The rate of fat redistribution

[Ruth Ruthless]

I'd like to get as big a sample as possible on how effective fat redistribution has been for MTFs here.

1a. How effective has fat been distributed away from waist to hips and thighs?
1b. How long did it take?
2a. How effective has fat been distributed in the face?
2b. How long did it take?
3. Any experience with nutrition and exercise affecting the distribution?

I'm frustrated that I've been a year on hormones and as far as I can tell no change in the pattern of fat distribution in my body. All I can do is change the total amount of fat on my body with nutrition and exercise, but the pattern so far hasn't changed. Another frustration is that in the past 3 months my hormone levels went back to male levels due to switching from E pills to gel, and now I'm waiting again with the new dose to see if my levels are going back to female levels.

I've googled and found an old thread where people said that if you exercise you can burn the old fat and then any new fat will be in female places. In other places I've read that fat cells are replaced at a fixed rate of 10 percent per year, in which case there is nothing to do about it and it takes a long time, possibly 10 years. But then again, I've seen tables that say fat redistribution takes 1-2 years.

So I'm confused on what's really happening out there, what are the various numbers people are having, to what degree YMMV to get some proportion whether something can still change in my body 2 years or more from now, or whether what I've seen this year is probably most of what's going to happen.

[Jenna Marie]

Body redistribution has been very slow, and especially the *loss* of fat; it's still going on now. (I've been on HRT five years next month.) I noticed a bigger butt and thighs within a few months and a bit of a female waistline after a couple of years. However, I'm not skinny, so the majority of what has happened has been the part where new fat deposits in female areas - I still have a tummy, but it's not increasing whereas my lower body is.

Face, I'm not able to put my finger on what changed, but it's fairly dramatic and it happened early - coworkers were apparently noticing by about 3 months in.

Didn't change nutrition or exercise early on, though I have been taking vitamins the past year or so.