Hey there everyone. I was wondering for those with high levels of stress especially before transition (maybe when you even realized or tried to figured out if you were trans or not)... Did your stress levels caused you some really bad side effects? For example for me I work out a lot, eat very healthy, and realize that I keep putting weight no matter what I do. Mostly love handles and waist circumference. Also a lot of gastrointestinal issues and such. It did not used to be like this. Was very fit before as well.

This happens to any of you?

Thanks !

Oh, yeah.  Dysphoria is fundamentally the discomfort we have with our own body, the mismatch between what we got and what our brain wants.  In trying to resolve this constant stress, I believe we can sabotage ourselves in a huge number of ways.  Personally, I grabbed snacks and cut corners on my exercise, while gumming up my psychic plumbing with depression and anxiety.

I dealt with part of this, the "It's only 100 calories, fine for a snack or eight", and "45 minutes?  Close enough to an hour of exercise." bits by harnessing my obsessive-compulsive project managing behavior, turning myself into a project and logging EVERYTHING I ate, weighing and measuring absolutely everything and entering it in tracking software (MyFitnessBuddy app).  That was an eye-opener.  I've altered my diet to hit my target numbers I worked out with a doctor, and after a few years I'm doing much better.

I'm also in therapy, working on the dysphoria, and have the depression and anxiety well controlled now.

Yes - even outside the GD topic. I can have pretty stressful weeks at work and these do badly affect my overall health and well being. During those times I can easily put on 20 lbs in weight and struggle to lose them afterwards. It also has other health effects - my eyes usually get affected pretty bad and I do not sleep well either.
I have noticed that this is amplified by the GD topic... But... I painted my toenails during a pretty tough conference call today and people noticed me getting a lot calmer towards the end... So being Sarah actually helps getting through such days...

Dysphoria used to be the most frequent reason for me to be depressed. Now, I can mostly keep it from ruining my day every time my genitals remind me of their current shape. But I used to rely on unhealthy amounts of escapism, and I still end up doing that since dysphoria often tends to overlap with some other cause of distress. You know, since it's an everyday problem that doesn't care about me getting worried over, say, getting stressed out because of my studies demanding too much of me. Or a long time friend of mine dying. At moments like that, I'm not feeling like dressing up and attempting to be as much Freya as possible.

I am the type of person to whom happiness comes naturally. I just can't be that if every part of me isn't me.