SEX AND THE FAT CELL

Besides the most obvious difference in men's and women's bodies (my five-year-old will be glad to discuss this with you), there are a few differences between the sexes that actually relate to weight loss and to success in a weight-reduction plan. All men may have been created equal, but women were created

more equal: Since their basic mechanical design function is to bear children, their physiology is equipped with a built-in system for gaining weight, storing fat, and bearing and nursing children. As a result, men are free of a burden suffered only by the "weaker" sex. "Women need at least 12 percent body fat just to survive," says Lee Richards, R.N., "with the ideal between 18 and 20 percent. Men need a minimum of 3 percent body fat."

Men stop gaining weight earlier than women.

Male hormones convert calories to muscle where female hormones convert to fat, all because the basic blueprint called for men to be strong and women to be nurturing.

It doesn't take the same amount of willpower for men to lose weight—it's easier for them.

Men lose weight almost twice as fast as women do.

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