As a dietitian in private practice, I often listen to frustrated female clients complain their husbands are able to lose weight effortlessly, while they have to pay attention to every nibble in order to see the scale budge.
Why is it that a woman only has to look at a decadent dessert to feel the pounds creeping on, while all a man has to do is cut back on portions – or hit the gym a few times a week – to watch the pounds fall off?
Do men really lose more weight and lose it faster than women?
The answer is yes, guys do have an easier time shedding pounds (I'm sorry, ladies). Men, it seems, have both a physiological and psychological edge when it comes to losing weight.
For starters, men are genetically hardwired to shed weight faster than women. Men are more prone to build muscle, thanks to higher levels of the hormone testosterone. Because men have more muscle mass, they also have a higher resting metabolism. Muscle burns more calories than fat, so the more muscle you have in relation to body fat, the higher your resting metabolism.
(Resting metabolism is the amount of energy required to keep your heart beating, your lungs breathing, your brain and liver functioning and your cells alive at complete rest.)
Women, on the other hand, are predisposed to store fat because they have high levels of estrogen, the hormone that helps keep fat on a woman's body, making it easier to get pregnant. Research has shown that a woman burns 5 to 10 per cent fewer calories for the body's metabolic needs than a man of the same height and weight.
More muscle mass also means men burn more calories when working out and respond more quickly to the slimming effects of exercise. A study of 962 men and women enrolled in a two-year weight loss program found that exercise alone was enough to help men lose weight. In women, however, even substantial increases in exercise weren't enough to produce weight loss if they didn't reduce their calorie intake.
The fact that a man burns more calories at rest and during physical activity makes it easier for him to eat more without gaining weight and to lose weight faster than a woman of a similar size. And because women diet more often than men, they're also more likely to slow down their metabolism. Drastically cutting calories burns muscle and triggers hormonal changes that slow calorie burning and promote fat storage. Weight loss slows and when the diet is abandoned, the pounds pile back on.
But men shouldn't get overly confident about their biological calorie-burning advantage. Age slows down metabolism in both sexes at a rate of 1 to 2 per cent a decade, making it harder to maintain a healthy weight. This translates into a need for women to consume seven fewer calories a day for each year after the age of 30, and 10 calories a day for men.
It may not sound like much but it can make a difference to your weight – especially if you're still eating the way you did in your 20s. For example, a 65-year-old male needs to consume 350 fewer calories than he did at the age of 30, pretty much the number of calories many folks eat for breakfast.
Men are also genetically programmed to gain weight near the abdominal area, whereas women's extra weight tends to settle in the hips and thighs. Research suggests belly fat is more sensitive to enzymes that break down fat than fat located in the hips and thighs. While abdominal fat may be easier to lose, it's also the type that's linked to a greater risk of diabetes and heart attack.
