Our metabolism slows down to conserve that fat and the energy stores, and our appetite increases. So we are jinxed from the start. And women tend to have more of a problem with this than men do. Men are different, in more ways than one. Their bodies are composed of more muscle than women s bodies and muscles burn more fat up.
Muscle is one of the most metabolically active tissues in the body.
Muscle actually burns eighteen times as many calories as fat. Your metabolic rate will be lower if you have a high ratio of fat to muscle. Your genes determine the balance of dozens of chemicals that ultimately regulate your own body s metabolic rate and appetite-control center. One hormone, leptin, plays a big part in this survival game. Leptin tells the brain what is going on in the fat cells.