I haven't noticed one of the most important topics to me, and should be for all transgender people, which is personal health. Transition comes with some added risk due to the hormones and all the changes we go through. The stress on the liver. The heightened chances of clots and dvt. It’s all pretty scary to me.
I saw a poll online about 6 months ago that showed mtf trans women smoke in huge numbers. We are talking like 70%!! And that’s simply awful! With how much smoking alone raises your chances at clots, cancer, and so many other things, think about how high your chances are after adding hrt into the mix.
Or how about exercise. How many people exercise? My guess is not many. I belong to a couple of online trans forums and I’m always amazed at how few people actually exercise.
Or healthy foods. Do you eat healthy? Do you diet to lose weight and then stop at your goal only to put it right back on?
I know I did all of these things. I smoked, drank, smoked pot, ate like it didn’t matter, and NEVER actually exercised. I was active sure but not exercising. But pre transition I started to change all of this. Literally all of it. I quit smoking 2+ years ago. I started a Keto diet 18 months ago and lost 80 pounds in 7 months! (250 down to 170!!). I started exercising with my Beachbody workouts. And Shaun T beat me into submission. And then I started hrt 11 months ago.
About 2-3 months in after my first dosage boost, my body was having issues with the changes. Nothing major, but I had to stop the keto, and slow down my exercise. No more running. No more golf. Nothing in the sun. And I put on 20 pounds because of it.
Eventually I got past that and had to start all over. So this past New Years I jumped right back in. I started with a system called 21 day fix, it’s all about portion control. Then I started back with my Shaun t workouts. And I am still pushing hard with both. I’ve cut out 90% of my alcohol, I’ve lowered my cal intake to 13-1500 a day from nearly 2000, I exercise 6 days a week at 4am!! And honestly I feel amazing now!
My body looks so much more feminine. I have abs for the first time since college. I am finally back into the mid 170s for weight. And my energy is through the roof! But more importantly I have really lowered all of the medical risks that come with transition. I have even gone a step further now and I’m coaching a couple of people on their health and fitness as well!
My point being I know there is a lot of things that change and move. There are a lot of things that can be considered more pressing than your eating and exercise habits, but those two things are so important. They literally make every other aspect of life better. I implore everyone to really step back and take a look at your overall health. If you see problems, start changing them. It is hard to start, but it gets easier. And if you need any help reach out to me. I am always happy to help a fellow transitioner. (Idk the terminology for that. Haha)
stay healthy and happy everyone!!
Kirsten
Thanks, Kirsten, for mentioning how you achieved your better health and your fabulous glow! I’ve been trying to get all of this going. You’re an inspiration! I’ll def check out the Keto diet. 😋
Sadly I asked my GP and Endo at the trans clinic about these subjects when I started HRT and rather than encouraging a healthy lifestyle, they just said no, nothing to adjust for HRT. Not that I have a good regimen, but still thy could have talked about decreasing calorie needs and how necessary muscle tone would become.
I agree, Cloe, it is sad how very little help transgender people get! I asked my doctor about it once. It's related to there being so few of us, so it's not a major concern to society, and also that because there's so few of us there's little to no money in doing the research, in promoting help for us and so we're left with next to nothing but our own will to get through it. The ironic part is that we need to be really healthy in order to medically transition but the social transition is so undersupported and/or downright taboo that in dealing with all the transphobia so many of us turn to booze, drugs, food, becoming anti-social, we lose our jobs and education opportunities...of all the groups of people on this planet we're probably in the most need of focused help on our health.
Without getting too political, the cost of not covering what we need is higher than what we do need, but the opposite is what is covered by most insurances. Yet we persist.
Ah yeah ah yeah we persist! The Survival instinct is powerful.
I actually lost 30 pounds on Keto when I first started exploring myself, sadly we couldn't afford to stick to it and I gained it all back. And my wife has been doing Beachbody on and off again for years. I've actually done a couple of the workouts, I'd like to start one and commit to it.
Tory it will truly change your life if you stop thinking about it and just make the time. The daily push of endorphins has amazing effects on your mental health. And the physical results are really nice too. I can’t even tell you how positive it’s been for me. I’m even a coach now! I love my Beachbody lifestyle. And I truly love myself so much more. And I look so much more feminine now.
