But women now are also about a half inch (2.2 cm) taller, so that explains it, right? Not by a long shot. The author of the article below blames unhealthy food, too much of it, plus physical inactivity. Since 1960, women’s average weight is up 18.5%, and men’s up 17.6%.
Click the link below for details. I quote:
The average American woman weighs 166.2 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As reddit recently pointed out, that’s almost exactly as much as the average American man weighed in the early 1960s.
Men, you’re not looking too hot in this scenario either. Over the same time period you gained nearly 30 pounds, from 166.3 in the 60s to 195.5 today.
Source: The average American woman now weighs as much as the average 1960s man – The Washington Post
Steve Parker, M.D.
PS: You wanna do something about it? Send my book to someone you love.
PPS: Men are also a half inch taller.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 
2.2cm is rather more than a mere 1/2inch – 2.54cm to the inch…
Muscle tissue. So when our metabolism thinks we are starving, it gets rid of
calorie-hungry muscle tissue. Studies show that up to 70% of the weight lost while eating less comes from burning muscle—not body fat! Burning all this muscle means that starving ourselves leads to more body fat—not less—over the long term.
Danita, I think if you eat adequate protein and exercise reasonably, you can maintain all muscle mass while dieting for fat loss.