Women typically find it harder to lose weight and inches than men.  This, in part, is due to the fact that  men have more lean muscle mass and a higher resting metabolic rate. Another issue that makes weigh loss challenging for females:   women store fat differently from men--more of it goes to their thighs, buttocks, and hips, where it can be harder to shed.  Finally, female hormones promote the storage of calories as fat, and fat takes up more space than muscle.

As the obesity rate keeps rising, especially among teenage girls, we need to press for more sex based research on exercise, diet, hormones and metabolism!




The only hard thing for loosing weight is stick to the same.

Well that's true woman store fat differently from man and i think it also depends on the lifestyle that people are living. Nowadays more women are working and they barely have time to cook healthy food, so most of the time it's buying fast food which is quick and easy.

80% of weight loss and body fat loss is diet! You can work out all day long in the gym, but you have to be eating right.


Thanks for this share. I knew that hormones play a huge role. I also find myself very reluctant to work out during PMS; instead I would normally eat what we call "comfort foods" that make my "bad mood" better in some way.... Fat in the "love handles" as we call them is indeed the worst and most difficult fat to get rid of. When I lose weight, I always lose it on my face, arms and upper body in general but it always takes ages for my lower body including my belly to get smaller. I also find that stress affects my eating habits: when I am stressed or emotional, I tend to eat more, and more "bad stuff".

Very true. Those problem areas are hard to work on. I think the best thing to do is exercise and diet in order to avoid getting excess weight on those problem areas. Once it's there, it really isn't easy to lose the weight. So prevention would be the best thing in this case.

Diet doesn't mean you don't eat at all. Good diet means eat what your body need. You need carbohydrate, protein, calcium etc for your body to be balanced. If you lack of these vitamins, your body will not be balance. Do more exercise

i started an exercise plan that involve walks,strength training,and abdominal training. will let you know my progress EDITOR's COMMENT: Good luck!!!

I think the lifestyle for women is more stressful and that inflicts on willpower and metabolism. I do not mean philosophical gender differences but physical issues! Monthly hormonal storms, giving birth, menopause and everything...all this plus daily normal stress make willpower a very superficial support when talking about losing weight and exercising.

I agree with what Pamela said, women should add more weight training to their exercise routine. Weight training will increase our metabolism so that we burn more calories each day whether we exercise or not. Women prefer do cardio training that actually burn less calories (riding the exercise bike at a light pace for an hour only burn 229 calories). Most women avoid weight training because they think it'll make them muscular. Well, it's hormonal matter, so don't worry about that. Another important thing is the "mental" side. If you want to lose weight faster, you have to define your goals why you want to lose your weight. The goals will be the triggers and driving forces in doing exercise. Good luck!

My wife can get pretty testy because I can lose weight at the snap of a finger. Whereas it takes her weeks of hard exercise to lose a pound or so. It all comes down to hormones. By nature men have more Testosterone and women have more Estrogen. Testosterone is a hormone that burns fat and increases muscle which in turn makes your body a fat burning machine. Estrogen tends to store body fat for child bearing and such.

Never heard of this, the hormones and stuff. i also heard it had something to do with how fat is stored and how the liver works. But this was really helpfull! thank you Sorry for bad english :)

Isn't this question related to our ancestry when men were the hunter gatherers, so more lean for this purpose. The women, because of their role in nurturing the offspring, however, tended to store energy as fat as a reserve in case the hunter gatherers had lean pickings. If this were true, it is logical to assume that it would be harder to shed these reserves. Or is taking the story a bit far?

I came across this article while surfing the web. It is very enlighting and makes sense. There are a lot of hormone changes in a woman and this contributes to a slower metabolism.

I strongly agree that women store fat differently from men–more of it goes to their thighs, buttocks, and hips, where it can be harder to shed.We have almost 1000 fastest and natural ways to lose weight fast.It is clear that your physical statue and looks play a big part in the way the world views you

I think a lot of woman will agree that it's harder to lose weight and then men.

I say this half jokingly, but I think women also simply like sweets more than men, especially chocolate. I love chocolate myself, but have yet to meet a woman who doesn't love it much more than I do.

Definitely harder but not impossible. It's in women's genetics to store more fat, but remember there is also good fat as well. Also there are some men who like women with a little bit of less muscularity.

Obesity clearly has many adverse effects on women's health, and along with lifestyle changes, the incidence of obesity is also increasing. Therefore, it is time you choose, not healthy by maintaining normal body weight or become obese with all its negative consequences? ....... All up on your own

I don't agree completely. I think it's equally simple for men AND women to lose weight effectively in a healthy way. My parents lost the same amount of weight, following the same diet plan together..

Part of the problem also is that many women stay away from lifting weights because they fear looking too muscular (so something like that!). But it is the perfect exercise because it adds the lean muscle tissue and increases the baseline metabolism.

seems to be the opposite for my partner. she has a nice set of abs which i've been trying to get for the longest time

It is not very difficult to lose weight, not even for women. Adjusting the diet while initiating a light exercise program to boost the metabolism is all it takes. Very easy to do for both men and women..

Yes, this is all true, as well as it is all connected. Women physiologically don't have the ability to increase lean muscle mass, as much as men do. That's why their metabolic rate is not as high, because muscle tissue is active and fats are supposed to be "inactive" mass. If a woman manage to loose much excessive weight, but do not gain enough muscle mass instead - this decreased overall body weight will eventually have negative effect on bone health. So I suppose the human body knows that, and is always trying to maintain a balance. On other hand, the more trained women - professional athletes, tend to posses more man-like bodies, which is not so aesthetic. In my opinion women shouldn't compare to men, when trying to lose weight, and regular, medium resistance training combined with moderate amounts of cardio exercise will be enough for the body to adapt to such a lifestyle and decrease the possibility of overweight issues.

Hormones play a very big part in this - hypothyroidism is far more common in women than men and even subclinical hypothyroidism can be enough to cause weight gain and difficulty losing weight.

women find it harder to lose fat simply as they have higher fat levels than men. they are biologically predisposed for this, so it is harder, but not impossible. A regime of weights aerobic activity and diet will eventually achieve the goals. Just take the regime slow and steady and it will build into your daily routine without you even thinking about it.

Really their is alot of things that factor this problem like: Hormones.Women's bodies are a complex cocktail of hormones that shift and change throughout their lifetimes. Tendency to crash-DIET. When women do decide to diet, they tend to gravitate toward "easy fix" solutions that promise quick, effortless results. We all tend to go toward the path of less resistance its nature its less painfull. Weight Shyness Women tend to shy away from weight lifting because they don't want to look like body builders, but they won't. Medications Many medications can cause weight gain. Two of the biggest offenders are birth control pills, because they alter your hormone levels, and antidepressants. Mom Syndrome Besides pregnancy and breastfeeding, the life of a mom is wrought with weight gain triggers. Stress, lack of sleep, lack of time to exercise and child-friendly meals can all contribute to weight gain.

Thanks, though this information is not a new discovery, it definitely silences those who insist erroneously that women just can't seem to lose weight as effectively and quickly as men because they "lack discipline," or "always aim for the quickest fix no matter how doubtful." We now know, and this short article confirms, that losing weight for women has also a lot to do with their NATURAL physical functioning, and that often it has nothing to do with what some people perceive to be their emotional or mental weakness.

Tip #1 Decrease Your Bodyfat Levels Using Optimal Nutritional Practices Tip #2 Decrease Your Bodyfat Levels By Performing The Most Effective Training Exercises Tip #3 Build Up The Muscle In Your Midsection Tip #4 Decrease Or Eliminate The Stress From Your Life Tip #5 Ensure That You Are Properly Hydrated Tip #6 Avoid Your ‘Problem’ Foods Tip #7 Eat 5-6 Smaller Meals 2-3 Hours Apart Throughout The Day

As a female who is 42 years old, I can attest to the struggle it takes to achieve my goal of dropping 10 pounds and obtaining 18% body fat! I have learned to never compare myself to a man when it comes to weight loss because I know we are wired differently. I do believe that with the right nutrition and exercise plan, every woman can achieve her weight loss goals!

I wish to share that the quick weight loss methods which have spread like fire these days do not provide lasting results. More often than not, dieting methods which involve dietary drinks, foods and supplement or pills do not work. If they do, the results are just temporary. It is better to rely on a healthy weight loss option which will provide lifetime results. You have to set realistic goals and not expect to lose a lot of pounds in a short span of time.

This is a very informative post. Thank you for sharing. As a woman myself, I can definitely appreciate the difficulty in losing weight. I think I'm seeing results, but it requires a lot of hard work and dedication, both of which have failed in many instances. But I will keep trying. Thank you again for the information.

I think it is because women are more susceptible to stress than men, so the best thing you can do is respond to life with a positive attitude.

I believe the reason can also be that they have more adipose white fat than brown fat which is energy burning fat. A Harvard study mentioned this aspect of people who are overweight but not necessarily the gender.

When we really get to the root cause of why it's more difficult for women to lose weight, it becomes evident that social conditioning is responsible. When a guy is overweight, he doesn't feel the same amount of pressure that a woman would feel over her body. Advertising puts a heavy expectation on women to stay skinny.

This is certainly true, but this really shouldn't even be a concern for any woman trying to lose weight. If you consistently follow the proven principles for weight loss, you'll succeed. Women do it every day.

Additionally, stress hormones should be included in the factors to be considered.

Hormones and their change is a very important issue we should know much more about. The other one is inflammation, associated with the number and size of fat cells.

nice share. beside women store fat differently from men, I think hormonal issues also important factors that cause women more harder to lose weight. Need more efforts and motivation to keep ideal weight.

My wife and myself was always on the look out for proven info about this topic. Yes, we always suspected it was metabolism. Thank you for a great post.

Women should add more weight training to their exercise routine. When women do this it will allow them to lose body fat faster and will help burn calories longer than just doing cardio.

Hormones have a HUGE affect on women trying to loose weight or maintain a certain weight. Personally, I've been doing a hormone replacement therapy due to cervical cancerous cells, endometerosis, and ovarian cysts. I've gained 35 pounds since I've started this treatment 4 months ago and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING has changed in my lifestyle with the exception of the introduction of the hormones.

May be because of hormones. Because hormones play a huge role. I agree women store fat differently from men–more of it goes to their thighs, buttocks, and hips, where it can be harder to shed.

to lose weight we have to regulate our food (diet) and do not forget to exercise regularly.

Thank you for the awesome article, i just love this article. recently my sister name Aisha, was talking about with me why is it hard for her to lose weight.. i said google internet hehe.. anyways i will share with this to her. thanks a bunch. she will love this blog.!

So true. Also with the rate at which female hormones fluctuate, the desire to want to exercise is also affected. I know for myself I'm less likely to want to exercise just before and during menstruation as compared to other times, and I'm someone who really enjoys a good workout.

I totally agree with what Kevin said. It is more a question of education and understanding that more muscle mass generates a faster metabolic rate...The unfortunate perception is that lifting weights will turn a woman in to some sort of testosterone fuelled, muscle-bound HULK. In truth, this scenario isn't even close for most men.

Hormones and weight loss/weight gain in particular need more study. There could be some real secrets hiding there.

Men are also more predisposed to eat high protein and low fat snacks. Anyone who exercises knows that frequent high protein meals leads to fat loss. Just food for thought.