I feel like I'm off to a late start, but at least I'm on the right path now. I was just wondering a couple of things. First what kind of results have others starting in their 30's had? I know everybody is different, but I was hoping to maybe get better idea of what I can expect. I'm fairly furry and muscles sprout when I think about exercising, hoping I'll shed the fur and muscles quickly.

Secondly, what stores should I be shopping at to dress age appropriately? Are there any magazines I should subscribe to help me better understand fashion? Clothes for working in an office? Clothes for casually going out in low temps 40 - 60 F. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Most importantly, I don't want to waste any more time, so what else do I need besides a therapist letter before I meet with an endo? Blood tests, a letter of general health from my regular doctor, etc? Should I try to make an endo appointment in anticipation of my letter? Are they often booked months in advance like other specialists?

Thanks for reading!

GreenThumb

Greenthumb,
Congrats on your start and I don't think you're late starting at all! My best friend began her physical transformation about a year ago at 29, so not to far off from your age! As far as muscles...I can't really answer that, maybe try only cardio or yoga without any weightlifting? But clothes wise, we're around the same age so I may be able to offer help there.  If you're in the states a few great places to start your work attire wardrobe are places like the limited, banana republic, and express.  It's easy to drop $500 dollars in those places for only a handful of outfits tho......but they are some of my favorites! I always will buy a few key pieces of clothing at those stores and then do filler pieces at a place like kohls.  Also all of those 3 stores normally have coupons for like 15% off or sales; so try to shop during those times.  If you want 'fun' clothes I love forever 21, even at 30 I can still find tons of stuff in there that seems age appropriate, and also american eagle is okay for casual jeans.  As far as colder weather, fitted belted coats are always cute, but if it's not overly cold I just wear a sweater, no cardigans with buttons! Like a longer fitted sweater with or without a belt, but never tie the belt!  I'm wishing you luck and am jealous of all the shopping your going to be doing

I started at 34.

What I've got on in my avatar is from the limited.  I've had success at Ann Taylor too for work stuff.  Indeed, sales come pretty frequently and it's best to take advantage of them.

I do cardio for exersize, though I was never muscular.

My endo did have me do a blood test before we started but she had a specific list of things she wanted run.  I only had a problem getting into my ends when it was around the holidays.  Usually I can get in within days.

Given that I started at 34 and I'm still 34 I don't know that I can speak to physical results.  I will say, the mental results came quick and were very welcome.

Green, I'm 35, hoping to start HRT few months before my 36 birthday. I think the changes are so much down to your genetics. Some have excellent results even when they are sixty and some doesn't have results even when they are twenty. Like a genetic lottery unfortunately. Or at least that's the way I feel, but when you look at the picture threads on this forum, it does give a lot of hope, that no matter age or genetics, the change still can be a complete one.

Regarding clothing. Just observe women around you in the appropriate age category. I'm sure you will find your own style or what you like that way.

I started a couple months before my 29th birthday and I think I turned out pretty well. I noticed a decrease of strength pretty quickly, and the muscle started coming off at around 2 months, but I didn't start having a feminine muscle tone til about a year in. A lack of testosterone should be enough to melt it off. As far as body hair ... I still have an unacceptable amount at nearly 1.5 years in. It's thinned out and become much finer, but I still need to shave pretty much everything.

I wear a 34B, bordering a C. Pre HRT my band size would've been a 38. I used to have running back thighs, now they're flabby. Men are always checking out my butt if you ask my roommate. Last night, he brought home a guy that said he didn't know I was trans, even though I was wearing no makeup and still have fairly noticeable facial hair. I honestly get that quite a bit... with just light makeup, most of the time if somebody learns that I'm trans, they're in shock. My cheeks are filling in quite nicely, my skin is definitely female in texture and tone, my body odor is completely female, my genitals don't even smell at all anymore, I don't need deodorant unless it's hot out... all that and everything about me screamed male pre HRT.

I will say sometimes I look in the mirror and I'm not COMPLETELY satisfied, especially when I have no makeup on. However those are bone issues (mandible, nose, chin) that can only be changed in minor ways through HRT. Passing is no problem whatsoever with me. I don't think being 30 is going to hurt you much.

I started when I was 29 (I'm 30 now), and have seen some good results. I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

As for fashion. Since you live in the PNW, you can go quite casual. I get clothes at JC Penny sometimes but mostly I shop at little boutiques. One great thing about here is people wear all sorts of different styles. For your area (small coastal town) you will probably want to stick with jeans and decent tops. I wouldn't go for skirts and dresses too much. You really only see those in the work force on the younger women (early 20s and teens), or in Portland. I am dressed just like the other women in my office which is jeans, tennis shoes, and a sweater. I'm a bit more femme than them, so I have my nails painted and I wear eye shadow. Which is kind of uncommon even up here in the Seattle area.

I hope this helps a little. Feel free to PM me if you want some more information. It's always nice to meet another local girl.

Thank you so much for sharing and for the advice. I guess I just feel I'm getting a late start, because I've known for a while transitioning is something I need to do, but managed to talk myself out of it for years.

Quote from: Alainaluvsu on February 11, 2013, 10:47:02 AM
As far as body hair ... I still have an unacceptable amount at nearly 1.5 years in. It's thinned out and become much finer, but I still need to shave pretty much everything.

If you don't mind me asking how hairy were you before? I'm very much Italian, so even after 8 laser sessions to my upper body, I'm still really hairy. Before it was hard to even see through, now it looks more average.

Quote from: Henna on February 11, 2013, 12:29:06 AM
I think the changes are so much down to your genetics. Some have excellent results even when they are sixty and some doesn't have results even when they are twenty. Like a genetic lottery unfortunately. Or at least that's the way I feel, but when you look at the picture threads on this forum, it does give a lot of hope, that no matter age or genetics, the change still can be a complete one.

I'm hoping I win the Genetic Lottery. My female relatives are very curvy and my mom was voted "best figure" in high school. There are so many beautiful women on these forums, that started at many different ages. I guess I'm just a little anxious to join them. Looking through the before and after threads is what gave me the courage to take my first step and see a therapist.

Thank you again for the advice. Looks like I've got quite a bit of shopping in my future.

Quote from: GreenThumb on February 11, 2013, 12:15:04 PM
I'm hoping I win the Genetic Lottery. My female relatives are very curvy and my mom was voted "best figure" in high school. There are so many beautiful women on these forums, that started at many different ages. I guess I'm just a little anxious to join them. Looking through the before and after threads is what gave me the courage to take my first step and see a therapist.

I was kind of anxious also when looking at the women on this forum, in other forums and in support group meetings. All of them starting earlier than me and me knowing, that I've neglected this body for 35 years! What hope do I ever have with the age of mine and a neglected body?

However, that feeling has disappeared as I've kind of realized, that if I would have been born into a correct body, or correct gender body, I would have not had any saying what kind of body it would have been, beautiful, ugly or something? The HRT (+other things) will change this body to my body. It might be pretty or it might not be, but it still will be mine finally.

Quote from: GreenThumb on February 11, 2013, 12:15:04 PM
If you don't mind me asking how hairy were you before? I'm very much Italian, so even after 8 laser sessions to my upper body, I'm still really hairy. Before it was hard to even see through, now it looks more average.

I'm part Italian so I know what you mean. But I wasn't THAT hairy. I had a lot of hair but it wasn't very coarse. I could always see through it. But even my half sisters niece, who is 5, has hair on her legs and arms that you can see... So I think I'm fighting a losing battle

Green Thumb, are you sure that you're not my long-lost twin sister? I'm also a 31 year old mtf who lives in the pnw and is only now starting to transition. One of the biggest worries I've had is whether I am getting started too late, after years of fighting against myself and denying the truth. The replies posted here have helped assuage a lot of my concerns and inspired me to finally start an account and comment after months of lurking on these forums.

I've had remarkable results with laser hair removal thus far, which was an enormous concern of mine due to some yeti genetics lurking somewhere in my family's history. I'm 3 treatments in on my face and have noticed a tremendous difference in the amount of hair that regrows and the texture. The real test will be what happens with my chest though, it conjures fear in the sturdiest of razors.

Quote from: AnarchoChloe on February 12, 2013, 04:58:45 PM
Green Thumb, are you sure that you're not my long-lost twin sister? I'm also a 31 year old mtf who lives in the pnw and is only now starting to transition. One of the biggest worries I've had is whether I am getting started too late, after years of fighting against myself and denying the truth. The replies posted here have helped assuage a lot of my concerns and inspired me to finally start an account and comment after months of lurking on these forums.

I've had remarkable results with laser hair removal thus far, which was an enormous concern of mine due to some yeti genetics lurking somewhere in my family's history. I'm 3 treatments in on my face and have noticed a tremendous difference in the amount of hair that regrows and the texture. The real test will be what happens with my chest though, it conjures fear in the sturdiest of razors.

Nice to meet you Chloe. I guessing you've spent some time in the "before and after" thread, that really gave me the confidence to start. I don't think we're too late. I just wish I didn't waste so much time talking myself out of it wondering about how everybody else in my life was going to feel and not taking the time to take care of myself. Even after seeing the amazing results some of the ladies here get, I still worry. I definitely present very male. I'm 5'10" about 210 lbs (that number is dropping 4 or so a week) and hair and muscles everywhere. If you ever want to talk, send me a PM. There are many people from the PNW here and many of them are very friendly and willing to answer any questions you may have.

Any tips for laser on the face? Things I should do before, after? My beard is sooo thick. I shamed every man in my office during the first week of December when they goaded me into entering a beard growing contest. The Monday after we started, everybody took one look at me and declared me the winner (bittersweet victory). I've been noticing some grays, and I know laser won't work on them so I need to zap as many of the rest as soon as I can before they turn gray too. I've been looking into laser and found some great deals through groupon.

As far as my chest, I went through 7 or 8 laser treatments 5 years ago and went from "Yeti" to a more normal looking distribution of hair. A couple of days after my treatments I would run a lint roller over my body to gently remove any dead hairs that didn't fall out on their own .I'm going to wait to see what hormones do to the body hair before I spend any more money on it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I have to admit that I hadn't read up too much on laser removal before trying it out- I found a groupon for a place that had good reviews and grabbed it on impulse. The first treatment didn't do too much- the person running the laser (esthetician? What are they called?) asked if I had shaved that morning as the pre-appointment instructions had dictated because my 5 o'clock shadow was so dark, but I did notice a light thinning of the hair and a change in the texture of the hair, less course and bristlelike and more fine. The second treatment was where I really started to notice results.

When they say avoid the sun for a few days after exposure, they really mean it. I know it sounds laughable to say in the midst of our mid-winter cloud cover, but the light from the laser makes your skin more receptive to sunlight and can lead to burns and even blistering. Not a big worry, but just something to be mindful of.

Regardless, thanks for the warm welcome. It's great to be able to chat with people who know from experience what we're going through.

GreenThumb, you and I are the same age! From what it sounds we also started at a similar yeti stage with our bodies.  I'm of Hispanic decent and really got hit hard with the body and face fur.  I started my HRT April 30th of last year and I can tell you that the body hair has thinned some, however not as much as I would like.     laser on my beard, or rather the brillo pad growing out of my face has been a huge help and after seven sessions I'm almost clear.  Granted there are going to be those darn grays that will need some electo to kill but one benefit of having thick dark hair is the laser really picks up on it well.. best wishes, just know there is hope!