[julieTG]

gosh 
Bet that title gets a few views

Sitting here weak as a kitten still after food poisoning, ie cannot lift anything hardly , got me wondering  is this how it would feel after a few years of HRT ?

How much manly strength do we lose ?

X

Julie

[Katie]

I was never very strong to start with, my wife did all the heavy lifting for me, but after 2.5+ years of HRT I`d say I`v lost about 60% of what i had before, my pain threshold is lower and my skin damages easily (it was almost bullet proof before). my 12 yo daughter can beat me in an arm wrestle and my 8 yo isn`t far from being able to do the same! LOL
But... I don`t feel weak, I have Tons of seemingly endless energy, my brain seems to work much faster too but it`s also lovely an quiet in there as well.
you`ll lose weight (muscle) out of your hands too but they`ll also look nicer as you hand over your bottle or jar for someone else to open for you
I know that from the other side looking at my side it may sound scary, but from My side it doesn`t feel wrong or bad, it just feels perfectly normal like you`re as strong as you need to be and if there`s no one around to help you learn little tricks to get things done (or you wait). it`s really not as important as it may seem from the other side. And!!!! you also become way more agile and flexible too that to me is more than worth the loss of any physical strength.
and it does settle as well, you don`t Keep losing muscle or strengh, you reach your female max allowance and it stays there, i`m sure i could have chosen better words than that but imma just leave it as it is, you get the point LOL
xx

[PleasantlyFascinated]

Well now, this has sent my mind down an interesting rabbit hole.  Useless, of course, but fascinating to me at least..

What if women were stronger than men??  What if female hormones gave people more physical strength?  How many fewer males would stay away from HRT if that were the case?  It puts things in a much clearer perspective for me, in distinguishing between my desire for beauty, strength, procreative potential and sexual role.  It actually helps me better understand how I identify with gender.  Interesting..

[happyfeet]

This is were I get very confusing and mixed feelings. I was always very muscular and very strong. I've done very physical work all my life,masonry, heavy equipment mechanic, drilling rigs, etc.
But with taking pm I've grown calmer ,clearer thinking,and just an all around mellower person who me  and my wife like better. I don't fly off the handle over every little thing.
But growing breasts is a fascinating turn on and an embarrassing thing  I now notice women differently like boy I wish my body was like hers and that item of clothing items looks good .sex is so much better ,my wife seems to take charge and I now have deeper more emotional orgasms.I don't find men attractive at all .I enjoy being feminine and wearing bras and panties ,and wish I could become a woman.
But I also like being a man sometimes so things are just very confusing for me right now

[julieTG]

Hi happy feet
Your certainly not on your own welcome to our world
X
Julie

[Katie]

there`s Nothing I miss about playing the male role so there`s a definite difference between some of us here. ok, there`s One thing that I kinda miss, but it`s so trivial and the reason to do it has gone too now, so it`s no big deal anyway. xx

[happyfeet]

I truly am sorry for the rant ,but I get so bottled up I eventually got to get things off my chest. I mean my wife is very supportive she buys my bras and panties,tells me she loves me, likes my calmer side, and tho she won't admit it incurages me to take pm.
The problem is I start to feel and see changes in my body and mental thinking and it scares the hell out of me. 
Most of the confusion and  emotional mixes come when I am on a break ( witch I'm on now)  again sorry if I offended or insulted anyone it was not my intention

[Katie]

oh sweetie, you`ve got Nothing to apologise for!

We`re ALL different here and that`s a wonderful thing, if it`s on your mind, let it out, what you have to say is just as Valid and Important as anyone else here ❤️

[Happyme]

I particularly hate it!
I stopped all NBE in Jan this year because I could not lose any weight.
So far now that we have summer I am losing and feel much better.

However, All the things I used to be able to do and lift are almost out of reach.
That really aggravates me!
As I've mentioned in other threads, I had my epiphany a while back and found that I really enjoy my life in the garage, getting dirty and fixing things that no one else can.
To that end, all the levers I used, need to be a lot longer, and moving big objects is a multi step ordeal now.

I've just started back on NBE but only topicals and Noogle.
I'm waiting for my reishi to come in because I dont like all the facial and body hair that is reappearing.

My next phases will be to keep the strength I have and be happy with what I am. And by the way I still enjoy getting cleaned up and letting Bobbi out each night, She is not my driving force any longer.


Bobbi

[Darlene]

Hi Julie,

I don't if I posted about the loss of strength issue, but that has been a reason why I stopped HRT in the past especially when going on extended white water rafting trips so I can relate to your experience.

One of my newer hobbies is white water rafting I have taken up in the last 5-6 years as my body aged, and parts wore out hiking became more difficult for me for a while.  Well I live in Arizona and the flexible nature of the work that I do I often get invited to row a raft on 2-3 week long rafting trips in the Grand Canyon, or Idaho or whatever river I can get on now.  But as a boatman or is that boatwoman, hmmm, I often row a 16'-18' raft that weighs around 2000lbs through big white water on the Colorado river, etc.  A white water raft is a bit like a floating RV and we carry big coolers and kitchen gear, etc that has to be loaded and loaded at each camp usually daily.  So yes, I have thought I needed all of my strength both to safely maneuver my boat through rapids and endure the stress of being a boatman and loading/unloading so then I have stopped HRT a few weeks before my rafting trip to get my T and muscles recovered.  After 10 days on the river rowing 4-5 hours a day and the boat loading and rigging my strength returns.

I have definitely noticed at times when I could no longer lift heavy or bulky items on HRT, I found unscrewing lids particularly disturbing that I couldn't twist off the tops of jars as easily as before HRT.

Also I was hiking a 10000' tall mountain by Flagstaff a few weeks ago and definitely felt my legs were weaker and wondered if HRT was affecting my lung capacity and/or cardio/vascular system of course some of that may be my own physical condition and lack of exercise.

I ride my bicycle whenever I can try and keep in shape as well as making time for the gym, but I have been working lots of OT lately.  I guess I haven't yet given up on being the man for doing the heavy lifting, but maybe it is about learning to use my muscles in different ways without the extra muscle mass from T being available.  Maybe for me it is more about re-educating and re-training myself what having a more feminine muscular structure means and learning how to work with my body as it changes.  Thinking about it I have always been one of the biggest, strongest in a group, or sometimes we have 2-3 of us in a group that are the muscle power and that has been part of my identity.

Darlene