Quote from: Jerrica on April 24, 2016, 08:27:18 AM
Totally agree starvation and emaciation are insane.

I like the "You are what you do" approach. The body is a very clever machine adapting to do whatever you do.

Want big muscles lift big.
Want small muscles avoid big lifts.

Going from 70kg leg exercises on machines to long distance treadmill should necessitate the body changing it's form to do it better.

As I have no real running experience my numbers are guesswork but going well enough.

Having a decent example would help as I can't really approach women in my gym to ask their settings as I'm shy.

Settings is a really individual thing that depends on your current fitness and even genetics, your aerobic capacity.

I don't run on a treadmill.  I run outside but my speed for that right now is about 11 km/hr for 40 min runs and 9.6 km/hr for 60 and 90 min runs on a hilly route with various inclines.  I quit running for a while and have been back at it now for a few months.

If you're doing it right your speeds or inclines should increase as your fitness improves to give your body the same level of training stress so improvement continues.

My aerobics stress my body more than the treadmill I have a great instructor who continually changes the targeted muscles for sculpting. My running recovery time is as long as it takes me to shower (about 30 mins).

I work best from copying so if a 182cm athletic female ran at 15kmh with 2% for an hour I would learn it. Kinda hard to explain properly I guess.

Essentially I think my body can do anything I want it to but running to me is my means not my end.

Want to avoid strengthening anything. Rather set lower limits that I will allow myself to reduce to.

All people are different ofc but it could be a closer place to start than my guesses.

Quote from: Jerrica on April 24, 2016, 08:38:40 AM
My aerobics stress my body more than the treadmill I have a great instructor who continually changes the targeted muscles for sculpting. My running recovery time is as long as it takes me to shower (about 30 mins).

I work best from copying so if a 182cm athletic female ran at 15kmh with 2% for an hour I would learn it. Kinda hard to explain properly I guess.

I understand what you are looking for but it's an impossible question.  It depends on the person.  For an extreme example take Paula Radcliffe.  She ran at 18.75 km/hr for 2 hours and 15 min.

Most women in my experience run at around 8.7 km/hr or slower.  Some run much faster.

If you have a heart rate monitor your heart rate should be around 75 to 80% max for general running.

Quote from: Jerrica on April 24, 2016, 08:45:00 AM
Essentially I think my body can do anything I want it to but running to me is my means not my end.

Want to avoid strengthening anything. Rather set lower limits that I will allow myself to reduce to.

All people are different ofc but it could be a closer place to start than my guesses.

If you want to avoid strengthening then eliminate the inclines.  Beyond that the improvements in running are at the cellular level with increased blood volume and increased capillarization to increase oxygen availability to the working muscles, and increased abilities to burn fat through increased mitochondrial size and numbers, increased glycogen storage, and increased levels of aerobic enzymes as opposed to increased muscle size and strength.

The increased ability to burn fat is where you will gain what you want.  But there is no magic speed and incline.  It depends solely on your individual body and fitness level.  It's also completely independent of your height.


Sapere Aude

Quote from: Jerrica on April 24, 2016, 07:24:15 AM
Looks like running may indeed be my best bet.

If you use a treadmill would you mind telling me what speed and incline you use. If not too personal your height (I'm 182cm). Do you do continuous or vary your pattern?

Sorry for the question spam but I'm trying to work on ideal parameters for my next exercise program aimed to burn what's left of my abdominal fat deposits and lose muscle from calf and upper thigh to get the shape I  want.

So we are about the same size, I'm 186cm or so. When I do the treadmill in the gym I do 1 hour with 0 incline at 6.5mph or 10 km/h. Sometime the last 10 mins I spend with a fast walking pace with about 50% of the max inclination.
I find that I loose fat equally from all areas regardless of what I do. I do like running outside tho so I only go to the gym when the weather is bad. I've lost 50lb (22kg) since coming to terms with myself and getting medical help. I always do a steady pace and not vary my speed. I don't mind the hills tho now, ( I used to) cause they put really nice pressure in my butt and thighs. It is by far the best form of excersize for me at least. Great cardio and really keeps you in shape. I keep laughing to myself that I had to get old (33) and get on HRT and then be in shape. I'm in much better shape then ever before.Start small and with good shoes. There are tons of apps for your phone to help you and tho it might seem boring at first as it was for me, I've become such an addict that I have to go every 2nd day and both days on weekends. It also helps with your mind because HRT really made me very sensitive and if it wasn't for running, I think I'd be spending a lot of time crying... Feel free to message me if you have any questions.

Quote from: Jerrica on April 24, 2016, 08:38:40 AM
My aerobics stress my body more than the treadmill I have a great instructor who continually changes the targeted muscles for sculpting. My running recovery time is as long as it takes me to shower (about 30 mins).

I work best from copying so if a 182cm athletic female ran at 15kmh with 2% for an hour I would learn it. Kinda hard to explain properly I guess.

15km/h for an hour is a LOT. I can do it but it kills me. When I run outside my average pace is 12km/h or so. 15 sounds like something a pro athlete would do IMHO but I'm not an expert

Sorry for the long delay replying lost mobile signal.

Thank you for your very detailed posts and taking the time to run through it.

You did also give me precisely what I needed an average speed for an average woman. So 8.7 is close enough to my 9.

The 1% I've kept to keep a small degree of similarity to real running. Might test dropping my speed to 8.5 and increase my duration but think the 9 may better scale to my height.

What I didn't want to do was train to high or too low from average.

And naturally agree with the muscle restructuring and changes in fuel system which is the basis of my plan.

http://www.trans-health.com/2001/lose-muscle-gain-fat-dieting-for-mtfs/

http://www.trans-health.com/2001/lose-muscle-gain-fat-dieting-for-mtfs-part-2/

Has worked for me down from 245 to 190 in 6 months, also use a Ann chery waist cincher .... P.S. Amore veggies are carbs.... Good carbs. I eat pico de geio and avocado every day with a cup of fruit to satisfy hunger... The waist cincher also controls hunger... I aim for 8 x my daily body weight in calories each day... Stay away from bad fats and bad carbs and absolutely minimize protein. For fats consume avocado, coconut oil, flax seed oil.... These actually increase your metabolism

Also to kick your metabolism into high gear drink Herba Mate tea every day, it gives you the energy that dieting takes away and be sure to take iron if you cut meat otherwise anemia can set in.

Hi Marrissa thanks for sharing your details and glad I won't need to learn to perform at the crazy levels I posted.

Sounds like we have similar programs with consistent speeds with a slow bit wrapped around it. Fat loss in itself isn't really problem as long as I'm losing it I don't care where it's from as it should all go eventually. The only visible bit left is just below my waist it will go in its own time.

I like the treadmill as it slows me down and forces me to do my chosen speed. Also love being indoors the floor to ceiling mirrors don't hurt either for motivation.

Shoes I have learned the hard way after taking brand new trainers and shredding my heels.

Love my gym and the treadmill as it gives me tons of time to think.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me.

I remember that page thank you Mavis that has been the cornerstone of my catabolic program.

Didn't have as much muscle to lose but combined with everything else it seems to work.

My main focus the past year has been fat loss and while that has been highly successful it hasn't done much for increasing fat deposits in desired places.  My theory is to get rid of it all around my waist and lower back and once that is gone gain some weight back in the right places.  Most of the fat around my waist is now gone but as my picture above showed there is still a deposit on either side of my lower back.  That is proving especially stubborn and looks like it's going to be the last to go.  But the day I look and it is gone I'm going to celebrate with pizza and a huuuuge bowl of chocolate ice cream :-).


Sapere Aude

I've lost more than 100 lbs in two years by basically doing what my doctors told me to do for diabetes. Don't eat that second pork chop. Cut out bread, pasta, dairy, soda or limit it drastically. Limit portion sizes. Don't eat after 5 o'clock. Drink 96 oz. of water 8 - 12oz glasses.  Put 3 scoops of Benefiber into three glasses a day to help you feel full.  Exercise do those cardio exercises. Better yet , put on a leotard and dance the flab away. Any up tempo tune will do. Have fun while your doing it. If not you will not be doing it very long. Make it fun use the Wi to track your progress.

Quote from: Amoré on March 29, 2016, 05:51:56 AM
I am currently 7 months on hrt but I have lost lik almost no mucle bulk. I was bodybuilding before I started transitioning 9 months ago.

Have anybody got advice how I can get rid of my man arms and shoulders. my chest shrunk a quite a bit but my arms and legs is a different story.

Hi!

I'm 22 and am a stealth trans woman. I was a bodybuilder and fitness model pre-transition, and now I model as a woman. As for me, the only way in which I could lose muscle at first was to cut protein intake significantly (down to around 30 grams) and just let catabolism take over. No one agreed with what I was doing, but it sucked 30 pounds of muscle off of me in 2.5 months' time, in turn allowing me to go full-time a lot sooner. If you do have to resort to this, just PLEASE take iron pills, as I became temporarily anemic.

By the 1-year mark, probably an additional 5 pounds of muscle had disappeared, mainly in my back area and biceps. At the 16-month mark, I did the whole protein-reduction regimen once again, and it evaporated another 7 or so pounds of muscle, which was good enough for me to feel confident in a bikini. At 18 months, I finally started intramuscular estrogen injections, and it has catabolized another <5 pounds of muscle due to how incredibly responsive I am to it.

So, all in all, cutting protein *significantly*, as well as switching to injections, has brought me down from 180 lbs. and very bulky, to 135 pounds and very dainty but with the six-pack I had before. My arms went from 16 inches around to 11 inches around, my waist from 31 to 26, and my underbust from 39 to 31. Also, I'm 5 ft. 9. I just look like an 18-year-old girl now, and neither of my three cis girl roommates knew I was trans until I mentioned it.

Claire

Quote from: gymrat93 on April 24, 2016, 07:01:24 PM
Hi!

I'm 22 and am a stealth trans woman. I was a bodybuilder and fitness model pre-transition, and now I model as a woman. As for me, the only way in which I could lose muscle at first was to cut protein intake significantly (down to around 30 grams) and just let catabolism take over. No one agreed with what I was doing, but it sucked 30 pounds of muscle off of me in 2.5 months' time, in turn allowing me to go full-time a lot sooner. If you do have to resort to this, just PLEASE take iron pills, as I became temporarily anemic.

By the 1-year mark, probably an additional 5 pounds of muscle had disappeared, mainly in my back area and biceps. At the 16-month mark, I did the whole protein-reduction regimen once again, and it evaporated another 7 or so pounds of muscle, which was good enough for me to feel confident in a bikini. At 18 months, I finally started intramuscular estrogen injections, and it has catabolized another <5 pounds of muscle due to how incredibly responsive I am to it.

So, all in all, cutting protein *significantly*, as well as switching to injections, has brought me down from 180 lbs. and very bulky, to 135 pounds and very dainty but with the six-pack I had before. My arms went from 16 inches around to 11 inches around, my waist from 31 to 26, and my underbust from 39 to 31. Also, I'm 5 ft. 9. I just look like an 18-year-old girl now, and neither of my three cis girl roommates knew I was trans until I mentioned it.

Claire

I'm a new member on the fence about transition and I'm very inspired by your story.  It sounds like you had a similar build to what I have now, and since I am a hardgainer with a naturally slim body, I have no doubts that I'd be able to lose lean muscle mass. 

However, how did you mentally and emotionally let go of your male physique...?  This is what I have the most difficulty with...I feel like I can't explore how I feel because seeing my body in clothes I want to wear won't let me feel the way I want.  It seems like such a big commitment to lose the weight without being a 100% sure, but I can't get 100% sure if I don't lose the weight...

Quote from: KelliHu on April 24, 2016, 07:19:33 PM
I'm a new member on the fence about transition and I'm very inspired by your story.  It sounds like you had a similar build to what I have now, and since I am a hardgainer with a naturally slim body, I have no doubts that I'd be able to lose lean muscle mass. 

However, how did you mentally and emotionally let go of your male physique...?  This is what I have the most difficulty with...I feel like I can't explore how I feel because seeing my body in clothes I want to wear won't let me feel the way I want.  It seems like such a big commitment to lose the weight without being a 100% sure, but I can't get 100% sure if I don't lose the weight...

I am glad that my story offered some inspiration; I can send you a timeline of my transition if you feel like it might throw you over the fence you find yourself on.

By the way, unease I experienced in letting go of my hard-earned physique was what prevented me from transitioning at age 18/19, as opposed to age 20. It was so freaking hard---and when my desire to transition surfaced, people unanimously agreed that I was crazy because of how attractive and fit I was as a "male".

However, the simple answer is that gender dysphoria nearly killed me, and I had no choice but to transition. At first, I tried not ridding of the muscle, in realization that I could maybe pass as a female bodybuilder or something. Whenever I realized, though, that so much of my ability to feel validated as a woman stems from how many guys overtly express attraction to me (i.e., hit on me), I decided that I'm doing whatever I can to get rid of it.

It was such a mind-boggling change, and I still have difficulty accepting it. My limb proprioception was even off-kilter because my body hadn't adjusted to how small I had gotten. At around four months of transitioning, a co-worker who didn't realize I was transitioning told me I was the second-skinniest guy she has ever met, and she didn't mean lean---she meant dainty. So, it all started to pay off, as big of a risk as it was.

All of the willpower I used to apply to literal hundreds of pushups per night, as well as cross-country races through mountainous regions, was applied towards Western beauty standards, and I somehow made the cut. You can do anything with enough inspiration and desire.

Claire

Sorry all just one little question. Would 9kmh be considered running or jogging?

If jogging how fast until running?

While there are some mixed approaches in losing muscle bulk, I think overall if you cut off a certain food group in your diet chances are you'll be losing some weight which will result to a less bulky appearance.

I still prefer having a bit of protein than eliminating it while on HRT. I'll just let my anti-androgen melt my muscles since I am really not in any hurry to be supermodel

In my opinion, protein keeps me satisfied with less food than the other way around.

However, to each their own. There's is no one way of doing this - find what's best for you.