If you’re one of those annoying people who look good in whatever they wear, holidays, weddings and special occasions are diary dates to look forward to. If you maybe want to shift a few pounds, on the other hand, these occasions can fill you with dread. Everyone wants to look good, surely? For most women, a compliment here and there does wonders for your emotional wellbeing, but apparently men aren’t all that fussed about turning heads on the big day.
According to a new survey carried out by fitness provider payasUgym.com, women typically try to lose weight and transform themselves five times a year, while their male counterparts feel a lot less pressure to change. On average, men start a new diet and fitness regime just twice a year, but women tend to strive for a new look every two to three months. In fact, one in 12 take on the challenge an incredible seven times a year – but why?
The survey found that the main incentive for the female weight overhaul is going on a summer holiday, as 60% of the 1,000 women polled said they felt the need to get bikini-ready. Following this motivation was going to a wedding, as getting a “bridesmaid body” was the goal for women wanting to shine in all those photos of the big day. A third of women also made the best out of a bad situation, by using the end of a relationship as a reason to lose weight. However, at the other end of the scale, a quarter of the women polled cited celebrating getting back together with a partner as an incentive to change, while 29% wanted to get back to their old selves after having a baby. 26% lost weight at the prospect of being reunited with old college or school friends, while wanting to impress in a new job or excel at a sporting event also made the top ten reasons to shape up.
Jamie Ward, co-founder of payasUgym.com, commented, ‘It seems that, for the most part, women are gearing up for specific events or occasions and undertaking exercise in shorter, sharp bursts, rather than for a prolonged period.’ This survey follows a study last month, which found that exercise alone was enough for men to slim but women had to improve their diet as well to gain the same results. Dr Chris Easton, a lecturer in clinical exercise psychology at the University of West Scotland, explained, ‘One main reason is body composition. Men have a higher proportion of muscle which has a higher metabolic rate than fat.’ He added that women have to put in an extra 20% of effort to achieve the same weight loss results as men.
Comments are closed.