed from 18/Jan/2013 to 1/Jan 2014:    http://imgur.com/7MrBW8K

I hope you can find something useful from my experience.

Best of luck !    I hope your weight loss is going as you would like it to     

Tessa

PS:    I stopped smoking cold turkey in 1998.  I'm very glad the habit hasn't been killing my pocket & my self since then 

[Sophia Hawke]

I'm down 22lbs so far(from 197). Just by eating less.  I still have a spare tire though I can't get rid of.  In fact I've always had it, even at 150-160 and 6ft tall.  All of my fat is spare tire Though hard as fk to get off.

[Danielle Sherry]

Please read my post in "Nutrition" reposted from cooking.   

[northcountrymassage]

Please do not use ankle weights, they are extremely bad for your joints and your legs in general.  If you want to add additional resistance you could carry weight in a small back pack that is placed correctly on your back and not hung down low to the small of your belt.

[Wynternight]

Don't cut protein. You need protein for healing. You can eat a high protein diet and not gain muscle mass as long as it's lean protein. I do protein shakes, bars, and eat lots of turkey and chicken. Cardio is good for losing weight and swimming is one exercise that can't be beat.

[Eris]

Cardio, I use a cross-trainer and a stationary bike when my knee isn't playing up.
I would also suggest giving up alcohol for a while if you haven't already.
I used to enjoy 4-8 pints a week (an extra 1-2 thousand calories). I haven't had a drink in 5 months and even when I'm not exercising without this extra intake my weight is on a very-slow natural decline.