The True Definition of Calories i.e. "Why what you believe is extremist BS" page 11

[Iron Will]

Ooh ooh!!! I have another question!!!! I know the answer already but I want to see who in the "A calorie is just a calorie" group knows...

Why is it easier for men to loose weight than for women to loose weight?

[Leida]

The average woman absolutely can get enough protein on 1200 cal per day:

7 oz pork loin fat trimmed ~54.6 gms protein
5-1/3 oz (1/3 of a pound) 95% ground beef ~39.4 gms protein
2 large eggs ~ 12.6 gms protein

Total for the above ~106.6 gms of protein in about 570 calories.
Leaving ~630 calories for veggies, fruit, etc. - even more protein if one desires.

I also agree with the OP that measurement of non liquid foods should be in weighed ounces. Using a deck of cards, the palm of one's hand or a "handful" is too inexact.

Uhm, I need 150-200 g of protein to support muscular growth with heavy lifting at caloric def. Yeah, I do it on egg whites, whey isolate, tuna and meats. It can be done. It's not fun day in, day out.

There are weird tricks of satiation. I find a smoothie with 2 scoops whey (130 cal), a cup of cranberries (40 cal) and half a banana (50 cal) and 1/4 cup egg whites (60 cal) = ~ 300 cal) more satiating than 1 egg (80 cal) and 1 cup of egg whites (240 cal) = ~320 cal , despite similar caloric count.

Why is it easier for men to loose weight than for women to loose weight?

Higher muscular mass on men, hormonal make-up and genetic propensity to store fat for women for childbirth-readiness reasons

[otzi]

Ooh ooh!!! I have another question!!!! I know the answer already but I want to see who in the "A calorie is just a calorie" group knows...

Why is it easier for men to loose weight than for women to loose weight?

Estrogen dominance.

[Dave Mayo]

Meh, I think it glosses over a few non-calorie related issues wrt to gut flora. Percentage of the types of gut flora is dictated by what, not how much. The make up of gut flora impacts hunger as well as available calories (I remember one study showing the difference of gut flora in obese people accounting for an extra 150 cals available per day which could theoretically add 15lbs per year). Personally, I find focusing on "what" will typically regulate "how much" but the reverse isn't true. Regardless, you can't possibly even remotely approximate cals in or cals out, so why try?

I do believe calories count in principle, there's just too many variables that we don't understand to make counting calories effective or worth while. Even if you could, what's the point if you're constantly preoccupied with food and starving?

[Neckhammer]

Meh, I think it glosses over a few non-calorie related issues wrt to gut flora. Percentage of the types of gut flora is dictated by what, not how much. The make up of gut flora impacts hunger as well as available calories (I remember one study showing the difference of gut flora in obese people accounting for an extra 150 cals available per day which could theoretically add 15lbs per year). Personally, I find focusing on "what" will typically regulate "how much" but the reverse isn't true. Regardless, you can't possibly even remotely approximate cals in or cals out, so why try?

I do believe calories count in principle, there's just too many variables that we don't understand to make counting calories effective or worth while. Even if you could, what's the point if you're constantly preoccupied with food and starving?

yup

[otzi]

I am not sure what "key labs" are, but if I just say I want to test the key ones, is that standard enough and I will get all the right ones done that I need to know?

That's where a good doctor comes in handy. For normal maintenance of a pretty healthy body, cholesterol, bp, trigs, and the 'standard panel' stuff is good. If you are having trouble losing weight, you'll need to dig further. Sex hormones, glucose tolerance, hs-crp, liver panels, platelettes, thyroid, and others. You definitely need a doctor to order these and hopefully a doctor that is interested in getting you healthy and not just wanting to give you statins or some other nonsense.

[Iron Will]

Estrogen dominance.

DING DING DING DING!!!

So if you put a man and woman side by side who eat the same about of calories, have the same activity levels, are the same height and have the same muscle mass the woman will have more fat tissue than the man.

Call it estrogen dominance or testosterone dominance how ever you prefer but wait... Aren't those hormones? Could hormones have significant control over the levels of body fat? NAW!!!! That's just plain old witch craft!

[Comma]

So then does progesterone help in getting more calories to not stick? I just bought some progesterone cream to counteract estrogen dominance. *Sigh*

[BestBetter]

Ooh ooh!!! I have another question!!!! I know the answer already but I want to see who in the "A calorie is just a calorie" group knows...

Why is it easier for men to loose weight than for women to loose weight?

I already asked this...I don't think it's as simple as estrogen dominance. There are likely LOTS of hormonal factors in play.

While I firmly believe that CICO matters, even though it is a complex, mysterious process that we will never be able to understand (at least the CO part, since we can't see or track how our bodies are using energy), there is a huge, glaring issue that is being ignored, though Magnolia hit on it:

Women and men lose/gain/store fat very differently. Women are genetically programmed to gain and store fat, men are designed to put on muscle.

Of course there are exceptions, to a degree. And of course this doesn't mean that women can't put on ANY muscle, or men can't gain ANY fat. But the fact is, we are designed for different biological purposes, which is a fact that is generally ignored in the diet/fat loss world.

If CICO was as neat and easy as some people claim, why would this be? And why would women be ROUTINELY excluded from fat loss scientific research experiments, with the explanantion being that the researchers don't want female hormonal issues bogging down the studies and preventing them from getting some clear-cut results?

Why is it that a common story is a husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend go primal/paleo or whatever way of eating, and the dude drops weight without really trying while the female counterpart is treading water while meticulously tracking and reducing? (Of course the female is accused of underreporting, because what else could explain the difference?)

Again, I'm in no way trying to dismiss CICO, but these glaring omissions of differences between male and female fat loss are infuriating.

[Iron Will]

I already asked this...I don't think it's as simple as estrogen dominance. There are likely LOTS of hormonal factors in play.

Yes I definitely agree that it's more than just estrogen and testosterone but I'm just trying to show that hormones do control every part of our biological make up. And since these two hormones are the most well known I decided to use them in my question.