Weight loss: the reasons why women find it more difficult to shed pounds than men

Losing weight is seen as a difficult journey by many, and it seems to tend to affect women more! Well, it’s not a weight loss myth. You must have noticed that a woman and her partner may start their weight loss journey together. But women may find it more difficult to lose weight than men. There are reasons why losing weight is more difficult for women than it is for men. But this does not mean that women do not lose weight at all. They should commit to trying healthy weight loss tricks.

Losing weight comes easily to some and hard to others. It turns out that women are usually in the latter group. HealthShots reached out to Khushboo Jain Tibrewala, a registered dietitian, lifestyle coach, and diabetes educator, to find out why women find it more difficult to lose weight than men.

Reasons why it is difficult for women to lose weight

1. The female body is designed to store more fat than the male

You may be wondering why God would want women to store more fat than men. This is because we need the extra fat for childbirth, hormone production as well as breastfeeding, explains Tibriwala.

2. Emotions come in the way of your weight loss journey

Women, as you know, are the most emotional sex. With each ups and downs of emotions, your body goes through a series of hormonal changes. This makes losing fat more difficult.

3. Women have less muscle mass than men

Muscle is the active component of the body, and the more muscle mass there is, the more calories one can hypothetically burn. Since women have less muscle mass than men, weight loss becomes a relatively slower process.

4. Women tend to have more on their plate than men

We can’t forget the social angle to all of this, notes the expert, who is the founder of The Health Pantry. Women generally have a lot of tasks because they manage work, home, family, children, social obligations, and much more. Therefore, they are more likely to reach for a convenient snack that may not be a healthy choice. They may even eat unhealthy foods when they are stressed or emotional.

Dieting women must follow a healthy diet to lose weight

The diet is supposed to be a simple food routine that one can follow for years. Therefore, a diet that aids weight loss must focus on providing the right nutrients at the right time and in the right amount. The expert stresses that this is a basic rule that no one should lose sight of at any time.

Each person has unique requirements and therefore needs a unique diet. But a simple format that most people can follow is:

• Start your day with a liter of warm water.
• After an hour, have a cup of celery, ginger and lemon juice.
• For breakfast, eat boiled sprouts or cereal of your choice with some spices, one tablespoon of sunflower seeds, one tablespoon of sesame seeds and half of a citrus fruit.
• Mid-morning, drink black tea or matcha tea.
• For lunch, have a small piece of ragi roti, one cup of amti (dal with kokum), one cup of cooked vegetables and one tablespoon of plain pickle or chutney.
• In the evening, eat 2-3 Brazil nuts with fruit or dulca with coconut salsa or halwa with peanuts.
• For dinner, a palm-sized piece of tofu or fish, a cup of beans, or two pieces of dallas chila with a bowl of vegetables such as soup, salad, or sabzi in the regular Indian style.
• After dinner, drink a cup of ginger and chamomile tea.

Healthy weight loss exercises

Resistance training is most important when it comes to healthy weight loss, Tiberwala says. You can do exercises without equipment as follows:

1. Squat – 20 reps

• Keep your feet shoulder width apart
• Put your feet on the ground and engage your heart.
• Get off your hips, push your hips back and make sure that your knees do not go over your toes.
• Go as low as possible and keep to yourself.
• Come to quat position.

2. Worms – 15 reps

• To do the tapeworm, stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• Bend over from your waist, placing your palms flat on the rug or floor and bending your knees as you do so.
• Now come out with your palms to get into a plank.
• Hold here to catch your breath and start walking backwards toward your toes.
• Go back to the initial position and then repeat the steps.

3. High knees – 30 sec

• Stand with your feet hip-width apart.
• With your hands at your sides in a running position, begin to bring your knees up toward your chest so that your thighs are parallel to the floor, one knee at a time.
• If your body allows, add an ankle bounce to mimic positional running.

4. Jumping jacks – 30 sec

• Start with your feet hip-width apart and your hands by your side.
• Now jump to move your legs to a wide position with your hands above your head.
• Return to the starting position and repeat this as fast as you can.

5. Crunches – 25 reps

• Lie on the carpet or floor with your knees bent.
• Place your palms under your hand and engage your heart.
• Take a deep breath and then as you exhale, raise your head and shoulder blades.
• Now put your head back down, breathe and then repeat the steps.