Definition is usually not an issue in the buttocks and upper leg area,
at least for me, and I've got monster leg muscles and buttocks muscles
(but now there's covered in a good layer of fat).
You'd need to exercise A LOT, to get that much muscles.

T promotes definition, its not just exercise, it boost the amount of water in the
muscle bulking them up also (so they look bigger even when they're not stronger).

If you only do cardio or low intensity exercises,
you risk losing more fat AND muscles and ending with a flat
butt, that's not really appealing.

QuoteThough I don't know why, shes gorgeous! *wants her stomach*

Thank you Chelsea I'm not gorgeous, but maybe someday I would urge you to lift really heavy weights
with your legs... I do almost exclusively squats and I bicycle a lot. As much as I do exercise I have lost all
definition on my thighs and calf's in just three months HRT.  You do not need to worry about your muscles
getting too big if you are on HRT... it just won't happen just like it won't happen for a GG. In my opinion...
for us and even for guys... lifting light weights is a big waist of time.

Quoteahem... Almost! Perfect WHR for a woman is .70. I have a long way to go. I may not ever get all the way down to .70. But with the diet I've been losing weight on, and continuing HRT, there's hope I can someday wind up well inside the normal female range. My realistic goal is to get it down to less than .80. Ideally, women should have a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.8 or less.

Yes... you are right for a GG but I thought most TS's were around .80... Keira not withstanding... she is a freak of nature (in a very
good way Keira). Right now I'm .86 - 31" waist and 36" hip... but all my inches around the hips are to the rear so I have a
fairly straight figure... it has gotten a tiny bit better. I think the very best I can hope for is around a .73 - 28" waist and 38" hips...
I have no idea if I can get there but 'm gonna try That's basically two inches in each direction so I have to continue to lose
weight... I'm thinking maybe 15 to 20 pounds to get my waist that thin. My stomach is flat but I still have a lot
of visceral fat that is making me thick around the middle. And really once visceral fat is stored only a lot of exercise
will get rid of it... dieting will only get at the easy fats... those closer to the surface. The body just seems to spare the
deep fat between muscles when food gets thin.

Amanda

RIGHT - I agree with Kiera & many of the other ladies on here.  As I said before I started with a curvy figure, even as a "boy" before HRT.  HRT made me loose about an inch in the waist & gain an inch in the hips but I have only been on HRT 7 months thus far.

I have had people ask me about diet & excercise.  To be honest I don't diet - I eat pretty much whatever I want, in moderation.  If I eat alot of "bad" food then the next day I TRY stick to some type of yogurts, veggies, fruits, lean meat, etc.  But I do not live my life worrying about every bite - some weeks I eat out or eat "badly" everyday.  My saving grace is that I ALWAYS drink water - I have sodas maybe ONCE every 2 to 3 weeks, and I take my daily vitamins, along with HRT.

As far as excercise goes - again - it's no set schedule.  If I have time I do it.  Some weeks I work out 3 times a week then there are weeks I don't go to the gym once.  When I'm at the gym I do excercises using my OWN body weight (such as squats, lunges, & sit-ups) for about 20 minutes & then do 20 minutes on the treadmill at about 4 mph at a very high incline (which is good for the legs & butt).

It will work differently on everyone - again this isn't some magic formula to get a curvy figure - it's not even a formula - it's just what I do more so to maintain.  Again I didn't "get" this shape from HRT or excercise - I was born with it - with HRT & excercise I moreso "tweaked" it.  I am not looking to loose a large amount of weight - I have maintained the same weight (on the scale; give or take 3 to 5 pounds) through out the whole experience. 

As I have stated before I think curvy, more full figured women are beautiful.  Alot of people mistake "Curvy" for "Fat" or "obese" - that's hardly the case but I think women are more attractive as a whole in all various sizes more so then men.  I think the very skinny look on a female is very unattractive & unfemine.  It seems alot of people are so scared to gain weight on HRT, yet tons of transwomen I know want to be curvy...it's like "how are you going to get curvy if you're burning off all the fat your HRT is putting on you".  Allow yourself to gain 5 to 10 pounds - that amount of weight will NOT be difficult to get rid of it you end up disliking it.  Five to ten pounds can make a world of difference in your body shape, face & etc. in a positive way.  Remember women are "soft" - well fat causes softness - if you have no body fat - you are left with bones & muscles which is going to give you a "hard" look, which is traditionally male.  I know personally, I'd rather be 10 pounds over weight & look and appear more feminine than be "skinny" and look like a male or a "hard" female.  I know some disagree & have their opinions - that is my own personal one (please don't attack  )

I think alot of diet & healthy body image is in the mind.  When you obsess on it & think about it all the time you get the opposite results you want.  Just try & be happy with yourself, realize NO one is perfect (trust me I have traveled extensively & met some of the most "beautiful" people of all backgrounds, some famous - some not & they ALL have some flaws - alot of people say to me "well you're perfect" but I then start pointing out my flaws - we all have them) and you will arrive at your proper weight & size eventually.  This transition, if anything, has definitely re-strengthened & retrained my sense of PATIENCE!

Hope that helps....anyone else?

Quote from: AlwaysAmanda on April 23, 2008, 09:57:09 PM

QuoteI firmly believe that it is best to be honest with yourself if you expect others to accept you

QuoteI was not commenting on any picture or on anything directly connected to you

Oh please... you are responding about a post from Berliegh about me, saying you agree with most of what she says,
and you use the words yourself and you and you expect me to believe you were not directing that at me?

LOL... we don't really believe that now do we?

Amanda

Amanda, please allow me this opportunity to clear something up before we fall out.........when I wrote my posting I was not thinking of you at all, I do not know you as a person because I am merely a newcomer to this board, I was relating my past experience and  knowledge of Berliegh and knowing how 'direct' and 'brutal in her honest opinions' etc, I was hoping to suggest that if we take all comments for what they are and in the spirit they were made then we might understand better they come from.

Seemingly, my comments have irritated you and I never wanted that.    I agree with most of what Berleigh says because I can see her pain, we share the same battles with officialdom, inept health authorities and many other matters but we agree to differ because we are individuals with our own unique problems.  Berliegh spoke of forums where free speech was curtailed somewhat and I confess to being an ADMIN on one of those boards.  She spoke of a situation whereby we might say to someone ' Oh, you look nice' whilst lying through grinding teeth.

I truely honestly believe that I was merely relating my experiences on other TS/TG/TV domains and in good faith.

" Oh please... you are responding about a post from Berliegh about me, saying you agree with most of what she says,
and you use the words yourself and you and you expect me to believe you were not directing that at me?"

Yes Amanda, I am asking you believe exactly that.  I am agreeing with her general commentary, my use of the words you highlighted were not targetted at you nor towards any other person on this board.  I simply do not know anyone here well enough at this time because I only recently joined you all.

I do not know what more I can do to show that I am here only to share my experiences as a person in transition to female status from my male birth, to find new friends and form possibly new relationships but primarily to offer a listening ear too any one that wants it.

Hostility is not my business, I do not seek it and will not tolerate it.  Amanda, I respect you and ask that you forgive any error or misjudged comment that you felt was aimed at yourself.... 

Spoke to a personal trainer today and I am going to get in a good workout program they are designing for me to focus on the area's I would like to see improvement on. Thanks girls!  I am excited now.

Quote from: Hypatia on April 23, 2008, 08:49:15 AM
What I am trying to understand is, when other ladies who are approximately the same height and weight as me can wear sizes in the single digits, why can't I?

Because, Hypatia, if I can't,
then neither can you.

bev

Muscles take less space than fat and if you're limited by your
frame size in how small you can get, especially in your upper body, most mtf can get pretty small size in the lower body, but then, the clothing doesn't fit because the hip to waist difference is not ~10 inch (which is the avg for female clothes).

Even prior to HRT, my WHR 31 / ~40 = 0.78, when I was training
and had a muscular butt in my 20's I was 28 / 40 = 0.7 (not many men
have that kind of curves :-) (I was 175 pounds and 2-3% fat at that time).

I've got a very small frame, so even at 160 pounds now (6 foot), I wear size 4 bottom and size 6-8 tops. Many here seemingly have a smaller weight but wear bigger clothes!! That's probably linked to their frame size. Its pointless to lose too much weight if you have a big frame or you'll look like a skeleton. I'm guessing I'll wind up eventually at about 145 pounds and size 2 bottoms and size 2-4 tops.

QuoteAmanda, I respect you and ask that you forgive any error or misjudged comment that you felt was aimed at yourself....

Sure Jennifer, let's just be done with all this... I won't live in a negative world, I've said all I'm saying.

Amanda

Posted on: April 24, 2008, 08:22:32 PM

---

QuoteEven prior to HRT, my WHR 31 / ~40 = 0.78, when I was training
and had a muscular butt in my 20's I was 28 / 40 = 0.7 (not many men
have that kind of curves :-) (I was 175 pounds and 2-3% fat at that time).

I had similar measurements in my youth 27" waist and 36" hips .75 but the hip measurement
was all in the butt like it is now... and no defined waist, maybe I can get the fat to
to drift around to the sides

How much did your top size go down as you lost muscle Keira? Do you know what your shoulder
circumference is?

Amanda

Good news: My weight is now lower and my waist is now slimmer than at any time in the past 22 years or so. I measured this morning and found that I have taken 3.5" off my waist in only 2 months of dieting.

Bad news: In the same time frame I've also taken 1.5" off my hips... so my WHR goes back up to nearly .85 because my previous figures were based on the assumption my hip measurement hadn't changed. I was shocked to see how much has been lost there. At least I still have a visible waist and curves.

My outlook is still kind of positive, since I'm losing at a faster rate from my waist than from my hips, so if I can just keep reducing my waist, then my WHR should continue to decrease (albeit more slowly than I'd imagined).

Barbie-- I am in a dilemma about what will give me a more feminine appearance, taking off more pounds or keeping them on. I am just sick and tired of having a thick tummy. It didn't help that I porked up over the winter, meanwhile my belly dance teacher was a real Twiggy, her waist was about as big as most people's wrist, I hated seeing myself in the mirror next to her, even though I look fine on my own. So I am just going to keep dieting until my weight gets back to where it was when I was in college, before I ever started gaining. It should help that I'm vegetarian, eat a very healthy organic high-fiber diet, avoid sugar entirely, and drink nothing but water. At least that helped when I was college age!

Gym? What's that?

You need to do at least moderate exercise to get rid of the abdomen fat (the one behind the abdomen wall that thickens the waist the most in all men and post menopausal women). Don't know why most keep fighting this since its the obvious solution.

Fast walking 30 minutes a day would be sufficient to get
that fat down, your waist will melt if you do this.

I agree with Kiera...just try walking 30 minutes a day...Do areobic excercises using your own body weight (to tone) if you're not wanting to use free weights.  It's worth a try.

Like I stated above we are all born with different frames & bone structures so it's going to be different on all of us.  And HRT doesn't affect everyone the same either.

Don't worry to much about it - I don't.

Quote from: Keira on April 24, 2008, 10:10:28 PMFast walking 30 minutes a day would be sufficient to get
that fat down, your waist will melt if you do this.

OK, now that I can live with. It's a deal.

I wanted to make a point here... I think everyone tends to think they need more
exercise than they do... and I go really overboard most of the time and my results are
probably no better than if I just walked 30 minutes a day as Keira and Barbie
suggested. If you are not into the exercise experience and just doing it for the benefits
think you are more likely to stick with it if you do not kill yourself every time.

Amanda

Quote from: AlwaysAmanda on April 25, 2008, 11:21:20 AMI think everyone tends to think they need more exercise than they do...

Not everyone-- I never think about it at all. 

You're so right AlwaysAmanda....so many evenings before I go to bed I think "geez I have been eating alot lately...I need to go to the gym tomorrow" but I often find myself not going the next day, which is fine, because on the day that I'm really feeling like going I go & get the best work-out because I WANT to do it that day vs. being a "chore".

I think women can actually over-excercise & as we have stated before, loose that "softness" & curvy shape that is very desirable by many.  When I think of the gym I think of weights, sweat, grunts, soreness, hard physical work, uncomfortableness, & masculinity...LOL...None of which I associate with being a girl! (as you may be able to tell I'm a very "girly girl")

...of course those are my thoughts & my outlook on it - I know not everyone will agree with it, especially feminist - but hey, it's my experience & my thoughts!

QuoteWhen I think of the gym I think of weights, sweat, grunts, soreness, hard physical work, uncomfortableness, & masculinity...LOL...None of which I associate with being a girl!

Yea I do to... but I'm addicted to it And I feel so much better than when I'm a slug.

Amanda

Weight: 116 pounds (52 kg)
Height: 5'9" (174 cm)
Measurements: 32-25-34
Dress size: 2

since HRT my bust & hip measurements have pretty much stayed the same altho i did lose a bit in my waist. ideally i'd like to lose 1 more inch there, a 24 inch waist sounds nice  i'm not sure what exercises to do to make it smaller though, the only tummy exercise i know is crunches but that seems like it might make it wider by getting muscley or something. im kind of lazy tho so i'm not too worried about it, im still fine with how i am.

i also lost almost 10 pounds since hrt, im not really sure where i lost it from tho, i didnt really think i look skinnier lol. i just got on the scale one day (i dont weigh myself regularly) and noticed i went from around 125 to 116.

oh

my

god

<---- sorry... I always wanted to do that

There are a lot of very jealous girls right now...

Amanda

Why are the girls jealous Always Amanda? LOL



Everyone should be happy with who they are! 

think amanda was talking about the weight loss.