Two years in the making

[johanna.kitten]

Yep, I know I'm not one of the pretty ones but it still does not make no difference to how I feel.

Now, this is the progress thus far, two years down the road, it has been slow and a bumpy ride.
One of these pictures is quite recent, about 1-2 weeks ago, the other one is about two years
ago - from businessman to businessbitch. ;) Baby steps, snatched the latter from my LinkedIn.

Lost about 30% of my weight but there's more to loose. 18 mts HRT.

199847199848

Hugs
/Giovanna

[reshma]

wow. thats a woman ! you are very pretty. keep at it. all the best

[Nicole Erin]

quite a difference :D doing quite well there.

[johanna.kitten]

wow. thats a woman ! you are very pretty. keep at it. all the best

Oh, thank you. The future is bright - where did I put them shades?! ;)


quite a difference :D doing quite well there.

Still very slow progress, but I'm a lot happier in my new role. Quite excited - there are soo many things to learn and explore.

Hugs
/Gio

[traci_k]

Progress can be slow, but progress is progress. Looking pretty good. Wishing you the best!
Hugs,
Traci

[johanna.kitten]

Cheers Traci! It is all to the better, every day I feel soo much better and happier - even if I have to fight age whilst at it.

Hugs
/Gio

[Beverley Sims]

Johanna,
I do like it, it is progress.
As long as you accept it takes time and patience you will get there.
Once you get past the straight hair syndrome and all the other syndromes you will come across it will get easier.
I see a difference a positive one as well.

[johanna.kitten]

Thanks for all the support. I just showed the pics to one of my "new" friends and he could not grasp it was me in "the other" picture, he was actually asking who it was. :)

Hugs
/Gio

[Jorja]

Just tell him it is your twin brother. :)

[kimdl93]

Looking back,, I'd say you've made great progress and look quite feminine. You have nice facial features. Don't sell yourself short!

[johanna.kitten]

Things that would really make a difference to me at the moment and that are not too invasive are, laser hair removal, lip augmentation and getting rid of them bags underneath my eyes. I'm also pretty crap with make-up so I really need help there, had a training session today with the local Clinique people. I'll try out MAC next week for advice.

Hair is dyed black as it would be rat grey/brown normally, I'd really like to have platinum blonde but I assume it can't be done. Also, it might not go well with my brown eyes so I have to wear blue contacts I guess. I need laser surgery on my eyes as well.

Hugs
/Giovanna - www.wannabegirl.co.uk

[kellycan27]

Some good physical changes... Business-bitch? Next you might want to work on the attitude.

[kimdl93]

...And getting rid of them bags underneath my eyes. I'm also pretty crap with make-up so I really need help there, had a training session today with the local Clinique people. I'll try out MAC next week for advice.

Hair is dyed black...
/Giovanna - www.wannabegirl.co.uk

Honestly,mi think the darker hair looks great with your complexion. As for the lips...they look fine. Now Let me tell you about bags under the eyes....

[johanna.kitten]

Kel, it is all fun - I really want to be a businesswoman or at least keep my profession as an IT contractor. It is all good, I am out and about tonite here in the UK...

199892

Hugs
/Giovanna

[bobbimo]

Bravo Johanna!
Now SMILE. You'll see an amazing transformation just by turning the edges of your lips up.
I'm glad to be here to watch it all happen
Bobbi

[Emily_Safford]

Awww so cute! Way to go !

Emi ~.^

[docrobbysherry]

I'm way jealous, Johanna! U look amazing! Forget the shades and eye work. I think if u just used proper eye makeup, you'd be happy with your looks. That, and get rid of the beard shadow. Some girls just need a few small touches to look fabulous! Once u believe it, you'll BE IT!

I'm so proud of your weight loss! Stay with your program. You'll be proud, too!

[Janie {3]

Johanna, Get over it! You are a pretty girl.

[JohnH]

Cheers Traci! It is all to the better, every day I feel soo much better and happier - even if I have to fight age whilst at it.

Hugs
/Gio

I also feel much better with my M2F HRT! That has made all the difference in my life. Now in the church choir I look like a GG and yet I have the deepest voice of any of the men. I used to go with the name of JohannaH but I changed it to JohnH since I have no intentions of having SRS (GRS).

I look in the mirror and I see a woman looking back at me. Thank goodness my wife likes me much better since I have started HRT. She encouraged me to start HRT.

John

[johanna.kitten]

Ah, yeah - two things.

1) The smile, I can't really smile these days, looks terrible - I assume it is my age kicking in. I go out of my way to not smile. I need a face lift, lip augmentation and clearstep braces to get rid of my rabbit's teeth to begin with.

2) The facial hair, it will be dealt with, I am currently getting quotes from sk:n here in the UK and a full body treatment is £6500 (~US$9800) - ouch! So, I look at the options of doing it myself but I never hear anything good about these products... £400
http://www.boots.com/en/HoMedics-me-Quartz-Permanent-Hair-Reduction-Powered-by-elos-Technology-Exclusive-to-Boots_1260458/
I can get hair removal for free by the national health service in Sweden (yep, I'm Swedish) the day I have been diagnosed (here in the UK), but it involves actually going there and that sux. I'll set fire to my Sweden passport the day I get my British unless the Australians would give me one first. ;)

Also, the straight hair of mine - it goes kinda fluffy/curly usually, or at least it did - I'll dig out an old picture. Every night I treat it with oil and I think that is what is making it straight. I should have started this journey long time ago when I still had a slight chance to ever pass, but we have to take things as they are now. Fighting signs of ageing, 46 now.

The picture is of me when in Indonesia in 1991 perhaps, I should have stared then - a lot skinnier. And my skin was a lot darker as you can see. And I could smile in them days. :)


199938

Hugs
/Giovanna
www.wannabegirl.co.uk
www.facebook.com/principessa.giovanna.del.nord
uk.linkedin.com/in/principessa

PS. And Jorja, twin brother eh? Reminds me of a funny incident the other day: A recruiter called me up to discuss a career move and read out my CV to me whilst at it, mentioning that he had actually spoken with a former colleague of mine, not knowing it was me he had spoken with, hahaha! Sweet!

[JohnH]

I'm going to say you are a spring chicken - you are much younger than this 60 year old geezer (myself). At least we got started. :)

After all the years of not smiling it is going to take effort to smile all the time until my muscles adjust. You could smile without showing your teeth.

John

[johanna.kitten]

Hey, I'll show you what I mean with this crappy smile of mine, took this photo at some women's charity event down some boozer and I only had about 5 minutes to prepare. Not easy to get into your burlesque corset and hair without a mirror in record time after you had ten pints of beer whilst people are shouting at you to hurry up - but here goes. :) This one is on me...

199947

Hugs
/Giovanna

[JohnH]

Hi Giovanna,

Your teeth are not bad at all from what I can see in the picture! You do look better with a smile.

John

[Rhonda Ann]

That's pretty awesome, sure doesn't look like the same person. I think you are very attractive. How did you lose the weight? I need to lose a few pounds myself.

[johanna.kitten]

It is not only the teeth - it is my whole face that suffers when I smile.

Loosing weight, eh - cut my extreme drinking habit of 10-20 drinks a day, started walking 18 miles every day for 6 months, put really hot chillies in all food, cut the carbs (no pizza, pasta, potatoes, french fries, crisps, bread, rice) - more tuna, salmon, turkey, chicken - mostly without anything else. Drinking lots of water and diet energy drinks (red bull clones). Try out myfittnespal app and website, runkeeper, noom. But I am gaining now again, so I need to work harder.

Going totally India style tonite, just found this outfit this afternoon. :)
The white little "upper class style" of British hat is not a part of the outfit, I just needed to buy
it anyway - just in case, you never know, cute eh?

199953

Hugs
/Giovanna

[Maryanne_sa]

Hi Giovanna,

You look good, and may I say, much better as a woman than a man.

I have found a really great place in London for affordable laser hair removal. They use a real laser, (not IPL) You only pay per session which is great.

Not sure if I am allowed to mention who they are on this forum, so if you PM me, I will tell you who they are.

Maryanne

[johanna.kitten]

Maryanne,

Thanks, I would like to know about the place, many places do offer single sessions but usually at a price. Personally I am reluctant to sign up for some 20 sessions or so as I never knew how long I live in the same city or even country. Only since I joined here I moved countries three times, four cities... London is still my base tho.

Hugs
/Giovanna