I could use some advice on how to start (overweight)

Hi there!
Purely from anecdotal experience but one of my friends is transgender man. After he started getting his testosterone shots, he started eating like a boy in puberty eventhough he had already arrived at his maximum height. This caused a significant weight gain (from a normal BMI to overweight to nearly obese). I don't know when you started with the testosterone shots but I would say it's important to keep in mind. You can't outrun a bad diet either, so really focus on eating clean and healthy. Fastfood is super addictive and basically empty calories, fat and protein makes you feel a lot less hungry and helps you build your body. Try an app to monitor your intake in both calories and nutrients. Weightloss takes time and going down too much calories at once can cause muscle loss as well.

Building muscle is definitely easier with testosterone but you still will need to work for it. I would first advise you to go down in weight, your BMI is at 34.7 right now. If you do high impact exercise, you will damage your cartilage forever and you have a very high chance at injuring yourself. So skip running for now and replace it by biking or an elliptical or any other cardio that does not require high impact. Jumping ropes are also not advisable.

I'd say you could start with a program that is either level 2 or 3 depending on your fitness right now. Pick a program that focusses on strength and tone.
If you have access to dumbells, try IronBorn as an add-on.


Specific for transgender men who have gone through female puberty (I'm guessing that this is the case and otherwise it might be useful for someone else who reads this thread): cis men have a upside down triangular figure while cis women have a pyramide shape from their bone structure. To achieve this upside down triangular shape, try to work on your deltoid structure. For example lateral raises (those are really though in the beginning, don't add too much weight too soon!)

Hi and welcome to Darebee!
I would also suggest weight training over high impact, for the reasons Bromide already told you: you're going to go under surgery soon, for sure you don't want to have to go under surgery for a damaged knee or something like that.
If you're not used to workout, start with one of the programs here in Darebee, don't be afraid to use level 1 programs, just to make your body move. Focus on the form and not on how much you are lifting, at the beginning. At this point, just moving yourself should bring some results, provided that you eat clean (not too little, not too much, ecc...)
Hormones can have a high impact on storing fat (how much and where), so you'll probably want to check with your physician for what concerns dieting.
You'll find a lot of material here on Darebee, enjoy yourself!

Welcome to Darebee and good luck!

The simple answer is CICO. That is Calories In is less than Calories Out. The hard part is following it though. I imagine it will be difficult for someone so young to count calories diligently but I know it is something you will quickly see the benefit of when you trust it.Have a look at MyFitnessPal on your app store to track your progress.

Manuela and Bromide have some excellent advice for you too. I would add to not to overdo the exercise for now whilst your motivation is quite high. You want to build a routine that you can follow until it becomes habitual. You have a long journey in front of you and it can become disheartening when you don't see results quickly enough. The good thing is this community is here to support you every step of the way.

It looks like you've already got a lot of advice, and I'm not sure I can add more to that so.. A warm welcome from me and all the best for your journey! You've got this!!!

Hey, I know I'm late to the game, but maybe you'll want to start your diet off with a bit of fasting. Now this isn't feasible if your daily routine is rather physical, but if you have an office job that you reach by train or car you're totally fine. This way you'll get a bit of a reset on your hunger signals.

CICO was already mentioned and I'm all for counting calories, however there are three infrastructures you can eastablish to make it all easier:

1. Food infrastructure. Good knives, airtight containers and a collection of diet-friendly recipes are things that make the food easier. Knives and containers you may already own, but the recipe collection takes a while to build up.

2. Social infrastructure. If every outing with your family or friends revolves around food or drinking (alcohol is roughly as high in calories as fat, meaning a 30% tequila is essentially cream), then that's gonna be bad for your progress. Try finding activities that work just as well with a herbal tea. Now during corona this is all a bit limited anyway, but things like art shows, salsa evenings or board game nights are alternatives to sitting in a bar, going drunk clubbing or going to all-you-can-eats.

3. Mental infrastructure. If you think "eating until I burst" is your identity then you'll struggle to let it go. However there are plenty of mindsets that appreciate food without overeating every single day. Find a self identity story that seamlessly fits the diet and the subsequent healthy eating habits.

A rule: Once a week is not an occasion. Twice a year is an occasion, three times a year is barely an occasion and four times a year isn't an occasion anymore.

Remember to also mind your macros: 1.4 g per kg of your goal weight is how much protein you should eat. Fats and carbs you don't need to worry about, just stay within your calorie limit and you're very very likely fine. Some apps give percentages, but those aren't really useful to adhere to, unless you've found certain percentages make diet adherence easier for you.

Testosterone means muscle, so you can look forward to super speedy gains, no matter which muscles you choose to train first. Personally I just bought a grip trainer and I'm sure the next time I'm in the garden I'll make short work of the pruning.