B
eing at your ideal weight can make you look and feel your best as a transgender woman or crossdresser.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
Males and females gain weight in different areas. The more fat you store in the abdomen and upper body, the harder it is to create a feminine body shape.
The good news?
There are thousands of diet and exercise programs that can help you lose weight and achieve your body feminization goals.
The bad news?
It can be totally overwhelming to sort through all the conflicting weight loss advice out there!
That’s why, in this blog post, I share simple, proven principles that apply to any diet or exercise program.
Here are 8 must-know weight loss tips for a slimmer MTF female figure:
1. Listen your body’s hunger signals
The problem with most diets is that they tell you when and how much to eat – without taking into consideration what YOUR body actually needs.
If you ignore your hunger and don’t eat when you’re physically hungry, you set yourself up to overeat later. It becomes a vicious cycle that leads to weight gain.
On the flipside, if you eat when you’re NOT physically hungry – for example, when you’re stressed or bored – you will also obviously gain weight.
The solution is simple: eat when you are physically hungry – and stop when your body is satisfied. This is how naturally thin people eat.
To learn more about this approach, also called intuitive eating, I recommend these books:
Diets Don’t Work by Bob Schwartz
Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole
The 7 Secrets of Slim People by Vikki Hansen and Shawn Goodman
2. Don’t skip breakfast
Breakfast is essential for revving up your metabolism for the day. Research also shows that people who skip breakfast tend have more cravings later in the day.
But what if you’re not hungry in the mornings? This is the only slight exception to Secret #1.
If you’re not hungry in the morning, plan to either have a light breakfast – or a mid-morning snack. But don’t wait until lunch to eat. By then, you’ll probably be TOO hungry, which can set you up for overeating the rest of the day.
3. Increase fiber
Did you know that 95% of Americans don’t get the recommended amount of fiber per day? That can have a big impact on fat loss.
Fiber helps with weight loss in several ways – it helps balance blood sugar levels and aids digestion. It also helps you feel full and acts as a natural appetite suppressant.
Secret #3 is to eat more high fiber foods and add a fiber supplement – like whole psyllium husks – to your diet.
4. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
If you want to lose weight, drink more water. It’s that simple. Water is a natural appetite suppressant, it helps remove waste, and it also increases fat burning. Be sure to drink a minimum of 6-8 glasses of water per day.
5. Drink tea
Tea is an awesome ingredient for weight loss! Studies show that tea reduces your appetite and speeds up fat burning. Coffee, on the other hand, makes you fat. Coffee increases the stress hormone cortisol, which causes cravings and increases belly fat.
You have to drink black tea, green tea, or white tea to get the fat-burning effect. (Herbal teas won’t cut it.) The more tea the better, so drink at least 4 cups per day if you are trying to lose weight.
6. Cut the secret sugars
Sugar is one of the worst foods to eat if you want to lose weight. Sugar raises your blood sugar level, which increases insulin. Insulin promotes weight gain and fat storage, so it’s a short road to Fatsville from there.
Did you know that most of the sugar you eat does NOT come from candy bars and cookies? Processed foods are loaded with sugars that secretly make you fat! Here are some of the top sources of secret sugars:
Ketchup
Salad dressing
Peanut butter
Spaghetti sauce
Hamburger and hot dog buns
Microwave meals
Fast food
Avoid fast food and check labels for secret sugar names like “high fructose corn syrup,” “corn sweetener,” “malt syrup,” “maltrose,” “fructose,” and “sucrose.” You can find healthy versions of ketchup, salad dressing, spaghetti sauce, etc. in health food stores.
7. Eat more greens
If you want to get rid of your belly blubber, you need to eat more vegetables – especially green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, and romaine lettuce. They are packed with vitamins and minerals. If your body is nutritionally deficient, it will constant crave food to try to get the nutrients it needs. Green veggies also contain fiber, which fills you up and reduces your appetite.
If you don’t like the taste of vegetables, try making a green smoothie! Just throw some spinach or lettuce into the blender when you are making a fruit smoothie. You’ll hardly taste the greens, but they’re in there helping you melt the fat away!
8. Get enough sleep
Finally, let’s talk about the last secret to lasting weight loss – SLEEP. Studies show that poor sleep or a lack of sleep can decrease the metabolism and increase calorie intake. If you’re having trouble losing weight, take a look at your sleep habits. Aim for a minimum of 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
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