Understanding Gender Differences Can Enhance Effort to Lose Unwanted Weight
By
Hugh C. McBride
April 01, 2009
Men and women are different.
The truth expressed in the previous sentence should come as a shock to no one. But when it comes to weight loss, acknowledging and understanding the differences between men and women can help individuals of both genders create healthy lifestyle plans that give them the best chance of achieving and maintaining their ideal weight.
The following are five key areas to consider when evaluating which type of weight loss plan is best for you:
1. Men & Women Think About Food Differently
In a brain-imaging study, researchers with the Brookhaven National Laboratory used positron emission tomography (PET) scanning to determine that men are better able to control their thoughts about food than women are.
According to a Jan. 19, 2009 Brookhaven National Laboratory News release, highlights of the study included the following:
- On one scan day, subjects were presented with their favorite foods, and were asked to smell, taste, observe, and react to the food, but not eat it.
- On another day, they were instructed to inhibit their desire for food prior to being tempted with the same foods.
- A control scan with no food was performed on a third day.
- The volunteers were also asked to rate the foods and describe their feelings of hunger and their desire to eat during the scans when food was presented.
- When asked to inhibit their response to food, both men and women described themselves as less hungry and less interested in eating than when they weren’t trying to inhibit their response. But only the men showed a relative decrease in activity in the food-activated brain regions during the scan when they were asked to inhibit their response.
“Even though the women said they were less hungry when trying to inhibit their response to the food, their brains were still firing away in the regions that control the drive to eat,” Gene-Jack Wang, lead author on the study, said in the BNLN release. “In contrast, men’s brain activity decreased along with their self-reports of hunger during the scan when they were asked to keep their hunger in check.”
Knowing this, women who are trying to lose weight may want to make a concerted effort to rid their homes of tempting unhealthy foods.
2. Men & Women Think About Their Bodies Differently
Though men are making “gains” in the ways in which their bodies are evaluated within the media and other outlets, modern American society exerts a significant pressure on women to maintain unhealthy levels of thinness. Thus, women who have no medical or health reasons for losing weight may attempt to do so anyway – meaning that even if they are “successful,” they may be doing more harm than good to their bodies.
Charlotte and Patrick Markey addressed this matter in an article that appeared in the October 2005 edition of Sex Roles: A Journal of Research:
Although dieting may be advisable for some individuals, a startling proportion of dieters is normal or underweight by medical standards and does not need to lose weight …
Individuals (especially women) who are dissatisfied with their bodies and unnecessarily concerned with their weight are vulnerable to participation in unhealthy dieting behaviors including fasting, bingeing, and purging.
Thus, before they even begin to attempt to adopt a healthier lifestyle, women may be more likely to take extreme measures when little or no changes are actually called for.
Findings such as the ones expressed by the Markeys emphasize the need for consulting with your physician before making significant changes to your diet or exercise plan. This is especially true for individuals who may be prone to developing an eating disorder, or whose excessive weight puts them in need of professional intervention and specialized obesity treatment.
3. Men & Women Think About Diet & Exercise Differently
Studies have shown that when they consider losing weight or improving their body shape, men are more likely to focus on exercise and other forms of physical activity, while women are prone to thinking first about improving the quality of their diet.
In men, this tendency can lead to over-exertion, frustration, and an abandonment of their plans, while women’s efforts can put them at higher risk for developing an eating disorder or depriving their bodies of necessary nutrients.
Remember: A healthy lifestyle involves both smart eating and regular exercise, and an effective weight loss program is one that emphasizes a “slow and steady” approach that emphasizes the gradual incorporation of healthy lifelong habits.
4. Men & Women Think About Competition & Cooperation Differently
In his March 5, 2009 article on the different ways that men and women lose weight, Newsweek writer Kurt Soller noted that men are more likely to be motivated by competition, while women are apt to find success in a nurturing, cooperative environment:
When you think about … dieting programs aimed at women, they're all focused on fostering cooperation, holding hands and achieving goals within a supportive group. For men, losing weight is a sport.
“If I want to goad a man on to losing weight, I'll do it in a competitive way," says Dr. Robert Vogel, the author of a health plan called The Pritikin Edge. “He'll bet a friend he can lose more weight, whereas women will both agree to buy new dresses when they reach their goal.” His hunch is backed up in research, where men performed better in incentive studies than women when they earned money for every pound lost.
Understanding what motivates you makes it more likely that you will create or join a program that will give you the level of support and challenge that you need to achieve and maintain your weight-loss goals.
5. Men & Women Don’t Always Fit Into Distinct Gender Categories
Noting the general differences between men and women doesn’t mean that every man thinks one way or every woman acts in the same manner. Acknowledging gender differences in weight loss should be one of many steps toward finding the plan or program that works best for you. Increasing your awareness of these differences can also help you understand why a previous effort didn’t lead to the results that you were expecting.
As with most areas of life, there’s a lot of “grey area” in the stark distinctions that some people try to establish between the physical or psychological composition of men and women.
Taking the information in this and other articles into consideration should be one part of a process to develop the greatest possible understanding of your specific strengths and weaknesses, and will hopefully lead you to embrace the best possible program for your unique weight-related needs.
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