The battle between the sexes can really heat up when it comes to weight loss. Unfortunately, men are better armed, which is why they lose weight more easily.
At Lafferty Family Care, Dr. Scott Lafferty and our team offer weight loss services for both sexes, and we understand some of the profound differences between the genders when it comes to storing the extra pounds — and shedding them. But women should take heart because while the battle may be a little more difficult on the front end, the results are well worth your efforts. Not to mention, we have several effective tools that give you the leg up you need.
Here’s a look at why losing weight is more difficult for women and how we can help you overcome this challenge.
One of the biggest handicaps for women when it comes to weight loss is simple biology. Men are biologically wired for more muscle mass than women, which can make a big difference when it comes to weight loss.
The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism rate is, which means you can burn calories more quickly, even while you’re resting. A man’s body is greatly influenced by the male sex hormone testosterone, which promotes muscle mass. While women have some testosterone in their systems, it’s not nearly at the same level as a man’s. Instead, women are governed by estrogens, which can throw up considerable roadblocks to losing weight (more on that in a minute).
So thanks to more muscle, men have an easier go of losing weight.
How men and women store extra fat is also governed by biology — chiefly your hormones. As we mentioned above, men are largely influenced by testosterone and women are ruled by estrogen. Since these hormones are reproductive in nature, they’re programmed to facilitate this area of your health. What this means for women is that their estrogens guide more fat storage around their reproductive organs to protect them, which means fat ends up in your abdomen, hips, thighs, and buttocks.
Men, on the other hand, are genetically inclined to stash excess fat mostly around their midsections.
Men go through life without any significant changes to their body size (unless they gain considerable weight). A woman who has children, however, sends her body on a roller coaster ride, expanding and shrinking over and over to accommodate each growing life.
And each time a woman gets pregnant, she may be left with an increasing aftermath of extra weight.
To confirm what we’ve already learned, a recent study followed 2,224 men and women who embarked on the same weight-loss program. Eight weeks later, the average weight loss was 16% greater in men than in women. Breaking the numbers down further, women in the study lost 10.3% of their weight while men came in at 11.8%.
While it may seem as if we’ve set the stage for disappointment for women, the truth is that women can successfully lose weight, they just have to approach it differently. And that’s where we come in.
We offer individualized weight-loss programs that not only take your gender into account, but a host of other factors, such as your body type, medical history, and lifestyle considerations. Through a targeted healthy diet and exercise, we routinely help women shed the extra pounds and keep them off.
As well, we can put the final touches on your weight-loss efforts with our WarmSculpting™ with SculpSure® fat-reduction treatments.
While the odds may not be completely in your favor when it comes to losing weight, we excel at beating the odds. Just give our Bentonville, Arkansas, office a call at (479) 464-0400 or use the easy online scheduling tool to book an appointment.
