Muscle Atrophy

[Guest Deena]

Does anyone know how long it takes for your back muscles to "shrink" if you stop using them (pre or post hrt). My muscles have really shrunk since I stopped exercising them but my back is still rather wide at the top. it's out of proportion with the rest of my body. I could fit into so many clothes if it weren't for that.

I'm not on any hormones yet and I'm not sure when that might be right now.

Thanks

Deena

[Guest Donna Jean]

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That's a hard call, Deena!

I lost weight and that made a difference, but on HRT my back andf shoulders got noticably more narrow...

The HRT does a lot to reduce muscle mass...

Unless you have a lot of fat in your muscles, there is only so much that dieting can do by it's self..

The best thing is to not work those muscles..so they don't develop more if you're not on HRT....

Huhggs

Donna Jean

[Guest Deena]

I'm still losing weight and I'm surprised at how small I am getting. Age makes a big difference in the size of your muscles I guess. When I was 24 and 180 pounds I think I looked way bigger then but now at 210 I actually look much smaller.

[Drea]

Alas shoulder width tends to be a challenge for most MTF. Then again women are all sorts of shapes and can't necessarily fit into everything they wish.

If you were working out in a way that built muscle then you will see some muscle loss by stopping to work them.

Going on a diet will reduce the fat sitting around the muscles and reduce size. You also may see some muscle reduction as your body weight goes down simply because your muscles are worked less to move your body. If your losing truely significant amounts of muscle from dieting alone, you probably should be wary as that would be indicative of your body not getting enough calories and burning its own muscle. That would include muscle tissue in your heart and that would be very bad.

Hormones will cause more muscle loss as Donna said.

[Guest Deena]

I am losing a great deal of fat as I know when I was young I was much lighter and thin but now maybe I am losing muscle tissue. How would I know which us the case? I don't eat much except at dinner and then I eat normally. Is this ok?

[JJ]

If is any consolation many, many natal women face this too. That's why when shopping you have to be sure and try on both the top and bottom of any outfit-or double check it because all too often someone else has made a switch on one or the other to fit their body shape.

I have very large shoulders and when younger was offered sponsorships to beauty contests and asked to model by department stores so it didn't cause me trouble in appearance.. My shoulders were a size 9-about a 7 now and the rest of me a 5 about a 3 now. Big difference . When I really wanted a dress, then I bought the bigger size and had it altered. Store alterations are expensive but many towns have seamstresses who are reasonable.

Think of all the times shoulder pads are added to outfits. Bigger shoulders can actually be an advantage.

John

[Guest NotClaire]

without changing any of my food/exercise habits (healthy diet and moderate/extreme cardio) I have lost a ton of "bulk" even though I weigh the same. I use to wear a men's medium and now even a small is loose on me.

definitely 100% noticeable difference even from a distance by about 6 months

[Guest Miss_Construe]

I have read that doing cardio while not overdoing your protein is also supposed to help. Further, one place suggested stretching should help. For the back I do Child's Pose with my arms out in front and hold for 10 breaths. We shall see.

Hope this helps, I'm still learning the art of reduction.

Thank you,

Amy

[Guest Purim]

Here's a question in the same line. Is Muscle Atrophy supposed to hurt? Because I've been really achy recently, and I'm not that active... Is this the cause, or have I just been sleeping weird?

[Guest Donna Jean]

Here's a question in the same line. Is Muscle Atrophy supposed to hurt? Because I've been really achy recently, and I'm not that active... Is this the cause, or have I just been sleeping weird?

Naw....shouldn't hurt.....

How long you been on HRT, Hon?

I never felt any pain from any of it...excet the boobs hurting!

Donna Jean

[Guest NatashaJade]

Naw....shouldn't hurt.....

How long you been on HRT, Hon?

I never felt any pain from any of it...excet the boobs hurting!

Donna Jean

On the other hand, I feel pain from the muscle loss (quite a bit really) when I try to lift things, or when I do lift things. I keep forgetting I'm not quite as strong as I used to be and then the pain when I carry, let's say, my daughter who seems to grow heavier as my ability to carry her is diminished. That's still a welcome pain, though.

xoxo

Natasha

[Guest Donna Jean]

On the other hand, I feel pain from the muscle loss (quite a bit really) when I try to lift things, or when I do lift things. I keep forgetting I'm not quite as strong as I used to be and then the pain when I carry, let's say, my daughter who seems to grow heavier as my ability to carry her is diminished. That's still a welcome pain, though.

xoxo

Natasha

Oh yes......

Ditto on that.....

I know things that I used to pick up with ease...that I no longer can easily do...

That hurts...l

Donna Jean

[Guest jennifer normal]

I was very able and could lift anything but I think Im feeling my age and hormones,the mitochondia sp of the cell don,t kick in even with a very good diet Its probable your no longer producing nere the testerone. I think it may pass but its been eight yrs on and I think I need to dance at home and get in tone. I have those same aches and they pass with a short sit. And its cold outside.

[guest]

Well, to lose muscle, you need to consume it.

The thing is, the body wants to metabolise muscle last (that is what fat is for, stores of energy). Though, with ANY diet and loss of weight, you lose a percentage of muscle along with the fat loss (unless you are working out a lot to try and rebuild the muscle).

So, simply diet and exercise with little protein (to force the body to look at the muscles first). Without enough calories to keep up the energy for the exercise, your body will be forced to turn towards your muscles (this is normally what people try to avoid). Problem is, going too far and your body will lower its metabolism (and doing it too long or too extreme the body will even turn to consuming your organs).

[Guest jennifer normal]

I was just reading over what I addressed yesterday. Ive been sleeping with ach's But my doctor mentioned the word neropathy Ive googled and it did match many of my symtoms Im not diabetic. Ido have numbness in my feet I took a simple blood count analasite sp you might suggest it with your doc.

[Guest Aries]

I used to be very active and I came to a point where I was having pain issues. For me it was a simple issue of nutrition (I took Fish oil & MSM [Mehtylsulfonylmethane]) and it cleared right up. That may be something that you should see a Dr. about though, just to be safe.