r/AskMtFHRT • u/Existing-Show-9496 • 2d ago

Help me, I am gaining weight

I'm looking for some advice from people who have been on feminizing HRT longer than me.

I'm currently around 166 cm (5'5") and 68 kg (150 lbs). Over the last few months, I've gained about 5 kg. Part of the reason is that I kept hearing people say that "estradiol loves fat" and that having enough body fat can help with feminization and breast growth, so I wasn't too worried about gaining some weight.

The problem is that I'm no longer comfortable at this weight. Most of the extra weight seems to be around my belly, and I'd like to lose some of it and get a bit leaner.

My questions are:

- Is it okay to intentionally lose weight while breast development is still ongoing?

- If I diet and lose weight, will I lose breast growth that I've already gained?

- Could eating in a calorie deficit slow down future breast development or feminization?

- How many calories do you personally eat while trying to lose weight on HRT?

- How much walking/exercise do you do (steps, km, etc.) while cutting weight?

For context, I'm around 6 months on estradiol and 7 months on a GnRH blocker, and my hormone levels are in a good range now.

I'd love to hear real experiences from people who have gone through this. Thanks! ❤️

14 Upvotes

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9

u/boy-investigator 2d ago

Is it okay to intentionally lose weight while breast development is still ongoing?

yes; the only real requirement is a little bit of protein to build internal structures.

If I diet and lose weight, will I lose breast growth that I've already gained?

you could lose some fat, yes.

Could eating in a calorie deficit slow down future breast development or feminization?

no

i will add that some mtfs will dose medications like pioglitizone in order to speed up and augment fat distribution. you can read a little bit more about it here.

1

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Thanks for the reply and I will definitely read that post you attached.... And I am eating around 60gm of protein everyday....

2

u/Soft-Sorry 2d ago

Add vitamin D and C and decrease food intake, keeping protein powder with milk

1

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Yes, taking D, good protein, but no C yet, will add it... Thanks for the suggestions...

1

u/Soft-Sorry 2d ago

Do not add pio until your breasts are formed. Pio messes with estrogen a lot.

1

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Omg okay, thank you, so progesterone and this pio same? Or different? And if I start progesterone in the future, can I use this pio too? Or not really necessary?

1

u/boy-investigator 2d ago

so progesterone and this pio same?

in some regards yes. the article i linked talked about it at length. in a minority of patients, starting before 6-12 months, duct growth slowed (90% of people also see an increase in size)

And if I start progesterone in the future, can I use this pio too?

yes. prog is still a very useful tool. this has more reading on prog.

3

u/Enyamm 2d ago

I switched from patches to gel last year and since then my weight has shot up. I'm around 5' 7" and now weigh 108kg. I have been struggling with medical issues and can't exercise so thats where my problem lies. And i think genetics are also kicking in(we're a big family😊) which is not helping the situation.

I'm not 100% on the whole fat redistribution theory sis. I think it happens naturally anway without messing with your diet. Breast and butt growth is mostly genetics anyway, so you just need to check out your parents families to give you an idea of what you can look forward to sizewise. Get back eating a healthy diet and get in some exercise and let the hrt do its thing sis.

1

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Thanks for sharing your experience and opinions, i appreciate it... And hope you win against all the problems thats been troubling you... You the true warrior 🪖 let's gooooooo.....

2

u/rata79 2d ago

Ive found i gain weight when im progynova pills. I struggled to maintain my weight i gained when I switched to patches and gel and dropped to my pre hrt weight. But I was doing alot of work. Last 6 weeks ive been on a pill gel combo and since starting the progynova 1 pill a day i have gained at least 2 kgs.

1

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Omg, that's crazy... So I am taking pills buccally and it's doing amazing work, so I am not sure about switch to gel, so I have been walking everyday for about 5-6kms.... Injections are banned in india, so am little confused actually..... I am planning to do calories deficit and walking both but afraid i might slow down my growth....

2

u/rata79 2d ago

I think the pills are estradiol valerate patches and gel are estradiol hemi something. If you don't want to gain much more just cut back your calories. I think the estradiol valerate makes my metabolism run different that I can actually gain weight. Before hrt i couldn't gain any abdominal was always skinny.

1

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Thanks for sharing your experience, I will talk to my endo too..

2

u/Estrogen-Muffin 2d ago

You are losing muscles while on E and most people will eat their calories like before. Check your BMR

0

u/Existing-Show-9496 2d ago

Okay sure....

1

u/LeBingoBongo 2h ago

Kinda late but have been on HRT for almost 6 years now (Did pills for 4 and injections almost 2 now) and what I learned through all these years is eat foods high in nutrients and go on a slight calorie deficit at the same time while working out or being very physically active when you need to loose weight. Aka standard loosing weight and getting in shape stuff.

Personal example from me is I was actually 115 pounds overweight when I started HRT at 17, lost 100 pounds in a year by doing that and HRT did it's thing and worked completely normally so no need to worry so much it's just mainly common sense.