Weight loss: does gender matter?
Many have often wondered why it is so hard to lose weight, when, it could be partly down to their gender. It has been hypothesised that women find it slightly harder to lose weight than men due to many different reasons, including the distribution of body fat, hormones, and the way the brain is wired – all factors that are very difficult, if not impossible to control.
The female and male bodies differ to one another in lots of ways; one of them being the composition of muscle mass to fat mass. The male body’s muscle mass percentage is higher compared the female body; muscles burn more calories than fat – even when resting, which significantly effects the rate of weight loss. Contrastingly, on average, the female body has 6-11% more body fat than men, however this doesn’t mean that this is 6-11% extra weight, it is just part of their physiology – just like how men have a higher percentage of muscle mass. This fat is also stored all over the body, meaning that it tends to be less noticeable when women lose weight, whereas men usually store it in a more concentrated place, granting a very noticeable change when men lose weight. Although this may seem bleak for some women, studies have proven that although men seem to lose weight faster, it tends to level out after a few months due to the female fat deposits being more spread out over the body rather than being concentrated in smaller areas. Furthermore, women have the advantage for fat storage however since it is healthier by mainly being stored in the thighs and backside rather than the stomach where men usually store it as this leads to more heart related problems. Due to this advanced storage, it is also easier for overweight women to burn the excess fat during exercise than overweight men do.
However, evolutionary advantages for women sometimes hinder possible weight loss. Women often struggle with a lower metabolic rate than men; their bodies use fewer calories to fuel the body’s natural functions i.e., breathing, thinking and the circulation of blood. In addition to this, the common body shapes for women, including ‘pear’ and ‘apple’ have a greater risk of being overweight, creating a natural but annoying hindrance to weight loss. The female body, in order to fight energy deficits, preserve fertility and perpetuate the species, needs these advantages for fat storage and calorie consumption because when it isn’t getting enough calories, ovulation and hormones that make reproduction possibly get surprised.
When most women go through important stages in their life for example, pregnancy; they gain more body fat, without being able to do much about it since it is a lot harder to exercise or sleep. Breastfeeding, however, does help to burn calories and can cause a decrease in weight. During the menopause, women gain weight in their abdomen due to a loss of hormones and an even slower metabolism. During their lifetime, 5-10% of women have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), which is a hormonal imbalance that makes weight loss more difficult.
After exercise everyone wants to be rewarded, Hormones take over a woman’s body including ghrelin – the ‘I’m hungry’ hormone which increases dramatically, and leptin – the ‘I’m full’ hormone which decreases dramatically. According to a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women are more commonly emotional eaters than men. Some emotional eaters will eat food that rewards the brain and release dopamine which tend to be sugary, fatty, hyper-palatable foods which causes weight gain according to Pamela Peeke, author of the “The Hunger Fix: The Three-Stage Detox and Recovery Plan for Overeating and Food Addiction.”
Binge eating is nothing new to lots of people and is very common, the problems usually come when people try and make up for their supposed ‘blunder’. In many cases, some women will feel pressured to cut whole food groups or even starve themselves in order to make up for the extra calories which causes more damage than good; on the other hand, men usually keep to the original plan or maybe try to add in a little bit of exercise. However, men tend to face a problem where they do not receive as much support than women which can lead to a bad mentality towards exercise and can make many unhealthy decisions, like giving it all up after one mistake.
To conclude, both genders have their own problems when it comes to losing weight, with women tending to have the more physical disadvantages, however this provides them with an advantage health wise, whereas men often struggle with their mental health but do not have to worry about losing weight slowly. Although it may seem like women do have an overall disadvantage, if they stay vigilant with their weight loss program, they will lose the same amount as their male counterpart, it will just take longer.