Men come from Mars, women come from Venus. It’s a fact, men and women are different in many aspects. What about the ways they put on weight? Do men tend to get fatter than women, or is it the other way round?
“He put on 2 kilos, and I put on double!” This is often the reaction we have when our partner scoffs down pizza all day and his weight remains almost unchanged! Maïa Baudelaire explains why this phenomenon exists.
A different distribution of fats
Whatever our weight and shape, women have 20 to 25% fat (fat) while men have around 10 to 15%. This is because during their teens, women start producing a large amount of estrogen that facilitates the storage of fat. In order for a baby to develop normally, it draws on its mother’s reserves of fat around the pelvis and thighs. That’s why women are predisposed to storing fat in this area of their body. On the other hand, men tend to gain weight in the upper part of the body (stomach, chest, abdomen) causing a greater risk to the development of cardiovascular disease.
Different needs
When dieting, women need to reduce their calorific intake to 1200-1600 calories a day while
men, because of their morphology, only need to drop down to 1600 -1800 calories.
Menopause
As if this story of needs and distribution of fat wasn’t enough, menopause brings another layer of inequality! I At a certain age, when the ovaries no longer produce hormones, the women’s body tends to increase its storage of fat as a result of this major hormonal upheaval. This phenomenon usually means another 2.5- 4.5 kilos on the scales. It is therefore important, if you want to minimize your weight gain, to reduce your calorie intake and to practice regular physical activities.
Muscle mass
Men are also lucky to have a great qauntity of lean body mass than us women. To maintain lean body mass, the body has to burn up more calories than it does to maintain body fat. So men not only have less fat to lose, but they also lose it faster and easier. It’s enough to make every woman on this planet jealous!
However rest assured ladies, the common factor in this famous weight gain is old age. As is the case for men, as it is for women, it becomes more and more difficult to lose weight with age. Our basic metabolic rate slows down by about 40 calories every 10 years. So, in order avoid putting on weight, we need to eat less and to eat better and more than anything else, find a physical activity that corresponds (and even imporves) our state of health!
Maïa Baudelaire, Nutritionist and Coach Slimming Expert in Food Behavior, Founder of the Method I Love my Diet Coach®, the first Personal Slimming Coaching reimbursed by health insurance.