Need to loose weight. Worried it will affect breast development.

Anecdotal, but I've been steadily losing weight since just before starting HRT, and no problems here :3

A starvation diet is probably not a good idea, though. Keep eating a good balance of nutrients!

Skinny girls can grow breasts. And it's not as if eating to excess is going to make them grow faster (although higher body fat will make everything bigger).

I put weight on deliberately when starting on HRT and at points when I increased my estrogen dose.

It didn't help and I have very small boobs. I've done caloric restriction and large amounts of exercise a few times when further increasing estrogen or changing from pills to patches and it's not really impacted breast growth.

Some trans girls are just up against the genetic lottery and you'll end up small no matter what. In my case, none of the cisgender women in my immediate family have anything above an A cup and coupled with broader shoulders from an original testosterone puberty means I've got not much at all!

Which is a lot to say that trying to game it via weight gain and loss isn't going to make a huge difference and you should get development no matter, unless you are on a starvation diet.

Okay first off, you’re not being insane by having these questions.. those are some totally valid questions. this would stress me out as well. It’s totally okay to feel conflicted about this. Is this something you could check with your doctor or HRT supplier? Preferably this is something you want to get from a qualified health professional.

If I were to guess— it should be fine if you follow a healthy diet. Your body needs energy to grow and maintain itself. It will use it to create new cells, from blood cells, skin, hair, nails to breasts. Reducing calorie intake will make your body work to convert fats into glucose, as a source of energy, in order to keep your body going. So those fats will be used as a source of energy for your body. So by that logic it should be fine? It would be problematic if you don’t have the fats to begin with or if you reduce intake too much and your body cannot keep up at the rate of burning fats. So dropping calorie intake entirely would likely have impact. You need a healthy balance.

Now unfortunately, burning fats is a slow process and this is high school biology at best so take it with a grain of salt. Best to check with a qualified professional. Or if you don’t have the luxury, ask around like you are already doing and find a person previously in a similar scenario. If you do have the luxury please ask.

Hope this helps 🩷

Edit: I also found these links:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/asktransgender/comments/13m8k0r/will_losing_weight_while_starting_hrt_affect/
• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7252590/

I don't think I've had any problems with lack of growth due to losing weight personally. And being thinner makes them seem more clearly like boobs and not moobs imo.

My body has always had trouble keeping on fat, and I was actually excited at the idea that my metabolism might change and help me gain some. I honestly haven't noticed it slow down, BUT I can say that my breast growth definitely has not been impacted by this. I'll also add that my eating habits are...less than ideal. I have a small breakfast around 11am and then a dinner of varying size in the evening (and usually some ice cream). I do try to get myself to snack and eat an additional meal, but it rarely happens as much as I'd like. Soooo, purely based on my experience, you should be okay 🩷 Just make sure to take a good multivitamin if you don't have a super balanced diet!

Honestly I have the same fears and situation. One way I approach this is to have intentional plateaus or even weeks where I intentionally let loose and gain a little weight back. This allows me to cycle my fat, having periods of losing and gaining weight, compared to always losing weight.

That said, I would prioritize your health and make sure you get enough nutrition and hydration, avoid starvation diets and extremes, aim to just reduce calories by 100 kcal on a daily basis so you have slow and steady weight loss.

When I started HRT I was at around 270 pounds (122.5 kg) but I exercised a bunch and got down to 220 pounds (100 kg) which I've been stuck at for almost a year now. Despite losing all that weight in my first few months of taking HRT, I still had a lot of breast growth. I didn't really restrict myself calorically, although I didn't eat excessively either, so my calorie deficit came primarily from exercise, so it is possible to lose weight without inhibiting breast growth. Your genetics are also going to be a factor as well, some people just don't get much breast growth, but that doesn't mean they are any less valid!

For what it's worth, I've been losing weight since I started transitioning and gaining boobs since I started HRT. So far I'm down about 40 pounds over almost a year and a half. Started HRT a little over a year ago. Chest development has plateaued a few times, but overall continues marching forward. The occasional delays have not been correlated with eating habits in the slightest. I've had the most consistent activity over the last 4-5 months, which roughly coincides with when I started deliberately calorie counting. I assume that's a coincidence.

Incidentally, I've done virtually no exercise during this time, so it's all diet driven.