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Extra Pounds Can Be Sexy
Overweight adults are not only having lots of sex, they're also getting extreme enjoyment out of it, says Martin Binks, PhD, director of behavioral health at the Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University. Binks's study subjects are trying to drop pounds and probably should for health reasons. But what's remarkable is that the biggest improvement in their sex lives came when they lost just 10 percent of their body weight. "That's a very minimal weight loss, and these people were still substantially overweight," he says.Still, after a year of dieting, participants who had felt sexually unattractive went from 68 percent to 26 percent. All this goes to show that sex is more about attitude than weight, says Binks.
In addition to having a more positive body image, people who've lost weight have more energy and feel more comfortable communicating with a partner about sexual techniques, fantasies and feelings.
What's more, having meaningful, not recreational, sex induces the release of the hormone oxytocin. "It makes a person feel love and empathy," says noted heart surgeon Mehmet C. Oz, MD, co-author of the You series of health books. "Meaningful sex can also lower blood pressure, and it tells the gut not to send signals to the brain to eat." Bottom line: A healthy sex drive can lead to weight loss.
There's an emotional link too: "It makes sense that women who are feeling very full are less interested in sex," says Sonya Satinsky, project coordinator for the Center for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University. One possible explanation, she says, goes back to having bad feelings about their body, leading to a lack of desire.
Men Worry Too
Women aren't the only ones who are misguided about weight and sex. "Men are increasingly dissatisfied with their bodies," says Viren Swami, PhD, of the University of Westminster in England, who has extensively studied the science of attraction. "Some want to be thinner, but most want to be more muscular, and they are increasingly attempting to bulk up."
By some accounts, the rate of steroid use among adolescent boys is now comparable to the rate of anorexia and bulimia among adolescent girls. No wonder, since boys are being targeted with images of hairless, V-shaped Adonises in fitness magazines and on-screen.
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