Spoiler tagging all the “optional” context, because I know it’s a long post.
I’ve been on HRT for 3.5 years, and pass flawlessly and live mostly stealth, even among friends. But I can’t seem to stop hating how muscular my arms are. >!People compliment them all the time, and no one ever clocks me for it. But the reality is that it makes me feel self-conscious and masculine whenever people comment on them. My body feels “top heavy.” I wish my arms/shoulders were narrower, and my hips wider. By body measurement (bust, waist, hip) I am an hourglass, however, that doesn’t take shoulders/arms into account.!<
I don’t workout my arms at all. I’ve read that the only ways to lose muscle are to avoid using them, and to lose weight. I’ve done both. I was 175 pounds 1.5 years ago, and now I am 120 pounds. >!I didn’t like the size of my arms *before* I lost weight, but losing weight barely made them smaller, it just trimmed the fat off of them so they look more defined now (which is when the compliments started coming in). And I don’t even have much more weight I can lose; my BMI says I shouldn’t go below 108 pounds. I am completely at a loss about how I can fix this.!<
>!And I know you are all lovely and want to say things about how great I look, or how much you wish you had my arms, or how being strong doesn’t make me less feminine. And I appreciate that. But I have tried coming to terms with it, and accepting and loving my body as is, and I just can’t do it.!< This is like the last major dysphoria roadblock I have. So does anyone know how I can get rid of my arm muscle? Do I really just need to keep losing weight until it finally burns off the muscle? I worry about going lower than 120 pounds.
Tried choosing photos that show it, though unfortunately I tend to delete photos I don’t like.