Female Weight Gain

One of the most common complaints in women over the age of 35yrs is inability to lose weight or inexplicable weight gain. Female weight gain is mainly due to three reasons and they are due hormone imbalance, when they taking medications and due to high stress levels.

Following are the reasons why women struggle with weight loss:

Habits:

Intake of too many calories may turn out to be a habit. A habit of doing sitting activities like watching TV instead of doing any physical activity may also develop which may later can lead to weight gain.

Genes:

Obesity and overweight tend to run in families. Even though families habitually share physical activity and diet habits that a play a vital role in obesity, their shared genes increases the chances of family members getting overweight.

Illness:

There are some diseases which may also lead to obesity or weight gain. These include depression, Cushing’s syndrome and hypothyroidism. If you think that you are suffering through a health problem which is leading to gain weight, it is advisable to discuss about it with your health care provider.

Medicine:

Some medicines may lead to gain weight. Ask your pharmacist and health care provider regarding the side-effects of any medication that you are taking.

The world around you:

You can find messages regarding food at work, at home, on TV, at shopping centers, at family and at social events. It is possible that people may eat too many foods which are high in fat, salt and sugar just because they are always there. Over and above this, modern world with its remote controls, escalators and drive-in-banks has made it simple to be physically inactive.

Emotions:

Many people have the habit of eating when they are sad, angry, stressed or bored, even if they are not hungry.

Without any change in diet or activity levels, women over 35yrs of age are at risk of weight gain. This is because after the age of 30, function of women ovarian begins to decline. In young women, the ovaries not only produce estrogen and progesterone but also minor amounts of testosterone, which is essential for building bone and muscle and for sustaining libido.

As women reaches middle age, the ovaries continue to produce estrogen and progesterone which are sufficient to preserve the menstrual cycle normally, but the amount of testosterone secreted by the ovaries begins to decline, and with due course of time drops to almost zero. Loosing this testosterone causes women to go through a gradual muscle and bone loss. As such, the calories taken through food are no longer utilized to stimulate the respective muscle and bone mass. Instead these calories are utilized to form body-fat, which is deposited in adipose i.e. fatty tissues.

The process is slow and may not be visible at first. Ultimately when a woman reaches the age of 50, it becomes more definite. The advent of menopause further alters the equilibrium of female body, many times influencing body weight. It is general for women to either gain or lose weight after menopause, with weight gain taking place more frequently than weight loss.

For maintaining most favorable weight in their middle age, women over the age of 30yrs should to some extent reduce their calorie intake, and preferably increase their physical activity level by a reasonable amount. Moreover, a diet rich in calcium, vitamins, omega-3 supplements and fiber can aid the organism to burn calories at its best, guaranteeing maximal return on your efforts for weight control.

Female weight gain is due to many reasons ranging from pregnancy to overall stress. Even though you may not be able to handle all the factors that leads to overweight, you can somewhat change your habits of eating and physical activity and by changing those habits, it is possible for you to improve your health and weight.