{"id":2133,"date":"2015-11-15T00:33:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-15T00:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.informed-nutrition.com\/?p=2133"},"modified":"2016-10-18T17:39:53","modified_gmt":"2016-10-18T17:39:53","slug":"why-women-find-it-harder-to-lose-weight-than-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/nutrition\/why-women-find-it-harder-to-lose-weight-than-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Women Find it Harder to Lose Weight than Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Why<\/a><\/p>\n

Ladies, isn\u2019t it always the case?\u00a0 A guy needs to lose some weight and BOOM, it\u2019s gone meanwhile we are stuck sweating for what seems like years at the gym and counting every single calorie that we think about as we fight for every pound we lose.\u00a0 It\u2019s not fair!\u00a0 Why do they have an easier time losing weight?<\/p>\n

There are several reasons why men\u2019s extra weight seems to fall off of them while we limit ourselves to eating carrot sticks.<\/p>\n

Fat vs. Muscle<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s simple physiology.\u00a0 On average, men just have more muscle than women.\u00a0 Yes, muscle is denser than fat, but it also burns more calories.\u00a0 With a higher muscle to fat ratio, metabolism is higher, even while resting.<\/p>\n

Women, on the other hand, usually have a higher fat to muscle ratio then their male counterparts, even if they are in good shape.\u00a0 It\u2019s just biology and is linked to what the body requires for reproduction.<\/p>\n

Blame it on the Hormones<\/h2>\n

Estrogen and Testosterone.\u00a0 Found in both men and women, but there is a big difference in the quantity of each hormone depending on the gender.\u00a0 Men have more testosterone, which aids in building muscle mass.\u00a0 Remember, more muscle burns more calories.\u00a0 Higher levels of testosterone increase the body\u2019s metabolism and therefore burns more calories as well.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, women have more estrogen than men.\u00a0 Estrogen regulates menstrual cycles and helps with pregnancy, among other things.\u00a0 It also helps protect women from heart disease, but this benefit decreases as estrogen levels fall after menopause, but are still at a higher level than what a man has.<\/p>\n

Placement is Everything<\/h2>\n

Men tend to put their excess weight in the belly while women usually have it spread over the hips and thighs.\u00a0 If a man was to lose 5 pounds, most of it would come from the one area and the decrease is more noticeable than if the same thing happened to a woman.\u00a0 In addition, men tend to be taller than women, so they have more room to store excess than the ladies.<\/p>\n

But storing the excess fat in the belly is a double edged sword.\u00a0 Those with more belly fat carry an increased risk of developing heart disease.\u00a0 That on top of the estrogen in a woman\u2019s body, protects her further from developing heart disease, as least until menopause.<\/p>\n

\"Why-Women-Find-it-Harder-to-Lose-Weight-than-Men-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brains<\/h2>\n

There was a study done to look into the brain and how it dealt with cravings and hunger.\u00a0 After fasting for 20 hours, both the men and women in the study were shown their favorite food but not allowed to eat it.\u00a0 The scans showed that once the men saw the food, there was no brain activity that they were hungry, but the opposite was with the women.\u00a0 Those who ran the study theorized that the women felt hungry might be linked to a primal need to eat to support fertility and pregnancy.<\/p>\n

It is also very common for women to eat their emotions, both good and bad.\u00a0 Eat to heal a broken heart or to celebrate something, we are guilty as charged.\u00a0 The men are not immune from this drive, but women tend to behave this way more.<\/p>\n

The Need for Speed<\/h2>\n

When men and women begin a weight loss program, formal or self-guided, the men will lose a larger amount of weight right away.\u00a0 They are immediately rewarded for their efforts from both the scale and their appearance.\u00a0 With women, this is not as much the case.<\/p>\n

On the upside for the women, they tend to have a more steady weight loss over a longer period of time while the men\u2019s early success drops lower.\u00a0 At the end of six months of similar weight loss regimes, the difference between men and women would be very little.\u00a0 The hard part is sticking with it for the long haul.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not Fair!<\/h2>\n

Weight loss is something many people have to deal with.\u00a0 Changing eating and physical habits are hard, but the long term benefits are worth it.\u00a0 Finding motivation to keep going can sometimes be the hardest part of it all.\u00a0 Yes, there are differences between men and women, but that should not derail your progress.<\/p>\n

There is Hope<\/h2>\n

All is not lost, Ladies.\u00a0 There are ways in increase your chances of success with weight loss.\u00a0 I have found that keeping a food diary keeps me on track and accountable.\u00a0 Referring to it several times a day helps me stay within my recommended amount of calories needed for weight loss.<\/p>\n

Just knowing how to figure out how many calories you need to stay healthy but lose the weight can be challenging.\u00a0 To help guide you, sign up for our free e-book that will help explain how and why the daily calorie count is made.<\/p>\n

So, what has worked for you?\u00a0 We\u2019re all battling the same problems and I\u2019m sure some of you have had great successes.\u00a0 Please share them with us in the comment box below, so we can all learn from each other on what works and what doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ladies, isn\u2019t it always the case?\u00a0 A guy needs to lose some weight and BOOM, it\u2019s gone meanwhile we are stuck sweating for what seems like years at the gym and counting every single calorie that we think about as we fight for every pound we lose.\u00a0 It\u2019s not fair!\u00a0 Why do they have an …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[95,17,93],"tags":[21,98,99,97],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nutritionly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}