Diet and Exercise?

[Susan Stevens]

Ever since I disclosed my CD with my wife, we have decided together to lose weight and start exercising. I started trying to lose weight about two weeks ago and so far I have lost 10 pounds, but I have 90 more to go. I really let myself go and allowed my weight to get out of control. Before I gained so much weight I had a tendency to be very skinny when I did exercise. I don't want to build a muscular physique, but I don't want to be a skinny beanpole again either. While I don't have the desire to be public with my dressing, I do enjoy my sessions when my clothes fit better. Should I simply accept the beanpole or is there something I can do to build a more feminine physique with some muscle tone?

[falcongts]

Hi Susan
welcome to the form I understand how you feel
set a goal you will know when to stop or 10 lbs either way as for me 10 more is to much and 10 lbs less I look awful

[Tracii G]

Its a constant struggle to keep weight off for me.
If I watch what I eat I gain if I don't watch what I eat I gain.
Once cut out red meat and did more veggies and chicken and the result I gained 15 lbs.
I can't win seems like.

[cdmorganashley]

i exercise like crazy and have just lost 60 pounds... i am kinda muscular but i do a moderate weight at high reps and that keep me from getting too bulky... i also do a lot of cardio... my advice is if you are with a woman and you want to look like a woman--copy her workout... i mean thats what makes sense to me... of course ultimately we are men so whatever we do the manness is going to show so to really get that fem body its either padding or hormones i would think... anyway you will look a ton better in any clothes if you do lose 100 pounds so try not to stress over how perfect your curves are and enjoy how hot you will have become =)

[Tracii G]

At this point I don't really care if I gain or lose I fluctuate up and down all the time.

[falcongts]

Wow tracii
I gave up meats I did not realize it until a year or so later
for me it is how much I eat and the Friday Pizza I cannot live with out

[Adriana Moretti]

good to hear you are getting back in shape and wanting to lose weight... cardio...cardio and more cardio.....stay far away from the weights..you dont need them for anything. Best bet is to do a morning jog before breakfast on an empty stomach for about 20 minutes...want to burn muscle too??? ...keep jogging for 45 mins to an hour...you will shred it off in a few weeks...wait an hour at least before eating after your morning workout... Biking is great, yoga,stretching,certain swiming styles will all work great too..add that stuff in on off days... Eat right and eat smart...lots of vegies and low calories NO BURGERS, STEAK RED MEAT,PORK ETC.....willpower girl!!! put the cookie down ...also check out the fem body work out..it will really help tone the abs and stretch your mid section and help you with a bit more of a fem bod..I think the key to a more fem bod is in stretching your back you will see alot of that in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8udQ-h4Y4BY

[Katey888]

Susan - isn't 'skinny beanpole' the fashion ideal for hanging clothes off?? Don't get me wrong - you have to go for what you feel comfortable with - but if you are able to naturally attain a fairly slender figure, my thoughts are that would give you much more flexibility in what you wear and how you wear it. And be healthier for it...

I managed to lose what I said was my 'Christmas turkey' in January after some focused diet and a little exercise - in fact I was kidding myself; I'd been carrying an extra 8-12 pounds through most of last year and just taking a small amount off got me to feeling more comfortable with myself again - but I'm glad I did now.

Katey x

[Marcelle]

Hi Susan,

We (men) tend to build lean muscle mass quite easily (depending on your body type that is). You describe yourself as most likely an ectomorph body type (aka beanpole). Weight loss has a lot of factors attached to it, eating, exercise and age. The older we get the harder it is to loose. However, if you are an ectomorph body type, loosing weight should be easier but your phenotype will always be lean and slender. Not a bad thing from a TG/CD perspective as this can give you an appearance of slender woman and open up a large wardrobe choice

WRT to loosing weight, eating right and as others have said cardio, cardio, cardio. I switch days with running for an hour one day and jumping rope for 45 minutes on off days and find it shreds the weight off. If you want some lean muscle mass then go with form and function weight training (light weigh / high reps) as this will allow you to have some muscle mass without looking too big. A toned muscular physique can look quite good when properly dressed en femme.

As far as hips, buttocks and the likes, unless you are packing extra junk in the trunk, and your hips are slightly wider than your waist, you will either have to opt for padded panties and corsets to get a femme hour glass figure or take my approach . . . slender hip gal here.

Hugs

Isha

[Teresa]

Hi Susan,
I guess I'm one of the lucky ones that can eat and not put weight on ( sorry !) but even so when my old Labrador died and the new one came along my walking pace increased and within two months I'd lost 28 lbs.( I now weigh 154lbs ) I didn't need to lose it but it's great I can get size 12 (UK) off the peg and they fit. Walking is great because you don't build muscle mass and the other spin off is I don't have to work so hard to tone up for skiing.

[Jenniferathome]

Well, regardless of the reason, living a healthy lifestyle will reward in far more ways then just looking better in a dress. You will LIVE better. You write that you have 90 pounds to go. Don't worry about the physique you will have, get there. Men will always have more muscular arms than women doing the exact same thing. Shoulders too. Don't worry about it. Cardio is your friend, keep at it.

And do not get discouraged when your weight loss slows. It will. Stay with it.. Eat fruit, vegetables and protein and even some healthy fats like raw nuts and avocado. The math is easy: use x calories a day - consume y calories a day = z If x is greater than y you lose weight.

Stay with it!

[Beverley Sims]

See!
Cross-dressing can make you more slim.

[Marcelle]

Beverly . . . LOL. Perhaps we should start up a "CDing to Weight Loss" program and put it out there . . . 10 DVD Collection on how to look slim and fit the CD way . . . Hey P90X made a lot of money why not CD90X?

Hugs

Isha

[Tracii G]

I have been very large in the past but portion control is what did the most for me to lose weight in the past.
Walking was a factor too of course.
I still had the urge to dress so extra weight was something I always dealt with when it came to fashion choices.

[Julia Red]

If I were not a CD, I would probably be "bigger" by now. Definitely my female side cares more about the weight than the male one.

I still want to lose some pounds, and to get rid of the belly fat. My wife said she wouldn't mind if I did a liposuction surgery... I'm still thinking about it.

[Adriana Moretti]

Beverly . . . LOL. Perhaps we should start up a "CDing to Weight Loss" program and put it out there . . . 10 DVD Collection on how to look slim and fit the CD way . . . Hey P90X made a lot of money why not CD90X?

Hugs

Isha

Isha...we laugh but you come up with some pretty good ideas ! That hotel idea you had was genius...now we can add an exercise class to that daily activities list too.

[Marcelle]

Now if only we could get some financial backing we would be off and running (no pun intended).

Hugs

Isha

[CindyT]

I am trying to lose weight too, I find that the exercise works the best. I try to walk 1 to 2 miles a day and by eating healthy and avoiding junk food I can lose 5 to 10 lbs every 2 weeks. My problem is sticking to it however.... and the calories/carbs that originate from a bottle... LOL!! Let's keep this going and help support each other!

[suchacutie]

I'm getting to an age where we start to lose muscle mass so I went on the web and found fantastic exercises to built up my butt over time. It seems to me you are in a great position to decide what parts of your body you want to build as you lose the non muscle weight. By the time you ve lost the weight you'd have the shape you wanted...like finding your girl self under the weight you don't want!

[Shy_Confusion]

This was something I picked up from the "Body for Life" program and the only thing I still do from that program.
6 days a week I eat really healthy (between 1,500-2,000 calories) and one day a week I eat whatever I want. It lets your system know it'll still be getting valuable calories. Otherwise your body just holds on to all of the calories it does get. Your weight loss will stagnate. Which of course makes dieting and exercising frustrating.
And of course if you know one day a week you can eat that big fat greasy cheeseburger, it makes it way easier to say "no thanks" the other 6 days.

Anyway Hope this is helpful. I'll see if i can find a legitimate article written by a nutritionist about this online.

[Susan Stevens]

My wife and I have tried the Body for life while I was in the military. It worked great for her, I had better luck with the 6 week body make over, and we have both been thinking of going back to those. I like the idea of loosing the weight with the purpose of bring the lady out in me!

[Billiejosehine]

While I am not very good at exercising or even take the time to do so; I'm naturally skinny and can eat just about anything and not gain any weight. In fact based on two visits to the doctors in one month, I lost 10 pounds. This always drove my ex crazy and she would be often be mad because she was always trying to loose weight. In the past me and my ex signed up a couple times to a gym and would we would go consistantly the first couple weeks and then stop.

[Algoma]

As they say you can never be too thin or too rich. If you are able to get to too thin go for it. You can always add padding.