Posted on 08/17/2014 1:25:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
You’re not imagining it: There really are differences between the way men and women diet, lose weight and respond to exercise.
Some of the differences stem from biology; other differences are behavioral. But though many of these seem to give men a head start, they shouldn’t be taken to imply that guys have it easy. No matter who you are or where you’re starting, the road to your ideal weight is difficult at best, and confusing for most.
But the information that researchers are unearthing about the differences in the way that men and women lose weight inspires hope that the next generation of weight-loss advice will be more tailored and effective than the generic tips that have gotten Americans no closer to sliding into their dream jeans. (More than a quarter of Americans are obese, according to a May Gallup poll, a number that has been ticking upward for years). Although experts have long insisted that losing weight is simply a matter of burning more calories than you consume, they now say that it’s much more complicated than that.
Exercise and nutrition First, there is the matter of muscles and metabolism. Men tend to have more muscle than women, and because muscle burns more calories than fat, men tend to have a faster metabolism, too — anywhere between 3 to 10 percent higher than women, studies have shown.
And at the gym, that difference just gets exacerbated. Women, worried about bulking up, tend to lift lighter weights and focus more on cardiovascular fitness, while men tend to gravitate toward the kind of heavy lifting that boosts muscle composition and metabolic rate, says Jim White, a Virginia Beach-based nutrition expert and certified personal trainer.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I thought the women’s magazines had articles recently, saying that women gain weight because of their boyfriends. Too many dinners out, not enough exercise, too much sitting home watching TV with him, etc.
Exactly. And it is because of our different functions in life.
I agree with this. I often hear it at the gym, and it never ceases to amaze me. Do people know how incredible difficult it is to "bulk up"? Seriously, women think that by lifting heavy for a few weeks they are going to begin to look like NFL linebackers. If only that were true!
It would literally take years of dedicated work, and even then, you don't change your body genetics - unless you start using gear.
I have always lost weight very quickly while running and walking.
Women g Ave been raised to treat food as reward for themselves and others...you have to change the reward and its frequency...I have lost 20 lbs+ in 10 months...and i am female and older...Low carbs ...intermittent fasting (basically no breakfast) and Intervals on treadmilll... as well as some weights...dropped 8% bodyfat...and coconut bliss ice cream a d dark chocolate are my rewards...oh...and i am way past menopause
Fat doesn't burn ANY calories. MOVEMENT causes calories to be burned.
KNOW THIS:
1. The first 20 minutes of cardio activity (brisk walk) NO fat can be burned. None, zip, zero. The fuel for that first 20 minutes is CARBOHYDRATES (CHO). They MELT the fat as one walks. Hard fat (lard) HAS to be liquified to be able to be used as fuel. If you are going to sautee onions in lard, the lard has to be melted first to be useful for sauteeing the onions. Our fat is the same way: must be MELT/LIQUIFIED to be used as fuel for exercise.
2. 20-30 minutes of cardio = the rest of the CHO are being used as fuel for the muscles and SOME fat is liquified and used as fuel for movement.
3. Longer than 30 minutes = 100% fat, liquified, is the source of fuel for the body. Thus, ALL fat is being burned from 30 minutes on.
*Some people try to "fudge" on this and their "one-hour" walk is done in 20-minute increments. Lol. Fudging works with people but not pounds. The walking HAS TO BE CONTINUOUS...not fast, just CONTINUOUS.
**SOME people think: I'll NOT eat and then walk for a long time. Hah! Doesn't work.
If there are NO carbohydrates to MELT the fat then the body turns to MUSCLE to melt the fat. Stupid move, folks. One is "robbing Peter to pay Paul." If one does that then the muscles deplete SUPER FAST because they are moving the body AND being made to melt the fat to used it as fuel.
USELESS and counterproductive!
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Men "TEND" to have...LOL. Men and women have the same 650 muscles in the human body. Men have more strength with those muscles because they are LOADED with testosterone. THAT hormone makes their muscle fibers thicker, bigger and thus stronger.
LIFESTRONG (Internet)
Men had an average of 72.6 pounds of muscle compared to the 46.2 pounds found in women. The men had 40 percent more muscle mass in the upper body and 33 percent more in the lower body.
Strength Translation
Men not only have more muscle, but pound for pound, their muscle is slightly stronger than a woman's -- about 5 to 10 percent, says Lou Schuler in "The New Rules of Lifting for Women."
A study reported in a 1993 issue of the "European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology" attributed this strength difference to larger muscle fibers in men.
From Wikipedia:
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is secreted primarily by the testicles of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands. It is the principal male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid.
In men, testosterone plays a key role in the development of male reproductive tissues such as the testis and prostate as well as promoting secondary sexual characteristics such as increased muscle, bone mass, and the growth of body hair. In addition, testosterone is essential for health and well-being as well as the prevention of osteoporosis.
On average, in adult males, levels of testosterone are about 7–8 times as great as in adult females, but, as the metabolic consumption of testosterone in males is greater, the daily production is about 20 times greater in men.
After a couple of really bad pregnancies, I’ve lost a lot of muscle mass. Boy is it a Hillary Clinton trying to get my muscles back! I’m a big kettlebell fan. I’ve learned to do the opposite of what “experts” advise. I eat a high protien and high fat diet, and I don’t do cardio (except the cardio that comes naturally with a kettlebell workout).
LOL!
Really this deification if Asian women among white, Western males has gotten ridiculous, and I do not in any way blame Asian women for it.
The truth is that women of different racial groups and ethnic groups have different metabolisms, and therefore will have different body types. You cannot expect an ethnic Mediterranean woman (Jewish, Greek, Italian, etc,) to have the same body type of an Eastern Asian or a woman of African descent or a woman of Northern European descent. I certainly would not assume that all men can look a certain way if they were dedicated enough (whatever that means), so why do men assume that all women can conform to one type of look? Women store fat differently from men and from other women.
And lastly, I would not compare a female athlete involved in a traditional masculine sport of fighting to the standards of a “typical” woman, one who bears several children and/or works, whether inside the home or outside.
Fortunately there are men world over with various tastes, so one standard of beauty does not permeate throughout. Some men prefer lean, muscular women, with small, tight buttocks. Others prefer women with wider hips, fuller breasts and a large backside. Some like their women dainty and almost childlike. All these varieties of shapes have a beauty of their own. If a man likes what he likes, that’s fine, but it’s silly to assume that all women can adhere to a certain standard just by exercising and acting like a man.
We women certainly do not expect men to conform to one ideal.
It is called discipline
it’s not a race or an ethnicity
Succint and accurate. But don’t expect all men (at least on this site) to agree with your truth. To some, if women just got off their lazy asses and stopped with all the Haagen Dazs, we could all look like Heidi Klum.
I despise that ignorant mentality. Fortunately, there are many, many men in this country and world over with various tastes who appreciate all kinds of feminine beauty, not just one ridiculous ideal.
Penis envy gives way to metabolism envy.
Yes, but what is discipline? To wake up at 4 am, exercise eight hours a day, six days a week is simply not something that is realistic to a working woman (whether she works at home or outside).
Lay off the excessive junk food and take walks and the extra pounds may go away. But that does not mean that women will look like supermodels, or athletes. They will look like women, and I still affirm that PEOPLE of different ethnic groups and races have different body types that cannot be compared to one another’s.
Sexual stereotypes right at the beginning of the article and from the WaPo of all places. I'm contacting NOW immediately.
Not for me. I power walk about 2 miles every day with an average pace of 4.3 - 4.5 mph for my circuit. 6 pm comes and Mr. Peel says: "what's for dinner? I'm starving!" And I think: "Crud! I'm not." So, I'll throw something together for him, and give myself a salad about 9 pm. My weight now is 7 pounds more than when I left high school. (I was tall and lanky back then) I did go through an overweight period, many years ago -- but it was no effort to drop 50 pounds and keep it off. Once I put my mind to it, it took about 6 months.
The key to weight control, as in any endeavor is self-disicpline.
Global warming would be my guess
And then some switch flips, and I am HUNGRY. I mean, hungry like the wolf. And I eat. But my weight stays stable anyway! For about 2 months. Then suddenly it goes up and nothing I do seems to stop it. Well, my appetite is so strong I just can't seem to control myself. I'll pick up about 15 lbs, and that'll stay on me for 8-10 months, and the low-carb diet doesn't work. I can do it, but it won't work. I can do it and jog 2 miles a day... nothing.
Then the switch flips again, my appetite subsides down to almost nonexistent, the low-carb diet works again, the weight melts off, and 2 months later I'm feeling foxy. For about 8-10 months.
This has been going on for some 15 years now. I just really don't get it. It's like I have two bodies or something.
She ended up at The Gap.
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