Um, first off, if you're attempting to lose muscle, stay off the weights. More reps, even when going so high as 50 reps, serves to pump to muscle up full of blood, stretch out the fascia, and is overall counterproductive. Even famous bodybuiders such as Charles Glass advocate high reps for true muscle building, especially in areas like the arms:D
Right on cue with cardio though. I think that the real battle, to the dismay of many, is diet. You are what you eat, and if you're consuming a diet filled with sodium, empty carbs, protein, and meat, then you'll just be feeding your muscles, like adding fertilizer and water to weeds to make them stop growing. As far as the right diet, people still can't agree on the right diet for the every day American. There's a lot of things that work and a lot of things to avoid, blah blah, but no set perfect system.
A few of the biggest factors that could assist would be going vegetarian, or at minimum avoiding all forms of red meat, and even eggs. This drastically cuts down on cholesterol. Cholesterol is another one of those steroids that's not good for feminization. Lowering sodium is magic. I'm not even going to go into it because it's so magical! I will say that the maximum daily intake of sodium one could ever need is 500mg/daily. Even 500 is a number I'd reserve for people who are extremely active, athletes, landscapers, etc. Likely the most effective diet for drastic weight loss, the Rice Diet(
http://www.ricedietprogram.com/) only advocates for 50mg of sodium a day, or LESS if possible. That means cutting sodas out, and all those microwave meals and instant meals, fast food. Please keep in mind that as far as, "belly," stuff goes, excessive sodium and chemically laden foods cause bloating. Also sticking to a fresh or organic diet puts a lot less strain on your liver, something anyone on HRT should look into considering the strain it puts on the body.
I went crazy for a long time with tracking down the, "ideal diet," and I couldn't find anything. I made an effort to speak with every transsexual I encountered who saw great results in transition. While a lot of it was just natural, like being young or having a predisposition towards being feminine in body, I didn't meet a single top performer in transition who didn't utilize SOME kind of diet. Some of them were fool hardy and I wouldn't reccomend to anyone, like eating nothing but unflavored and unsalted white rice for months on end. Maybe for a few weeks but... beyond that is simply ridiculous. There are the vegans, there are the ramen lovers(they don't use the flavor packs), there's organics and so many others, but all meet the standard of lowering cholesterol, sodium, proteins, and chemicals.
So if I had to choose between running miles a day or an ideal diet, it'd be diet. In a perfect setting, do both. Or, just do exercise, I can't blame anyone for changing their entire lifestyle of anecdotal studies. At least, now you'll know.
