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Should I try to increase body fat when I start HRT?

Started by Danny H, September 13, 2014, 05:56:21 AM

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Danny H

I am currently 5'11, 21 and weight about 130 pounds (6-7% body fat).  I know that a healthy female is more in the region of 16-18% body fat.  If/when I start HRT should I start to try and gain body fat so breasts and hips can grow quicker?  I will ask my GP and endo as well, just wondering what you all think and if anyone has had similar experiences.  Thanks.
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Kaelin

As far as your hip bones are concerned, your amount of fat should have nothing to do with them.  You are young enough to still potentially develop in that respect.

To some extent your body will probably take care of body fat for you by slowing down your metabolism.  Others may have something to say about the merits of "trying" to gain fat, but you will change without any special effort.  Keep in mind that if you're deliberately piling on fat to grow breasts and hip fat, that's likely to add fat to other parts of the body, and I don't think that's your goal.  Also, with that slower metabolism, it'll be harder to remove that fat than normal if you "overshoot," so it may be better to see what your body does naturally on hormones.
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Catherine Sarah

Hi Danny,

As Kaelin said
Quote from: Kaelin on September 13, 2014, 10:54:14 AM
........so it may be better to see what your body does naturally on hormones.

If your journey includes the possibility of any surgeries, you don't want additional fat slowing recovery down.

Huggs
Catherine




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Carrie Liz

No. Definitely not. Unless you've been on HRT for quite a while, unfortunately, it will just go to male areas. I tried this about 11 months into HRT, and yeah, unfortunately, it all went to my stomach. :(

Basically, when you gain weight, it doesn't matter what hormones are in you, your fat will go to whatever places there are already fat cells. All that happens when you gain and lose weight is that your existing fat cells inflate and deflate. No new ones are created.

The way that HRT redistributes your fat to new gendered areas is that estrogen and testosterone influence where new fat cells are created as old ones die off. About 10% of your body's fat cells die off and are reborn this way every year, so you will indeed slowly, slowly, start to get curves as estrogen dictates that the new fat cells are being born in your hips and boobs and thighs. So the proportions will indeed slowly change. But it takes a long time. Once you've had a few years though, then and only then will you be able to gain weight and have it go to mostly female places.

Women have more body fat because their hormones dictate it, and because their bodies slowly develop that way. Given enough time on HRT every trans woman will end up the same way naturally. But again, it takes time.
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Luana

Good to know about this, I am in a very similar situation and was thinking about this in the last few weeks, thanks Carrie Liz ::)
Just one step at time :D
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Ruth Ruthless

Quote from: Carrie Liz on September 13, 2014, 12:31:53 PM
No. Definitely not. Unless you've been on HRT for quite a while, unfortunately, it will just go to male areas. I tried this about 11 months into HRT, and yeah, unfortunately, it all went to my stomach. :(

Basically, when you gain weight, it doesn't matter what hormones are in you, your fat will go to whatever places there are already fat cells. All that happens when you gain and lose weight is that your existing fat cells inflate and deflate. No new ones are created.

The way that HRT redistributes your fat to new gendered areas is that estrogen and testosterone influence where new fat cells are created as old ones die off. About 10% of your body's fat cells die off and are reborn this way every year, so you will indeed slowly, slowly, start to get curves as estrogen dictates that the new fat cells are being born in your hips and boobs and thighs. So the proportions will indeed slowly change. But it takes a long time. Once you've had a few years though, then and only then will you be able to gain weight and have it go to mostly female places.

Women have more body fat because their hormones dictate it, and because their bodies slowly develop that way. Given enough time on HRT every trans woman will end up the same way naturally. But again, it takes time.

Thank you for this. I was just now really sad nothing would ever change for me and this explanation gave me hope.
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Ruth Ruthless

Don't suppose there is a way to accelerate this process? Google generated results of technologies that kill fat cells, but I have no problem of too much fat... just it isn't in the right places.
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Dee Marshall

I've heard of plastic surgeons vacuuming the fat cells out of male areas and putting them back in in female areas, but that seems a bit extreme to me.
April 22, 2015, the day of my first face to face pass in gender neutral clothes and no makeup. It may be months to the next one, but I'm good with that!

Being transgender is just a phase. It hardly ever starts before conception and always ends promptly at death.

They say the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train. I say, climb aboard!
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Ruth Ruthless

Could I be stunting fat cell growth in female regions by having less fat?

I don't like the idea of having a belly now, but I don't like the idea of never having face fat either...
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- Rachel -

Don't try to gain fat. You'll gain it in the wrong places.

I was also low body fat when I started, under 10%
I was told just to not do excessive aerobic (fat burning) exercise, give the E time to work. Redistributing fat is misleading. What happens is that the places fat accumulates will change.
Be patient, it will happen.

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one's definition of your life; define yourself." -- Robert Frost
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Ruth Ruthless

Cool, then I can continue to feel a bit better about my body by staying slim. :)
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