Hey guys, we’ve all been there, a little plump, carrying a bit more baggage then we would like, so we decide now is the time to lean up and cut the fat. But hold up, there are some really easy traps to fall into stopping your shred quest that can be easily avoided.
Click the link below to find out the three mistakes I made when trying to get shredded:
The 3 Mistakes I made when Getting Shredded
The subject of fat loss for women is a highly debated topic, people start getting deep into conversations about hormone profiles and how men and women differ physiologically. Some just think women are looking for a scape goat, and just need to get on with it. And then there are those who feel like females are at a disadvantage when it comes to weight loss.
So is it harder for women to lose fat?
I personally am not a fan of the whole discussion on hormones, how men have more testosterone and women have more oestrogen, or the argument that women store fat for childbearing reasons. That doesn’t mean either of those are not true, in part they are, I just think when it comes to fat loss the bigger picture is being missed. And that is size.
In general men are larger than women, that’s pretty much fact. As we know the larger you are the more energy you need to move around. The bigger you are the more you need to eat to maintain your weight, and therefore the more you can eat and lose weight. According to the National Center for Health Statistics the average US adult male weighs in at 195.5lbs vs. the average female at 166.2lbs, that’s almost 30lbs difference! In weight-reducing programs, men usually lose more body weight and fat then women. This is mainly down to the fact that when dieting, men and women have almost the same calorie allowances despite having very different calorie requirements. Resulting in a greater energy deficit in men.
Yes, it is harder for women to lose fat, but it’s also harder in general for smaller individuals. That means there are some small guys out there struggling on their ‘poverty macros’ too, so girls you are not alone.
It all comes down to energy balance, the bigger you are the easier it is to manipulate that balance in your favour. When we account for individual caloric needs we always see similar degrees of weight loss between genders. For example, in one study males and females were put on low calorie diets, with a calorie deficit of 300kcal, men taking in 1500kcals vs. women on 1300kcal. So the calorie allowances resulted in similar energy deficits and therefore both sexes saw similar weight and fat loss.
It comes down to the need to understand our own individual energy balance. Women in general are at a disadvantage in this sense, in most cases they have less lean tissue and therefore their metabolic burn is much less than a mans. Also, they have a lower capacity to increase their muscle mass, again putting them to a disadvantage.
So as a male, next time you hear of a female struggling to lose weight, don’t laugh and say it’s easy, try and be a bit more understanding, because they’re playing in a different league. And women, all is not lost, as shown you are very capable of losing fat, it just requires an understanding of energy balance. Your size is only one factor among many that impacts your calorie burn.
Resources
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