Current situation, what to change?

L

LordAzarius

New member
Alright, so I'm a female bodied guy who has been on Testosterone for 10 months, nearly 11.

And I have one question to ask first: which gender should I check when using a BMR calculator? If I check female, it says my BMR is about 1500. But if I check male, it's about 1800-1900. I don't know which one is true considering my situation. Male, or female? This could be crucial to my weight loss and nutrition management.

Second, here's my situation, and I'd like to know what to change. I'm 17, and I'm always hungry. I mean always. No matter what I eat, how much I eat, I always end up hungry one or two hours later, which probably causes me to overeat.

A typical meal for me, for breakfast, is a bowl of whole grains cereals with soy milk along with a fruit, usually banana or apple. Lunch and dinner may vary, but I always eat a lot of random things in between.. like nuts, fruits, even more cereal bowls, granola bars, rarely bread. All of these portions represent about 100 calories, and I really don't know if I eat more than I should. But if I don't eat them, I get too hungry. By example, right now it's 7 PM and I'm hungry again.

I'd like to know what I can do about my appetite, if there's anything I should change, what to do for some weight loss. I need to lose 10 pounds. I don't really need any muscle gain, in fact I have quite thick muscles in my thighs which bothers me, because there's fat too and it's just difficult to get rid of.
Should I avoid leg specific exercises in order to stop my thighs from getting any bigger? I'm aiming for a male looking body, which my excess weight is keeping me from achieving, as it is all in my butt and thighs, some on my stomach and arms.
 
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Any transition takes time

Hi LA:

Your body will change because of the increased levels of testosterone (T) towards more masculine secondary characteristics. Your T-level are being maintained in the range of the T-level of a man. It takes time for the body to change and you are in transition phase. As times goes by you will develop a more masculine pattern of fat and muscle distribution.

When talking about testosterone it is important to explain that your T-level is just within the normal range of men and are not comparable to the much higher increase in T-level men who use steroids use to to enhance muscle-growth, strength, and recovery time (body builders and athletes).

Transition is the keyword. I suggest you determine your BMR right now choosing something in between female and male (female 1500 + male 1900) = 3400/2= 1700 Calories. Does this make sense to you? When you have gotten more muscle mass you will move more towards the male BMR.

You are still a teenager and growing!! So of course you are hungry all the time!
You say that has not changed because of the T-treatment. You probably still have somewhat of a female distribution of fat? It will take time to change that. Remember: if you have a man and woman of the same height ...the man will weigh more (stronger bones and more muscle mass). Have you checked the ideal weight for a man of your height when you determined you are 10 pound overweight?

If you really need to loose 10 pounds then you will find much advise here on the forum.

Right now I will not give you any dietary advice about what you must do to loose these 10 pounds. But think longterm and realize that you as part of your transition must decrease the amount of body fat and increase the amount of muscle mass. (Normal weight women have higher percentage of body fat, than normal weight men). To achieve and maintain the goals of your physical transition you should focus on both aerobic exercise and I suggest weight training too. It will make it easier for you to reach your goals and will lower your body fat percentage and increase your muscle mass. These adjustments may be enough to reach your goal of loosing 10 pounds too.
 
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Niles said:
Hi LA:

Your body will change because of the increased levels of testosterone (T) towards more masculine secondary characteristics. Your T-level are being maintained in the range of the T-level of a man. It takes time for the body to change and you are in transition phase. As times goes by you will develop a more masculine pattern of fat and muscle distribution.

When talking about testosterone it is important to explain that your T-level is just within the normal range of men and are not comparable to the much higher increase in T-level men who use steroids use to to enhance muscle-growth, strength, and recovery time (body builders and athletes).
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Well, so far all I've had other than voice change is a slight increase in strength, but not much; I can lift about 5 lbs more than before T. Physically, I still wear the same size as before, so I guess I haven't had any muscle increase, only strength.

Transition is the keyword. I suggest you determine your BMR right now choosing something in between female and male (female 1500 + male 1900) = 3400/2= 1700 Calories. Does this make sense to you? When you have gotten more muscle mass you will move more towards the male BMR.
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Oh, I really haven't thought of that. 1700 seems pretty reasonable. I can just go with 1700 now and gradually go to 1900, without counting the exercise I do during the day. Thanks, that really helps.

You are still a teenager and growing!! So of course you are hungry all the time!
You say that has not changed because of the T-treatment. You probably still have somewhat of a female distribution of fat? It will take time to change that. Remember: if you have a man and woman of the same height ...the man will weigh more (stronger bones and more muscle mass). Have you checked the ideal weight for a man of your height when you determined you are 10 pound overweight?
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I've heard females stop growing at the age of 16-17, sometimes before.. so I'm not quite sure. So far my shoe size has increased by one, my height by half an inch, or so I think. My body distribution hasn't changed at all. It's all in a female pattern still.
The ideal weight for a female my age is 122; for a male, it's 125, which is only 3 more pounds. So I guess my aim of 120-125 is reasonableseeing as I'm at 135.

If you really need to loose 10 pounds then you will find much advise here on the forum.

Right now I will not give you any dietary advice about what you must do to loose these 10 pounds. But think longterm and realize that you as part of your transition must decrease the amount of body fat and increase the amount of muscle mass. (Normal weight women have higher percentage of body fat, than normal weight men). To achieve and maintain the goals of your physical transition you should focus on both aerobic exercise and I suggest weight training too. It will make it easier for you to reach your goals and will lower your body fat percentage and increase your muscle mass. These adjustments may be enough to reach your goal of loosing 10 pounds too.
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Thank you. I've already got some muscles on my arms, but I'm wondering how to increase lean muscle mass all over to help shed fat. I'll keep doing what I do and see if it helps.

Any advice on a training program I could follow? I'm not doing any right now because I don't want to alter my health in a negative way by overdoing anything.
 
It is true that most females are almost fully developed by the age of 16-17 when the adolescent growth spurt ends. Some parts of the body is still developing (some ossification centers , the face and the subcutaneous distribution and amount of fat still grow a bit) . The exact age vary a bit.

Since you still have a predominantly female distribution of body fat your body will still gradually change as a result of the T-treatment towards a more male distribution of subcutaneous fat. Take another secondary male sex characteristics : Body and facial hair (Many men have not fully developed this until they are 30. They may be pretty smooth until they are 18 and then starts to get more and more "Hairy" until they reaches about 30.

I think your hope is that if you loose those 10 pounds the female distribution of subcutaneous body fat will be reduced too. That may be the case. Your main objective is to lower your body fat percentage. It can be done by dieting and exercising. Weight training will be important to enhance or develop a body as masculine as yours can get. You say that your thighs and hips are problem areas. As your overall body fat percentage decreases it may still be a slight problem.

I suggest a general weight training program and YES that includes legs, thighs , glutes and hips too!! Focusing on some muscles will give you a more masculine muscular framework that might outbalance the residual lower body female subcutaneous body fat. I will emphasize these muscles (named in classic anatomical Latin ...since I do not know the exact terms in English ...I do not come from an English speaking country)
-latissimus Dorsi
-trapezius
-deltoideus (shoulders; 3 parts frontal, medial, and rear)
-pectoralis major and minor ( I do not know if you consider mastectomy later. That is too personal to answer in public!!!) but if you are you will want to have good pectoral muscles, where as right now you may fear training that area well enlarge that area more
-biceps and triceps (upper arms ...remember to train forearms too!)

Developing these areas will give you more upper body width and the more masculine v-shape.

You will probably have to read some books about body-building to understand what I am talking about and what exercises you shall do.

The reason why I know about this issue is that I have friend who went through this transformation. We used to work out together at the gym in high school and later at the University since we moved to the same city later. He confided in me about his transformation. Being transsexual is hard to fully understand for many of us. Some will even claim that such a transformation is not ethical. I try to be tolerant and understand. Life is journey and every road is not the same. I hope you have some friends online or in real life that are supportive and perhaps can give you good advices. But I am sure most here on this forum understands the wish to loose weight and get in better shape. And perhaps someone can give you better advices.
 
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Well I definitely want to tone up my upper body, but not by much - only to fit in my size small shirts so that they are fit, not loose. I don't want to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger either.

My goal is still weight loss; though I heard muscle training may increase my muscle mass, but not do anything about the fat - my arms, by example, have some muscle but are still a bit flabby.

How can I fix this is my main concern.
 
Hi Again LA:

The risk of looking like Arnold S. from weight training is not very likely to happen!! Probably only 1 in 10 million people even have the genetics to be able to reach that level.

Have you made a plan of how to loose the 10 pounds you want to loose? What adjustments to your diet will you make to loose weight? And are you willing to exercise more?

In your particular circumstances I would think about the long term goals too.
The T-treatment will over time change your distribution of fat, And building a better upper body through weight training will make you look better.

So short term goal loose 10 pounds. That can be done pretty quickly by dieting and exercising. And long term goal: building more upper body muscle mass. Since you are so young I would think more about the long term goals (lowering body fat percentage through the proper diet and exercising and building more lean muscle mass through weight training). You have a long life ahead of you and you are lucky that you started so early. I hope you will achieve both your short term and your long term goals, so you will become a handsome guy.
 
Well, I have no plan for weight loss, which is why I came here. I have difficulty calculating how many calories exactly I eat a day. It may vary a lot or little depending on the days. And I'm still unsure of my daily maintenance.

I am willing to excercise more, but I can only do it at home; I can't go run or use machines. I only have my bike, which I try to ride as often as I can. As for weights, I only have a 5 lb one which is too small now.

I thank you for encouraging me, I really think I can do this; I must find out the proper diet considering my age and a good exercise routine. What to do and how often? Rest days? etc.
 
Update: Nothing works! And what I just did made me lose all motivation.
I searched online how many calories were burned by doing a specific amount of exercise, by example biking for 30 minutes. I go to school by bike, which takes 5 minutes the morning and 5 minutes the evening. 10 in total. Plus some random drifting, another 10.

Turns out I barely burn 200 calories by doing this. 193, to be exact. I can't believe it. So that means all the walking I do during a day burns about half of that. Overall, I burn no more than 450 calories a day with my lifestyle, on top of my BMR, which is 1400 something - this is about 1850 to maintain my weight. Yet I am convinced I never eat no more than 1500. Why am I always hovering at 134-136 pounds, and sometimes I feel like I gained some? The only fat I eat comes from peanut butter (natural, so sugar or salt added), avocado, and salmon.. I eat lots of good fruits, mostly in the morning. I don't eat too much bread. I don't understand, and it's really annoying me.
I've been keeping it up for months, with no results! I don't eat junk food, either. Very rarely will I allow myself pizza or gnocchi/whole grain pasta.
 
Hi, LA.

There's a chance you're not eating enough calories. Have you considered this? There's also a chance you're eating too many calories since you said you aren't very good at counting or keeping track of your calories.

Do you work out regularly aside from the bike rides to and from work? I mean, do you get your heart rate up? Yes, it's good to lead an "active" lifestyle by biking and walking places, but in order to lose fat you must do some sort of prolonged cardio or resistance training so your heart rate stays high for a prolonged period of time.

Have your doctors any advice for you? I know a man who was transitioning from female to male a few years ago. He was always sort of built more like a man than a woman (larger shoulders, more narrow hips, gained weight in the upper body), but when he started his hormone treatment he really started to look more manly in his bodily appearance. Isn't testosterone supposed to help "cut" fat anyway?

Also, if you've been doing the same thing for a while now, it might be time for you to switch it up. Our bodies adapt very quickly, even to exercise and diet routines.

I wish you the best; please do not lose hope!

Tamara
 
Not eating enough calories? Really? I didn't think of this. I usually eat about 1500-1800 a day. Rarely less, rarely more. I'll think of it once I review my eating journal. Thanks for suggesting this. I am fairly sure I never eat more than I should. The only thing I'm unsure about it my actual BMR. It could be anywhere from 1400 to 1900..

Alright, heart rate... so I should probably bike faster, more vigorously, rather than leisurely? I can't really run, as I am very uncomfortable running outside with people around. I'd like to join a gym but cannot afford it. In the meantime I jog in my own house, but I can never do it for more than 1-2 minutes.
I beleive 20 minutes should be good for a start, but I can't do it all at once.

Testosterone is indeed supposed to help, but maybe it takes much longer than I thought, though most people see results after at least 6 months, and it's been 10... I talked to my doctor and he just told me to do more weight/resistance, but I can't afford weights either. I can only use my own body.

Thanks for the help, though. I'll try to increase my cardio.
 
LA:

How about calisthenics? They are movements and "weight lifting" using your own body. Squats, push-ups, pull-ups, and crunches are all types of resistance training you can do A. in the privacy of your own home and B. without much more than a mat or carpet.

I don't mean to push the issue, as I do not want to come across as pushy, but a lot of gyms (especially the Y) offer student discounts. And, get this, some univeristy and college gyms don't even card. I know this because some of my old high school students would just walk right into university gyms. Now, clearly, since I am a moral and ethical person, I do not condone stealing. However, I'm just offering up some less than traditional ideas.

Running outside! I'm fat and I do it. Granted, I'm not 17 and I'm not transitioning from one gender to another, so I can't really know how self-conscious you are. Nonetheless, as I said before, I am fat. When I run, I tune almost everything out with the exception of my breathing and heartbeat and music. Even if people are watching or staring or making fun, I don't know it!
 
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I do lots of push ups. Well, I try - I am pretty weak and can not do many in a row, usually never more than 10 at a time.
I can do sit-ups and squats easily. I heard that it doesn't burn fat, though; so what does it do? Increase lean muscle mass, which helps burn more calories, am I right?
I've been biking twice more than usual today, and going up stairs a lot, so I think I'm doing well for the day. Of course it causes me to be hungrier, but I must eat, not starve. I'll probanly do 25 push-ups a day, paired with 30 squats to start and see if it works.
 
Here are some exercises you can try

Doing exercises at home can be great! I recommend getting a good set of dumbbells (perhaps at thrift stores) get a adjustable set with many plates from 4-15 pounds). I found some exercises you can do at home on YouTube:

Beginners Lower body workout:



Beginners Upper body workout:



Standing Ab/midsection cardio workout:



Ab Crunches:



There are tons of videos on Youtube that can show you how to exercise at home. Some are very good. I hope the above videos can inspire you to do some of the basic exercises.:jump:
 
Those workouts on Youtube are pretty helpful. I'm doing my best to do them all once a day.

I've also done something, but I'm not sure it if works;

I know the body can build muscle only when there are extra cvalories, and in that case you need to do muscle training.

I ate two slices of pizza, and about 45 minutes later I started doing push-ups, about 25-30 of them (I really can't do more in a row).

Will this turn the calories/protein of the pizza into muscle, or simply help burn it off as energy?
 
Will this turn the calories/protein of the pizza into muscle, or simply help burn it off as energy?
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push ups in your situation will not cause muscle growth, beyond a negligible extent that is.

You are always building muscle. You are always breaking down muscle. Same rule applies to fat. One little set of pushups following pizza isn't going to set you up for any additional hypertrophic gains...

The general goal of 1-2 pounds of muscle mass a month. That's assuming one is on a strict and solid resistance training program. Focusing on compound movements. While in a caloric surplus throughout the months duration.
 
Wow, I'm starting to lose hope here. It seems I'm really stuck at 135. I've been trying to do variations, more resistance, cardio, eating less or more, but nothing.. I'm really stuck. I don't know what's going to work. I see not a single change. The last 10 pounds are always the hardest..
 
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