I started getting into fitness, strength and conditioning just before I had top surgery, as a way to prepare my body for being inactive and to get more core strength to manoeuvre around after surgery.

I had a trans trainer, who would maintain a workout diary with me for about six months, and it was really nice to have a clear trajectory for my fitness, and to know that I have a certain amount of time to achieve certain goals before surgery.

I struggle with eating and maintaining weight, so it was a good way to track calories and make sure I was getting enough protein to be able to keep up with the kind of activities I was doing.

And having someone who's trans was really cool. I would have a weekly check in with him, and he'd be like, "Oh, you didn't do so great this week, what's happening for you? You didn't drink much water, and you didn't manage to get out to do that run. How are you doing?"

And I could explain that I had dysphoria, or that something was going on for me. The fact that he was a trans person as well meant that he was really focused on building shoulders and building chest muscle for the surgeon to be able to navigate and identify muscle tissue that they wanted to keep, and to increase my healing time after surgery.

It was all-encompassing when it came to my care, and what I needed for that period of time, so I really appreciated that. It was a bit expensive and I had to just put that towards surgery costs. But it was part of my rehabilitation and recovery and surgery needs.

It was nice to be thorough, and I felt really confident -- I got muscles and I could measure my arm width and measure my chest size. Even though I was dysphoric about my chest, I was able to see the progress and the underlying shape and sculpture of what I would hopefully be achieving after surgery.

[As told to @Ragi Gupta — continued]