this has probably ben asked before but it's somethign that is troubling me.

I used to be a very big guy, and now i'm still big but much smaller than i was.
I haven't started hormone treatment yet, but I want to and I was wondering how it affects weight loss because I have worked so hard to get to where I am, and I need to work even harder to get where i want to be.
I've heard conflicting accounts from other MtF TS's, some who say the hormones help them lose weight (I am assuming this is the reduction in muscle mass) and others who say it has make losing weight more difficult and even those who say the weight has piled on after they started.
What are your own experiences with this isssue? I have quite a big frame and so to look femenine I think I will have to slim down a lot more before I can start on hormones.
I kick myself all the time for having put on so much in the first place, but i guess it was how I dealt with my gender issues, and now I am clear on what I want, I need to undo the damage.

Also, what would a good dress size be for a girl who is 5'10 and broad shouldered without looking like a climbing frame? I am currently a UK 18-20

Thanks for you time, lots of love

Tams xx

I got pretty flabby for a couple of years. Now I only eat twice a day using a salad plate for portion size and watch the junk, only lean and healthy stuff. Fruit or fresh veggies for snacks and I hit the gym five days a week. I've lost about sixty five pounds and am 5' 7" and 170. Was 235 at one point. Unless you're doing heavy manual labor, shooting a lot of B-Ball or sandlot football, forget the former man sized meals or you'll wear them.

Weight gain on HRT is one of the known side effects. So you need to be aware and control your weight with diet, exercise etc. Although it is a known side affect that doesn't mean it will happen, just that it is a recognised side effect. The same as increased chance of DVT, liver disease etc.

Cindy

my weight yoyos but I fing best food of all is wet and colourful such as big bowls of soups and lots of fruits and salads and practically no white flour products or potatoes.

muscle loss may be due to losing interest in doing heavy male things like bodybuilding and weight gain may be due to choosing female things like quilting bees.

I've kept my gym routine up throughout the journey so far. And that has been fun on a social and body image factor.
I have lost considerable upper body muscular strength.  Yet I do the same exercises. I have gained some 'bum' weight, pure fat I think, it wobbles and I quite like that  I also have some wobbling in the boob region, and I really like that

Leg strength hasn't changed much at all. I haven't increased my leg weights, and I was doing so before HRT, but I have not decreased them. Upper body weights: and I have never been a builder of my upper body muscle ever, but my weight tolerance for squats, etc is markedly reduced. I'm squatting 50-75k and sweating. I was doing 150k pre HRT. I ask guys to bring weights to the machines for me. It is an old gym so some machines we have to load with free weights . There has been no issues about this, the guys have been great, they do so for all the female members who ask them. They are gym rules BTW that people help each other with moving weights.

I eat a high protein diet  of lean meat. Few carbs, a lot of fruit, an egg for breakfast no butter or marge on my toast. lunch is a sandwich with lettuce tomato and either low fat cheese or low fat meat. I also have another fruit and drink water. I drink tea with no sugar or milk.
I weigh 65 kilos. I have essentially kept that weight from when I was 18.

You most definitely can loose weight on HRT. I've done it. Diet and plenty of exercise is key. And by exercise, I don't mean 30 minutes on an exercise bike. You need to do lots of cardio and some minimal strength training to maintain some definition. Running, swimming, climbing, or mountain biking are all good forms of exercise.

Carbs, processed sugars, red meat, and starches are the enemy. I work out 6 days a week and after almost 2 years of HRT, I continue to loose weight to this day. So, it's definitely possible. I now follow a near strict vegan diet (no meat, no dairy) and maintain an intensive daily exercise program. I'm 5'11" and wear a size 6 US in most dresses for the record.

I am a 6' tall, tree frog hands, and Super Extra Large feet according to ScubaPro, former fatty. I have been somewhat obsessive over my weight for years after dropping 100 or so pounds. Almost none of it muscle, just all fat. I have a really slow and very efficient metabolism which can easily get by on about 1200 Cal/day. I often joke how I can gain weight from just smelling food. I did hormones twice in the past and never saw any real change. To be fair, I did stop after a few months for various reasons.

Three years ago I started again and haven't stopped. At that time I had eventually gained about 30 lbs  trying to eat my way out of the misery called my shattered life, on top of the 20 or so I had already put on over 20-30 years. Eventually I figured some things out, went back on hormones and cut back on the "feel good" foods and eating till I dropped.

Today I am 40 lbs lighter after packing on 6 while fighting a bout of "WTF am I doing!" that started mid December. I'm still fighting the fight and the weight gain. One little slip and I gain back the 2lbs overnight that took a week to loose. But that has always been the way my body worked

Quote from: Cindy James on February 25, 2012, 02:34:42 AM
I've kept my gym routine up throughout the journey so far. And that has been fun on a social and body image factor.
I have lost considerable upper body muscular strength.  Yet I do the same exercises. I have gained some 'bum' weight, pure fat I think, it wobbles and I quite like that  I also have some wobbling in the boob region, and I really like that

Oh my, sounds like we have some healthy girls here! Very smart too because it all lessens the chances of suffering a life threatening bout of thrombosis from HRT.
I do my gym workout in boy mode because there are showers in both the women's and men's room and I don't want to create any unnecessary drama although the women's room showers there are individual, the gals still prance around half naked drying their hair and making up after workout. The men's room is another thing altogether, the showers are in one big room straight ahead as one enters. OMG!  I have had to suffer such horrific visual assault there each day! I don't shower there of course, but I have to use the locker, pee and wash my hands. The huge hairy, fat-asses I've had to see walking past me with their personal junk flopping around is absolutely revolting!

On a lighter note though, the weekday workout has done wonders for me. I use light weights and do lots of reps for toning. I don't care to build up muscle mass and really don't seem to be able to by now anyway. A black lady friend told me that I had a great looking booty, which I took as a complement because so many of us over forty seem to suddenly suffer from gone-ass. 

thanks ladies, i appreciate the replies. i use myfitnesspal.com to keep an eye on exercise and calories and the weight loss has thus far been steady if slow. i hope when i start hormones i can keep it going.

Tams xx