I was born prematurely so I'm very skinny. Mostly in my arms. I want to have HRT in the future but I'm worried about something. I have tattoos. And I even plan on getting a tattoo on my bicep. I'm worried I'll hulk up or something if I take the testosterone. I love my tattoos very much and I'd hate to see them warped.

I've never been that athletic so I doubt my body can produce much muscle. But I just wanted to hear from some other trans on this.

From what I've heard (I'm pre-T), you are likely to gain weight, but I highly doubt you'll bulk up on T alone. If you're exercising, sure, but I think that's at the same rate as everyone else. (Someone who is on T correct me if I'm wrong.)

Heh well I'm not exactly active. I'm currently just around 92 pounds just because I have a high metabolism. I was worried I'd gain just enough new weight to goof up my tattoos. Since I had them done before I got the courage to come out. I know the changes vary from person to person. I'm not going for the meat head look but I was curious as to how much of my body would stay the same. I don't have much fat on me so I have a feeling I'm mostly going to be the same size which is okay with me.

My anecdotal experience leads me to believe that naturally endomorphic (skinny) guys with high metabolisms do not bulk up easily even if they work out with weights. I imagine you would have the tendency to get more cut-up and ripped looking with T and/or working out. If you decide to put on weight, you will probably find you have to eat a LOT of calories, more than what you're used to. The guy on NerdFitness had been skinny all his life and was working out but found that he couldn't put on weight. He trained himself to start eating 8000 quality calories a day and he finally was able to gain some muscle weight but he was still not bodybuilder-huge.

I don't think you should worry about it. It's challenging for skinny guys to gain weight, cis guys as well. I really doubt it would be a sudden thing. I would just monitor your progress as you go and adjust your nutrition as needed. Just to be on the safe side, I would actually say talk to your therapist about your concerns just to preemptively avoid getting into a sort of anorexia mindset which could get very dangerous for your health.

Thank you very much! This is great because I've been meaning to get a tattoo on my arm for awhile and it's nice to know I shouldn't worry too much. I can't help it I put a lot of love into my artwork and I would've been devastated if they were ruined even if it meant I'd be in a body suited more for me.

Guys, if You dont mind me popping in...

Quote from: dalebert on August 15, 2013, 07:56:13 AM
My anecdotal experience leads me to believe that naturally endomorphic (skinny) guys with high metabolisms do not bulk up easily even if they work out with weights.

You are absolutely correct . I used to be not exactly skinny, but kinda somewhere between medium and average frame - when I was 16-22 y.o. I used to work out a lot, but I since I never did that "by the book" , all I got was a bit of muscle mass gain, extreme definition and very ripped off look. Mind you, the physical strength was there - I was doing about 20 pull-ups, playing with 80 lbs weight balls etc. I also had that extremely crazy metabolism - I was eating everything (pizza, one more pizza...) and just burning stuff on the go. Later, I was explained by "professionals" what I had been doing wrong - I needed to increase callries intake, eat extra protein, including all that bodybuilder crap) - because being endomorph was preventing me of gaining muscle mass just because of work out.
Hope that helps a bit

The thing is that you are likely to gain weight in the wrong place if you are over 25 or so. Your tendency is put on weight (it doesn't mean you MUST put on weight) but that's the tendency. On T you gain weight in the stomach and abdomen (not great places to put on weight) and FAAB put on weight in the hips and butt. T shifts around fat so that's where new fat will go. I don't think it's a great idea for skinny guys to try and put on weight. You will pass as male but you are going to be the kind of male you are going to be. I would suggest discretely looking at guys to see that there are all kinds of guys including those who have huge hips! You will put on muscle mass, so your arms, say, will look like a skinny guy's arms instead of a skinny girl's arms.

I am passing about half the time and don't really have much in body hair. You see from this current picture that I (seem) to be a really skinny guy!

--Jay

Have you talked to a tattoo artist about this concern? I advise it. I suspect they might find your concerns to be unfounded. I guess it depends on how elaborate the tattoo is but I imagine it would take a pretty dramatic body type shift to noticeably affect it.

Remember, guys tend to have a lower body fat than women, so you most likely will too on T. However, muscle is quite dense and weighs more than fat and 92 lbs is REALLY low for a guy, even if you're a shorter guy. I'd be really shocked if you don't end up putting on weight on T even if you don't look heavier so be prepared for that. You'll tend to want to eat more so listen to your body's needs. Therefore, it doesn't make much sense to obsess over scales. It makes more sense to pay attention to the proportions of your body. I've seen guys start working out and get frustrated checking the scale every week. Meanwhile, they were clearly getting in better shape even from casual observance, i.e. their midsection shrinking and their limbs thickening. If you're already endomorphic (inclined to be skinny) while female-bodied when women tend to have more fat naturally, you'll tend to be endomorphic as a guy too, maybe even more so. It's probably going to be quite difficult for you to actually get "fat". You'll more likely get wirey meaning your muscles will get harder but not much bigger unless you start shoveling down the calories. Just a reminder--the naturally-skinny guy from NerdFitness had to eat 8000 calories a day while lifting heavy weights to actually put on noticeable weight.

I just feel a need to repeat this once more so sorry for harping, but it's potentially life-threatening and certainly health-threatening. If you're naturally endomorphic and really worried about gaining weight, there's a possibility you're venturing along the borders of an anorexic thought cycle so maybe just make sure you keep your gender therapist and/or or endocrinologist updated about such things or you may end up switching out one type of dysphoria for another. Pay attention to your body and see how things go but I think you're probably worrying over nothing, at least in this particular respect.

9000 calories is very extreme and would probably give most people serious cholesterol and BP issues as well as obesity. This guy must have had an insane exercise routine.

But 92 pounds is pretty thin for just about any guy and you might want to talk to your doctor about weight gain strategies. Fear of gaining weight, I agree sounds more like a psychological issue, esp if you weigh 92 pounds.

I'm not underweight (actually slightly over), but my arms and shoulders look much more impressive since doing weights on T. I could work out like this forever without T and at my age, I wouldn't gain muscle.

--Jay

Just taking T alone isnt going to turn you into the Hulk. You still have to put the work in. Otherwise every guy would be muscly and huge built but that clearly isnt the case. Quite the opposite typically  Its different for everyone but T can typically cause weight gain at first and of course body fat redistribution to the male pattern. T makes it easier for you to build muscle than not having it but you still need to weight lift and work out in order to get a body like that it wont just happen. In your situation I dont think you need to worry about that at all unless you started intense work outs and taking supplements for weight gain etc like bodybuilders do. Being really skinny can be as unhealthy as being overweight though so if you can put on some weight then you should but I dont think you need to be concerned by bulking up tremendously

In terms of tattoos again it shouldnt be affected unless you were to get huge and it become distorted as a result. If you put on a bit of weight it is unlikely to have any impact upon it. Many people have tattoos and they're not going to stay at the same weight for the entire duration they have it on them, they can be up and down constantly. If you put on some its not going to dramatically affect anything. I dont think you need to worry about it

I personally have lost around ten pounds since starting T a year ago. I have gained muscle, but it's a very small amount. I'm still tiny-looking, and I did do a little exercise for the first six months or so. I'm naturally slim, not skinny, so I doubt you'll notice much of a difference at all.

Quote from: aleon515 on August 16, 2013, 11:42:44 AM
This guy must have had an insane exercise routine.

He has an insane metabolism. He's just chronically skinny and that's what it took for him to change. (8000; not 9000, but obviously that's a LOT for most people)

I don't get the impression his routine was that insane at all. In fact, he said he kept it pretty basic, i.e. did just a few routines with free weights that worked a broad array of muscles but he tried to do high weight vs. lots of reps. Lots of reps will get you strong and possibly ripped but fewer reps and higher weights is a size-gaining tactic.

I had a huge problem with being underweight before I went on T. I'm not small - 5'7" for years, shrunk to 5'6" after some injuries - but I was often super skinny. What I ate and how I exercised rarely changed my body very much.

Going on T got me to a more normal weight, and my arms are bigger than they used to be. Whether I'm working out a lot or not, though, I've never had changes drastic enough to mess up a tattoo. I do agree you should ask advice from tattoo artists.