1st: Last week (Aug 2026)

2nd: Last year (Feb 2025)

I'm big (6 ft/183 cm) and always have been (36 MtF, 7 years HRT). Sometimes, I feel like I'm not making much progress on the scale (280 lbs/127 kg), but then I look at old pictures. It's a little hard to tell, but I look like I shrunk a whole size here!

I used to drink 4+ drinks every day. Now I'm down to maybe 4 a week. I'm tracking calories and packing in protein. I'm hitting steps. I'm making it to the gym 3 times a week consistently for resistance training. Life is way less stressful. I can even see my upper abs now!

I'm guessing (and used calipers) that I've gone down from 30-35% body fat to the 25-30% range. I'm hoping to get to around 20% eventually. Not rushing the process, trying to build life-long habits and re-comp my body, holding on to as much muscle as possible.

These aren't the most impressive photos (not flexing at all, flat light), but for someone who's always had some self-esteem and body image problems, I'm pretty happy. It's hard to find role models who aren't professional wrestlers or superheroes, but I appreciate this space for everyone encouraging and supporting each other.

If I can do it, you can too. Hope to post more later with even more progress ❤️

It’s not an uncommon thought that being trans “I must have broad shoulders so should avoid upper body workouts to stop my shoulders getting any larger”.

Firstly, there’s nothing wrong with broad shoulders don’t let anyone tell you otherwise…

But incase it’s an insecurity by toning the upper body and focussing on your back, it’ll not only improve your posture and look of confidence but contribute massively towards the hourglass shape by also pulling the waist in drawing the eye away from the upper body.

Commonly overlooked misconception but serious game changer 💪🏼🏳️‍⚧️❤️

Edit: The comments on this post have had me in tears 3 times within the last few hours. Thank you you absolutely beautiful people. I didn’t realise quite how much I needed a bigging up today ❤️

I’m short (155cm or around the lower end of 5ft 1) and I’m on the larger side (98kg currently but I started at 109kg) I am 2 years on hormones. I don’t pass. I’m wanting to loose weight because top surgery is something I want as well as need and I need to be below 40bmi so the nhs will refer me, but also I would just generally want to be a lower weight etc to improve health outcomes and like, look more like a dude. I am in a calorie deficit currently. I am trying to go to the gym more, I run 2 days a week and I aim to go to the gym 3 days and do a push pull leg split and take the weekends as rest days.im eating as healthy as I can but I am quite picky.

I suppose I’m just asking for a bit of advice as I’m sure I’m not the only one right? There must be others.

(a bit of explaining here so scroll down for the routine)

it will go: LOWER-UPPER-LOWER-REST-UPPER-LOWER-REST

ive put extensive research and my own years of experience into making this optimal for MTF goals with larger curvy legs and slim but still strong torso.

this is extensive and it will be a GREAT idea to eat in excess do a calorie surpluss with lots of protein/fiver/carbs just eat a lot and keep it healthy okay and drink lots of water you need it. This will speed up your transition and gym progress tenfold, EAT OR YOU WONT GROW!!! and eat vegan too i might as well do some activism whilst im here live vegan respect life 💪💪

I made this routine because I know a lot of women are insecure about our bodies and we like to be strong but without appearing “masculine“. Obviously if you dont care about that then it doesnt matter and all power to you, this workout is just for those who want thicker legs and butt and athletic slim torso.

For upper: I have mixed calisthenics (bodyweight) with weight training for your upper body as this minimises the mass gain on your upper half whilst still allowing you to have impressive strength relative to size.

for lower: this is heavier on your legs and spreads out the load on your inner+outer thighs, glutes, quads and hamstrings so they can be worked multiple times in the week giving you optimal hypertrophy (growth)

for waist: on upper body days there is a series of core exercises to help strengthen your abs and deeper midriff, it will give you control of the area to tighten it, (just remember your abs wont show strongly unless youre on a calorie deficit/low body fat%) youll have greater mobility and your ability to lift heavier on your legs will go up as you train the waist so dont worry about it making you “blocky”.

another thing to point out is that “toning” isnt real, its just muscle showing against your skin youll only look toned if you have muscle and low body fat, so dont stress about that whole myth.

For leg exercises go for heavier weights, and for upper body go for lighter weight where possible for the higher reps especially for the lateral raises as we typically dont want beefier shoulders.

Have fun :3

THE WORKOUT ROUTINE:

Monday: lower body

Hip thrust: 3-4 x 3-10 reps

Squat: 3-4 x 8-10 reps

Lunge: 3 x 10-12 reps

Sumo deadlifts: 3 x 6-8 reps

Fire hydrants: 3 × 12-15 reps

Tuesday: upper body

Stomach vacuums: 3 × 4-5 breath holds

Bird dogs: 2 × 10 per side

Deadbugs: 2 x 10 per side

Planks: 2 × 30-40 secs

Side plank dips: 3 × 10-12 per side

Dumbbell floor press: 3 × 6-8 reps

Dumbbell lateral raises: 3 × 15-20 reps

Dumbbell pullovers: 3 × 12 reps

Wednesday: lower body

Romanian deadlift: 3-4 × 8-10 reps

Bulgarian split squat: 3 x 8-12 reps

Sideways lunges: 3 x 10-12 per leg

Weighted side lying leg lifts: 3 x 15 per leg

Standing weighted leg lifts: 3 x 12-15 reps

Thursday: rest

Friday: upper body

Stomach vacuums: 3 × 4-5 breath holds

Bird dogs: 2 x 10 per side

Deadbugs: 2 x 10 per side

Planks: 2 × 30-40 secs

Plank shoulder taps: 2 × 10-12

Neutral grip dumbbell rows: 3 x 6-8 reps

Rear delt flys: 3 × 15 reps

Dumbbell hammer curls: 3 x 10-12 reps

Superman holds: 3 x 30 sec

Saturday: lower body

Bulgarian split squats: 3 × 8-10 reps

Dumbbell goblet cyclist squats: 3 x 8-10 reps

Romanian deadlifts (b-stance): 3 x 10-12 reps

Deficit glute bridge: 3 × 15-20 reps

Dumbbell frog pumps: 3 × 20 reps

Side lying leg raises: 3 x 15-20 per leg

Sunday: rest

you can change it so you start on a different day if you want your rest days to fall on another day just keep it this order so your muscles can rest ❤️

Hi everyone! First post here.

I (32, FtM, almost 11 years on T and 10 years post top surgery) was diagnosed with NAFLD/MASH in mid July. I am not a drinker (its been years) or smoker. Since July 22nd, I decided to make the strong effort to lose my weight and start hitting the gym. I cut out nearly all processed foods, the most “processed” being things like Clean Simple protein shakes or RX bars. My goals and limits daily are 150g protein, 30g fiber, 1800 calories, sat fats below 13 and 2,000 sodium. I’m also currently fighting with my insurance right now for Wegovy, but I am approved for it as a treatment for my liver disease.

The change was IMMEDIATELY for a while. My inflammation and swelling went down completely. I lost just over 20lbs, going from 258lbs to 236lbs, which I hit on August 24th. It was also August 18th that I started a “newbie gains” gym routine, of doing a full body split 3-4 times a week and cardio daily, 15 minutes on the days I do my workout and 30 minutes on off days.

My current routine is:

10 minute stretch session

And then 2 sets of 8-12 reps of just under the heaviest weights I can safely handle, until near failure:

incline bench press
Lateral raise
Barbell bicep curl
Hammer curl
MTS row
Lat pulldown
Tricep pushdown
Chest press
Smith machine squats
Leg extension machine
Hacksquats (these I do until failure, about 2 sets 5-6 reps at base weight)

End with cardio.

I feel better, really good actually, my endurance has drastically improved and I can tell already that I’m putting on muscle fast, but my weight has not budged. I am also struggling with my gut weight as well as most of my weight sits there. I drink about 120 fl oz of water a day as well. I’m disappointed though that I have not seen the weight move. And honestly in retrospect I should have probably been measuring too 😅

I’m trying to follow at least this current workout schedule and routine for about 12 weeks, but I have been really struggling with what workouts to do when I eventually split up my days and isolate certain areas of my body.

Anyway I hope this helps, and I am forever gracious if anyone could share some wisdom 🙏 thanks!

Ps: the massive dip in most of these graphs is because I took a 13 hour nap after I got off work at 2:30pm and missed snacks and dinner 😅

Hi, im very much overweight currently and struggling to get into a routine to do so. i want to start calorie counting so i can get a deficit every day, but something I dont quite understand is how it interacts with transitioning. generally, calorie requirements are presented to be different between male and female sex, but i dont know in what capacity this applies to someone transitioning?

for context, ive been on E for about 3, 4 years now. 180cm tall and 143kg.

I do be turning heads at the YMCA especially since I use the men's locker room. I gues the key is to give zero fucks anyways felt pretty good with this today. Would love to get bigger quads, I think thats my weakness in my legs right now. Any suggestions?

Hey all. New here. I’m 47 years old, 254 pounds, 6 feet tall. I’ve been on HRT for 5 years now and just need to do something to get healthier. I spent years neglecting my body and health and reached 280 pounds earlier this year.

I’m currently on a medically necessary liquid diet. I’m a type 2 diabetic and am on a diet that puts the diabetes into full remission. If I eat healthy after the diet I should stay in remission. The diet is a liquid diet. I eat 850-880 calories per day for the first month, followed by 1200 calories a day for the next two months. After that, I get to bump back up to about 2000 calories and maintain my new weight. In those three months, it’s expected I’ll lose about 50-60 pounds. And yes, I am doing this fully under doctors supervision and having lab work done weekly.

In all of this, I’m supposed to do bodyweight and resistance exercises so that I maintain muscle. I want to make sure what I do helps with feminizing my figure as I drop weight.

And after the diet is done, I want to get healthy. I have dinner plans and recipes figured out already for when my diet is done, focusing on Mediterranean style foods.

I’m two weeks into my diet, so I have a long journey ahead. Any thoughts on how I can ease into getting into better shape would be very helpful.

Thanks everyone!

Hiii, the name is Quimera (chimera). Im 19 and a transgirl who is pre-hrt.

To be brief, i've got inspired by the petra parker trend and also the fact i work in healthcare so strenght to carry patients is required.

Lets say im a first response person and im studying nursery.

I wanna start to work out to enhance my capabilities but without feeling dysphoric about it, but i've nerver been a sporty gal.

I wanna be resistant flexible and highly responsive someday.

Maybe learn how neutralize menaces, crawl, climb, jump, pull, lift and help others like spidey does.

I gotta be strong, i gotta to be fast, i gotta to be fresh from the fight.

So, how can i start?

I’m trying to get back into strength training after slacking for a couple years. I still do regular cardio, but I haven‘t lifted much. Today was my first attempt at an upper body day and it was kinda humiliating 😅 3 sets of ten 40 lb rows (+ 1 warmup 30lb set of ten), 3 sets of 5 30 lb chest presses, 4 sets of 5 rear delts, 3 sets of 5 30 lb chest flys and I had to tap out after that. The whole time I felt like I was just embarrassing myself fiddling around and having to set everything to such low weights.

Can anyone relate or, if you’re ok with it, share some embarrassing first day stories to make me feel better? I wanna keep going (I wanna build muscle and look/feel good) but starting at such wimpy levels makes me feel like a loser 😅

Hi there, I just measured my waist out of curiosity and want to get your thoughts. I am an early 20's man, and my height is 160 cm. When I measure normally, it’s around 60–62 cm. It goes down to 58 cm when I inhale/suck it in, and bloats to about 64 cm after eating. Would you consider this waist size small, or is it just average/normal for my height? Thanks!"

Hey all,

[CN: there's a minor (spoilered) mention of body image in relation to approaching PTs]

[Context: 44 y/o trans woman, medically detransitioned at 26, have alopecia, planning to medically retransition]

So, I started pole 4 years ago, at the age of 40. Until then, I hadn't had a fitness discipline that I stuck to. I tried roller derby¹, and did bad things to one of my adductors very early in training. Mostly, I did a lot of walking.

Now, I'm at the point where to advance in pole (or even just not get injured), I need to go to the gym. So, once I was reaching the end of my last stint in physiotherapy, I signed up to my most local gym (10 minutes walk from my house).

The thing is, it's looking like I might get on hormones in the foreseeable future. So, I'm also interested in a bit of targeted lower body work². And I hate taking exercises off the internet because I like having real-time in-the-room feedback about what I'm doing, what I'm doing wrong, and what I can do to improve (at least at the start, and I get to a point that I can catch myself).

For example, I know that RDLs are going to become my best friend. But, from researching them, I also know that keeping my spine straight is really important, and I don't know the cues to make sure that it is, so I don't trust myself to just watch a youtube video and do 3 sets of them.

Right now, I can go to the gym, and continue doing my physio homework for my upper body, so I don't feel like the gym membership is going to waste. But expanding into new exercises seems daunting without some human oversight.

So, naturally, I'm looking at the bios of the PTs who work out of my gym. But, when I look at the page, holy essentialism batman!

I'd swear all but one of the guys are "Sport! Sport! Sport! Get swole with me! Swole-swole-swole!" (the exception is a guy who opens that he was also a dancer, and then leans into the "sport! swole!" blurb), which just reeks of trying to appeal to guys on that same level. No shade, it's just very obviously not where I am or want to be. I genuinely hope they get the sorts of clients they're looking for.

But then the women's bios will have really relatable stories that can very much reflect how I feel about my body, and what I want to do with it. Then I go to their IGs and there's a slogan of "helping empower women" or some variation, maybe a mention of how they're a mum. And I honestly don't know if I'm reading too much into it, but to me there's a silent "cis" before every mention of a woman. And, you know if I saw even a single pride flag, or statement of queer or trans inclusion, I'd be signing right up. But, no.

And, I dunno, one of my friends from pole is a PT. I'd go to her except for how overworked she seems to be right now, but I remember her talking about how she doesn't want male clients, and has shown me messages she's gotten from guys (including a sissy asking her for humiliation). And... I don't want to approach these folks and run the risk of being lumped in with them.

(CN body-stuff) Given I basically look like a fluffy brick, I really am genuinely worried about being lumped in with the guys who want a female trainer for all the wrong reasons.

Now, personally, I have a strategy to help me find someone to work with. It's going to be something like, turn up to the gym on a regular basis. And to book and turn up to classes on occasion to get a vibe of the PTs who work there (who do I think I can work well with). And once I've turned up enough to just be one of the faces, then I'll approach a PT about potential 1:1 stuff.

But, my vampire tendencies (not entering a space unless explicitly invited) are really messing with my head. I know my gym has an explicit trans-inclusive policy (they don't really advertise it but I know it's there). I know every member of staff and PT in that gym have been fully informed about that policy. And I know that when I find a PT, I'll probably realise I've been worrying about nothing.

I know a bunch will be surprised because they've got this baseline of "trans woman are women" in their head (god bless the younger generation), and don't feel the need to advertise that they're inclusive. Even my PT friend, who is actually enthusiastic about having trans women as clients, doesn't really say anything about being trans-inclusive. She has the same blurb. If I didn't know her, I wouldn't approach her either.

But, I'm trying to find someone to trust with my body, and I'd really like to know that they are inclusive. Because the ones who aren't inclusive say "women" with the silent cis before it. And, on the internet, I don't have a way to tell one from the other.

So, sorry for the vent. But if anyone else has had trouble navigating this, do you have any advice?

¹ And if I'm being honest, it wasn't just the DIY culture at the time, and the physical nature of it, but also the fact that it seemed every skater seemed to end up with absolutely phenomenal legs.

² That's just the polite way of saying I want to have shot at having an damned ass. Not just for my vanity, but also because ass-shaking is pretty much written into the pole curriculum in my studio; at least if you're doing heels choreography.

I've been meaning to start exercising for a while now, but I'm a bit overwhelmed on where to even begin. I'm quite new to anything fitness related and I can't help but get in my own head about what is and isn't right for me.

I found a YouTube playlist from an account called "KetchBeauty" but I'm skeptical whether it's worth it, especially since they promote a very pricey "full course" in the same playlist. I skimmed through the home guide in the pins here, but I'm a little confused on what how I'll be using it.