what did you do to lose your mucle bulk

[Lady_Oracle]

I used to body build before I started hrt. I didn't make giant gains in weight or anything but I did build a decent amount of muscle mass. Anyways most of it was in my back and shoulders and like I stopped weight lifting about a year and a half before I started hrt. For what lil muscle mass I had, it took the course of almost 2 years to get rid of and for my fat to round out/soften in those areas. This is from a person with a very fast metabolism. Anyone else that has a considerable amount of bulk will probably take even longer. Fat redistrubtion and muscle mass reduction takes a long time and you really can't speed it up anymore than your body allows. I would just stick to yoga and squats, avoid all upper body exercises. Don't concern yourself with dieting (unless you're trying to lose weight, thats a diff story), just eat like you normally would and let hrt work its magical powers 

I see so many of us on here wanting to rush through the process and I feel like not many take into account that in that first year of hrt your body is putting a massive amount of focus on switching to a new dominant hormone. Your hrt regimen is largely trial and error while you get dosages and levels right for your body. So with that being said the better changes come in the second year when fat distribution really starts to kick in, provided you've been consistently on the best hrt regimine possible for yourself.   

[chloe1616]

Hello Love,

Just my 2 cents, continue with your low carb, high protein diet coz I heard that too much carbs i.e. simple carbs can actually be detrimental to feminization as it increases T production.

Or just keep everything in balance, I use myfitnesspal and cardio everyday for 30 mins seems to be working. Mind you, since I'm on E - my weight loss has been slow as molasses.

Hope this helps!
April

OMG! I thought it's just me but weight loss has been really slow which makes me scared because i really want to be a 48kg-52kg before really dressing up as a woman.....im afraid of not passing....huhuhuh

[April_TO]

It really does take time due to estrogen affecting many things including water retention etch. I say continue with your low carb plan and minimize the junk as much as possible.

It gets frustrating at times but keep going at it.

xo

April

OMG! I thought it's just me but weight loss has been really slow which makes me scared because i really want to be a 48kg-52kg before really dressing up as a woman.....im afraid of not passing....huhuhuh

[Maria77]

IT does take time.  Sadly i think a lot of us do bodybuilding as some sort of last ditch attempt at masculinity.   I went from 140lbs thin (5'11 then)  to 225.    Ive been on hormones for close to 20 years and my shouldera and back are still not where id like them to be.     My legs & arms are no longer muscular.  It takes time.

[Rebecca]

Built the muscle to burn the fat then had to burn the muscle away.
Still working on losing muscle from legs, the rest is ok now.

Primarily vegan diet. Still have meat on occasion but small amounts.
Multivitamin and fish oil tablet (cod & omega 3)
No caffeine - Only Almond Milk
No junk - Sweets, biscuits, cakes etc
Between almond milk, water and red bush tea I drink 1.5 - 2 litres a day.
I cook 99% of all I eat.
Slow cooker and freezing is awesome for laziness and controlling portion sizes.
No real reason but I avoid bread except a wee bit of wholemeal with soup or naughty veggie sausage sandwich with HP brown sauce as a treat.
Do use wholemeal wraps though.

I'm probably being bad but without thinking about it much I eat under 1000 calories a day but apart from the rare dose of the munchies I stay pretty good.

Freestyle aerobics class on Wednesday followed by a session on the treadmill (1% incline - 5 mins 6 kmh - 60 mins 9 kmh - 5 mins 6 kmh)
60 mins is a target most I've done is 45 so far but working on it - Once I hit it I'll up speed to 10 kmh)
Monday and Saturday more treadmill same program.

Will fess up to a good old fashioned binge once in a while then fret over what it could do to me like wake up 10 stone heavier - lol

And ofc the most important rule "Moderation in all things including moderation" cheat days are important treat yourself once in a while.

Whether it will work for anyone else I don't know but that's my current setup.

[liz]

The best way to lose muscles is pretty much alterning weight loss and weight gain every months.

Look at how crash diets works, peoples are always losing considerable amount of muscles before adding fat the next month.

Well it worked for me.

[Cara_DarkCloud]

Hi Amoré
Not on HRT yet but in the same boat have trained heavy weights for 26 years and decided to start shedding my muscle before HRT so started dieting. I cut out all protein aside from what's in my food along with protein foods like meats, fish, eggs and protein supplements. I also cut out training any upper body and still train 6/7 days a week but my workout will consist of cardio for 60 mins a day and abs for 30 mins then as much walking as I can get in a week. I also do bum exercises as once the weight starts to fall off you I did notice your bum starts to get less firm which isn't desirable. So my diet will now be porridge or weetabix for breakfast (dried fruit and nuts mixed in), vegetables for lunch and fruit for evening meal. If im hungry between I fill myself up on herbal tea and carrots or an apple. Ive lost 2.5 stone in 3 months which equates to 5 inches from my chest and 3 inches from my arms which was my biggest concern as they are very muscular. Ive still a bit of a way to go but feel much better in myself and my options for clothing has greatly improved. yes its hard sticking to the diet and I do say on a Friday and saturday evening as a reward I can have whatever I like which makes the week more bearable.

I think the main thing for loosing weight / muscle is to cut out the protein and heavy carbs and find a diet that is sustainable for you, as you are going to struggle at first but if you have low calorie food at hand it helps take the cravings away between meals. Also going from having several large meals a day to 3 small and snacks takes your head some getting around but it's definitely worth persevering.

Best of luck

[Riley Skye]

I'm actually trying to regain my muscle, I was never big just defined. I'm at the point where I'm starting to ook like a fitness chick haha

[rochyrob]

Might I recommend Spaghetti Squash for the hunger pangs?
It's super easy to cook and a whole cup only has 42 calories. 10g carbs (2 fiber), 0 fat, 1g protein. It works well with sauces and can keep you from feeling like your stomach is trying to digest itself.

[Debra]

This has been tough for me. I didn't bodybuild before but for some reason I do look more muscular in legs and arms.

For the last few yrs I've tried to just do cardio and abs and I saw little to no muscle atrophy.

I recently finally switched to just being happy with the build I have and I lift at the gym again. I've started to own being a fit woman.

[Deborah]

After 14 months on HRT and a lot of dieting and working out I have concluded that a fashion model look is not in my future, LOL.  An athletic look maybe.

All I have left is bones and I still look really big to myself.

Please excuse the hair.  It was in the middle of being dyed.


Sapere Aude

[Rebecca]

Athletic can work nicely. Always loved sporty type over supermodel.

Hard work but rewarding for even the slightest progress. Took a looooong time for our bodies to end up the way they were fortunately it is a bit quicker to try and fix it.

The closer you get the further away you feel as you always see what is left to fix rather than the changes you have achieved.

[Jean24]

I would suggest eating healthy, like a low calorie diet of salads and maybe with chicken or beans and rice for your protein. And doing a lower body exercise like jogging or biking. Work on those legs, your butt and thigh areas are supposed to be big! I've always been on the fence about how to handle exercise and body fat during transition. On one hand, being heavy or even overweight will help your chest fill out. This whole thing is about more body and fat redistribution so I thought I would give it plenty of calories. But I'm slim and have trouble gaining or losing weight so then I began looking at maybe slimming my waist down rather than making my hips and chest wider/larger. I feel that if I could gain or lose weight, I would pack it on for a year while the HRT does its thing and then slowly work it off through exercise.

I'm glad you asked this question

[Marissa_K]

I run 15km now 3 times a week and at 4 month hrt my arms are MUCH smaller then before. I never bothered measuring them but the difference is significant. Same goes for my legs.

[Rebecca]

Looks like running may indeed be my best bet.

If you use a treadmill would you mind telling me what speed and incline you use. If not too personal your height (I'm 182cm). Do you do continuous or vary your pattern?

Sorry for the question spam but I'm trying to work on ideal parameters for my next exercise program aimed to burn what's left of my abdominal fat deposits and lose muscle from calf and upper thigh to get the shape I  want.

[Deborah]

I'm a pretty experienced runner so I might be able to answer your question.  I'm 180cm and have run three marathons, winning my age group in one small one, and have run one 260 mi ultra marathon relay.

The most important point is that running will not reduce body fat unless your diet is at a deficit.  You cannot outrun a bad diet and I've known overweight marathoners.  I've even gained weight once while running over ten miles every day.  So, it all revolves around the kitchen.

You also can't spot reduce the abdomen.  All you can do is keep eating at a calorie deficit until your body gets around to using up the fat around the waist.  Unfortunately, that usually happens last.

Despite the bro-science in the gym, running will not burn your muscle.  There was a study done on some people in an extreme ultra race and even after several months running up to 60 miles per day they lost no muscle in their legs and very little in the upper body.

People will recommend HIIT, high intensity intervals, because of the belief that will give you some massive afterburn.  That also is a myth.  You do get a negligible post exercise energy expenditure but it's no more than you could have burned by running around three minutes longer at a normal pace.  That said, HIIT is good exercise if you like it.

In my opinion, if you want to use running for weight loss, which I think is a great idea, then the best way is to increase your aerobic fitness so that you can run at least an hour comfortably at a steady state pace.  Once you get to that level of fitness losing or maintaining weight becomes very easy as you are able to burn a whole lot of calories at will every day without a lot of stress to your body.  As a bonus you also get pretty healthy.

What I'm doing right now for the running part is three 40 minute runs, one 60 minute run, and one 90 minute run per week.  In addition to that I walk a lot and do body weight exercises and yoga several times a week.  I also track my diet religiously to ensure a deficit.


Sapere Aude

[Rebecca]

At the moment I'm primarily vegan, under 1k calories a day (bad I know once I get to 64kg I'll review), aerobics once and treadmill 3 times a week.

My remaining fat is pretty much only abdominal the rest of me is like iron.

My calf's and upper legs have been maintained as I learned how to run. Initially 8% incline 6kmh for 5 mins then 3% 10kmh for 2 mins repeated for 89 mins. I decided that program would counter to my ultimate aim but was a place to start. I am now using only 1% at 9kmh constantly for up to 45 mins targeting 90 mins before I increase to 10kmh but effectively guessing my way.

Totally agree with the diet, kitchen etc but by attempting to push catabolic activity through calorie deficit, long duration and low impact I hope to alter the muscles appropriately.

[Deborah]

To my knowledge there are only two ways to reduce muscle.

The first is to let it atrophy back to its baseline by not using it.  With HRT this should achieve the results everyone wants but it takes a long time as muscle atrophies slowly.  I'm not convinced that eating a low protein diet speeds this process and your body needs protein for its organs as well as for its muscle.

The second way is through starvation where without other energy sources your body will eventually burn protein from the muscles to keep itself alive.  This is a dumb way to go about doing it.


Sapere Aude

[Rebecca]

Totally agree starvation and emaciation are insane.

I like the "You are what you do" approach. The body is a very clever machine adapting to do whatever you do.

Want big muscles lift big.
Want small muscles avoid big lifts.

Going from 70kg leg exercises on machines to long distance treadmill should necessitate the body changing it's form to do it better.

As I have no real running experience my numbers are guesswork but going well enough.

Having a decent example would help as I can't really approach women in my gym to ask their settings as I'm shy.

[Deborah]

At the moment I'm primarily vegan, under 1k calories a day (bad I know), aerobics once and treadmill 3 times a week. My remaining fat is pretty much only abdominal the rest of me is like iron. My calf's and upper legs have been maintained as I learned how to run. Initially 8% incline 6kmh for 5 mins then 3% 10kmh for 2 mins repeated for 89 mins. I decided that program would counter to my ultimate aim but was a place to start. I am now using only 1% at 9kmh constantly for up to 45 mins targeting 90 mins before I increase to 10kmh but effectively guessing my way.

The incline will strengthen your legs which is good.  Overall though the incline and associated speed is personal preference as they act in combination to stress the cardiovascular system.  The important thing when running long in training is to work hard enough to improve but not so hard you need an extended time to recover before doing it again.  You should generally be able to fully recover in 24 hours and be able to do it every day if you wanted to.

If you can finish a run and feel like you could have easily run another mile or two then that's about right for general training.  If your body is smoked you worked too hard. 

There is a place for those really hard workouts but only once a week, or maybe twice a week once you are in really good condition and eating an optimum diet and sleeping well every night.