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.
“Metabolic rate is in part driven by your muscle mass, and women have less muscle and more fat naturally than men,” says dietitian and certified diabetes educator Dawn Noe, RD, LD, CDE.
Reducing calorie intake is the fastest way to lose weight for women, as dieting is generally more effective than exercise if you had to choose between the two.
Randy Turner, the manager of the Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth Fitness Center, said that men tend to lose weight faster than women primarily due to a key physical difference. “In most cases, men have more lean muscle than women, so it's easier for them to lose weight more quickly,” he explained.
The battle of the bulge. One reason belly fat is so hard to lose is that it's considered an “active fat.” Unlike some fatty tissue that simply sits “dormant,” belly fat releases hormones that can have an impact on your health — and your ability to lose weight, especially in the waist and abdomen areas.
Regular exercise increases muscle mass and teaches the body to burn kilojoules at a faster rate, even when at rest. Drugs – like caffeine or nicotine, can increase the BMR. Dietary deficiencies – for example, a diet low in iodine reduces thyroid function and slows the metabolism.
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
A greater muscle and fat content characterize the endomorph body type. These people are heavy but not necessarily obese. If you have the endomorph body type, you know it's easy to gain weight but hard to lose it and build muscle. Special diet and workout plans can help you achieve optimum health and fitness.
Set realistic goals
Over the long term, it's smart to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week. Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular physical activity.
As against areas such as legs, face and arms, our stomach and abdominal regions possess beta cells that makes it difficult to reduce the fats easily and lose weight in these areas. However, as per research, belly fat is the most difficult to lose as the fat there is so much harder to break down.
Changes to the Buttocks, Hips, and Thighs
This tends to be more pronounced in women than in men given the gendered differences in fat accumulation and distribution. Widening of the hips and buttocks can lead to a distinct pear shape. Fat can also accumulate along the thighs and upper portions of the legs.
But does lemon water actually help you lose weight? Not exactly, according to experts. While the drink does have some serious benefits, it doesn't burn fat or help you shed pounds like many claim.
In fact, 81% of couples were still married 5 years after surgery. But where the U.S. population has a divorce rate of 3.5%, bariatric patients in the study had an 8% divorce rate.
One of the main reasons that undereating can lead to weight gain is because consuming too few calories can cause your resting metabolic rate to slow down. This means you may burn fewer calories throughout the day.
Your slower metabolism will slow your weight loss, even if you eat the same number of calories that helped you lose weight. When the calories you burn equal the calories you eat, you reach a plateau. To lose more weight, you need to either increase your physical activity or decrease the calories you eat.
Not eating enough calories. If your body doesn't have enough fuel to sustain your level of activity, you can actually stop losing weight. Overtraining. If you exercise too much, the body sometimes responds by decreasing the amount of calories you burn during the rest of your day.