Weight loss difference between men and women

science
(Jaysen Clark ) #1

Can someone answer my questions? I’m not sure if I herd this on a podcast or a book or YouTube. I remember hearing that woman loose weight slower because when they eat unhealthy food that they loose muscle and gain fat. When women eat keto, healthy foods, they gain muscle and loose fat, so there clothing size gets smaller but there scale weight does not change much. Men on the other hand, when eating unhealthy, gain fat but don’t loose as much muscle because of testosterone levels. When men eat keto they loose fat but don’t gain as much muscle. There for there scale weight drops faster. Is this correct?

(Diana ) #2

Well, that would explain a few things. I don’t know if this theory is true, but it makes me feel better.

(Tracy) #3

I have also heard this. Women lose more slowly I think because keto is healing the hormones. Not sure.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #4

Women lose slower in all types of diets, not just Keto. I had always read it was hormonal.

(Running from stupidity) #5

That’s a bit of a weird-sounding theory, TBH. I prefer to just go “Hormonal!” (which is what Keto is basically based on) and figure that while women are more complicated generally, they’re CLEARLY more complicated hormonally. (I was discussing this very topic with a friend of mine last night and she agreed whole-heartedly :slight_smile:

(Splotchy) #6

…plus (I speak only for myself), women have the added blight of up to a week per month of psychotic pre-menstrual carboholic self-sabotage.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

What you posted sounds basically right, though it is probably a bit oversimplified. I suspect that the problem has a strong cultural element to it, as well, however, since women (at least in the U.S.) are taught to focus on their scale weight to such an extent that I believe we all lose sight of the distinction between weight and fat. It certainly appears to be difficult for some women, early on, to grasp what you posted about gaining muscle while losing fat, and they get very frustrated by the fact that their scale weight isn’t changing much, if at all.

I guess my point is simply that cultural training makes the hormonal situation even worse.

BTW, when I was a kid I had a book of spooky stories, one of which was about the members of a London club who were all quite obese. The narrator’s grandmother was a witch of some sort from India, so they all ask him for a potion that will help them lose “weight.” At the end of the story, the gentlemen have all lost so much weight that they are floating at the ceiling of the room, but none of them is an inch thinner. The story ends with the narrator chiding them for their vanity in asking to lose weight instead of fat.

(Jaysen Clark ) #8

But, on other diets do the loose inches and go down 3 dress sizes , with zero lose of scale weight?My wife and two daughters experienced this.

(Jaysen Clark ) #9

Explain to me how it is that women can drop 3 dress sizes and many inches but the scale stays the same? It would almost have to be muscle.

(Wendy) #10

It would have to be in that case. Because as we should all know, muscle is denser than fat so the same amount weight wise takes up less volume. It’s also beneficial to build muscle where fat was as muscle burns more calories.
As an aside, one of the reasons men lose easier than most women is because they are more muscular. And men are more muscular because that’s what their hormones make them. :slight_smile:

(Bob M) #11

As Gary Taubes has pointed out, the amount of calories burnt by muscle at rest is really, really small. Tiny. (I forget what his estimate was - maybe 5 or 50 calories per pound.) Inconsequential. It’s a nice theory, gain muscle mass and you’ll increase your metabolism, but the actual effect is very small.

Also, gaining something like 10 pounds of muscle mass is quite difficult. Unless you’re a young man who is genetically gifted (or you’re regaining muscle you’ve lost), it takes maybe several years to gain that much.

Realize too that you might actually be losing muscle as you lose weight. Why? Say you’re 400 pounds and you reduce to 200 pounds. Your body needed more muscle to move that 400 pounds than it does to move 200 pounds, so you’ll lose muscle.

Often, men have more weight to lose. Their basal metabolic rate is higher. Men can therefore “afford” to have a smaller calorie intake (leading to higher weight loss, at least in the short term), whereas women cannot. I’m thinking of drafting a post about this, in fact.

As always, it’s more complex than what people think it is.

#12

Estrogen promotes fat. Fat promotes estrogen. Women are fighting their estrogen when they lose weight. This is relevant for men too. Obese men have elevated estrogen, which promotes fat gain, which raises estrogen further. It’s a vicious cycle.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #13

I agree Keto is great for body recomp. I’m just pointing out that women are fundamentally different than men when it comes to weight loss, regardless of diet.

(LeeAnn Brooks) #14

You have to understand a woman’s body is designed to carry a baby and bring life forth. Hormonally our bodies fight weight loss more than men because of this.

(Running from stupidity) #15

Coulda stopped RIGHT THERE :slight_smile: