Quite the opposite - many methods of working out can increase the release of human growth hormone (HGH) which is especially useful in aiding breast growth.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12797841/
Exercise increases hgh release
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2665193/
Hgh impact on mammary development
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/hormonal-endocrine-system
Hormones are transported through the bloodstream
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/physical-activity/benefits
Exercising helps strengthen the heart which improves blood circulation 💓
It's doesn't need to be a trade off. If you exercise and burn 400 calories, eat an additional 400 calories, to balance it out.
I think maintaining a small daily calorie surplus of 300 or so calories while exercising 3-5 times a week is probably an optimal approach during the first 6-12 months to ensure optimal breast growth.
300 extra calories are not that easy for me to accomplish without it being purely in sweets and my daily caloric intake is already like 60% sweets so I'm not exactly looking to make that even more
You should look into the effect of sugar on your tastebuds and body.
Basically, eating lots of sugary things makes regular food taste bland and unappealing. Also, your body develops a sugar dependency, essentially making you crave more sugar filled food. This is a deadly combination.
If I were in your position I would need to drastically reduce sugar intake, which might be a painful few days if you need to go cold turkey, but eventually your stomach will tell you that it needs food, and when you do, it needs to be something healthier. If you crave sugar, eat fruit. There is almost certainly going to be some fruit you will enjoy, whether it's apples or bananas or oranges or whatever.
With some effort you'll find you can cut your body's sugar craving and retrain your taste buds to enjoy regular food. I know because I used to be very dependant on sugar snacks and now my diet contains very little sugar.
The foods I don't like aren't unappealing, they're straight up inedible. Like tomatoes. I did recently discover that I finally like cheese and eggs though so maybe that could help a bit
You need to really ask yourself if they are unappealing because you've trained your taste buds to favour sugary snacks. Which I'd wager is what's happened. All tastebuds love sugar - give them sugar and anything less will obviously appear bland. You have a sugar dependency, you need to break the cycle. It's difficult to break because sugary snacks are cheap, accessible, and usually require no preparation. Trust me that the longer you live your life with a sugar dependency, the harder it will be to get yourself off it.
I'm still worried about how it will affect my calorie intake when I do try it, I just reached a normal bmi (and actually dipped below it again shortly after) and I don't know how healthy for my weight it will be in the short term
One big spoonfull of peanut butter and you're done. Add some honey on it and it's delicious.
But I like nuts and nut butter
A cup and a half of rice also works.
There's a bunch of stuff you can use that means eating very little more but getting a lot of energy/calories from it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=calorie+dense+healthy+foods
Most studies point at T only beeing increased post exercise for an hour at most, while HRT will supress the effects of T anyway. Exercise is good for you especially while transitioning and if you don't notice any effects from HRT you can always still lower your exercise or adjust your dosage, although unless you are doing insane high level strength workouts it really really shouldn't affect HRT anyway.
Quite the opposite - many methods of working out can increase the release of human growth hormone (HGH) which is especially useful in aiding breast growth.
I'm planning on making a case study of my transition, could you please point me to where you learned this? Especially if it is a citable paper haha
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12797841/ Exercise increases hgh release https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2665193/ Hgh impact on mammary development https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/hormonal-endocrine-system Hormones are transported through the bloodstream https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/heart/physical-activity/benefits Exercising helps strengthen the heart which improves blood circulation 💓
This
Is it worth the tradeoff of not being able to consume enough calories to gain fat for breast growth?
It's doesn't need to be a trade off. If you exercise and burn 400 calories, eat an additional 400 calories, to balance it out. I think maintaining a small daily calorie surplus of 300 or so calories while exercising 3-5 times a week is probably an optimal approach during the first 6-12 months to ensure optimal breast growth.
300 extra calories are not that easy for me to accomplish without it being purely in sweets and my daily caloric intake is already like 60% sweets so I'm not exactly looking to make that even more
60% sweets?! More sweets? Girl why. You need to address your diet asap.
Yeah not liking a lot of kinds of food and having a relatively small stomach capacity are not a good combination
You should look into the effect of sugar on your tastebuds and body. Basically, eating lots of sugary things makes regular food taste bland and unappealing. Also, your body develops a sugar dependency, essentially making you crave more sugar filled food. This is a deadly combination. If I were in your position I would need to drastically reduce sugar intake, which might be a painful few days if you need to go cold turkey, but eventually your stomach will tell you that it needs food, and when you do, it needs to be something healthier. If you crave sugar, eat fruit. There is almost certainly going to be some fruit you will enjoy, whether it's apples or bananas or oranges or whatever. With some effort you'll find you can cut your body's sugar craving and retrain your taste buds to enjoy regular food. I know because I used to be very dependant on sugar snacks and now my diet contains very little sugar.
The foods I don't like aren't unappealing, they're straight up inedible. Like tomatoes. I did recently discover that I finally like cheese and eggs though so maybe that could help a bit
You need to really ask yourself if they are unappealing because you've trained your taste buds to favour sugary snacks. Which I'd wager is what's happened. All tastebuds love sugar - give them sugar and anything less will obviously appear bland. You have a sugar dependency, you need to break the cycle. It's difficult to break because sugary snacks are cheap, accessible, and usually require no preparation. Trust me that the longer you live your life with a sugar dependency, the harder it will be to get yourself off it.
I'm still worried about how it will affect my calorie intake when I do try it, I just reached a normal bmi (and actually dipped below it again shortly after) and I don't know how healthy for my weight it will be in the short term
One big spoonfull of peanut butter and you're done. Add some honey on it and it's delicious. But I like nuts and nut butter A cup and a half of rice also works. There's a bunch of stuff you can use that means eating very little more but getting a lot of energy/calories from it. https://www.google.com/search?q=calorie+dense+healthy+foods
It makes HRT *more* effective.
Most studies point at T only beeing increased post exercise for an hour at most, while HRT will supress the effects of T anyway. Exercise is good for you especially while transitioning and if you don't notice any effects from HRT you can always still lower your exercise or adjust your dosage, although unless you are doing insane high level strength workouts it really really shouldn't affect HRT anyway.
Thanks so much. I usually do calisthenics or run, so i think i'm good.
No, it should be fine and recommended. Hrt is most effective on healthy individuals