Why do women find it harder to lose weight? Doctor explains all

Why do women find it harder to lose weight? Doctor explains all.Credit: Lorraine

Transcript

00:00I think it's really important that all the ladies watching this hear this really clearly.

00:04So women naturally, particularly before the menopause, have a higher body percentage fat

00:10than men. That is normal. That's not a bad thing. In fact, it's an evolution thing. So

00:14oestrogen encourages the deposit of fat around your hips, your waist, your buttock area, and

00:20that is to help with things like pregnancy and breastfeeding. Without it, the foetus won't

00:24develop properly, you won't be able to produce enough milk. So ladies, I know society has made

00:29you feel bad about those bits around there. No, absolutely. We should embrace them. Don't embrace

00:32them. We need them. We need them to survive as a human species. Women also deposit more subcutaneous

00:38fat than men. So men generally deposit fat more around their waist and their internal organs.

00:43Women, again, before the menopause, underneath the skin where it's more visible. And women

00:48generally have less lean muscle than men as well, and muscle itself helps with your resting metabolic

00:54rate. So it speeds up process. It can burn more calories when you've got it. And women's hunger

00:58hormones are slightly different to men as well. So they're more likely to get hungry, get cravings,

01:03particularly around their hormonal cycles as well. So women are kind of fighting an uphill battle

01:08when it comes to getting to that healthy weight. But it's really important. These bits around here,

01:12ladies, listen to me. We need them. We need them.