Tuesday March 15, 2016 - Random thoughts

Stana, of Femulate fame, beat me to the punch today. I wanted talk about my battle of the bulge. Normally by March I will have lost any weight gained over the Holidays and winter. But coming out of this winter, I have not lost much weight. I have not gained much, but my clothes feel tight.

I do not weigh myself, I now judge based on how my clothes fit. Currently, both my male and female clothes are tight. This forces me to recognize slight weight gains. My problem is not enough hours in the gym and too much junk food around the house for my Grandkids. I normally do not bring certain food in the house because I know I will weaken and eat it.

So starting yesterday, I will increase my hours in the gym back to at least 6 preferably 7 hours per week of cardio. I will eat more homemade salads, which I like. Plus, I will increase the number of homemade smoothies I eat per day, from 2 (one in the morning and 1 after working out), to three, which will include a late lunch smoothie.Each smoothie is about 300 calories. Between working out and watching my caloric intake, my stomach will shrink along with the rest of my torso. Reducing my calories has a greater impact than working out, but together, it work quickly.

I want to get my stomach as flat as possible, which will put my waist around 30 inches and weight around 163, before I start HRT. I am less than 90 days away from my appointment. So I am getting excited because this is a once in a lifetime start. I want it perfect.

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I was playing around in my closet and found this perfect match of skinny jeans and flats. I bought the jeans at Goodwill last spring for half price Senior Day. I paid $2.75. I bought these flats from Payless Shoes for $10.00 using a coupon in addition to a store sale.

I like that the color of the jeans were in this color of the shoes. I bought these shoes along with a black print pair. This white based pair was bought for the spring.

I am going to hunt for a pretty Spring top to match the shoes and pants. Also a nice tunic sweater for this fall would create a second outfit.

I do not want to invest into too many clothes because the HRT will change my body of the next year. I am looking forward to adapting my wardrobe to this new anticipated body.

Monday March 14, 2016 - Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) - informed consent

For many transpeople, HRT is the holy grail. We dream about taking hormone to match or mind and body. However there are many obstacles to starting an HRT regimen.

Of course money is a major obstacle. But so is the requirement of a letter from a mental health professional. These two obstacles are shrinking as more insurance policies are including HRT and the medical letter is being replaced by doctors who accept informed consent.

Informed consent is a letter or form you sign at the Doctor's office stating that you understand HRT and its risks.

I found a Doctor in Atlanta who accepts informed consent and will being treatment this June.

Below are a few resources to assist you in finding a health care provider who accepts informed consent.

List of providers

Example of an informed consent form


How Planned Parenthood Is Helping Transgender Patients Access Hormone Therapy

Sunday March 13, 2016 - Shoes Pants skirts and tights

Not growing up presenting as a boy, I did not have the opportunity to learn from other girls/women or experiment with female clothing.

Thank goodness for the internet.

Below is a nice infographic about shoes, pants, skirts and tights. This is followed by four of my pictures.

Blow is a picture of me in a pair of pointy toe heels with leggings. I like this look. This is a nice size heel for me. The heel was not too high.

Below is another picture of me in an open toe strap. The mini dress looks goods with these shoes. THis outfit was for going on at night.

Below is my outfit I wore out when I was in Orlando. Its another min dress with an open to heel.

Finally, I have a peep toe shoe with a pair of white capris.

Saturday March 12, 2016 - I like her style

I was at my grandchildren's school yesterday for Grandparents lunch day. I was in boy mode and outside having lunch. This lady came outside with two young boys. They wanted to eat lunch outside but all of the tables were occupied.

I heard her tell the boys that there were no more tables and they could eat on the grass but she had a dress on.

I noticed her right-a-way. She had a pretty dress on with open toes boots. Her makeup was light and looked very good. I immediately liked her style and thought it was similar to mine.

99% of the ladies at lunch had very casual clothes on, I suspect she was headed back to work.

I went to her and offered her our table. We were finishing and I felt she needed to be at a table in order to feel more comfortable. She thanked me and was headed to the table when I got this picture.

One of the benefits of sisterhood is understanding certain situations and being proactive to solve the problem for my "sister".

Friday March 11, 2016 - Scarf

I do not wear scarfs often. But when I do, I just wrap them around my neck. I really want to do more with sthem. Well with spring approaching in Atlanta, it maybe 8 months before I start wearing them again. But I found this great video on how to wear a scarf.

This video has over 35M views. Please check it out. I like the next to last one which shows how to use a flower pendant.

If you are like me, bookmark it for next fall.