Hide this
Interval Training

Story at-a-glance +

  • There are several biological reasons that make weight loss for women more difficult than for men, the primary one being that men have more muscle mass, which burns more fat, even when at rest
  • Women, largely as a result of their reproductive role, also have more subcutaneous fat, which may be harder to lose than visceral fat (which men tend to have more of)
  • Women are more inclined toward emotional eating, and may have a harder time resisting food cravings than men
  • There are strategies available that can help virtually anyone lose weight, regardless of gender, including restricting sugar and fructose intake, engaging in high-intensity interval exercises, tending to your emotional health and intermittent fasting

Double Standard: Women Must Typically Work Harder to Lose Weight

October 26, 2012 | 67,139 views
Share This Article Share

By Dr. Mercola

The gender gap is a phrase usually used to describe disparities in income between men and women, but it may very well apply to weight loss as well.

In a Time article, fitness trainer Bob Harper, who appears on the weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser, explains that 60% of the winners on the show – those who were able to lose the most amount of weight in a defined period of time – were men.

Anecdotally as well, many women express exasperation at being unable to lose weight despite making significant dietary changes and exercising, whereas their male counterparts appear to drop pounds just by making minimal lifestyle tweaks here and there.

Could it be that the cards are somehow stacked against women, and men really do have an easier time losing weight?

Several Factors Make Weight Loss for Men Easier

As Harper pointed out, one of the biggest factors men have in their favor is body composition. Men tend to have more muscle than women, who in turn have about 10 percent more of their body weight in the form of fat.

Muscle tissue burns three to five times more energy than fat tissues, so as you gain muscle, your metabolic rate increases, which allows you to burn more calories, even when you're sleeping or physically inactive. Perhaps because of their greater muscle mass, a man's resting metabolic rate can be up to 10 percent higher than a woman's (of the same age and weight),1 giving them a weight-loss advantage right out of the gate.

Then, men and women vary in the type of fat their bodies are made up of. Men tend to have more visceral fat while women tend to have more subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat is found just under your skin, and is the type that causes dimpling and cellulite. Visceral fat, on the other hand, shows up in your abdomen and surrounds your vital organs including your liver, heart and muscles.

Visceral fat is the one that is linked to heart disease, diabetes and stroke, among many other chronic diseases. So from a health standpoint, having more visceral fat is not a "benefit." However, from a strictly weight-loss point of view, visceral fat is metabolized faster, making it easier to lose than subcutaneous fat2 – another biological hurdle for women to jump over.

Next Harper explains another important issue, which is that women may be more inclined toward emotional eating than men – reaching for food (typically junk food) in response to stress, sadness, loneliness, and more – and this can be a very tough habit to break. Research even shows that women may have a reduced ability to stave off hunger and resist food cravings than men!3

However, women should not feel disheartened, as weight loss is certainly attainable no matter what your gender. Below I've included several weight loss secrets that many people aren't aware of, which can help to tip the scales back in your favor – literally! As Harper said:

"With all these factors working against them, it seems that women are at a weight-loss disadvantage, but body composition isn't destiny – it's just a minor roadblock."

The Go-To Weight Loss Trick that Works for Both Men and Women

Once you review the research, it's clear that if you are serious about losing weight, you have got to strictly limit the amount of fructose in your diet, as evidence is mounting that excess sugar, and fructose in particular, is the primary factor in the obesity epidemic. So cutting soda from your diet is essential. However many fail to appreciate the importance of cutting out other sources of fructose, including those found in processed foods, fruit juice, excessive fruit and so-called "healthy" sweeteners like agave.



As you cut these dietary villains from your meals, you need to replace them with healthy substitutes like vegetables and healthy fats (including natural saturated fats!). Your body prefers the carbohydrates in vegetables rather than grains and sugars because it slows the conversion to simple sugars, and improves insulin resistance.

When you cut grains and sugar from your meals, you typically will need to radically increase the amount of vegetables you eat, as well as make sure you are also consuming protein and healthy fats regularly. This includes saturated fats like coconut oil, which research shows can help trim your waistline.4 I've detailed a step-by-step guide to this type of healthy eating program in my comprehensive nutrition plan, and I urge you to consult this guide if you are trying to lose weight.

This Efficient Exercise Can Help You Burn More Fat

Once you've addressed your diet, exercise can truly begin to work its magic on your physique, and help boost fat loss even further. The trick to achieving flat abs is to incorporate the correct types of exercises.



Help for Emotional Eaters

Many adults turn to food in times of boredom, stress and loneliness. And for those who are eating due to stress, the comfort food of choice tends to be greasy, salty or sweet. Not surprisingly, such "stress-driven" eaters, particularly women, tend to weigh more on average. And women who feel a lack of emotional support in their lives have a greater tendency to eat to cope with stress.

So your emotional health, whether you're eating as a distraction, a reward or to help fill a missing void in your life, must be dealt with in order to successfully resist cravings for unhealthy foods.


When your body's energy system is disrupted, you are more likely to experience distractions and discomforts related to food, and more likely to engage in emotional eating. Instead, if you engage your body's subtle energy system with EFT, the distracting discomforts like food cravings and hunger pangs often subside.

How to Even the Playing Field...


  • Eliminating or strictly limiting fructose in your diet
  • Addressing the emotional component of eating

But there is one more "trick" that can really push your weight loss to the next level. Ladies, if you want you can keep this one as "your little secret," but if you're so inclined, the men in your life could benefit from it too...

It's called intermittent fasting.

By cutting down your calorie intake strategically, you can greatly boost your body's fat-burning potential, and if you do it right you probably won't even miss the extra meals. This is because you can fast simply by skipping breakfast, or even delaying it until later in the day. You can try fasting on alternate days or simply restricting the time you eat for a six- to eight-hour period during the day so you have a lengthy period of fasting (most of which will occur while you sleep, for instance if you eat your last meal of the day by 6 or 7 pm).

Our ancestors rarely had access to food 24/7 like we do, so our genes are optimized for feeding schedules like intermittent fasting.


Research suggests fasting actually triggers a variety of health-promoting hormonal and metabolic changes similar to those that occur when you exercise. The research on this is very strong; here are three studies from recent years investigating fasting for weight loss, all of which showed positive results:


If you decide to give fasting a try, start out gradually by ending your meals earlier in the evening or late afternoon and fasting overnight while you sleep. Or try skipping breakfast or delaying it and see how you feel. Let your body be your guide; fasting appropriately should leave you feeling energized and raring to go – if it makes you feel tired, queasy or irritable, you've likely taken it too far.