Transgender WWE star Gabbi Tuft, 45, opens up about the 'frustrating, difficult' struggle to lose her bulky muscles and achieve a slim feminine body – as she lifts the lid on a strict diet and exercise regimen that ultimately helped her get results to see

Transgender WWE star Gabbi Tuft has opened up about her 'frustrating' struggle to lose muscle mass to help her achieve a more 'feminine' body.

San Francisco native Gabbi, 45, made the transition three years ago from her longtime professional wrestling career as feared gladiator Tyler Reks.

During the height of her fighting career, the athlete weighed 280 pounds and had only six to eight percent body fat. However, since menopause, Gabbi has lost 50 pounds and put on weight, giving her the body she wanted.

But achieving the feminine body of her dreams was certainly not easy.

Now the former wrestling star has lifted the lid on the “extremely difficult” battle to lose muscle mass while staying slim, which has pushed her to new mental and physical heights.

Speak with Business insiderthe 45-year-old revealed how she had to change her mindset to help her body evolve.

The WWE icon said: 'Since there were no reliable guidelines on how to lose muscle mass as a trans person, I had to figure this out for myself. In the end I succeeded, but it was not an easy journey.'

She noted that at the beginning of her journey, she contacted every fitness coach she knew and asked for their advice on how to lose both weight and muscle mass.

However, they advised her to only lift smaller weights, which made her lean but didn't cause her to lose any of her muscle mass.

After trying several methods and failing, Gabi became “frustrated” and decided to take matters into her own hands by studying muscle atrophy.

Her research focused on how transgender women could change their body shape.

She noticed that a light bulb went off when she learned that patients who rested completely in bed lost more muscle mass than those who just got up to go to the bathroom.

So she used this idea to stop resistance training altogether, hoping that muscle atrophy would occur.

Even though the athlete wanted to lose muscle, she still wanted to stay slim, so she took up bodyweight workouts to keep her lower body toned.

“While this was a good start, my body really started to transform when I discovered a way to force my body to use muscle as an energy source,” she told the outlet.

The WWE star noted that when she started forcing her body to use muscle for fuel, she started seeing results.

She told Business Insider, “I necessary to deprive my body of all other fuel sources to burn muscle mass.'

The athlete focused on transitioning to her own version of a keto diet that included only protein and healthy fats.

She explained that this helped her body convert muscle into glucose, instead of carbohydrates and sugars.

Gabbi started intermittent fasting and followed a strict exercise regimen that included intense amounts of cardio.

And soon the 45-year-old started seeing the feminine body she had always wanted.

She told the outlet, “The muscle mass started peeling away quickly when I started taking this approach. It was incredible to see.”

At the beginning of her journey, she wore pants size 14 to 16.

After losing her muscle, she is now a size 10 and wears a size large or medium in tops.

And while it was difficult to find the right exercise balance to keep her toned and lose muscle mass, she noted that it was even harder to teach herself to be happy in her new body.

The athlete revealed that she had to “let go” so she could “embody the female form.”

She noticed that when obstacles stood in her way, she focused on why she wanted to achieve her goals, her “why.”

Her professional wrestling career lasted from 2008 to 2012, with appearances on Smackdown, Raw and Wrestlemania.

As a professional WWE wrestler, she had built up a tremendous amount of muscle mass. Specifically, her 6-foot-4 frame weighed 280 pounds, with only six percent body fat.

She said: “At my peak, I looked like a cross between Ragnar Lothbrok from 'Vikings' and The Mountain from 'Game of Thrones.'” which led to a series of less common obstacles during the transition.

After retiring, she founded a fitness company called Body Spartan with now ex-wife Priscilla, which focuses on “positively transforming the body, mind and spirit of men and women through targeted video workouts, nutrition programs and motivational sessions.”

But in 2021, she made headlines with her transition from male to female.

She previously admitted that when she was younger, she would dress up in her mother's clothes when left alone.

But it wasn't until the pandemic that she had time to fully rethink her identity — and that's why she started dressing up.

After years of flooding her body with testosterone, she decided to switch in her early 40s.

Although hormone therapy promoted the change, she claimed she had made herself a “guinea pig” to eliminate the amount of muscle mass Gabbi had.

According to Gabbi, it took her two years to find an exercise and diet routine that helped her get and keep her desired body.