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" Sitting in front of me is a female client who has achieved success in almost every area of her life. She could be an attorney, a teacher, a homemaker, or the president of her own company. It doesn&amp;#039;t matter. What&amp;#039;s important is that at this very moment, she feels as if she is failing. With each year that has passed since she turned 20, she has gained a little more weight. And the closer she gets to 50, the faster she gains. As she speaks, I see the despair. I hear her concerns: &amp;quot;Why is this happening to me?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;My old dieting tricks just don&amp;#039;t work anymore.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;My husband has gained weight, but not nearly as much as I have. It&amp;#039;s simply not fair being a woman.&amp;quot; My response to these remarks is always the same: &amp;quot;This does not have to happen. You can regain control over your body. Believe me. Now let&amp;#039;s get to work.&amp;quot; It&amp;#039;s true, weight loss is harder for women than for men. But that doesn&amp;#039;t mean it&amp;#039;s impossible. Recall this equation: Energy in (calories) -- energy out (activity and metabolism) = body weight. For women, this formula is affected by six factors. Once you understand these factors, you can compensate for them -- and keep your weight loss from getting detoured. The Hormone Effect  Women require a minimum of 12 percent body fat in order for reproductive organs to function properly; men need just 4 percent. What men have more of is testosterone, a hormone that promotes the development of muscle, which in turn burns more calories than other kinds of tissue do. Although women also produce testosterone, men produce much more of it and therefore have 20 to 30 times the muscle-building potential of women. And since muscle burns 35 to 50 calories per pound per day, while fat burns significantly less, men have the good fortune to use up more calories, even when they&amp;#039;re sitting still.   But you can work within nature&amp;#039;s limits to change your body composition through exercise. Many women are concerned they will get big and bulky as a result of strength training. Totally untrue. In my 16 years of experience, I have never seen women bulk up from following a sensible training plan. On the contrary, they become thin and lean. The Truth About Size  In general, women are smaller than men. Consequently, they burn less energy daily because they do not expend as many calories through metabolism and activity. (This explains why some of your taller friends may not struggle with weight loss as much as your shorter friends do.) As a rule of thumb, the larger the person, the more calories she burns at rest and the more calories she burns during activity and exercise, because she is moving a greater mass through space. Periods: The Monthly Weight-Loss Problem  The female menstrual cycle produces a myriad of physical and mental effects that can wreck a weight-loss program. Bloating is a big one. The hormonal changes that cause women to retain extra water can be physically uncomfortable and discouraging if they are trying to lose pounds. Many say they feel like they&amp;#039;ve blown their diet without even splurging. Food cravings are another stumbling block, as hormonal shifts cause women to desire foods high in salt, fat, or sugar. Linked to those cravings are emotional highs and lows that can prompt overeating.  And finally, a fair number of women experience a lack of energy at this time of the month, and their desire to exercise diminishes. Ironically, the powerful emotional and physical benefits derived from exercise would make most women feel better during this time.  The more aware you are of the changes that occur during your period, the better able you&amp;#039;ll be to create a diet-protection plan. That might include setting a date with a friend to exercise or scheduling a day out of the house if sticking around will tempt you to overeat. Feeling low or stressed? Blasting music while driving in your car could make you feel better. These tips may sound mundane, but the goal is to help you plan for the ups and downs that often occur during this time of the month. You might not have a &amp;quot;perfect&amp;quot; eating-and-exercise day, but you can minimize the damage. The Pregnancy Challenge  Obviously, women must gain weight in order to carry a healthy child. Because of that, pregnancy can be a stumbling block for those who are trying to stay in shape. Nausea reduces interest in exercise, and big hormonal changes can lead to overeating, depression and sleep deprivation.   After delivery, most women still need to lose anywhere from 10 to 50 pounds. If it was a difficult delivery -- or if the woman had a Cesarean section -- the recovery requires more time, and this can be discouraging to a new mother who thought the pounds would come off quickly. Instead of exercising, she may find herself eating.  There is some evidence that breast-feeding can speed up the weight-loss process. The process of milk production actually requires 500 extra calories a day. Even after accounting for the calories that come from fat deposits that women build up during pregnancy, you can still create a 300-calorie daily deficit through breast-feeding. In 17 days, you could lose one pound!  Many new moms are struggling not only with post-baby weight, but also with the 10, 20 or 30 pounds they wanted to lose before becoming pregnant. What previously seemed merely difficult now appears impossible. Some women just give up. They throw their hands in the air and decide to make peace with their postpartum size. That&amp;#039;s fine, if you are genuinely satisfied with that body. But if you&amp;#039;re not happy with the way you look or feel, I urge you to use this postpregnancy time as your &amp;quot;excuse&amp;quot; to get in shape. You have just given the gift of life. Now it&amp;#039;s time to give yourself the gift of good health.  The Midlife Slowdown   During this time in women&amp;#039;s lives, the major hurdle when it comes to weight loss is menopause, which accelerates the rate at which women lose lean muscle tissue. The average adult loses 0.5 to 0.7 pounds of muscle per year, but as women get closer to menopause, their muscle depletion takes place at almost twice that rate. This causes female body composition to become higher in fat, which significantly reduces a woman&amp;#039;s daily calorie-burning potential.   At the same time, the hormonal changes of menopause also cause women&amp;#039;s bodies to redirect body fat to the abdominal area, resulting in a more male pattern of midsection weight gain. With all of this going on, many of my clients feel they&amp;#039;ve lost control over their bodies. Their old dieting tricks don&amp;#039;t work, their clothes don&amp;#039;t fit, the scale won&amp;#039;t budge and emotionally they&amp;#039;re overwhelmed.  This is not inevitable. I repeat, this is not inevitable. There is help for that thickening in the midsection: Research shows that strength and resistance training significantly reduces abdominal fat in older women, while increasing lean muscle tissue in their bodies. The Osteoporosis Obstacle  According to a new study, half of all women age 50 or older have either low bone mass or osteoporosis and don&amp;#039;t know it. Women&amp;#039;s susceptibility is caused by several factors: They start their lives with less bone mass than men do; they diet more during adolescence; menopause causes bone loss; and women of all ages don&amp;#039;t have enough calcium in their diet. Despite the many variables that cause osteoporosis, there is one universal solution: weight-bearing exercise. The last thing you want to do as you get older and as your bones become more brittle is to stop exercising. Resistance training, jogging, jumping jacks -- any activity that helps you resist the forces of nature will also help you fight osteoporosis.   I realize that understanding these women-unfriendly weight-loss factors doesn&amp;#039;t solve the problem. But knowing that it&amp;#039;s not just you or your lack of willpower but actual changes within your body that are making weight loss difficult can sometimes be the motivation necessary to regain control. Regular exercise and resistance training three times a week are key components to getting thin. Cutting 100 calories out of your daily meal plan (the equivalent of a can of soda, a candy bar, or a handful of nuts) will also steady the scale as you age. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/advice/a15877/advice-scale-karas-0303/>