I am 6' 1" was 245lbs but not fat. I actually went rounds with DRs who called me obese even though I had a flat stomach, their charts don't account for dense muscle and large bones. Even at this size my calves were overly large for a man, over the years I received a few comments from women about how my calves don't match the rest of my body. Think Bigger than most body builders, I used to have guys in the gym walking up saying "I wish I had your calves" without working out for a decade I can walk into a gym set the weight at the highest setting and start lifting like its nothing.

I have not started hormones yet but have been dieting to strip muscle mass, so far down to 215lbs, definitely a loss of strength in the upper body but my calves remain unaffected, even without workout in a decade they constantly feel like they are ready to pop at any moment.

Will hormones help with this?

my calves, neck, back and shoulders are my biggest concerns, never bulked up my arms or thighs with the acception  of triceps from pushups during seal team training

Calves are largely genetic and some people have big calves.  Mine were 16" without ever working them.  HRT has affected them very little.

FWIW:  Some CIS women have that issue too.

My thighs are virtually unchanged starting at 24" and now at 23.5"

My neck though has shrunk 2" in a year.  The rest of the upper body is proportionally shrinking, but it's a slow process.

That's all with about a 30 lb weight loss, now at about 175 lbs, 5'10.5"


Sapere Aude

As with all things YMMV, it appears you have a genetic makeup to have strong legs regardless. However typically with hormones your muscle mass will be reduced. You will likely still have strong legs even after being hrt for some time. Women tend to have strong legs in comparison to the rest of their bodies. In that I would say your neck, arms, and back will certainly be affected. Somewhere to start would be to look at the women in your family and their musculature. If they're fairly dainty I'd say odds could be in your favor. But nothing can be certain till you've started.
Best of wishes,
Nymph 

Like said,  in your case it is most likely genetic.   I have a friend like you who has ripped 16.5 inch calves ( if not 17.5) .. they are looking so good... for a men. Back when i was doing bodybuilding i was training so hard to have calves like that and i was looking at him doing nothing and just having them... lol

HRT will help, make sure your T level is low enough.  Some womans are gaining mass easier when they train because standard  level for T for woman is between  0.4 and  3   and for a men its from like 12 to 35 i think.   If a woman is close to 3, she will have easier time to gain muscle then one at 0.4.    I am personally on HRT for 3.5 month with androcur and on my 2.5 month bloodtest my T had gone from 14 to  0.87 .  Even if i would train like crazy i wouldnt gain anything.

I was doing bodybuilding for 6 years before starting hrt.   I went from a 5.6 ft 128 lbs  to 5.8ft ripped 178 lbs at 5% bodyfat.  I had 17.5 inch biceps,  15.5 inch calves, 15 inch neck  and 42 inch chest  just to name a few. 

Before starting HRT , i did cut my protein/calories intake, stopped mass training and only kept doing legs / cardio  and i went down to 148 lbs 5.6ft at 8% bodyfat.   Yep i lost 32 lbs pre-HRT of pure muscle mass  over a period of 4-5 month so this is possible.

I am currently 153 lbs at 21.5% bodyfat at 3.5 month on HRT .

My biceps are now 12.5 inch rest and 13-13.5 inch flex  . 
My forearm is down to 10.5 inch
my Calves are down to 13.5 inch
my chest went from 42 inch to 34 inch   then back to 37 with breast tissue
my neck went down to 13.5 inch


and this is only the begining, its perfectly possible but your calves will always give you hard time.

Quote from: archlord on January 26, 2016, 02:10:57 PM
Like said,  in your case it is most likely genetic.   I have a friend like you who has ripped 16.5 inch calves ( if not 17.5) .. they are looking so good... for a men. Back when i was doing bodybuilding i was training so hard to have calves like that and i was looking at him doing nothing and just having them... lol

HRT will help, make sure your T level is low enough.  Some womans are gaining mass easier when they train because standard  level for T for woman is between  0.4 and  3   and for a men its from like 12 to 35 i think.   If a woman is close to 3, she will have easier time to gain muscle then one at 0.4.    I am personally on HRT for 3.5 month with androcur and on my 2.5 month bloodtest my T had gone from 14 to  0.87 .  Even if i would train like crazy i wouldnt gain anything.

I was doing bodybuilding for 6 years before starting hrt.   I went from a 5.6 ft 128 lbs  to 5.8ft ripped 178 lbs at 5% bodyfat.  I had 17.5 inch biceps,  15.5 inch calves, 15 inch neck  and 42 inch chest  just to name a few. 

Before starting HRT , i did cut my protein/calories intake, stopped mass training and only kept doing legs / cardio  and i went down to 148 lbs 5.6ft at 8% bodyfat.   Yep i lost 32 lbs pre-HRT of pure muscle mass  over a period of 4-5 month so this is possible.

I am currently 153 lbs at 21.5% bodyfat at 3.5 month on HRT .

My biceps are now 12.5 inch rest and 13-13.5 inch flex  . 
My forearm is down to 10.5 inch
my Calves are down to 13.5 inch
my chest went from 42 inch to 34 inch   then back to 37 with breast tissue
my neck went down to 13.5 inch


and this is only the begining, its perfectly possible but your calves will always give you hard time.

I'm basically the flip of you with 13 inch biceps and 17.5 inch calves before hrt, my upper body mass is all in my back, shoulders, neck.

No one in my family has a build like mine, my dad spent years in a gym to be ripped but never had a male waist or legs. My sisters and mom are all very petite, my uncle spent years of therapy to grow body hair and have breasts removed (he was born male), my uncle is also very small framed and around 5' 4". My mother and her mother are both very petite but my mom does have large hands that look just like mine in a side by side comparison.

Grand Mother, Mother and Sisters fall into the vanity beauty category if that matters.

forgot to add, pre hrt, while not fat, I do have B breasts, round butt that makes my wife jealous in underwear, cellulite around butt and thighs. I think this has something to do with low testosterone and high prolactin levels my body started this after the military. not sure if this means I will or will not transition well.

It sounds like your build might be similar to mine.  I was military too and a lot of years carrying a load on your back and wearing several pounds on your head builds up those muscles and the legs too.  I've been on HRT a year.  As I said, my legs are virtually unchanged in size but I think there are some genetics there.  My daughter's thighs are only an inch smaller than mine and she's a very lean fitness instructor.

My neck started out at16.5, down from 17 a few years ago.  A year of HRT has reduced it to 14.75.  I'm assuming it will reduce more but I don't know by how much.  Back and shoulders are gradually coming down but that's hard to measure.  Sometimes I look in the mirror and feel like the hulk and other times I see myself getting more into proportion.  I do not see this shrinking into petiteness though without getting completely emaciated.  Another year may prove me wrong.  Anyway, sacrificing my health isn't a price I'm willing to pay so it's diet and exercise and see what happens.


Sapere Aude

I haven't been measuring because...well, reasons, but I'm almost 4 months into HRT and my strength (and endurance) has fallen off a cliff. That doesn't happen without losing muscle mass. In fact, I'm getting so weak it's actually starting to get a little scary.

It's nothing dangerous, but I was the sort that could look at a set of weights and gain a pound of muscle. I guess as a guy I didn't really worry about doing things in an efficient way from an energy expenditure standpoint, I just sort of brute-forced whatever I was doing and it worked out. I'm having to relearn how to do everything to use mechanical advantage because the muscles themselves don't carry the day anymore. It's weird and scary to go to do a thing and be unable to because you're just not strong enough or your muscles get tired too quickly.

I guess I'm going to have to go back to working out just so I can make it through the day, but I was really really surprised at just how quickly my strength started disappearing at about 3 months in. And it doesn't seem to be slowing down. Bottles are becoming a life and death struggle. I still defeat most of them but some I have to get someone else to open for me, and it seems like that win/loss ratio is going to keep getting worse.

If I'm eating something that involves a lot of chewing I have to stop and rest sometimes. Or if I'm holding my phone up and not supporting my arms very well they wear out in a minute or two. In November I could do pullups like they were nothing... So anyways...

TLDR - Yes, HRT will help you lose muscle mass.

After HRT and possibly surgery you'll have female body chemistry, and you won't be able to sustain a male muscle mass. Trans-women can compete in the Olympic's as female, which suggests that some people have given this a lot of thought.

Here's a recent article on it
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jan/25/ioc-rules-transgender-athletes-can-take-part-in-olympics-without-surgery

I said surgery since I have read of people getting further body changes after that, even though they have been on HRT a while. I don't know if that means the HRT was correct or not.