Okay I hope this does not offend anyone but here goes.. I just got back from the grocery store. I have given in and am going to try some new lean cuisines frozen dinners and some of those new healthy choice cafe steamers and then some Kashi tv dinners for lunch since I really feel that I am still eating too much fast food on the go on my way home from class since I am so ravenous by the time I get out and I usually make horrible choices when I am ravenous. I have had some really strict teachers/professors lately and we are only allowed to have water bottles in class so no snacks allowed otherwise they'll single you out and embarrass you in front of the whole class. Anyways there was this family in front of me and I assume -one mother and one father then one son and one daughter. The two females were very overweight and the two males were of normal weight. The daughter did not look any older than 10-12 and was VERY VERY well developed in the chest area. I got to looking at their food that was being checked out. I've noticed I'm doing that too more as I'm going along trying to figure out what works for me :-)-looking at what people are buying . They had nothing but cheap tv dinners for the whole family and I'm talking about the ones that are like 88 cents each bleh and sky high sodium. I was in shock since I've not seen someone check out that many frozen tv dinners in A LONG TIME. I felt so sorry for the poor cashier too since it did take quite a long time to check them out due to that. I am seeing more and more families like that and is it because of our estrogen and inactivity? I know I don't know the whole story or what their lives are like. But I just couldn't help wondering. At times my husband will eat better for a week and drop like 7 pounds and I will be OP and work out every single day for an hour and try twice as hard as him and only lose maybe 2 pounds instead. I just find it all so interesting. Any thoughts?
Last edited by blondebritbrat17; 08-03-2008 at 01:46 AM.
It is true that men have more muscles so burn more fat than us, and that women are predisposed to stare fat (wonderful.) Men also happen to respond quicker to exercise whilst us women have lower tolerance so it can feel like even though we're working harder than men, we're not.
Sure hope you figure out the answer to that one. As a card carrying member of the male gender, I've certainly learned in a year that a difference seems to be there.
But I haven't a clue as to why the difference. I hear the notions of muscle bulk and testosterone. But those don't seem to me to explain a difference in, say, cravings for chocolate.
Women NATURALLY have a lower muscle mass, and a higher body fat percentage than men do. Even at optimal fitness, a woman will have a higher body fat percentage than a man of equal fitness-this is because a woman is meant to have higher fat stores, and a different body makeup, to sustain a pregnancy and for breastfeeding. Our bodies were meant to carry and feed offspring, and men's were not.
When a woman loses too much weight, or her body fat dips too low, her body will stop mentruating. This is nature's way of saying that she isn't getting enough nutrients, or her body fat is too low, and is a way of preventing a pregnancy that she will have trouble sustaining.
Men naturally have higher metabolisms as well, and that, paired with having a higher muscle mass/lower body fat, means that it is harder for them to gain weight, and easier for them to lose it.
Men build muscle faster and burn fast faster too and they have more muscle mass naturally (even heavyset men). So when they put forth an effort to get in shape and lose weight, it usually happens pretty "easily" when compared with women. Women have more fat stores on our bodies naturally (even thin women) so we tend to hang onto fat and build muscle more slowly.
It's all hormonal and physiological (and it's unfair lol).
I knew all of this already about why men lose weight better than women and tha it's all due to the differences in our hormones. What I am trying to ask I guess and should have been more blunt but didn't want to be for fear of coming off as rude or offending someone is that I am seeing more and more families look like this at the grocery store. Is anybody else seeing that? I'm also seeing a lot more convience foods being purchased and I was actually very tempted to buy some last night and they looked yummy. They were expensive "family" sized ones. But the sodium would so get me. So I'm wondering as well is it the convienence foods that is contributing to women being overweight/obese due to high sodium levels in them? Is sodium really that bad for weight loss? And can it cause weight gain is also what I am clueless on as well??
Last edited by blondebritbrat17; 08-03-2008 at 02:29 PM.
I knew all of this already about why men lose weight better than women and tha it's all due to the differences in our hormones. What I am trying to ask I guess and should have been more blunt but didn't want to be for fear of coming off as rude or offending someone is that I am seeing more and more families look like this at the grocery store. Is anybody else seeing that? I'm also seeing a lot more convience foods being purchased and I was actually very tempted to buy some last night and they looked yummy. They were expensive "family" sized ones. But the sodium would so get me. So I'm wondering as well is it the convienence foods that is contributing to women being overweight/obese due to high sodium levels in them? Is sodium really that bad for weight loss? And can it cause weight gain is also what I am clueless on as well??
I think the answer is the same in reverse. When a population starts eating junk, the women will gain faster than the men, for the same reasons that they lose slower than the men.
Yeah I notice the same thing all the time too-- but I notice it so much b/c I am very self conscious of being a pudgy (formerly pudgier) woman dating a very trim man (I used to weigh more than him!) So I am always looking around for couples where the woman seems larger than the man just because I sort of can't help it.
blondebritbrat17, sodium does not cause FAT gain. Overeating fats, carbohydrates, and proteins causes fat gain. Sodium causes water retention, and so it makes one heavier if they are eating a lot of salt. But that's not what makes people fat.
I'm still not sure what you're asking. Are you saying that women get fatter than men? I don't think that's true. I see plenty of couples where the opposite is the case.
Jayell-Thanks. That was exactly what I was trying to ask but just didn't word it right the first time. I'm pretty concerned about sodium since I have noticed I bloat up after eating things with lots of salt in it but I didn't know if sodium only contributes to "water weight" only or after a period of long time could contribute to actual fat/weight gain.
And no I don't think that's true that women get fatter than men either since I've seen plenty of couples that are the opposite myself. I was trying to compare in my mind how most men seem to have it easier as well when it comes to losing weight. Again it was late at night lol and I don't think I was wording things well! :-)
Last edited by blondebritbrat17; 08-03-2008 at 08:06 PM.
Women and Men also tend to crave diffrent foods. For most guys their idea of a treat is a burger or a steak. They tend to stay away from the sweets and caky stuff. The opposite is true for females, we tend to crave empty calories. I remember reading this somewhere.
Maybe it's some sort of genetic thing where guys crave protein which helps them build muscle mass and be better providers, while women need to gain fat so that they can carry a child. Just a guess.
Women are also more affected by being overweight because it screws up our hormones to a much greater degree. A man who is 100 lbs overweight can reproduce with little to no trouble while the same is not true for a female. I have had an irregular period and hormonal problems all of my life. I am only now realizing that this is because of my weight.
Question about men vs. Women?
. They had nothing but cheap tv dinners for the whole family and I'm talking about the ones that are like 88 cents each bleh and sky high sodium. I was in shock since I've not seen someone check out that many frozen tv dinners in A LONG TIME. I felt so sorry for the poor cashier too since it did take quite a long time to check them out due to that. I am seeing more and more families like that and is it because of our estrogen and inactivity? I know I don't know the whole story or what their lives are like. But I just couldn't help wondering. At times my husband will eat better for a week and drop like 7 pounds and I will be OP and work out every single day for an hour and try twice as hard as him and only lose maybe 2 pounds instead. I just find it all so interesting. Any thoughts?
Why the difference
