Do women find it more difficult to lose weight as compared to men?

Weight loss, as a topic, has many layers to it, having to do with a person’s health, lifestyle choices, discipline, and often, their gender as well. It could be true that women may find it more challenging than men to lose weight. Why is it so?
Buy Now | Our best subscription plan now has a special price
According to nutrition Bhakti Kapoor, there are several reasons why a woman may be struggling to shed a few kilos, while a man may seem to do it effortlessly. It has to do with three factors that Kapoor describes in an Instagram post.

They are:
1. Low testosterone: Having low testosterone makes losing weight difficult. The progress of men who received testosterone replacement injections was tracked for 11 years for a study, she explains, adding that those who did, lost an average of 20 per cent of their body weight.
2. Body composition: Men have more lean mass than women, and women have more fat mass than men. Men are more likely to accumulate adipose tissue around the trunk and abdomen, whereas women’s adipose tissue is typically found around the hips and thighs.

3. Hormonal fluctuations: Hormones are responsible for a variety of important functions in the body, including our ability to maintain muscle mass, lose body fat, and cope with stress and hunger. As a result, when a hormonal imbalance occurs, losing weight becomes much more difficult.

Kapoor further explains that “fat” does not equal “unhealthy”.
“Women do have larger fat stores than men, but this is due to their physiology, not extra weight. So, just because a woman has 11 per cent more body fat than a man doesn’t mean she’s 11 per cent ‘fatter’,” she writes, adding that even if a woman is “in perfect physical condition”, she will have “6 to 11 per cent more body fat than a man”.Best of Express PremiumPremiumPremiumPremiumPremium
📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!