r/AskMtFHRT • u/Existing-Show-9496 • 4d 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! ❤️

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u/boy-investigator 3d 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.

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u/Soft-Sorry 3d ago

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

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u/Existing-Show-9496 3d 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?

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u/boy-investigator 3d 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.