According to an article written by Mitchelle Morgan, Health Writer, the core temperature of the body may affect the metabolism rate. The more core body temperature rises, the more metabolic rate increases. However, have you heard the fact that women have a harder time losing weight compared to men? If not, have you observed it by yourself?
Do not worry. Science agrees with it. Indeed, there are certain explanations for such a thing. For this article, you will learn how unique women are, in terms of losing weight through several factors. Are they bad? That is what you are going to find out.
Four factors Affecting Women’s Weight Loss
Four reasons why it is harder for a woman to lose weight revolve on the following factors: physiological, genetic makeup, behavioral, and social.
Physiological Factors
Under physiological factors are various explanations as to what makes females different from their counterparts. Most of these considerations are quite impossible to change, but do not totally stop the capability of women to lose weight.
In terms of metabolism, it is natural for women to have a slower metabolic rate compared to their male counterparts. Also, females require fewer calories for their bodies. As a result, the leftover calories are then stored to fat, instead of being used as energy.
Another thing to take note is that women are more likely to store more fats within the body than males. This is because females have fewer muscles than men, but muscles are helping a person burn excess fats.
We can never deny the fact that pregnancy may affect a woman’s weight. That is not just because of the fetus inside the womb. It is the natural bodily reaction for a pregnant woman to gain more body fats. Such a phenomenon also leads to lesser exercise.
Also, the postnatal consequence is also a lack of sleep, while sleep plays an important part for weight loss. As said on healthcanal.com, it is always good to promote both your physical and mental health.
But, if you are pregnant or know somebody who is pregnant, there is no need to be concerned. It can be reversed through breastfeeding. Yes, breastfeeding does not only help the babies become healthy. It helps mothers as well.
Menopause is the stage of women’s life, wherein they experience lots of changes, especially on the physical aspect. For instance, most females experience a body fat increase on their abdomen. However, everything is normal. A contributor for this is the changes of hormone production, always part of aging.
It has been said earlier that women have less muscles than men. Testosterone is involved in this. It is not only for men’s sexual reproductive organs. Indeed, the said hormone is also present in women’s bodies, but it is significantly lower than males. It is true that it is natural for men to have more muscles than their counterparts. However, testosterone helps men to gain more muscles easier, leading to smoother release of excess fats.
Genetic Makeup Factor
Surprisingly, genes really play a role in weight loss. You may inherit some genes from your parents, or even grandparents, which prohibits a more effective bodily response to losing weight. More specifically, your genes contain some set points, which state specific weight ranges, persisting despite your efforts.
Part of the genes you inherited is also the body shape. According to science, there are several body types that are prone to overweight and/or obesity.
Behavioral Factors
This is not to put down women and lift men’s strengths over females. However, science found some behavioral differences that make a person a woman. However, since these are behavior-related concerns, anyone can surpass such challenges.
According to study, females are more attracted to sugary and foods with high fats compared to males. They are also easy to crave. For example, when they are asked to smell certain foods they like, their brain automatically stimulates hormones, telling the person to eat, even though they are already full. Such a phenomenon however often does not occur in men.
This may or may not be true to you. However, under societal norms, women are less likely to do heavy workouts than men such as weight lifting. Because of such, mindsets are negatively impacted, leading to slower progress of losing weight.
Emotional eating is a phenomenon in which one eats out of stress, which a lot of women are prone to doing. Food does, in fact, engage the pleasure and reward center of the brain. The result is another weight gain.
Though not all women are like this, most of them want a highly visible result as immediate as they want. As a result, they suddenly change their entire diet and lifestyle. While such a thing might work at the first attempt, it may not help in the long run. Ironically, it results in more weight gain rather than loss.
Social Factor
The social factor revolves around the people around you, and how you set boundaries when needed. It only affects weight loss when one loses control against peer pressure.
Final thoughts
It is natural for women to have a harder time losing weight than their opposite sex. However, staying fit and not to become obese is still certainly possible.