Taking care of yourself

[MarinaM]

Okay, I have a couple of questions that you girls may be able to answer:

1. Should I give up Red Bull? Does 8 to 16 ounces of Red Bull a day and 24 ounces of diet soda have a masculinizing affect? I don't eat much, and caffeine is what I live on. It's nearly impossible for me to give up. I think my skin texture, my teeth, and overall health may improve if I quit the soda and energy drinks.

2. Should I eat more? I take in 1900 calories that are mostly carbs and fat and burn lord knows how many by riding my bike on average 10 miles a day. It keeps me skinny, which keeps the fat off my face, making me look less masculine because I have this big jaw. But you know, I'm hoping HRT will just shuffle it off to my other areas of need. Which to me is a gamble.

3. What are some better conservative styles for a girl like me, that, from the wrong angle, can look like a greasy rocker in drag? Something to minimize the bulbous size and shape of my head. I'm thinking clothes that fit a little looser, probably in brighter colors, maybe prints. I was blessed with a feminine skeleton and cursed with a male skull. The only thing I can think of is FFS right now, but come on, I don't have tens of thousands of dollars just yet.

[azSam]

1. Cutting out red bull and sodas would never hurt. But I can understand how hard it would be to do. I love soda, to never drink it again brings thoughts of anarchy to mind.

2. Your caloric intake doesn't seem like it'd be too low, but I'm not a nutritionist.

3. And from what i can see of your avatar, you're very cute and I don't think you have much to worry about.

[Kaelleria]

3. HRT might  change your mind a bit... As you fat redistributes around your body your facial features might get a bit softer. From what I can tell in your photo, you may not even need FFS.

2. Do what your body tells you to do. Eat when you're hungry and don't over eat if you're not. While I wouldn't recommend anyone being super skinny, I also wouldn't recommend eating so much you end up with 25 BMI. Having a little bit of body fat to play with makes for better results from what I've experienced and seen.

1. I don't think I've ever heard of a study that linked caffeine to masculinization. I'd talk to you doctor and ask if they think you're drinking more than healthily allowable. Remember that HRT will change your skin texture if you're worried about that.

[Janet_Girl]

1. Giving up caffeinated drinks is always a good thing.  It helps to lower the Blood Pressure and can improve over all looks.  Drink more water also helps.   Ha!  And this from the gal whose coffee pot is always on.

2. Maintain the weight you are comfortable with.  If you are happy where you are at maintain it.  I fell for the "gain weight to have bigger boobs and for fat distribution" myth.  I would have been a lot happier if I had stayed where I was at.

3. From the pictures I have seen you look fine.  The hair style in your avatar works because it help to minimize the jaw line.  Develop the style that you like, regardless of your age.  This is the puberty we were meant to have, have fun with it.  You will wok it out for you.

[ClaireA]

1. You may want to cut down on your overall intake of soda - diet soda, while it doesn't have any cals, tells your body that "sugar is coming", so the natural response is to store as many calories as possible. Like, diet tricks your body, and then you end up absorbing more cals from other food you wouldn't otherwise absorb as readily.

2. Figure out your BMR (the calories you burn if you spent a day in bed). There are tons of ways to do this - just look online. From there, it's simple: BMR + exercise cals - food intake = calorie balance. 3500 calories = one pound of fat, so adjust your intake accordingly. A small thin female might have a BMR of 1800 calories in a day, while a large male might have something more like 2900. Find your BMR!

Sorry for all the technical junk - I'm kind of a health freak!

3. Are you on HRT? Give HRT like 12 months - you'll be pleasantly surprised how much your face has changed!

I wouldn't worry TOO much about the Red Bull - society has had a way of demonizing energy drinks with no real basis. Sure, a caffeine-free lifestyle is best, and nobody would argue with the fact that drinking 5 energy drinks probably isn't the best for you, but I've found the people that give energy drinkers the most grief tend to do it while holding a coffee cup in one hand. Yes, coffee, ounce by ounce, has more caffeine than most energy drinks, and energy drinks are fortified with B vitamins and amino acids. It's obviously not the best thing for you, but don't give in to a lot of that anti-energy-drink hype.

[Just Shelly]

Definitely wouldn't hurt to give up the red bull. I gave up soda among other things about 6 years ago. I did slim down quite a bit.

As far as dressing for your figure or just for passing. There may be some tops or pants that are tight that look good or ones that are more loose. I have heard at times from cis circles and mtf circles I just wear what I want too. I think that is fine if your a cis, Their not trying too pass! but for an mtf you have to minimize and accentuate at the same time. Not unlike alot of cis women do.

I think you look very good already, especailly pre hrt.

Shelly

[MarinaM]

Thanks for the compliments  I'm going through difficulty right now, and all I see is ugly little man [/shudders].

My BMR is 1642, and waist to hip ratio is .84. Puts me right around the 2400 calories necessary for maintenance mark. And that waist to hip ratio doesn't even register for males, moderate risk for females.

How will my metabolism change? My body is like a furnace right now. I remember getting a blood test two years ago and the doc said "You're healthy. REALLY healthy." I don't know what that means. He didn't elaborate, and I wasn't getting it done out of curiosity.

I think if I'm going to eat more, I better make it healthy, huh? Any suggestions?

[VeryGnawty]

I, for one, am not on this energy/sugar bandwagon that says you have to eat salads everyday.  Sugar is the natural energy source for the human body (in the form of fruits).  The body is designed to run on sugar.

As far as soda and caffeine, those can be dangerous in large amounts.

I am not aware of diet soda or Red Bull having a masculinizing effect.  I doubt it.  In fact, I'd say that whatever you are doing is working well for you.  You have quite a few feminine features.  Your skin tone looks awesome.  If you are ugly, then that makes me fugly.

[annette]

Hi Marina

About the skull...I can only see a beautifull woman in your avatar.
Really, I looked very sharp but I can't find a reason for FFS.
And for the weight, my expirience is that hrt makes you hungry.
I'm struggling with my weight since then.

I don't know if you're on hrt but for what I can see, i'm jalouse about your figure.

hugs
annette

[Renate]

I'm cheap. Red Bull costs a lot. Surely the money could be spent in some better way?

[Miniar]

1. Coffee is full of anti-oxidants and vitamins and minerals and research shows that it can have great benefits if not totally overdone (best is 3-5 cups a day). Caffinated sodas carry NONE, ZERO, NADA, NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NONE WHAT SO EVER of those health benefits.
So, switch to the real drink, brewed from naturally grown seeds, rather than continuing to down the chemically enhanced cans of sugar-water.

2. Eat what you want.
If you feel physically okay, then you're not doing anything wrong.

3. Look up "what not to wear". It's a British show that features two girls who help women (and in one series, their spouses) dress in clothes that complement their figure.
It does encourage femininity and fashionable wear a little bit, but it's far more focused on "things that fit your figure" and "things that fit your shape".
I learned a lot from how vision and shapes work from watching that show that have affected my wardrobe as well as my art actually.
The lessons are universal. If they explain what'll fit someone who's body-shape is vastly different than yours then you can reverse engineer it to work out what suits you.

[VeryGnawty]

I don't know if you're on hrt but for what I can see, i'm jalouse about your figure.

I'm totally jealous.  If I looked like that, I'd be having a blast.

[VeryGnawty]

I'm cheap. Red Bull costs a lot. Surely the money could be spent in some better way?

I'm such a miser.  I would much rather spend money on peanut butter than Red Bull.

[Sadie]

I try to eat pretty "clean" now.

1. I don't drink soda and don't use processed sugar. (Sometimes use honey on things)
2. Try to avoid processed/pre-packaged food as much as possible.
3. Don't eat fast food
4. No meat except for fish and eggs.
5. Lots of veggies
6. Drink lots of green tea and lots of water.

So far I have lost 40lbs in the last 6 months. My plan is to get as skinny as possible pre HRT and then gain weight back in the right places.

[MarinaM]

I'm totally jealous.  If I looked like that, I'd be having a blast.

Unfortunately, not all of this is about the way I look, but yeah, it can be a total blast I'm not on HRT yet. E-day is about a month away (hopefully). I don't mean to be insensitive to other girl's problems. The bulk of my problem is social. Oh, and I've been told by my wife that despite being a skinny, cutesy bi*** I still look like a dude in a dress. Try those comments on for size.

Unfortunately, I spend all of my time in boy mode right now due to family and financial complications (short hair, limited makeup, stubble, etc...). I can't help but have a complex in boy mode. It's so bad right now that I get constant headaches with mild photosensitivity (migraines?). I just walk around in an oblivious daze and my wife wonders whether I've completely written her and the baby off - simply because I won't talk (I'm trying to raise my octave and clear up this persistent cough thing that's been damaging my voice), and to her I seem to be functioning well enough just biding my time.

Miniar: I have seen the American version of what not to wear, and I try to scrape up as much advice from there as possible. I just don't have a flexible wardrobe yet. I need to keep away from Burberry and Nordstrom, I'm a very expensive girl, and when I get clocked, it's usually because I get inspected so hard.

[tekla]

http://www.noubikko.com/noubikko-body/tips/camouflage/dealingflaws.htm