Diet And Exercise

[Guest Jackie]

One of the things I have been researching in my quest for information regarding my transition is diet and exercise. I am coming up with a diet, looking at my new bmi goals, and exercises that will benefit my new form.

Have you had an experience with this new exercise paradigm or what are your thoughts?

[Guest elenag]

Have you had an experience with this new exercise paradigm or what are your thoughts?

I can't say that I've changed much in diet since coming out, because I started dieting before that, about 16 months ago. To date I've lost about 35 lbs, which hasn't progressed linearly. I tend to lose weight in spurts, which happens when I get the gumption to work on it. My original reason for starting was to get below 215lbs for a cheaper life insurance quote. (Yea, I'm that cheap.) I peaked at a max of 225 and I'm now down to about 190. My target is to get to 165-170 (my college fresh(wo)man weight) but a lot of that weight is in muscle and my tall height (6'1), so I'm actually kinda lean right now (except some belly fat and hip handles). I worked out a lot in college and gained 25lbs in muscle, then after college it all went bad with over-eating and a lot of drinking.

When I started working on my regimen I did aerobic exercise (an elliptical bike) and hard dieting, limiting to about 1200 to 1500 calories a day. That was not fun. I weighed myself 2 times daily, morning weight and bed time weight so I kept mental track of both. I ignored carb and fat content and pretty much ate whatever I wanted within reason, limiting to small portions. I also ignored all the popular diets and went solely by calorie content.

Breakfast was 2 fruit and hot tea. Lunch was a salad. If my boss ordered in, a slice of pizza plus side salad. Dinner was usually my big meal of the day, however a lot of times it was grilled chicken and vegetables, but I had no qualms with eating steak and potatoes. I just didn't do it very often. I'm on spiro (yes, by prescription) so I've lost most my interest in alcohol so that saves a lot of calories.

I've almost completely given up fast food, but I occasionally slip up. When I do it's usually Popeye's chicken or McDonald's egg & sausage biscuit w/ cheese. Of the soda I drink, 95% of it is diet soda. I also drink a lot more water these days. I don't have the urge for candy bars like I used to so those are rare treats. I tend to munch on potato chips these days, but even that's limited. I often have to throw out a half full bag because it's stale.

I found you can get away with healthier food if you find a way to season it right. I salt my steamed broccoli and carrots instead of buttering them. Chicken bouillon seasons rice nicely. Black pepper goes with potatoes. Italian and vinegarette dressings have half the calories. I often do a plate of raw vegetables with ranch dressing as a dip. Lite mayo tastes better to me than regular. I'm also into expensive dark chocolate, which Marshall's and TJ Maxx often have on discount. A small piece goes a lot further than a cheap Hershey's bar. M&M's are great because I can eat 5 and feel like I had a snack. Sugarless mints are another good snack. I also drink a lot of hot tea (the pricey kind) and chew sugarless gum because it keeps my mind off food.

Last fall I gave up the elliptical bike and usually target between 1500 and 1800 calories a day but I often miss my mark at around 2000-2200 a day. I occasionally skip breakfast but sometimes it's eggs and sausage or a frozen breakfast burrito. Lunch is usually a sandwich, potato chips, and diet dr pepper. Dinner hasn't changed in the last year, but sometimes I get the munchies at 1am and microwave something fatty--pizza rolls lately. I don't think I eat as healthy as I did in 2006 because I've had less weight loss since then--only 10 lbs lost in 2007. I suppose I might start exercising again because I seem to be stagnating with my progress.

Losing weight has definitely been a good project for me. I don't feel so sluggish anymore and I can move about more easily because I feel lighter. I'm approaching the sizes I wore in high school, so that's fun. I also look amazingly younger because my face is thinner.

[Guest Kylie]

Okay, to be honest I am probably the last person who should be giving diet advice, as I am neither in shape nor do I eat healthy. I'm lucky I'm not overweight, but that is probably due to only eating 1-2 meals daily, and not quite by choice really.

Anyways, that's a different story. Here's some advice I read when looking up on how to eat right. One piece of advice that I remember is this: Eat a medium sized breakfast, a large lunch, and a small dinner. The logic behind it was that after you have woken up, it may have been 10 hours or more since your last meal, so you need something to jump start your engines. A big lunch, because by then IIRC your body is in the best shape to digest food. A small dinner comes from your body prepping for bed, and therefore slowing down in digesting, converting more of the food to fat than it would earlier in the day. Of course maybe you know all this too, but hey, someone may find this of use, if not you, eh?

Sure, you want to watch your calories, but you should also try to watch other things like your sugar and fat intakes, among others I guess. Exercising and calorie watching will only go so far, not that I'm saying it doesn't go far. It can do wonders for people Still, you can't be too healthy, right?

Eh, here I go rambling again. I guess I'm just trying to pass the time till I can finally go to sleep by finding stuff to reply to here

[Guest Thomas]

Good excercise and good nutrition is beneficial. Some foods especially fruits, don't go to well with certain estrogens. I would suggest of going through your local book store and get a copy Nursing Drug Handbook, it list all the estrogens and each one tells you what not to eat. Some foods have reaction to certain estrogens. I've learned this from looking through my Health books. You can also, go under the women's section of health books and magazines and you get a better idea of what kind of diet you want and excerise regime as well. Me myself transitioning from male to female, I do dancing or walking, or even jogging increases cell reproduction in your body and plus you would fell a whole lot better. Agressive excercise increases the testosterone levels in the male body, and from what I understand it does pretty much in women too. Women's requirements of excerise is light compared males. I use to be 155 lbs., with hgh cholesteral, now I'm down to 125 lbs.

[Guest nikki]

I'm never good with a diet, but I'm good at eating healthy because I have celiac wich means I cant eat wheat, rai, barley, or oats. one thing is eat lots of friuts and vegies to mantain the esential vitamines you need to stay active. one thing I am good with is execise thanks to the military actually jounior ROTC.

One thing I learned is that situps helps gets rid of unwanted fat around the ab damin, and runing helps burn extra calories but pace your self because if you dont you will end up over working your body. also while exercising make sure you drink lots of fluids so that you dont dehidrate your self. also going to the gym at least three times a week will help too. lets say you also want to use the weights heres a helpful hint work your lower body one day and then work your upper body another so that it gives time for the part of your body you worked the day before to rest so that you dont cramp up. another good thing to remember is to stretch be fore you do anythig.

[Zufrieden]

Elenag mentioned giving up alcohol due to spironolactone. I hadn't heard about that, but I take cyproterone acetate. I gave up alcohol a few months ago without much consideration due to the fact that I needed the money more for hormones and didn't need the calories. Even though I was a moderate drinker at three beers a day, I hadn't realized what a crutch it was as a tranquilizer. Now that I've found some other tranquility, I find I don't need it. Still, I wouldn't turn down a social drink.

[Guest elenag]

Elenag mentioned giving up alcohol due to spironolactone. I hadn't heard about that...

I can't really explain it. I just know I had a strong desire for alcohol from age 25 to 34 and it essentially evaporated when I started a t-blocker. I never considered myself addicted to alcohol, but I drank nearly every day. But now I drink rarely, averaging about 1 drink a month and even then it's not very important to me.

Edited July 24, 2007 by elenag

[pennyjane]

hmmmm...i hadn't put that together elena. but thinking about it i think the times i started on spiro and found no use for even social drinking do seem to coincide. i was never much of a drinker but had no trouble with social events and a drink or two. but i have noticed in the past couple of years an abject distaste for any alcohol at all. wonder if there has been any research done on this? lotsa love and hope, pj

[Guest SharleahLynn]

having a proper diet and proper exercise is so very important to being the best you can be .

SharleahLynn

[Zufrieden]

I don't have a scale around so it's always hard to judge how much I weigh. I don't have a gut or a pot belly, but when I'm naked and sitting hunched forward I've got a roll of fat there. It's always different sizes and it's hard to objectively measure.

Last night, I happened to be at a local community center for an event and wandering around. They had a regular doctor's scale there, I took off my shoes and weighed myself. I was blown away, 158 pounds! (for 6' 0"). My lifetime high was probably 185.

As I said above, with HRT I stopped all alcohol. I don't eat any fast food ever. I never eat ready prepared food. I gave up cookies, cake, ice cream, dessert. I don't cook any big portions of food anymore. It sounds like I gave up a lot, but I don't even think of it as giving anything up. As much as I realize that alcohol (without being an alcoholic) was a crutch, food can also be a crutch.

I walk at least an hour a day and my work consists mainly of walking. It's good that I like walking, although I've never been hot on jogging.

I always ate pretty healthy, but now I make more effort. For meals, I eat a small breakfast, eat something larger at 10:15 (absolutely necessary for my blood sugar), a small lunch, something at about 3:00 and maybe something at 7:00.

Z.

[Zufrieden]

Going back and re-reading the above posts...

Nikki, I'd never heard of the term "celiac". Gluten intolerance Ok. I'm glad I'm not that, because I like my gluten grains a lot.

I make my own bread because I have a fetish about avoiding high fructose corn syrup. Don't get me started on the subject. Try to find any product in an American supermarket that doesn't have it in the list of ingredients. It's like it's our patriotic duty to consume that stuff by the gallons.

In any case, my normal loaf is half wheat, half whole grain, stone-ground rye. And I throw in a nice handful of wheat gluten because I like a slice that won't fall apart when you put too much in your sandwich. No sugars of any kind are used, but I add a tablespoon of EV olive oil which seems to make the loaf keep better. Rye stays edible much longer than 100% white. Admittedly, I'm a sucker for thick toast made from 100% white, but you might as well throw the loaf away when it's one day old.

Barley. Honestly, is there a cuter grain on the whole planet? I eat it for any dish instead of brown rice. Don't get the 10 minute barley, get the regular pearled barley at your local hippy place. By the glycemic index (for hypogycemic people) it's about the best carbohydrate you could eat.

Hi Traci Nicole. You say you're at 125 pounds, I hope that you're not 6' 8"! I don't think I'd want to be 125 pounds. Well, actually I would. There's a very petite woman in my town that fills me with jealousy.

Z.

[Guest Jenny]

I have tried one diet and it worked really well, it can be used over and over again. I lost a significant amount of weight in a relatively short time under the direction of a nutritionist. It uses regular foods, although you have to change your shopping habits though. It cost me 750 dollars and I was skeptical, but I have nothing bad to say except it requires a huge amount of self discipline. I guess I'll get to the point, but it was Sure Slim.

[Guest Michelle M]

I've had great successes with Atkins' Diet and Paleo Diet. Don't do Atkins for too long though because it can be harmful to your health, especially if overdone.

[Guest savagedm]

I try to work out at least 3 times a week for an hour. I do a full body work out that consists of a 1 mile run, and then weight training to keep my body tone from there. I used to be overweight (250 at 6'0" at the time) now I am about 180 and 6'1". (keep in mind I have not started the transition yet) I am trying to keep my food portions down so I can get to 170 which is my target weight... but in reality you just need to stick with it and the changes you want WILL eventually happen.

[Guest Darrel]

If you can, avoid soda at all costs. Chemicals in them (especially Diet) prevent the body from burning weight properly.

[Guest Kristine]

Soda prevents you from losing weight? Really? I'm gonna have to look for something that supports that, because if it's true, I'm quitting this minute. D=

It's weird though, because I drank pretty much just coke zero for ten months while working a physical labour job, and lost forty pounds without really trying.

[Guest Kristine]

Can't argue with this!

Geez, I wish I'd known. I'm officially swearing off diet soda.

So long, old friend! You've been there when I needed you, but you're just dragging me down! A strict regiment of juice and water from now on, for me.

[Guest Syamantaka]

Two cents worth

In the time when most people lived in the country, country folk had the big meal in the morning, medium lunch, light dinner.

something about the body clock it does not allow a big evening meal to digest. Jump in anyone.

[Guest Syamantaka]

What about swimming: I used to swim an average of 60 to 90 minutes on lakes every evening through sunset, 8 yrs ago, now I am going to start swimming at local indoor pools to get back in shape and I am wondering what the chemicals are going to do once I get to my proper weight and

start treatment.

[Shannonline]

I find the notion of more than a hundred different diets existing to be perplexing. There are a lot of people out there that require special diets sure, but generally speaking the human body is a system, a system that we have more or less figured out (on a digestive level). Research shows we know what nutrients and foods are best for our bodies and which have a negative effect.

A lot of marketing companies will tell you this and others will tell you that but at the end of the day they're selling a product so the truth is well.... something seen to get in the way of the $$$. But that is another story though.

My experience of eating and exercise now follows the holistic principals of Natural Hygiene Giving the body what it needs and only what it needs and not what it wants.

It's amazing how many people cater more to their taste buds than their bodies... who is utilising the food? ...interesting thought.

Not to say taste buds are not important they just don't require any special privileges and for the sake of health will power comes in very handy! lol!

Since I radically changed what I eat and the way I look at food my life has changed dramatically!!!

It really comes down to understanding and I guess to me it starts with looking at what you want your outcomes to be from eating food. I see it as much as a fuel as a source of nutrition so any food that goes against that is off the menu.

Coffee, tea, refined sugar, alcohol, soda, cake, biscuits, chocolate, milk, all dairy, red meat, processed foods, tap water and bottled juices are a few of the things that are now off my menu. I now prefer the refreshing taste of healthy food from understanding how bad certain foods are, like a slap across the face.

My GP is currently on my back about getting enough calcium in my diet after I told her I don't consume any dairy products at all so I'm currently writing up exactly what I eat in detail to convince her there are better ways, at least for me (maybe others as well!!).

It's nowhere near finished but this rough draft of just my daily planner gives an example of my general eating habits, I will be extending to include my meal variations and long term habits next week...

AM

Glass of water

yoga / deep breathing exercises

Exercise (run), or skipping if time is shorter.

2L (60ounces?) of filtered water, another 1L (30ounces?) throughout the PM.

Orange & apple

LATE AM

home-made cereal: sesame seeds, flax/linseeds, wheatgerm, amaranth, physilim,

paw paw, shredded coconut, saltanas (READ: Boron for Better Bone Health), sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, nass bran,

organic oat flakes - oat milk.

PM

Lunch: Left over frozen meals or..

wholemeal bread, tomato, spinach or lettuce, avocado, dried basil, olives, olive/sunflower seed based dairy free butter.

snacks: celery, walnuts, almonds, cashews, saltanas, blackstrap molasses, canned tuna, sunshine...

meals containing variations of:

extra virgin olive oil, garlic, onion, chilli, chicken, fish, brown rice, pasta...

Timing and food combinations are just as important as what you eat, examples; butter blocks the absorption of fish oils, adding onion, chilli or garlic to meats helps eliminate toxins, too much protein in your diet can take most of the calcium from your system as well and reserves to aid in stomach acidic neutralising (osteoporosis has been linked to too much animal protein (including milk) and not from too little calcium, the amount of calcium in dairy and the popularity of dairy contradicts their claims and rings alarm bells, or at least should!), meats and starches (pasta, rice, potatoes) require different stomach acids so if combined they're not broken down well enough to be fully absorbed in the intestines, drinking liquids with a meal dilutes stomach acids making them less effective...etc

The body works on 3 main cycles: elimination (4am-12pm), appropriation (12pm-8pm), assimilation (8pm-4am), even though all function all the time more focus it put on others at certain times of the day/night.

The best time to exercise is when the stomach is empty in the morning that way it triggers the body to rely on fat reserves for energy instead of your stomach/breakfast, plus once you eat your body will have less energy as digestion requires more body energy than most people realise!!!

Consuming food after 8pm will more likely be stored.

For maximum energy don't consume dairy as it produced mucus in your body clogging your system making you more susceptible to fatigue (amongst another billion bad effects including skin quality), avoid proteins early in the day, carbs in the early afternoon will be burnt throughout the day.. Yoga and deep breathing exercises help cleanse your body, and pump fresh blood and oxygen to lesser used parts of the body as well. Your body is your temple, looking after it will only reward you beyond belief

[Guest Debs]

Dieting to lose weight has one rule: Don't be a pig.

There are way too many faddy diets where you shouldn't eat this carbohydrates, avoid grapefruit, don't munch your way through house bricks. OK, I made the last one up. Point is, it's all rubbish for the main part. Your body is designed to digest and absorb the nutrients from food, so it doesn't matter where they come from or when you eat them. There probably are daily rhythms that mean digestion functions in different ways at different times, but the overall effect of eating less is weight loss. besides if there are rhythms, you can bet not everyone's is moving to the beat of the same drum so generalised book advice may not be the best for you

The point is people gain weight because they consume more calories than their body needs. So look at what you're eating (keep a food diary even), and look where you are taking in too many calories. That snack at coffee break, that extra chocolate bar with lunch etc. Take the government advice as to how many calories you need with a pinch of salt though. The UK goverment suggets men should consume about 2500 calories a day and a woman 2000. But these are for average sized people. I'm a 5ft3in physiological male and weigh 60kg (about 132lb) so my calorific requirement is probably less than the 2500. A large woman may need more than 2000. And in the case of transitioning, bear in mind your change in calorie requirements (MtF on HRT will see reduced muscle mass and redistributed body fat so will need more calories as muscle burns more than fat tissue, FtM the opposite will be the case). If you want to lose weight you have to take in less calories than you need so your body can draw on its reserves of fat. But you really need to do that gently. Make yourself miserable and hungry and you won't keep to a diet. So eat sensibly. Don't over-indulge in anything, especially stuff with lots of processed fat and sugar (ie sweets and fast fod).

There are choices you can make that won't change what you eat very much. Take going to Subway (arguably one of the least unhealthy fast food joints). Have a lighter Sub than one loaded with greasy, sugary sauces like mayo (maybe substitue a little sweet chilli?). That will reduce the calories of your sandwich. Don't have the cheese on it. go for leaner fillings like ham or chicken over processed things like salami or tuna-mayo. Better still make your own sandwiches and take them to work. It's cheaper and you know what's in them.