Why Women Lose Fat Slower Than Men - An Essential Read

Women & Hormones

Some facts about females and hormones which impact fat loss a great deal;

• Pregnancy can cost up to 50,000 calories above normal
• Women’s body evolved in order to prepare them for pregnancy, this explains women hold more fat.
• Women are more likely to live longer during any famine due to adequate reserves of fat they hold – this is all evolutionary.
• Typically, women carry up to 10-12% more body fat than males.
• Estrogen is NOT the bad hormone, contrary to what people think.
• Progesterone is considered the nasty hormone in terms of body composition – fat loss.
• Hormonal shifts cause cravings in the body and mood swings which can impact training and ultimately fat loss. This is something most women, and personal trainers, don’t take into account.

Menstrual Cycle Simplified;

• The two main phases of the menstrual cycle as you may know consists of the Follicular phase and the Luteal phase. These two phases are separated by ovulation and menses.  Typically lasting around 28 days.
• The Follicular phase starts on the first day of menstruation and typically ends at ovulation.
• The Luteal phase starts with ovulation and ends with the first day of menses.
• Estrogen is dominant during the Follicular phase with Progesterone lower.
• Estrogen and Progesterone are high during the Luteal phase but Progesterone is more dominant here.
• Estrogen can cause women to be more insulin-sensitive (carbohydrate tolerance & proper use of them), whereas Progesterone can cause women to be insulin-resistant (carbohydrate tolerance slightly low and not utilized in the body properly).
• Estrogen can also decrease appetite, increase fat-burning enzymes in skeletal muscle and can be a good time for lean muscle tissue development.
• Progesterone is where it gets bad. Hunger and cravings go up, the metabolic rate slightly increases, food intake goes up quite a bit and it can cause protein breakdown.
• During this late Luteal phase, strength loss is common, brain function decreases and loss of energy is common – so progesterone is the difficult hormone to navigate around. This is where the dreaded PMS (Pre-menstrual Syndrome) can be experienced.
• Water weight is another issue. Scale weight goes up due to more water retention as estrogen, a few daysbefore ovulation, can cause water to be retained more.  This drives women crazy because they can see their scale weight go up – but worry not! It’s only water weight.

Putting it all together if you want to lose fat

I have broken it down very simply just so you have an idea which hormones take over and when.  The FIRST thing to bear in mind, is if you want to begin a fat-loss journey, AVOID starting during your late Luteal phase.  As mentioned above, you will be less energetic, your mood may be affected, strength will decline, brain function goes down a little and you will feel like crap.  Ultimately, most women who begin during this time end up giving up because of raging hormones.

Fat loss and muscle building is best done during the Follicular phase.  During this period, fat storage will typically be lowered and it can be a good time for fat burning.  During this period, you MUST also work hard as lean muscle mass can be developed.  Lean mass on a woman is essential if you want to lose body fat overall and you seek the “toned” look.

During the late Luteal phase, this is where your workouts may suffer.  You feel lethargic, not wanting to train, your cravings are raging, you want to punch people and you just feel like giving up the gym.  Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t apply to everyone.  A lot of women can do just fine. But unfortunately, this is the reality of the female human body, and this is why women have a harder time losing body fat!

Women naturally have more body fat so this is something we all know and accept.  But body fat storage can peak at certain times and can be difficult to lose also at certain times.  With Men, there is no such variability.  So this is something Women will need to accept.  Fat loss is typically slower unless you take hormone-boosting supplements/injections (which is not safe of course).

How To Speed it Up Then?

Increase your protein intake and lift heavy weights.  Yes, the answer you didn’t want to hear, but I’m sorry. This where MAGIC happens, but a lot of women are intimidated to step into the weight rooms (through no fault of your own) or some are just plain stubborn.   I am not going to sit here and tell you what you want to hear just so I can be your favourite person.  I want to help you and tell you the truth so you don’t spin your wheels every time you try to lose fat.

Women NEED as much testosterone as they can get. You guys will have a hell of a tough time actually holding onto lean muscle, so there is no reason to fear getting big and huge. It’s a known fact that men have up to 20-30 times more testosterone than Women, which is why Men can build muscle a bit quicker.  Which leads me on to my next confusion.  Why do women think they will get big, “bulky” and muscle-bound if they lift weights or have a protein shake?  It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and this myth needs to die. You do not have enough testosterone.  But even so, Men STILL have an extremely difficult time gaining muscle mass, so why are you worried again?

Do you want to get toned? Good. Lift weights and increase protein intake.  You can not tone a certain area of the body, its impossible.  The toned look comes from lean muscle and healthy levels of body fat.  That’s how you get toned!

So, ladies, this is as basic as it can get.  I’ve tried to keep it simple and I understand some of you may have questions, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.  I have intentionally not discussed which type of resistance training to do as it is a whole other topic, but for the most part, any good weight-lifting programme will work wonders for you.  In the meantime, be your own scientist.  Track how you feel during your time of the month, lift weights (safely of course) and INCREASE your protein intake.  Otherwise, continue as you are and envy other women who are actually taking these steps.