Men and Women Lose Weight Differently

Ladies - have you ever gone on a weight loss program with your boyfriend, husband or brother only to have them lose weight much faster than you? Frustrating!!! Gentlemen - have you ever seen your girlfriend, wife or sister struggle with weight loss when you can drop weight off so easily?

Well, there is both physiological and well as psychological differences between men and women that cause them to lose weight differently. We've all heard about the different body shapes (apple versus pear) and what that means to health. This is the difference in how fat distribution varies among individuals.

The apple shape is where fat is carried more in and around the abdominal area (tummy, "beer belly"). This is more typical of men, though some women also may have this body type. The pear shape is where fat is carried more in the thighs and hips and is more typical of women. Without getting into the technical explanation, it seems that fat around the abdominal area (predominant in men) may be easier to lose than the fat in the hip and thigh areas (predominant in women) which tends to be stored instead of utilized. This is one explanation why men can drop the pounds more quickly than their female counterparts.

Men and women also have a different perspective toward weight loss. Overweight men tend to underestimate how much extra weight they carry and have less dissatisfaction with themselves than women. Men also tend to have more self-confidence in their ability to lose weight than women and approach their weight loss efforts more as a competition with "the other guy". Thus men tend to be less focused on what they are consuming and more focused on working out harder. This, along with the storage of excess fat in the abdomen, makes it less of the ordeal for men to lose weight.

Women on the other hand tend to be emotional eaters compared to men and will turn to food for comfort during periods of depression, stress, mood or low self-esteem. Women are very aware of their body size, probably "thanks" to the media world that focuses on thin women, and may tend to view themselves as heavier than they actual are. This self-image distortion is what can lead to the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, more common in women than men. Compared to men, women do not see the solution to their weight loss in a competitive sense. They are more likely to get assistance in making a plan and in helping to follow the plan. Women also more readily recognize that weight loss is achieved with a balance between activity and diet.

"So what?" you might ask. Well in the first place it provides understanding for both men and women that there truly IS a physical difference between men and women in how they carry weight and in how they lose it. It obviously doesn't change the fact of how any one individual carries their weight but it should relieve some of the confusion with better understanding and knowledge. I would like to think that better understanding would result in couples providing each other support and encouragement in their weight loss efforts. Men hopefully can be more sensitive to women during their "emotional" periods and possibly redirect them from eating with an offer of a walk or similar activity. Women can potentially learn from men and take on an activity that includes an element of competitiveness along with something they enjoy - tennis, raquetball, bowling, golf. By incorporating some enjoyable activity into your life (for me, clogging), weight loss then becomes a by-product of your life activities instead of the focus of your life.

Until we meet again,

Eat to Live, Live to do What You Love - Just Do It!