My male roommate and I started this together and so far he’s been having a lot more success than I am. We eat the same meals at the same time, and have the same amount of physical activity. He’s lost 5kg more than I have. I’m happy for him, but it’s a bit disheartening to see my success pale compared to his.
IF does affect men differently than women, for a variety of reasons. One of the biggest components is women’s more complex hormone cycle. That doesn’t mean IF can’t work for you, though!
I highly recommend the new book “Fast Like a Woman” which explains the best way to fast with your hormone cycle.
Men are naturally less insulin resistant (outside of things like having diabetes) than women, so lose weight a lot faster than women who have hormonal cycles. Men lose weight fast and all at once and women lose weight slower but drop more over time.
The pace is generally quite different for men and women.
Are you tracking calories? You said that you eat the same meals; I would guess that you don’t have the same TDEE. It’s worth calculating the calories you burn with your gender, height, weight and level of activity and then making sure to eat under that.
My husband can drop 20 pounds over a couple of weeks if he doesn’t have seconds at dinner or he cuts out dessert. It’s maddening!
Stay strong; even if you’re not having the same speed of weight loss it sounds like you are making headway. Best of luck!
Weight loss depends on a lot of factors. What were your starting weights? What are your hormonal differences? How does your body react to each meal? Results will also take time to show up. Don’t worry.
I highly recommend the Fasting Method Podcast : https://open.spotify.com/show/2PnbKAv0S94Af5kliJXEJj?si=388227d749614337
I was having lots of trouble getting the fasting and my diet to work and they have some great insights for women specifically. I am finally starting to see some results, albeit very slowly, which is still better than nothing.
Men definitely have an unfair advantage when it comes to metabolism and weight loss, that’s why I finally stopped comparing my progess to my husband’s who loses weight even when eating way unhealthier than I do. It’s comparing apples and oranges - doesn’t help. Focus on your own body and compare yourself only to yesterday’s you.
Don’t compare by pounds lost. That’s not a fair comparison.
Instead, determine the percentage of weight lost.
Divide the number of pounds lost by your original weight to get your percentage number.
This is what my husband and I do. He’s beating me big-time in pounds lost, but I’m beating him in percentage of weight lost.
Men, having usually a higher muscle mass as percentage of body weight comparatively to women and thus also a higher daily caloric spending compared to similar weight women, would naturally experience a larger effect from IF.
Two similar weight male and female would require maybe 2500kcal and 2000kcal respectively to maintain their weight. When you then reduce your caloric through IF the male would experience a larger deficit than the woman while still experiencing higher metabolic rate.
Larger bodies expend more energy. Women who are shorter and want to lose weight have to eat a small amount of calories relative to a 5’10” 200+ pound male. If they’re eating a similar amount of calories away is going to fly off of the bigger person. This is because they’re TDEE is a lot larger.
Similarly, an obese woman or man is going to lose weight faster than a person who’s trying to lose 20 pounds.
men have a faster metabolism, it’s just science. I’m sure it sucks seeing him have better results than you with equal work, but you just have to work harder to achieve the same goals. It sucks but that’s just life