That moment when you realized you're losing muscle mass :)

[ath]

I've had a lot of these moments recently, and I want to hear yours. It's not a bad moment for me, either, because while it is inconvenient to not be able to do as much physically, it's a huge relief and excitement to have yet another sign that my hormones are actually doing their work.

Yesterday, I had band practice, and after I decided to pack up a section of my keyboard setup at the studio and bring it to my apartment. It's been there since last spring, and I've been on hormones since February - so it's been a while since I've moved it, and when I last moved it I was working out a lot in preparation for summer and working with a charter boat company.

It used to be no biggie to lug that setup from my car to my 2nd floor apartment (really glad I'm not a 4th floor person right now, lol). It was just a keyboard in a soft case I have, the keyboard stand (a Z stand that can hold up to 600 pounds, so it's fairly heavy for a keyboard stand), a backpack full of cables, pedals, and other random music gear, and my main bass (a J-Bass I built). Not really that much gear, and I used to be able to carry it around no problem.

Now, it's the day after I carried that stuff up to my apartment, and my muscles are sore like they used to be when I'd -actually- work out really hard. It's blowing my mind that just taking that gear upstairs, that I'd have done without a second thought before, now causes me to have sore muscles the next day, just from taking it up to my apartment.

I have a collapsible hand-truck, so I'm just going to use that for moving more than I used to. I used to just use it for larger speaker cabinets (4x10s or 8x10s usually), but now that use will be expanding haha.

This is just another thing that's happened since I started hormones that's told me this is the right track. Have any of you had similar things happen - did you have a moment, after starting hormones, when you realized you really are losing muscle mass and strength, and gotten excited about it because of it being evidence that your HRT is working on lowering your muscle mass?

[Sincerely Tegan]

Not there yet, but it sounds wonderful. Enjoy the ride.

-Teg

[Eva Marie]

Yep all of the time. The most glaring one is when I buy cat litter in a 35lb jug - I can barely get it in the shopping cart. That's a long way from where I was a few years ago when I would routinely carry two 50lb bags of fertilizer at the same time.

[Ms Grace]

Finally losing it from my upper arms and thighs...

[Joan]

I've stopped losing weight but my band size has gone down 3cm.

And my arms go through my cardigan sleeves really easily where they used to require a certain amount of 'encouragement'

[f_Anna_tastic]

I have lost quite a bit of muscle so far at 7 months hormones but still have a long way to go, particularly on my shoulders and arms.

Hopefully it'll keep happening!

[TerriT]

I've been excercizing every day since I started hrt and it's been difficult to keep the pounds off and stuff. I figured if I'm going to change my body with hormones, I might as well get in shape for a change. What happened though is that I've gained muscle tone, but still lost strength???

I notice it the most when grocery shopping. I always used a basket and never thought twice about what I was carrying, but now I can barely carry it with both arms.

[ath]

I've been excercizing every day since I started hrt and it's been difficult to keep the pounds off and stuff. I figured if I'm going to change my body with hormones, I might as well get in shape for a change. What happened though is that I've gained muscle tone, but still lost strength???

I notice it the most when grocery shopping. I always used a basket and never thought twice about what I was carrying, but now I can barely carry it with both arms.

I was in good shape before hormones, and regularly worked out. My main workout was basically doing lots of stairs with interesting things thrown in to make it harder. I've not worked out since starting hormones, though, just because I wanted to lose muscle mass faster. My arms are definitely smaller now, same with shoulders. I could stand to lose more in those regions still, but I'm satisfied with the results so far. Especially considering my starting point.

I'm now at the point where I think I'm going to start up my old routine again, although now I wonder how much I'll have to tone it down. It was all just calisthenics, I have not done weights since I was in high school.

[ath]

And You are going to have quite a surprise about Your current capabilities. Enjoy .

Yeah, it seems like my next workout session will be a very interesting one - and probably the entire week after. By interesting I mean painful and difficult. Bring it on haha. This coming Tuesday will be the day.

[Missy~rmdlm]

Oh sure I'll wrestle a stump grinder like the good ole days...not.

[JamesG]

Was doing some roof work the other day and trying to lift a 50lb. bundle of shingle up a 20ft. ladder was... fun.  Had to cradle it in my arms and "hop" up the rungs one at a time.

Just gotta work smarter instead of harder.

[apriljo]

I was grocery shopping as usual. It's a 10 minute walk home from me from the grocery store. I had a 4L bag of milk in one shopping bag, and stuff equally heavy in the other. Nothing special, just a small handful of groceries like I've done thousands of times before. By half-way home my arms were in so much pain and shaking from the strain. It was only like 2 weeks since I did it the last time!

[allisonsteph]

I started noticing the loss of muscle mass when I was cooking dinner and realized that I needed both hands to pick up my Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet. Once upon a time I could pick it up one handed and flip pancakes with a flick of the wrist. Not anymore.

[Autumn]

I didn't have much to lose to begin with, but I noticed it when I had to get supplies (heavy boxes of bags) to the floor for work. Now I just make one of the guys do it.

[Jessica Merriman]

Yep all of the time. The most glaring one is when I buy cat litter in a 35lb jug - I can barely get it in the shopping cart. That's a long way from where I was a few years ago when I would routinely carry two 50lb bags of fertilizer at the same time.

Definitely this /\! 50 lbs. of Dog Food feels like a Toyota or something. This coming from someone who used to strap on 60 lbs. of firefighting gear every day.

[Jessika Lin]

I'm still waiting for it to start, though I'm not sure I'd notice it anyway. I've never had very much upper body/arm strength.

[BunnyBee]

Once upon a time I actually carried a three seat couch down three flights of stairs by myself, and now I ask guys to help me with immovable objects I can't even budge and they pick it up with one arm like its a bag of groceries and I'm like.. well ok, then...

Not that I was a weightlifter or anything, but I was pretty athletic I guess, but now...  Idk it makes me feel kind of useless sometimes tbh, but I just have to find other ways to help out I suppose.

[Ltl89]

It's been a very slow process for me.  I've never been muscular, but I do have upper arm fat that I hate. While that hasn't really gone down too much, I have noticed a decline in strength and little things have gotten harder to lift.  Once I've been on my current dose for enough time, I'm sure the process will continue even more.  For now, it's been slow, like everything else with hrt. 

[Jill F]

UGH!  Muscle always stuck to me without much effort on my part.   I put on 25 pounds of it in 2012 doing construction and I still have at least half if that left to lose.  I probably have to go back to eating less protein again.  Oh well, I can probably still kick some ass...

[FrancisAnn]

I've lost a lot of muscle I guess but it feels so good to become more normal I could care less. It's not like I'm weak or anything, I feel great just not as strong.   Bottom line, no big deal at all.