Preparing for HRT

[Quinn the Mighty]

Hello~
I am working on finding a therapist, right now.  I am 18 and would love to be start HRT by this time next year, maybe sooner, if I can.
There's a problem, though; I am 5 foot 7 inches tall 270-ish lbs. heavy.
I've been working at losing weight for about 2 weeks, now.  I've lost somewhere between 5 and 10 lbs.
I've been eating at a guesstimated calorie deficit, going on walks (weather permitting), and doing some simple exercises in my bedroom.
I have heard that weight becomes very difficult to lose when you start taking estrogen and testosterone blockers.  My goal is to lose 100 lbs. over the next year, if I can.  (Healthily.  I don't want to starve myself.)
That might be an extreme goal.  Not sure, really.
So I'm wanting to know a few things:
1.)  Will the HRT be less effective if I am overweight?
2.)  How much harder will weight be to lose when I start HRT?
3.)  What is a good weight to start HRT at?
4.)  Is it worth putting of HRT to lose weight?
5.)  Any tips or recommended exercises or anything?  (I know cardio is good.)

Thank you for any advice or anything that you might have.
- Quinn

[AnonyMs]

Hi Quinn,

I can only answer from my experience, but I'll have a go. I've lost quite a bit of weight twice in my life. Pity about the bit in the middle.

I believe weight loss is mostly psychological. If you're in the right frame of mind its easy, and in the wrong frame of mind you pack it on instead. That's my experience anyway.

HRT will slow your metabolism down, but it may also provide you with the right frame of mind to lose weight. HRT and transitioning may provide you with a goal and motivation to lose weight. I'd assume there's a reason why you overweight in the first place, and its not because you wanted to be. The answer you your question 2 then depends on you.

You may have problems getting HRT while so overweight, but I'm guessing here.

1. I don't know but I doubt it makes much difference.
2. Above
3. As for 2.
4. As for 2.

5.

The first time I lost about 50 lbs in a year, with dieting and a lot of exercise. No HRT. I was very serious about it and it was a major effort.

The second time I lost more than that in 6 months, all dieting and no exercise. Full transiting HRT. Tons of motivation. And basically starving myself (very healthy starving though).

From that I've concluded HRT and exercise are not a major factors compared to diet, and diet is completely dependent on my willpower and mental state. Exercise certainly made me look good though, and I felt great about that. Obviously you're going to be healthier if you diet, my point is only about weight loss (and you're going to be way healthier doing that).

I think it would be very difficult to lose 100 lbs in a year, especially without starving yourself. The second time my rate of loss was above that, so its possible, but really hard.

For me the technical side of weight loss is easy. I'm good at finding things out, and I know how to do it. The psychological side is the hard bit. Its probably something you should discuss with your therapist when you find one. And discuss the weight with a doctor to work out what you can safely do in terms of diet and exercise.'

For me the answer to all your questions would have been start HRT immediately, but you're not me and that might be the wrong answer.

[Cindy]

Many endos are reluctant to put overweight people on E. The risk of DVT is very high. It is FAR easier to lose weight when on T so use it.  Many surgeons will not do GCS on overweight people, same reason.

I'm 170 cm which is about 5' 7" I weigh 59kilos about 125 lbs? My BMI is 19.

I didn't use to be!

So what do we do and how to do it.

Motivation and keeping going is the hardest part. You are going to get a new body. You have the chance of being a gorgeous woman. So lets be her. Keep her in mind always. Even when you cry.

Cut out all sugar drinks. All of them. Drink water instead. Increase your vegies and start loving them. Get rid of as much sugary fatty food as you can. Eat fruit for breakfast not cereal, cut down on bread.

Give up booze. A woman's safe level of booze is one glass of wine a day, and not every day!

Exercise, use the curse of T to a positive. Don't worry about building muscle E will get rid of it, so exercise. If you can only do this indoors try placing something you can step up and down on, about the size of a normal step, and do step ups. Get your family Doc to take your blood pressure and tell them you are starting to lose weight, they can help you not over extend. As you are very overweight at the moment you will get tired quickly. Use that as a positive. Your body is responding. Keep that woman's image in your mind. You will be beautiful. You will wear nice clothes. You will be desired. You will be loved.

Just remember when you walk into the therapists office or the endos office they may ask, what have you done about your 'drive' to be a woman. You have the answer.

Post here your success and failure. Boast the success and forget the failure. We all trip up. But our success are glorious.

You are 18, you have a chance of life as the beautiful person you are.

Take it. Hold it in your heart and be it.

Hugs young lady

Cindy

[Quinn the Mighty]

Thank you both.
Two really good replies.

I've tried dieting and exercising in the past, but always failed.  But when I decided that I would follow my heart and try to transition, it became much, much easier.

[AnonyMs]

I'm 170 cm which is about 5' 7" I weigh 59kilos about 125 lbs? My BMI is 19.
I didn't use to be!

You used to be overweight? That's kind of intimidating.

Just remember when you walk into the therapists office or the endos office they may ask, what have you done about your 'drive' to be a woman. You have the answer.

It never occurred to me before, but that in particular would have really motivated me. I'm not sure why, but I find it quite powerful.

Many surgeons will not do GCS on overweight people, same reason.

As some motivation, I believe the upper limit is a BMI around 30.

[Sammy]

Weight loss is not that much psychological, as it is pure game of numbers. It is about consuming less calories than spending and exercising to spend even more calories. There is little point (weight-loss wise) to eat healthy if You still eat more calories than You should. You can struggle even with eating only pearl-barley or buckwheat dishes - if You eat bowls and bowls of them . Keeping Yourself disciplined is another key-issue, cause we could spend the whole day dieting, then exercising and then falling into temptation and drinking a can of Pepsi (150 calories, btw).

[ChiGirl]

Quinn, good luck on your goal.  At 18, you have the motivation and the youth to lose that weight.  I did the same thing prepping for transition, and I lost like 50 lbs my freshman year of college.  Of course, I also lived on campus where I had to walk or ride a bike everywhere, had easy access to a workout facility, and lousy dorm food.

I didn't transition then, but at 40 I'm ready to now.  Keep exercising and eating right.  My personal trainer tells me it's 20% exercise and 80% eating right.  Try and worry less about dieting and more about changing your eating habits.  Eat lots of fresh food, stay away from processed food as much as possible, and try to get a good balance in your diet.

Good luck and hugs!

[AnonyMs]

Weight loss is not that much psychological, as it is pure game of numbers. It is about consuming less calories than spending and exercising to spend even more calories.

Hi Emily, you're absolutely right of course, and yet at the same time I've never found it very useful.

The one thing that's allowed or stopped me controlling my weight is my mental state. I simply don't have the discipline to lose control my weight when I'm depressed. The fear of dying wasn't enough. HRT was though. It lifted the depression and gave me hope. That's what I mean by it being mostly psychological. Its not strictly true and yet there is truth to it.

[Sammy]

Oh yes . In that sense You are right I did find that just feeling happy because of being on HRT wont do the trick for me... I would exercise, run countless kilometers, then eat something good and healthy (a lot) and then realise that I am staying on the same weight all the time (at least I am not getting fatter, but... remaining around 160lbs with 5"9' is not exactly the most perfect weight ever).

[AnonyMs]

Oh yes . In that sense You are right I did find that just feeling happy because of being on HRT wont do the trick for me... I would exercise, run countless kilometers, then eat something good and healthy (a lot) and then realise that I am staying on the same weight all the time (at least I am not getting fatter, but... remaining around 160lbs with 5"9' is not exactly the most perfect weight ever).

I think we have very different ideas about what a perfect weight is. You've no idea how much I want to be where you are right now.

[ImagineKate]

I lost weight when I started HRT but I attribute that to a few things:

Muscle loss
Shedding the dysphoria and feeling happy about myself, hence more incentive to lose weight
Managing my medical conditions with diet and exercise, because my HRT doctor/NP is also my primary and I'm encouraged to be healthy.


So maybe I lost weight in spite of HRT not because of it.

I'm 5'6" and 165lb which is slightly overweight but I'm losing weight. I have 10lbs to go before my goal.

[Mariah]

I believe weight loss is mostly psychological. If you're in the right frame of mind its easy, and in the wrong frame of mind you pack it on instead. That's my experience anyway.

HRT will slow your metabolism down, but it may also provide you with the right frame of mind to lose weight. HRT and transitioning may provide you with a goal and motivation to lose weight.

This most definitely was the case for me. I lost most of what I wanted before starting HRT and I wasn't trying to lose it. It just happened. I will say since HRT the metabolism is much slower and if you don't watch yourself you can put on 10 pound in no time. Eat healthy, Exercise and let i take care of it's self. Doing all the right things will help, but then being in the right state of mind will help more. For whatever reason when we stressed out over certain things like weight we just pack it on instead. Good luck and Hugs
Mariah