Weight and dressing

[Tamsin Secret]

So I embarked on a 'New Year New Me' thing and have lost over a stone in a couple of months. I'm pleased for myself and have really noticed a difference in drab.

Looking back at a few photos of me dressed I can see a difference before and after from 2017 to ones I've taken 2018.

I can't wait to dress again as I feel i will really see a big difference in myself and just wanna share!

Anyone else had success with weightloss and seen a real difference in how it transposes to dressing?

Tammy ❤️

[Drew GB]

I too have started a new diet and joined a gym. I started at 295 and at the doctors yesterday I weighed in at 275. My home scale showed 271 a few days before but then I was weighing in before breakfast and just in my pretties. I joked with the nurse that I like my scale at home better. It has been a change but honestly before my realization that I want to be more feminine I was all right with my weight and lifestyle. My old doctor tried to get me to diet but I was happy as is and a stubborn mule. CDing has given me my reason to look better and feel better so chalk up another point to being a man in a dress!

[sometimes brooke]

I have the opposite problem - I’m only 5-7 and 152 pounds...so no delightful curves...unless they arrive in a box at my doorstep...boo!...I guess too much swimming and biking...

I started yoga and I’m hopeful to add a few pounds with that much-talked about yoga backside.

And of course that will require delightful yoga pants and a cute matching top or two...or three or four...

~ brooke

[Tracii G]

I applaud you Tasmin and Andy if dressing gives you the motivation I think thats great and my hat is off to you both.
They do say women come in all shapes and sizes so thats my story and I'm sticking to it.LOL

[Stephanie47]

I never made any New Year's resolution to lose weight. I'n stuck at 198-200 lbs which is on a six foot larger frame. Years ago I read the back of the beer cans and soda cans and decided it was easier to not drink worthless sugar calories than to lose them. After an operation is 2014 I slipped to 185 but felt lousy. My weight crept back up to 198 and has stayed there. I think my body is telling me something. My main goal is to lose or keep to a minimum visceral fat; male belly fat. Right now I'm at 42-38-40 which works out well wearing dresses without a defined waistline; sheaths, wraps, empire waists. The last time I had a 30 inch waist was when I was humping the boonies; 38-30-38. Keep in mind you're ideal weight may not be the weight your femme side wants to be.

[Tracii G]

I can't comment on losing weight and how it transposes to dressing but I can on gaining a bunch of weight and how it changes things.
Not in a bad way mind you just takes a different way of looking at clothes. What to buy what not to buy that kind of thing.
Finding things that fit is harder for instance.

[kimdl93]

yes, gradually reduced my weight from a high of near 270 to the present 228 plus or minus. I've seen a couple of things. First, my face is a bit thinner... I may be deluding myself, but I think its a bit less overtly masculine and maybe a little younger looking than the heavier version. The biggest difference is in the fit and selection of clothing. I can get into a 14 dress now, and often LG or XL tops rather than the Plus sized tops I'd been limited to in the past. Losing weight also has brought my waist down a good 4-6 inches, so its a good deal easier to slip into an extra firm shaper, and I can present somewhat more feminine figure as a result.

[docrobbysherry]

Dieting is doomed to fail!:sad:

When I got serious about Sherry's figure, I quit my gym and changed how/what I eat. Gradually, over a year: I switched from beer to red wine, stopping eating big, heavy dinners, no eating after 8 PM, etc. That was 10 years ago and those 20 pounds, (which were all located at my spare tire), never came back!:)

If your fem image in the mirror isn't motivation enuff? Consider your health! If neither of those work? The heck with it! Enjoy the life u have!:D

[PamelaRI]

Most definitely a difference, I used to need things in size 20/24. In the last few years, I've worked my way down to a 10/12 and there are far more clothing choices that are easier to find. As a result, I have been able to move my daily wardrobe more to the feminine side of the spectrum.

[Rachael Leigh]

I don’t realky diet per se either but I began watching my weight just after I turned 50.
Yes dressing was part of my motivation but also my age and wanting to stay healthy.
I finally cut out sodas and began working out and it’s taken a few years but at 6”2 I’m down to 202 to 204.
I would love to loose a few more pounds but as Sherry says I just have to watch what I eat and do my best to exercise
when I can

[Micki_Finn]

Kind of at a dilemma with my weight. I could really work on it and have an AMAZING waistline like I had when I was younger, but I’m pretty slight to begin with so I don’t want to lose anything from certain areas... ah first world problems...

[Beverley Sims]

After I go on holidays I lose about eight or nine pounds as there is no food in the fridge of the motels I stay in> :-)

[prene]

I wish I had Micki_Finn's problems.

I have put on a few lbs from my better look.

I would love to loose 20+ lbs and get to a sz 8.

My issue is I can get my waist down but the if I loose to much I loose it in the top also.
I wish I could get my smaller because when I am in the best shape I am sz 6-8 in my waist but my ThUNDER ThiGHS make we wear a 2+ sizes bigger to fit my THIGHS (YUCK).

Wish I could just take it off my THIghs and put it on my bust? LOL

Prene

[Tracii G]

I have gained all over especially my legs but my waist is my big problem.

[bridget thronton]

Well done to you ladies who have lost weight and changed your eating habits (I am still working on both and looking forward to increasing my step count as the weather warms up)

[mbmeen12]

With out a doubt my body has changed from a thinner frame to a thicker solid body style. I do work out and for someone my age with a large frame, very healthy. My arms are not petite and lady like (push ups). To answer your question though, try to get a safe stable weight and stick with it. It will also stabilize the wardrobe$$$.....

X Kara

[Jaylyn]

As my wife and I are getting older we have really started watching our food intake. She put us both on a diet and we have totally cut out sugar. Use the artificial ones not and I'm 6'2" inches and now my weight stay around 220-225. It does make a difference in the way you feel inside dressed and makes walking in my heels so much easier. We have been working out also and plan a Five K run in April.

[Teri Ray]

I am working on managing my weight as well. For me, I feel changing my thoughts about food and eating have been the most benefit. I have been thinning at the waist and belly slowly but surely. But no matter how you do it losing weight is always a good thing for a crossdresser (if you know you need to loose weight). I envy those girls who seem to maintain a great slim body apparently without much effort. Sharing and learning from others success stories on this forum have been inspirational as well.

[Teresa]

Tammy,
I had a bit of a shock , I know I've had a stressful time with my separation and moving to a new home but I always thought I was about 147lbs , I weighed myself yesterday and found I was just under 140 lbs . I feel OK in myself in fact I've just donated another pint of blood ( now 68 pints !) I will have to keep on eye on it as I really don't want to lose anymore.

My apologies to all those who can't shift weight but I still eat well .

[Stephanie Julianna]

Everything I do seems to have something to do with dressing. I started Weight Watchers the first week of January and as of today's weigh in, I have lost 15.8 lbs. My goal is to loose another 7-8 and stop. Being older, too much weight loss can possibly not look good. However, I would love to be able to buy size 12 dresses again. I can't wait to get home from FL in April and go shopping for a new wardrobe. I do hope that it all comes together to keep my female image passable as it has been in the past. Being 5'5" I just want my weoght to be in the female range for a short girl like me.

[Alisonforme]

I started eating better and running more years before I started dressing fully. While I haven’t lost much weight in over 4 years, it does shift around dynamically and my waist is as trim as it’s been in decades. I’ve increased my running distance and I also do hot yoga and they keep me in pretty good shape.

All that plus full-body shaving really enhances my dressing, my overall appearance, and broadens the pallette of clothes I can wear tastefully.

[Jenny22]

Teresa, many kudos on you blood donations! If my math is right, that's an amazing 17 gallons (US)!!!

[Fiona123]

I went from 235 to 180 & I'm 5'6". I exercise a lot. Going for a three mile walk right now
(wearing bra & panties of course).

[Tracii G]

The anti seizure meds I have been on in the past always caused me to gain some but since my Dr put me on phenytion my weight has really gone up
It keeps my levels where they need to be and I don't get physically ill like the other meds so that is a good thing I just wasn't expecting to gain so much. Just have to deal with it thats all.
I do walk close to two miles most every day and do Tai Chi every other day as well.

[DIANEF]

I've never been overweight but I could easily become so if I didn't exercise strict control over what I eat and drink. And it's bloody hard work sometimes as I love just about everything that is bad for you. I do eat well and healthily, and resisting all those cakes and sweets is not easy, but I do have the odd treat every now and again.

[Teresa]

Jenny,
That's 8.5 imperial gallons , no wonder I've lost weight . I'm so grateful I haven't needed it but so good to know I may have given life to someone else .

[Rayleen]

Went from 205 a year ago to 180 today, my clothes fit a lot better. I exercise first thing in the morning and it helped loose weight.

Hope to loose more, and I feel better

Rayleen

[HollyGreene]

I've tried hard to lose weight but it's not gone well. For me it became a lot more difficult after I turned 50. I'd love to lose about 20 kilos (44 pounds?), But I can't see it happening. It really annoyed me over the years whenever I had to go up a dress size and I'd love to be able to fit in some of my favourite things again.

[Tracii G]

I know what you mean Holly I have loads of tops and jeans that I can't fit into anymore.
I have taken a lot to Goodwill and found items in my size to make up for it.
Need to make another trip there this week and take more stuff in.

[kayegirl]

Like Racheal-Leigh, I don't diet as such, but following my heart surgery 3 years ago I did start thinking about the food that I ate. As far as possible I avoid refined sugars, but there is some natural sugars in the fruit and veg that I eat. Very rarely do I now drink beer, although I suspect that the wine and/or spirits that I now favour, are just as fattening. Both my wife and I prefer fish and seafood to most redmeats, the exception being my ostrich steaks (almost zero fat content). That combined with my gentle exercise routine, no gym but regular brisk walks and cyclingerie, has seen a weight reduction of 15kilos, approx 30lbs I think.

[Jenny123]

Once I accepted the truth about myself, i lost a lot of weight. Prior to that,I just didn't care. However, I was amazed at the pressure I felt to lose the weight once I started to come out.

[Marianne S]

Like others here, I'm grateful to my feminine self for helping to keep me healthy. Of course, I realize that many (genetic) women feel under excessive pressure to lose weight, which is not healthy and certainly not happy. Just the same, there is a happy (and healthy) medium!

Mind you, I think I'm reasonably lucky insofar as I've never really "run to fat" in a bad way. I guess i'm an endomorph genetically. Just the same, things change as we get older, and in more recent years I have found my weight going up and down. Not all by itself, I'm sure! It's not as if I had nothing to do with it! It went up when I neglected it (and being a lover of good food and drink doesn't help!) and down only when I made an effort.

It's become more of a struggle each time. I like to stay around 140. But thirteen years ago I gave up smoking, with inevitable consequences. That was good for me in one way, but bad in another. Before too long I found I'd drifted up to 180-something. So I started walking and bicycling regularly and dieting, and got my weight back down again. But the following year it floated up again, this time to 190-something! Once again I made the effort to diet, and got it back down again, but as soon as I let go, up it went again, each time worse than before. And the worse we let it go, the more daunting becomes the task of ever regaining a healthy weight. I was heavy for five years, until in 2012, having gone up to a horrifying (for me) 215 pounds (I'm 5 feet 11), I made a Herculean effort and managed to get down to 140 again.

Since then, at least I've never let myself go so badly, though I have drifted up somewhat. Today I was 156. I have a goal to get back down to a 30-inch waist, which I haven't had for years. Unfortunately as we get older we lose muscle mass, which means I'd probably have to get down to 130-something to recover the slender waist I used to have thirty or more years ago.

Incidentally a guy who wrote a high-protein diet book way back then (the so-called "Boston Police Diet") claimed that people shouldn't use weight as a criterion of health, but one of two other criteria instead, depending on their sex. For women, since fat is more widely distributed around the female body, the criterion he proposed was what he called the "inch of pinch"! That's to say, a woman is only carrying too much fat if places where she pinches herself (such as her upper arms) yield more than an inch of fat between her fingers. Men, the author claimed, shouldn't ask themselves if they're "overweight," but only if they're "overwaiSt," in his terms. That is where more of the fat settles if we're genetically male.

I'm all for using that measure!--even though I have a motive of my own for doing so. I've got so many cute skirts and pants that I used to wear decades ago and can't get into today, not in comfort anyway. Top of my list is a short denim microskirt that I love, but there are numerous others.

I haven't got there yet, but I keep on trying. Even if I never get there. I'm sure I'm wouldn't be trying this hard (and keeping healthy!) if my feminine self wasn't keeping me ruthlessly up to scratch, for which I'm grateful! Unlike some, I'm cool with being male most of the time. But I know I'd rather be a "gracefully slender elderly lady" than a "fat old man"--for more reasons than one! A longer and more active life is only one such reason.

[TheHiddenMe]

I have an internet scale (the daily reading is sent to the web and stored) and the graph of my mostly daily weigh-ins looks like a roller coaster--dips followed by climbs followed by dips.

Since I retired 5 1/2 years ago I've lost about 45 pounds, but includes three periods (climbs) where I put on 10 to 20 pounds over a couple of months. Last November/December I put on 15 pounds, but fortunately I have lost most of that gain. Still want to lose 17 more, which will get me to 165, which would be about 20% body fat.

The reason is two fold. One is to do better in races and triathlons, the other is of course to fit in smaller clothes. I've got four or five dresses that are "off limits" until I get slimmer.

I believe in the math diet. It takes 3,500 calories to either gain or lose a pound. I've heard the ratio 80/20 regarding calorie intake and exercise, and that seems about right. I always am active, but the only way I can lose weight is when I actively count calories and eat less.

I use the myfitnesspal app and it works for me. I also have a watch that tracks calories burned, so I have an approximation of my calorie gain or loss. When I closely track what I'm eating, and keep the calories down (2,000 or less daily), I lose weight.

[Alice_2014_B]

I tend to maintain a decent weight from running regularly and exercise.
Dieting is so dang difficult for me.

Staying in shape for fit tests (PFTs) in the military also helps.

:)

[LindaC]

I discovered a weight loss program recently, it's good news and bad news, but works every time:
Bad news is it's called heart surgery.
Good news is , feel great, lost 25lbs, and 2 dress sizes:)