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Home » Lose Weight » It's True: Women Must Work Harder to Lose Weight

It's not a myth: women really are at a disadvantage when it comes to shedding pounds

Trae Patton / NBC

Jeremy Britt shows off his weight loss during the season finale of The Biggest Loser on NBC.

Harper's latest book is The Skinny Rules: The Simple, Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting to Thin

On The Biggest Loser,more than 60% of the winners have been men. Outside of the show, Ive heard a lot of women complain that even when they arent really trying, men seem to have an easier time losing weight. Why?

The answer lies in body composition. Even when obese, men tend to have more muscle mass than women. Women carry approximately 10% more of their bodyweight in fat. Furthermore, several studies have shown that a mans metabolism is anywhere from 3 to 10% higher than a woman of the same weight and age. That brings us to a physiological truth: the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be and the more calories you will burn, even when resting.

(MORE: Lets Stop Being Passive About Fighting Obesity)

The typeof extra weight youre carrying matters, too. Men tend to have more visceral fat, the kind that accumulates deep in the body, mostly around the organs in their mid-sections. It may not jiggle around, but it can give a guy some added girth or a big gut. Women have more subcutaneous fat, which sits just under the skin (most often in your hips and thighs). This type of fat tends to jiggle and move, and you might even (unhappily) be able to grab hold of it.

While visceral fat is the more dangerous of the two and has been linked to a long list of health issues, a 2009 study at Cairo University showed that it gets metabolized faster than subcutaneous fat. This means that subcutaneous fat is harder to lose, which is just another hurdle for women who are looking to lose weight.

(MORE:How Faith and Health Go Hand-in-Hand)

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It's True: Women Must Work Harder to Lose Weight

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