As women, no one has to tell us we lose weight at slower rates than men. If you’ve ever attempted weight loss with your male partner, you know how frustrating this is. Men and women store and burn fat differently. It is a known fact that women store more fat and burn it off at much slower rates than men. This is not only true of human females, but all female animals are the same! Female animals carry more weight than their male counterparts. This is a true disadvantage for women eating the Standard American Diet today. It is almost impossible to keep weight off eating what most people eat.
This is not a new phenomenon, look at portraits as far back as the 17th century. Women depicted in these portraits were often chunky, overweight. Being slightly overweight in those days was considered attractive and these women were respected and considered prosperous. Women’s bodies were designed to carry this extra weight to meet the demands of pregnancy and child-rearing. Our bodies were created to store fat and to hold on to it! This is useful in pregnancy when calorie demand is higher (about 300 calories/day). Women who breastfeed their babies also need additional calories.
The weight gained during pregnancy (an average of 28 to 40 lbs.) is often not lost before the next pregnancy occurs. Unfortunately, the weight does not magically dissolve once the extra fat stores are no longer needed. Again, our bodies are biologically designed to store fat and to keep it safely tucked away. Women tend to store fat in their buttocks/hips and upper legs. Weight in these areas is easy to carry. Men, on the other hand, tend to accumulate excess weight in their abdominal cavity. This offers more risk of illness to men including fatty liver, heart disease and more.
As women age and menopause ensues, estrogen levels drop, and women’s fat cells start to look more like men’s. New fat storage is seen in the abdomen. This may account for the chubbier bellies we often see in women as they age. Many women find this disturbing as it is new to them, and they don’t understand why it’s happening. They may be eating the exact way they always have but their weight is increasing in places it never had before.
Women will store fat no matter what they eat. Remember, we are biologically designed to do so. Attempting to reduce our weight is fighting biology and many women simply give up. The thing is… eating the Standard American Diet that is higher in fat will lead to more fat storage. Changing the composition of your diet offers to best option for successful reduction in fat storage and weight loss for women. Dr. John McDougall says, “The fat you eat is the fat you wear”. Sad but true for many women.
Shifting to a whole food, plant-based, no oil and no overt fat way of eating allows our bodies to stop storing fat and to let go of stored fat that we have carried long past needing it. Want to know more about how this might work for you? Reach out to me. Transitioning to this way of eating will bring you the body and the health that may feel unattainable.
It can be yours.
