Trying to gain Female Fat Distribution

[Berliegh]

This has always been a worry for me and as time goes on even more so. Since starting perminantly on hormones in 2002 I have noticed alarming effects with my fat distribution. The aera where I had a little fat (my belly) is where the fat has increased (very much like male type fat distribution) and has exagerated the area through time. I still have (in comparison) very little fat on my legs, butt, thighs and face. I think my pic makes me look far better than it really is and it's not that recent.

Recently the fat on my belly is increasing, the more HRT I take and it has got bigger and it looks awful with my clothes off, very male type fat effect. I excercise a lot and walk to miles but the fat distribution continues in the wrong places mimmicking a male type fat - distribution. Has anyone got any serious solutions other than lipo?

[melissa90299]

Tight-lacing corsetry?

Maybe you need to change your exercise routine to aerobic and strength training. It appears that "walking" is not doing it for you. Besides training in a gym, I try to maintain a diet high in lean protein, vegetables, legumes and fruit. I have mostly eliminated processed sugar and fats from my diet. I also use supplements, alpha lipoic acid, c-esther, fish oil and a bunch of other stuff.

BTW implants really help make the waist look slimmer.

Another option is not to beat yourself up so much.

[Nero]

This has always been a worry for me and as time goes on even more so. Since starting perminantly on hormones in 2002 I have noticed alarming effects with my fat distribution. The aera where I had a little fat (my belly) is where the fat has increased (very much like male type fat distribution) and has exagerated the area through time. I still have (in comparison) very little fat on my legs, butt, thighs and face. I think my pic makes me look far better than it really is and it's not that recent.

Recently the fat on my belly is increasing, the more HRT I take and it has got bigger and it looks awful with my clothes off, very male type fat effect. I excercise a lot and walk to miles but the fat distribution continues in the wrong places mimmicking a male type fat - distribution. Has anyone got any serious solutions other than lipo?

Don't kill the messenger, but it could be just your body type. Yes, most women have the typical 'female fat patterns' but some have the more 'male looking fat patterns', including me. Since putting on weight, I now have a big beer gut way more obvious than anything else. I've never been on T. It's just the way my body divies up the fat. I hated it when I was skinny because I'd gain 5 lbs and gain a gut while other girls could put on 20 and gain a nice booty while still having a waist.

If this is your case, there's little you can do about it. Skinny or fat, you'll have the same basic shape. And spot training doesn't work.

[Kate]

The aera where I had a little fat (my belly) is where the fat has increased (very much like male type fat distribution) and has exagerated the area through time.

I'm fighting this problem too. My overall fat re-distribution has been wonderful (face, thighs and rear are fine, breasts could use more), but I really wish less of it would accumulate below my navel. Still, if you look at genetic women, they too tend to accumulate it there (the "pooch") as they get older.

My problem though is I'm darn thin in most places, and really can't afford to lose weight. When I do, it just makes my face look gaunt and my arms look anorexic... yet my "pooch" or whatever thay call it remains the same. It's annoying, but it also seems to be a common problem for all women.

I really cut back on my sugar intake, avoid fat calories like the plague, and tend to average around 1,300 calories per day (remember I'm 6'2") and my lower stomach hasn't changed much. I do eat a TON of carbs though (rice and pasta), so I'm wondering if I/we should eat less carbs and more protein.

~Kate~

[melissa90299]

1300 calories and eating "tons" of rice and pasta? Do you keep a food journal, Kate?

Don't know if it will help with the pooch but replacing some of the starchy carbs with fruits, vegetables and lean protein is beneficial to overall health IMO. A couple Amercian size servings of rice or pasta wouldn't room for much else on a 1300 calorie diet.

[Kate]

1300 calories and eating "tons" of rice and pasta? Do you keep a food journal, Kate?

Typically:

250 Cereal with a small amount of milk for breakfast
200 Soup or a "Healthy Choice" type frozen lunch
500 Fairly decent portion of pasta, tomato sauce, some cheese, small chicken piece (sometimes) for dinner
400 White or brown rice with a little margerine as an evening snack (often skip it or just eat green beans or something)

I'll vary it on occasion, having eggs for breakfast, or a veggie stir fry for dinner, etc. But I generally stick with the above.

No beef ever. No fish (hate it). Very little cheating with sweets (cookie now and then kinda thing).

What I *don't* do though is exercise. Ever.

~Kate~

Posted on: December 01, 2007, 10:48:25 AM

Don't know if it will help with the pooch but replacing some of the starchy carbs with fruits, vegetables and lean protein is beneficial to overall health IMO.

Great advice, and I agree

A couple Amercian size servings of rice or pasta wouldn't room for much else on a 1300 calorie diet.

My sense of a "large serving" is apparently WAY out of synch with America, lol. I watch people shoveling food onto their plates until they can hardly lift it and wonder, "How the HECK can they eat all that?" With pasta especially, I really do stick with "one serving" of 200 cals (plus all the stuff on I put on it).

~Kate~

[melissa90299]

I bet if you kept a food journal and measured everything you ate it would add up to more than 1300 calories. OTOH I don't think your estimate is as far off as it would be for most people with overweight problems and you seem to understand how small a "serving" really is.

[tinkerbell]

This has always been a worry for me and as time goes on even more so. Since starting perminantly on hormones in 2002 I have noticed alarming effects with my fat distribution. The aera where I had a little fat (my belly) is where the fat has increased (very much like male type fat distribution) and has exagerated the area through time. I still have (in comparison) very little fat on my legs, butt, thighs and face. I think my pic makes me look far better than it really is and it's not that recent.

Recently the fat on my belly is increasing, the more HRT I take and it has got bigger and it looks awful with my clothes off, very male type fat effect. I excercise a lot and walk to miles but the fat distribution continues in the wrong places mimmicking a male type fat - distribution. Has anyone got any serious solutions other than lipo?

I hear you, Berliegh.  I don't have a problem with my tummy but despite the many years on HRT, my body didn't change much either.  I would like to have broader hips and a rounder posterior, but that won't happen unless I go under the knife...
I can't complain about my face though.  HRT did change my face significantly, so I guess that's a good thing after all, huh?

I follow a rigorous diet as well but don't exercise.  I'm very, very thin at the moment; that's why I call myself a lollipop! 

Have you considered an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck)?

tink

[Berliegh]

Tight-lacing corsetry?

Very funny...try wearing that on the beach?

Maybe you need to change your exercise routine to aerobic and strength training. It appears that "walking" is not doing it for you. I work out really hard. I have been told I have an hourglass figure. I don't really see it myself but I am highly critical of myself. Besides training in a gym, I try to maintain a diet high in lean protein, vegetables, legumes and fruit. I have mostly eliminated processed sugar and fats from my diet. I also use supplements, alpha lipoic acid, c-esther, fish oil and a bunch of other stuff. It ain't easy maintaining my sexy image at 59. LOL

Done all of those things mentioned above..

BTW implants really help make the waist look slimmer.

What kind of implants are you talking about: breast implants? buttock implants, hip implants?

PS I do wear a corset  a few hours a day, I have been told that one has to wear one almost 24/7 to get results so I don't know if the corsetry has heldped except while I am wearing one.

I tried that as well....

Another option is not to beat yourself up so much.

ok, but the general idea is a male to female transition, not a male to male transition...
but saying that...my friend who is about the same age as me has been on hormones for about 14 years and her fat distribution is far worse than mine. She has no fat on her legs and her face is really thin and she almost looks anorexic...

[Keira]

SInce your main problem seems to be not to be able to get rid of mid section fats.

I would recommend building up your buttocks, upper leg muscle and core muscles with
lifting.

This would boost your metabolism substantially and with a good diet and
low impact exercise, most fats there will go away.  But, probably not all.
You're WHR should also improve a lot.

You'll lose fat in the lower body too, but the muscles underneeth a smaller fat layer will
compensate (and there's less chance of getting cellulite that way).
Most of the good looking women have small layers of fat over muscles, its NOT
all fat.

I eat about 2500 calories per day and don't gain weight because my lower
body muscles are very devellopped. Though, they are covered by fat layers
so it doesn't look male in any way.

[Omika]

I'm sort of packing it on this winter, mostly because I've only been on HRT for three months and I'm sort of testing my limits, since I've never gained weight in my life.

I have the same issue I guess.  Not much I can do except exercise more.  It really only looks weird if your boobs are tiny though, and thankfully mine seem to be growing pretty fast.

I'd be happy with a curvy figure, personally.

~ BB

[Nero]

Also just a reminder, as woman get older, they also tend to tend to gain weight in the stomach. Middle aged spread or whatever it's called. So if you're over 40, you're not alone. plenty of ggs develop the same problem.

[Keira]

Middle age spread is linked to menopause and low estrogen levels.
Estrogen sends fat in gynoid patterns, when the T to E patterns are
closer to equal, fats go in the middle. That's why men have more fats
there. There's plenty of studies on metabolism and hormone to back this
up. Also, many women have too low muscle mass because they don't
exercise and thus gain weight on almost no calory intake.
The bigger the excess fat you have, the more you'll get in the middle section, fat secretes a lot of crap and has impact on insulin levels and cortisol, both impact where fats are stored.

Like I said, there is no miracle BUILD YOU MUSCLES! YOung woman have more lean mass than older ones and estrogen helps in fat redistribution. The advantage of muscles is that you can build them where you want, unlike fat.


I've gone from 185 -> 155 in 14 months with no starving at all. If your starving yourself there's a problem. As I said, I eat about 2200-2500 calories a day to keep my weight stable (that's A LOT), when I want to lose weight, I run a 350 calorie deficit a day which leads to almost a pound lost a week. Went from a size 10, to size 5 bottom, size 14 to size 6-8 tops. 38B -> 34C. I look much smaller, everybody keeps commenting on it.

What I don't get is that people seem to not understand that no matter what metabolism you've got, its always calories in - calories spent = weight gained or lost. There is no magic. Estrogen will lead fat to go to the right areas, it has less impact on visceral fatd lost, the fat behind the abdomen wall is mainly responsive to exercise and general calorie deficits.

I hear all the time.. I'm afraid if I lose fat on the stomach, I'll lose my hips. If your taking estrogen in decent amount and get rid of substantial middle fats which has an impact on fat metabolism, estrogen will be the main one to direct fat storage and your waist to hip ratio will increase substantially. Unless you've got very large shoulders which I is rarely the case in most TS, getting a low WHR is more important than getting bigger hips. And if you want bigger hips, weights are much more precise than hoping for fats to be stored in the right spot.

[cindybc]

Hi Kate I have the same problem with the paunch. A few years before I came out and went on the hormones I had that paunch and it really bugged me so I stopped eating, Literally stopped eating and waiting for the paunch to go down. It didn't happen and I didn't realize until it began to affect me that I was anorexic. I was down to 85 lbs. but that wasn't the first time I had a bout with anorexia . It took over again about 3 years ago. When Wing Walker moved here with me I now have a corset to get rid of that hateful tummy. If the corset is the only answer for the paunch then be it.

Cindy   

[Keira]

Cindy, not eating has no effect on visceral fat (middle) and it wrecks your lean mass meaning your metabolism keeps going down so its harder and harder to lose fat without starving. The middle fats create their own hormones that impact fat distribution locally in the mid section. The only way to get rid of their impact is through exercise; diet doesn't work on this fat (that's one of the big mistakes people make). Once its mostly gone, estrogen's impact on fat distribution can work better in the mid section.

[gothique11]

I think biology has something to do with it. Different people seem to have different things happen to them on HRT. I hear after surgery, however, things seem to work better.

[Keira]

Unless your HRT regime was insufficient,
there's no reason why post op would be better?
There's no magic in the operation, it removes the
gonads, if the gonads were already inactive,
what difference could it make? None.

[gothique11]

Also, I know a lot of women with all kinds of bodies.

I know what I'm saying isn't helpful at all. I'm not sure what the magic secret is. Maybe get your hormones checked and that could be a start.

[Suzy]

I've gone from 185 -> 155 in 14 months with no starving at all. If your starving yourself there's a problem. As I said, I eat about 2200-2500 calories a day to keep my weight stable (that's A LOT)

In about that same time I've also gone from 174 to 135.  What you say about calories is correct, but I eat plenty.  I never count them.  I just eat as few carbs as possible, and when I do I make sure they are whole grain, never white wheat or rice, and corn is out of my diet.  I eat lots of salads, when possible, with olive oil and vinegar dressing.  Most of the commercial dressings are loaded with corn sweetener, the worst thing ever!  I eat no refined sugar.  Almonds are my favorite snack.  And I do fast waking for about an hour a day.  I've gone off most of my diabetes meds and the docs are amazed at how well I am doing.  It takes dedication but it also takes being dedicated to what is effective.  I have only 6 more pounds to go before I reach my ideal weight.

That being said, I've literally walked my butt off, what little there was to start with.  And it is almost impossible to find clothes now.  Size 4 or 5 jeans are not just everywhere. 

I wish you the very best of luck!

Kristi

[Krisstina]

I have a similar problem I have this little fat patch on my belly. What I have done is a lot of sit ups and diet (I know you herd all that) I really do not think you can do much more for the belly fat then exsersice and diet!

What you can due is exsercise your botox by using waits (I use 5lbs) I lay on my side and set the wait against my knee and rotate my leg (yes its slightly erotic) but it works and my hips show it and botox. Atleast you can even things out a bit.




Hope this helps
Keistina