Is it true that it's easier to lose weight on T than E?

[Sunderland]

I've been depressed lately and haven't been taking my HRT as frequently. It's hard to care when I don't see any physical changes other than softer skin, and the only perceivable mental change has been a vastly increased libido (yes, estrogen has made me way hornier. I have no idea why). I just feel like I'm wasting my time and money on this stuff and I feel fat and ugly and blah. Today I didn't take my meds on purpose. I've always heard that it's easier to lose weight as a man than a woman, so I was thinking maybe I'd halt HRT until I've lost weight. After all, the goal is to look more feminine, and I feel like if running on T gets me thin faster, then it's doing more to feminize my appearance than the HRT seems to be.

What do you think? Is there any truth to the common wisdom that men lose weight faster than women? Is it enough of a difference to matter?

[AnonyMs]

It depends. You're metabolism will be higher on T than E, so you'll burn more energy and lose more weight for a given amount of food intake. But if you're depressed on T (or E) then its probably going to be a real struggle losing anything.

I don't really see how losing weight on T is really going to make feminize any faster, as that's going to stop while you're doing it.

Personally I've lost weight at a very high rate on full HRT, far more then I've ever done before starting. The difference being a complete change in motivation. The HRT fixed my depression.

Perhaps you should be looking into why your depressed and if you HRT is working correctly.

[Sunderland]

Oh, I know why I'm depressed. 'Cause my life is so depressing (outside of anything gender related). Maybe that's why HRT hasn't fixed it? Life sucks lately. Even estrogen isn't enough to make me unaware of how sucky it is.

The reason I was thinking I'd feminize faster off of it is because to me, the thinner I am, the more feminine I'll look. So if I lost weight faster off HRT... and the E doesn't seem to be feminizing me. Maybe I just can't see it because of the fat obscuring any possible changes, but then... That's sort of another reason why I'd rather lose weight faster. I feel like a blob right now. Who cares if HRT is making me a more feminine blob? I still feel like a blob.

I dunno... I can't decide if it's worth it or not.

Thank you for replying. I was starting to think no one was going to.

[AnonyMs]

Thank you for replying. I was starting to think no one was going to.

I get that same feeling sometimes, or I post the last reply in a thread and no one posts anything more - I feel like I've killed it. I'm pretty sure I'm reading more into it that there is. I only post when there's something of interest or I can help with sometime, and I can see how its just bad luck with timing sometimes.

I've no idea what your situation is, but I've been clinically depressed not just feeling down, I've changed my HRT levels to great effect, and I've lost lots of weight. You're situation is no doubt different, but being depressed is a serious problem that needs to be fixed somehow. I can only think to make sure your HRT is effective - you should at least be checking blood levels and making sure they are correct and not just taking the doctors word on it. If you don't have blood test results then that's something I think's really important. Not sure what to say about a sucky life, except that depression makes everything hopeless, even if its not. It's not possible to think clearly. Get it fixed and life should be at least be less sucky, and perhaps you'll even find a way to make it good.

You can lose weight on estrogen, its not much harder than on T. It's just than in my case I couldn't actually do it at all while depressed. It wouldn't have made any difference without estrogen, I still couldn't have lost weight. You may be different.

[DrummerGirl]

I don't really think it makes much of a difference.  I was actually being administered a very heavy dose of T for years before starting MtF HRT.  The past 6 months, I've lost over 65 pounds and it's been pretty consistent at around 10-11 pounds a month going from 225 down to 158.  The first 2 months were while I was on T, the next month I wasn't on any hormones, and the past 3 months I've been on spiro and E.  When I first started MtF HRT, I was more hungry for a few weeks, but I simply ate more fruits and veggies and less meat and the extra hunger went away.  For myself, it was the other medications (thyroid and BP) that I was taking that hampered my weight loss for so many years.  Now that I am off those, weight loss has been pretty easy.

[jgdo]

Hi Sunderland,

It is about the same when by E you mean Estradiol, and not estrogen in general. At the end it is not T but the by-produced Estradiol what keeps you fit and with good bone healths. So when you increase T you are also increasing Estradiol as a by product. I found that info in the links bellow:

http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/53001889#53001889
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/09/14/study-low-estrogen-may-play-a-role-in-male-menopause/

Regards,

jgdo