Losing Body Fat:

Men vs. Women

This could be a touchy subject. Can men lose weight easier than women? The answer is both yes and no. Let us explain in greater detail.

First of all, let us differentiate between “losing weight” and decreasing the amount of fat in your body. They are not the same thing. An elite female sprinter with a height of 5’ 10’’ could easily weigh 145 pounds or more and still be the picture of health. By no stretch of the imagination would she be considered over weight. But if that same woman were to quit training and adopt and unhealthy lifestyle, she would eventually be considered “over weight” if she retained her weight of 145 pounds as her muscle mass eventually was replaced with fat.

Do Men Have the Edge?

That being said let us get back to the question of which sex can lose weight faster. We will use an example of a male and female who are both considered over weight by 30 pounds and not in good health. Using conventional methods such as dieting and exercise, the man will in fact lose body fat faster. The basic reason for this is that men have naturally higher metabolisms than women. This means they will burn more energy even while sleeping compared to women. It may seem unfair, but men do have the edge when it comes to losing body fat faster.

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But there is a difference between losing weight and losing body fat. There is a current TV show which pits over weight men and women against each other in a weight loss contest. Do men have the edge in a contest where overall weight loss is the key measure of health? It may seem so at first glance, but there is one more factor which must be considered.

Testosterone is Key

Although men can burn fat faster, their bodies have higher levels of testosterone than women. And testosterone is a natural steroid which enhances muscle creation. Men are able to build muscle much more easily than women. So as men exercise to lose weight, that same exercise will build muscle mass in men far faster than in women. Weight loss contests would be far more fair and accurate if they were based upon percentage of body fat instead of total weight lost.

Since having an extra 20 pounds of muscle mass is better for one's health than having an extra 20 pounds of fat, it seems that men do have the edge when it comes to “weight loss”. Since the basic goal of “weight loss” is to lose body fat, it looks like men do have the edge…but maybe not in a contest!