This may sound like a odd question but, does hrt make it easier to keep your elbows in when your shoulders are back? I can keep them in easily with rounded shoulders but that kinda defeats the purpose. With my shoulders back though, it's real work. Or does it get easier with practice?

Practice makes perfect. Remember though, most cis women do not do these things consciously. They do it because their upper body muscles are on average smaller and their hips, on average larger. Forcing your posture may look odd... at least for a good while. Practice does make perfect though. Nobody purposely walks in an uncomfortable manor unless they are trying to be someone they are not.

I am an actress, so I am speaking in that language. If you do not understand me, please ask away. Sometimes I need a translator.

  I guess that I will be practicing a whole bunch of things. Thanks Tori! 
I do hope the muscle goes away someday. It's weird, as a man I was happy with my body(well, I did gain a few pounds over the years but...), as a woman it's just too bulky.

Funny thing, Michelle, when I started out here in this forum I asked a very similar question. Many here are worried about looking female, I was concerned about behaving female. The responses I got were sort of abrasive. I couldn't understand.

Now, a few years later, I am on HRT and I am just enjoying the ride. I am not forcing anything. As the weeks and months go by, I find myself behaving differently without thinking about it. Breasts change your behavior. Soft skin changes your behavior. Clothing changes your behavior. It does not take much more than a tweak here or there to pass, if you own yourself.

Many of us try to make up for lost time and over do it. It makes us stick out.

Some of us like that sort of thing but most of us just want to finally be and feel like ourselves... without unwanted attention.

Look at my avatar. That is me, as I am. No makeup, no wig, no forced smile. I can easily blend in in either direction if I choose, at least for now... and frankly, either side of the binary takes effort for me but I keep moving towards the female side. Every girl wishes to be a supermodel. Well most do. I am content to be a normal female who just fits into society. Supermodel would be nice, but I will take what I get from HRT, and I will only consider facial surgery if I have lasting issues entering the proper restroom.

If you really want to "Pass", work on your voice.

Quote from: Tori on February 07, 2014, 03:12:26 AM
Funny thing, Michelle, when I started out here in this forum I asked a very similar question. Many here are worried about looking female, I was concerned about behaving female. The responses I got were sort of abrasive. I couldn't understand.

Now, a few years later, I am on HRT and I am just enjoying the ride. I am not forcing anything. As the weeks and months go by, I find myself behaving differently without thinking about it. Breasts change your behavior. Soft skin changes your behavior. Clothing changes your behavior. It does not take much more than a tweak here or there to pass, if you own yourself.

Many of us try to make up for lost time and over do it. It makes us stick out.

Some of us like that sort of thing but most of us just want to finally be and feel like ourselves... without unwanted attention.

Look at my avatar. That is me, as I am. No makeup, no wig, no forced smile. I can easily blend in in either direction if I choose, at least for now... and frankly, either side of the binary takes effort for me but I keep moving towards the female side. Every girl wishes to be a supermodel. Well most do. I am content to be a normal female who just fits into society. Supermodel would be nice, but I will take what I get from HRT, and I will only consider facial surgery if I have lasting issues entering the proper restroom.

If you really want to "Pass", work on your voice.

That's about as real of a answer as you can get! Good stuff Tori

Posture does play a big role and with my limited experience its only other women noticing. Take that for what you will. A big reason women keep their shoulders back is for balance of the body from breasts and butt weight. Tori nailed it by saying small changes will slowly change a person over time.

Thanks.

I realize I never answered Michelle's main question though.

Your bones will not shrink on HRT but your muscles almost certainly will, especially the upper body. Your shoulders will become smaller. Testosterone is a steroid, and the lack of it will reduce your muscles back towards neutral. Then, you are left with your frame.

For the same reason, your frame, hips will not tend to widen as dramatically as we'd wish. But fat should migrate that way over time. It will help.

There are tricks to help the process, but most MTFs will struggle to have a perfect hourglass figure. Fortunately, plenty of cis women have the same issue. It can take a lot of work to present as female, even for most cis women.

I have long legs for my height too so I know what you mean concerning this. I haven't been on hrt that long to notice much changes in my gait but needing to walk with my feet pointed more straight I can say is happening for I can already feel slight changes. Since I've always had hips and narrow shoulders I really don't expect much change in this area, but I can't be sure. You never know how you'll look after 2 years of hrt.

I never had much in the way of shoulders to begin with, for my height they're relatively narrow. With musculature changes in my upper body and fat gains around the boobs and hips I find it's increasingly easier to throw my shoulders right back, especially when walking. Fortunately I even have a slight hour glass shape, or at least a waist that's narrower than my hips and shoulders.

Quote from: Ms Grace on February 08, 2014, 01:18:46 PM
I never had much in the way of shoulders to begin with, for my height they're relatively narrow. With musculature changes in my upper body and fat gains around the boobs and hips I find it's increasingly easier to throw my shoulders right back, especially when walking. Fortunately I even have a slight hour glass shape, or at least a waist that's narrower than my hips and shoulders.

Same here Grace. I too find it easy to just throw my shoulders back and have sort of an hour glass shape with a waist thinner than my hips and narrow shoulders, and very long legs for my height. Funny thing is I've always been this way. I can't wait to see what a year or two on hrt will accomplish. I may have a face that will break a mirror, lol! (just kidding!)  (laughs), but I'm lucky in that I have a good shape to start with.

I find it very hard to change my posture...

I have never had a good posture to start with...I am so used to walk looking down that only by trying to walk without doing it is already a hard task lol

But when I try to keep my shoulders back, my chest really stand out foward and I feel a bit artificial and uncomfortable...my chest goes foward so badly that my boobs gets totally visible and obvious. I cannot hide them if I keep this posture.

I must be doing something wrong... or not?

Quote from: ♡ Emily ♡ on February 07, 2014, 08:37:12 AM
I will disagree a bit - actually the so called "perfect" hourglass is quite tricky one, because You need a bit of boyish frame to achieve that and if I am not mistaken, having above average shoulder width is an extra benefit for it. Your hips need to be wider than ribcage and ideally of same width as shoulders, or a bit narrower. And small/medium frame MtF has natural features for this kind of "hourglass" .
As for other things mentioned, HRT will change a bit in Your mentality and that will affect Your posture - I am subconsciously hugging myself much more often than I did (well, I never did that before the HRT, lol). Also, Your lower back tendons will tighten up a bit and rotate Your hips in - that, plus extra fat in Your butt (jeez, I cant believe I am writing this....) will change Your gait. I find it much easier to walk with straight back too and the only thing I had to pay attention was to make smaller steps and turn Your toes a bit inwards. But even with all of this, I walk quite fast (faster than many men)- having long legs helps .

All of this is so true. I used to suffer from really bad lower back pain. At one point it became so bad I couldn't walk. When I began hrt I can't tell you the difference it made for me. Month by month the pain was finally disappearing. My skeletal structure was always more on the female side, so walking as a "guy" was always more strenuous then anything. I feel so much more comfy with my posture now than ever before. My torso finally feels in balance with my hips.

With my weight loss I have started to wear corset's regularly and they help A LOT with both posture and reshaping the lower rib bones to something more feminine with regard to build. I am no where close to where I want to be yet, but my posture has gotten a lot better. Oh yeah, it is great for diets as well because you cant eat a lot, or breathe, or...........................