Something I didn't know until I started losing weight

[Tobin S.]

I go to a weight loss clinic and take classes there with other people enrolled in the program. I didn't know until I started doing this that it's generally harder for women to lose weight than men. The owner of the clinic says that men will lose 1-5 pounds a week on her program, while women will lose 1-3 pounds a week. I've lost 104 pounds in 9.5 months, but when I was bigger I lost 70 pounds in 4.5 months. There is another guy there who has lost 130 pounds in a little over a year. We are both down to our ideal weight.

There are women there who are losing weight, but it's at a slower pace. There's a woman who has been there a little longer than me, but has only lost about 30 pounds. The most successful women there that I've run across are losing weight at about a pound to a pound and a half a week. One of them happens to be my boss' wife who I hope for the sake of my future employment continues to do well. :D

They say one reason for the difference is that men have more muscle mass than women which requires more calories to maintain. Another reason has something to do with testosterone although I forget exactly what it is right now.

But despite not losing weight as fast as men on the program, women still benefit the same as men in other areas of their health. We have blood work done occasionally to assess any progress made in blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, and we also have our blood pressure checked. Women and men both see improvements in all of those areas no matter how much weight they've lost.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I've heard this too, my dear Tobin...

And the hormones are the reason, or so I've heard.

But you are correct: the benefits are the same, no matter which sex we're talking about...

:hi:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. I posted this link in the health forum about women and test..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=222x66961

Small excerpt:

Testosterone for Women
Contrarian Endocrinology: Testosterone for Women
by Karlis Ullis, MD with Josh Shackman, MA

While the role of testosterone in maintaining muscle mass and losing body fat may be obvious to bodybuilders and athletes, it is a basic hormonal fact that is often absent in the medical community. It is known that many women begin to gain fat rapidly about ten to fifteen years before the menopause and also after. The connection between low to absent testosterone production and the deterioration of a healthy body composition is rarely made. Most women are often only given estrogens and progestins as hormone replacement therapy, but not testosterone.

I have found in my medical practice that giving women estrogen and progesterone and not testosterone makes it almost impossible for them to lose weight/fat.

[Arugula Latte]

3. Yep. Definitely. It is a source of much consternation amongst women!

On shows like "The Biggest Loser" the men tend to drop more weight and faster. I think maybe there was one female "Biggest Loser" and the rest have been men.

[rrneck]

4. vive la difference nt