Losing weight for surgery.

So, I'm a female-to-male transsexual and I'm going to be having chest reconstruction surgery within the next year. So, in order to have the best results for it, I want to lose as much weight as I can.

I'm a little over 160lbs right now at 5'6". :/ I want to be 125lbs by the time I go in for surgery. So that's about a loss of 35lbs.

I went from 175lbs to 135lbs last summer and then gained a whole bunch of it back during my freshman year of college.

So, I guess I was just hoping for advice or encouragement?

Bump?

125 is pretty lean.  are you sure you want to go that low?

anyway, the tools here are great: input all your info, and the meters will tell you what is a good calorie goal for your size, weight, activity level (unfortunately, you'll have to pick a gender, and female is probably going to give you the most useful advice).

personally, i think portion control is the most important thing going.  rather than eliminating foods that you love, just teach yourself to eat smaller servings (and less often, if necessary).

as a general rule, 1% of your body weight per week is considered safe and sustainable.  losing fast usually results in regaining - as you're already discovered.

good luck!

damn, vombat.  i don't know why you're not getting replies.  i guess people suck.

Me either. I was hoping a lot of people could chime in.

Original Post by pgeorgian:

 

anyway, the tools here are great: input all your info, and the meters will tell you what is a good calorie goal for your size, weight, activity level (unfortunately, you'll have to pick a gender, and female is probably going to give you the most useful advice).

 ^ That's what I would suggest. You might be surprised when you drop some weight and not even want to get down as low as 125.

I'm pretty sure losing 2 pounds a week is the max amount recommended, but you might need to double check on that.

I'm guessing your main focus is going to be on fat loss as opposed to muscle gain?
If so, concentrate on cardio and use the calorie count tools to figure out how many calories you should be eating to have a steady loss.

I'm guessing someone a bit wiser will come along and give some better advice. That's all I got!

okay, well i'll talk some more ;)

it took me a long time to lose my 35 pounds, but the first 25 or so came off pretty steadily.  i cut way back on snack foods and started a run/walk program.  but i didn't keep up the running, and my weight leveled off for--god--like forever.  but then i got my dog.  didn't lose a lot more weight, but i got quite fit.

(i lost the last 12-ish last month as a result of major surgery and life-threatening complications.  not recommended.  in fact, you might want to hold onto a few pounds, just in case.  even if surgery goes perfectly well, it takes a lot out of you, it kills your appetite, and recovery burns loads of calories.)

I guess the frustrating thing is that I'm literally ALWAYS hungry and it's very distracting.

 

I don't know why I don't weigh much more, with the way I eat. I'm almost never full and I eat *everything*.

 

When I'm hungry all I want to do is eat and it's hard to get myself not to. I don't know what is wrong with my self-control.

what are you eating?  if you're not getting enough protein, or if your diet is generally unbalanced, that can make you feel hungry all the time.

another trick is to eat small meals every 2-3 hours, so you don't have a chance to get hungry.

as far as self-control, stress can do that to you, and exercise can help.  also, social support, finding time for spirituality (whatever that means to you), and just having balance in your life (i often refer to the first nations medicine wheel, and ask myself if i have enough going on in each of the four quadrants: physical, mental, social, and spiritual).

It's hard to go back each day and generalize what I'm eating, but I can talk about today which was pretty typical I guess?

 

I had a bagel and low fat cream cheese (which is actually unusual, I was just really in the mood for one - I usually have cereal for breakfast).

 

Cottage cheese (I LOVE COTTAGE CHEESE I pretty much eat it every day for lunch or a snack) and a plum. Two fudge bars - the frozen sort - fudgsicles (hahahaha oh man I love them).

 

For dinner I had a baked potato a bag of mixed vegetables and some cajun catfish.

 

Later I'll probably have more fudge bars hahaha.

 

This is the definitely the place to be! I've lost about 15 pounds so far, and I've made a lot of friends here.

 I was just wondering if you're taking any hormones that have any effect on your weight? Also, do you have an exercise routine? Today's menu sounds pretty low-cal (minus the fudge bars). What's your calorie goal for the day?

If you want some support/someone to chat with PM me!

yeah, i think more protein would help a lot.  i find that a 300 calorie carb-based breakfast, for instance, doesn't keep me full nearly as long as 300 calories with at least 100 from protein.

Did your doc tell you to lose weight? Why do you think that losing weight will give you better surgical results? Just wondering.

I agree with other posters that 125 is a little low for 5'6". When are you scheduled for surgery?

Good luck, keep us posted.

When I lose weight, I lose a lot of weight in my breasts, so they are smaller.

 

For chest reconstruction, there are two options. Double-incision, where incisions are made below the breasts and scars are left afterwards or keyhole, where an incision is made in the areolas.

 

If your breasts are small enough, you can have keyhole surgery which does NOT leave scarring and I would much prefer.

 

And I should be scheduled for this upcoming winter around December.

 

And I've been taking testosterone injections for the past two years.

125 does seem a bit svelte, don't forget you'll lose a few lbs with the boobs.  Personally, I wouldn't be able to maintain 125 for a long time, it will be completely impossible once I hit middle age.  If you aren't on hormonal therapy long term, you'll likely still get some fat deposits over the pecs and hips first, if you ever gain weight again.  That's hard to avoid.

All that negativity said, these tools can totally help meet your goals.  125 is within healthy ranges for a 5'7" female, even if you are leaving that sex behind, and quite possible to reach this year from 160.  There are a lot of great tips, but stick around here too long and you'll come to terms with your relationship with the food you eat.   Once you get there, it's much easier to loose, maintain and be happy about it.

A couple tips I learned early on:

Use the food analysis pie chart to find out what kinds of Carb/Protein/Fat percentage works best for keeping you full.  I like to shoot for 35% carbs 35% protein and 30% fat.   I stay full, I get to have a cookie or two and i really have to think about what i'm putting in my mouth.  If i get too far into the carb region, I will eat anything and everything.  Carbs make my body rage with the anger of 10,000 loaves of BunnyBread.

As far as self-control, i can beat myself up about it from dawn till dusk and still have gotten nowhere.  I never give myself the time to be ashamed of a delicious bagel.  it was delicious, i enjoyed the **** out of it, now I'm getting on with my life. 

Good luck!

Okay, you have plenty of time.

Have you considered running? I need to eat 1700+ cals a day to not be hungry, so I started running 3Xweekly to offset the amount of food I eat.

I LOVE running and I can run for a long time. I have strong legs, but it's very busy around here and I'm a bit embarrassed. I used to go running a lot when I lived with my dad.

I would love to learn to get over that fear.



PS: I will be on testosterone for my entire life.

Everyone already gave some pretty good advice here.  The only thing I have to add is that I was A LOT hungier when I wasn't getting enough fat in my diet and when I was eating sugar-free/fat-free/low-cal type stuff.  When I eat more fat, I am satisfied for much longer, fat and protein.

Best of luck--hope your surgery goes well!!

Came to chime in but Huggit wrote what I was going to.  Protein and fat is awesome at keeping my hunger at bay. 

Don't be afriad of full fat stuff.  You may get to eat more low fat cottage cheese than the full fat variety, but the latter will keep you satisfied for longer.

I'll recommend weight training. That will help you from going soft and the muscle you retain will assist with fat loss. It's possible that you may not need to lose as much as you think, especially if you are able to hang on to your muscle. If you lose fat in the same places I do, you may not even need that surgery! 

And like others mentioned, protein and fat are great for combating hunger. I found that if I eat a high protein breakfast, then a snack of high fiber crispbread with almond butter, I won't devour my lunch. Between lunch and dinner, I usually have greek yogurt at 15 grams of protein per serving. Works pretty well.

Losing the weight at a slower pace is a better way to lose fat and keep it off. The additional time you have losing fat at a slower pace will also be an excellent asset as you try to figure out how all this works. By the time you reach your goal, you'll be a pro.

just one more tidbit: i know you've lost weight before, so you know how your body responds, but keep in mind that you can't control how the weight comes off.  i may come off your chest right away, but it may not. 

mine didn't shrink dramatically until i got below about a 20 bmi; now, my A-cup bras are all half empty (depressing, not because i want big boobs, but because for the first time in my life i have four bras that i actually love.  and now they don't fit).