hi there im looking forward to starting hrt and everything in the future after the military and i was just wondering if there was any good healthy way to reduce muscle mass while remaining active ie running and cardio in general? i look in the mirror and un unmistakenly male due to the way im naturally built. i want to slim down yes but im mainly concerned about my chest arms and shoulder area. thanks!

HRT will take care of a lot of it, but just cutting back from a military level of exercise to a typical civvie one should be a big help.   My brother was in our Army for quite a few years and it didn't take long for him to lose his edge once he got out.

Hey,

Cutting out a lot of the upper body exercises will (obviously) help. Since I knew that I was going to transition I stopped nearly all my weight training, push ups, pull ups, etc etc. Its slow going but after 7 months my arms have lost a lot of muscles, my back and shoulders are clearly much slimmer too. I occassionally do a short rep of squats just to keep toned but not muscled.

I've found lots of cardio helps, especially if you starve your body of the nutrients needed to promote muscle repair and growth, so that the muscles get their protein from themselves and this decreases their size.
x

I need to think about doing this, but it's going to be difficult. All my family has gigantic thigs (21 inches), and i have no clue on how to reduce them, apart from more fat burning and cardio... I know that they have reduced a few centimeters this year (I had to replace half of my jeans which I could barely fit on them before), so I hope there is more fat than muscle on them.

Don't worry - my thighs are still MUCH too big! They're slowly shrinking but I could still out-sprint and out-distance most regular guys 

A quick google turned up this though - http://www.livestrong.com/article/470108-how-to-lose-muscle-mass-from-thighs/ It may be worth looking into 

x

Reading...

Oh, great. Managing to pull 65 kilos with only my legs was not a good idea. Since I need to keep strenght on the legs due to my bad knees, maybe I overdid it a bit.








Update: Talked with monitor at gym about preparing a program for reducing muscle mass. They will see if they can work something.

Okay, as far as muscle mass, HRT should lead to a natural deterioration of mass. Don't present as female until you are sure you can pass (don't want any hassles). I would recommend reading a book called "Building the Gymnastic Body" by Christopher Sommer. Don't let the title fool you; the book shows you exercises that will get you strong, but not too big. I do gymnastics and it works wonders. Keep up some cardio too, by the way. Don't try to lose mass by starving yourself. Trust me, it won't be worth it.

Will the unsightly viens also diminish greatly during hrt?

@DianaP: thanks  for the book reference.

@Cbergusn: if you find more info on this please keep us informed. I have the same concerns as you and also having difficulty finding helpful information on this topic

I am very lean but muscley none the less. I also wish I could reduce my size, but of course, as others have said here and elsewhere, this is one of the effects of HRT. I suppose we just need to have faith...good luck diva!

don't lift anything and let arms hang down and if you do lift anything make sure you use two hands and rest arms on a table to continue supporting it as in food or drink.

its called atrophy.. it works..

I have never had any muscles,  but I also never tried to get any.  Being more sedentary, and focusing on certain exercises such as Yoga would massively help.

Many woman do Masculine workouts to raise their strength

Many men do feminine workouts to raise flexibility.

You need a balance to live a healthy life obviously, I think jogging and running will satisfy the masculine work outs.  Doing a few weights on your legs to keep your bones from going brittle might be  neccesary as well

After that you can concentrate on more feminine workouts that stretch your body out and make you sweat in different ways.

Muscle mass is more of a problem in the upper body for M2F. Lower body can take the back burner as an M2F needs that mass to obtain a more bottom heavy female physique, unless you started HRT at 12. Anyhow, I love my 22" plus thighs and they don't look in the least masculine because of years of HRT. I hate skinny anorexic thighs.

i know of one. a 30 water fast. but you need time off work and someone to watch over you like nurse or RD

 Anything to reduce Testosterone. Regrettably there aren't many healthy ways to do it. Try replacing your protein s with soy and beans. There high in phytoestrogens. Reduce but don't eliminate your protein and strength training but replace it with yoga.  Deep Stretching of the muscles esp in your legs will take some of the thickness out. 

Quote from: PaigeMtl on September 02, 2012, 08:08:27 PM
Will the unsightly viens also diminish greatly during hrt?

My veins have diminished in prominence. I had 'cured' the problem by only wearing long-sleeved tops. Veins in the arms are now much, much less obvious but I would like them to go down a bit more. The ones on the back of the hands are still there but many women (especially over 40) have them.

Quote from: DianaP on August 18, 2012, 09:26:10 PM
Don't present as female until you are sure you can pass (don't want any hassles).

If you are confident and comfortable enough with yourself to present as female do it.
Passably is Biased and shouldn't determine how you feel about your Gender.

and If you are Hassled take the Time to acknowledged that anyone who will go out of their way to harm anyone in anyway, especially ones indifference's, deserves to be the hateful person they are and should remain a fish in humanity's stream of arrogance.

Over all Take care of yourself and always be a good Human Being
and know that there are always people here for you during the rollercoaster of your transitioning

Thinking out loud:

This week I saw Zofia Tujaka (contemporary dancer for Lalala Human Steps) and was blown away again. She is so powerful, strong and graceful. She is different from having what one would consider a typical female body yet I don't question her femininity.

This helps me remember that it is important that I feel healthy in my body first. It will probably be easier to accept that I most probably will always look like a strong woman even after hrt. Passing won't only include my physical appearance but also my attitude. (Without forgetting the body language, my voice etc...)

Any feedback on this? Is this typical newbie thinking?

BTW: I'm finding that yoga and jogging to be the best so far too. For the un-initiated in yoga, there are a few different styles of yoga so if the first style or teacher doesn't please you keep searching.

Quote from: PaigeMtl on September 23, 2012, 09:07:05 AM

BTW: I'm finding that yoga and jogging to be the best so far too. For the un-initiated in yoga, there are a few different styles of yoga so if the first style or teacher doesn't please you keep searching.

Be careful with jogging esp if you are starting out after your 30s.
long term injuries can be a problem.
For aerobics, biking is easier in the knees & ankles ( esp recumbent bikes) and there forms of yoga that will leave you dripping in a pool of sweat in 10 mins.
In The good ole days, I used to do 20  of these in 10 mins.

Quote from: Jillary Woolen Xσx on September 20, 2012, 10:32:09 AM
If you are confident and comfortable enough with yourself to present as female do it.
Passably is Biased and shouldn't determine how you feel about your Gender.

and If you are Hassled take the Time to acknowledged that anyone who will go out of their way to harm anyone in anyway, especially ones indifference's, deserves to be the hateful person they are and should remain a fish in humanity's stream of arrogance.

Over all Take care of yourself and always be a good Human Being
and know that there are always people here for you during the rollercoaster of your transitioning

This^ I could post a dozen pictures of different females I know on this forum in these "do I pass?" threads and many people would say no and explain why. I was really not very passable at all when I started living full time 5ish years ago and had very few problems.

Quote from: Stephe on September 24, 2012, 12:00:43 AM
This^ I could post a dozen pictures of different females I know on this forum in these "do I pass?" threads and many people would say no and explain why. I was really not very passable at all when I started living full time 5ish years ago and had very few problems.

Absolutely, Steph. If anything that is where I am aiming my comment.
Passability is so glamorized in our community that it is no wonder we chose to stay secret and close each other off from one another. if more TG's focused solely on their heart on not the shell around it they would come to terms with themselves and find love in who they are so much sooner.

I am not innocent. I am guilty of being caught in the Passability Beartrap and because of it I've torn my self esteem to shreds. But the second I realized that there is no Unit of measurement to define who passes more than the next and who doesn't, a world of comfort and beauty was opened up to me and i can tell you now it wasn't caked on my surface.

You need to be Accepted by no one but yourself and Once you accept yourself others will accept you too.
It's how Life Works. Your outer self and everything around you is a reflection of your inner self.
Vanity Makes for a Hideous Person.