Dieting: Men Versus Women

It's not surprising to me that only 1% of men try Weight Watchers, even though it's a pretty solid program that does work. My dad lost his belly by doing it, although he was the only man at the meetings usually.

Most women should probably exercise more and not focus SO much on the "diet". This is why I liked WW, it emphasized exercise as a way to speed up and maintain weight loss. I've also noticed that a lot of men equate working out=lifting weights. Most men don't really feel like they need to be doing cardio while most women tend to overdo the cardio.

Interesting stats: 16% of women are obese/overweight and 57% of them want to lose weight while almost half of men are overweight and only 26% feel the need to lose weight. Seems like men are a lot more forgiving about their bodies.

WW really needs to reach out to men.
Women are less forgiving due to media and to mothers and Fathers.
Mothers who are unhappy with their body put that on their children.
Same with dad's who make fun of fat people.

“Does this mean that college men don't care about nutrition much?”

Many guys that are into sports, don’t care about nutrition much. Those that are not overweight, whatever eating habits they already have, is what they use. If these eating habits get them in trouble, they may start thinking about nutrition.

"Low-carbohydrate diets (16 percent and 7 percent)"

Glad to see!

It dismays me that there are very little men in weight loss circles.

Hmmm Weight Wathcers - Yes well.......... they suck big time!

The other ironic thing is that although many women have dieting "strategies" down to a tee, men are usually more successful at losing weight when they do try. My husband is trying to lose weight....his strategy is to cut down on snacking, eat more fruit, drink less beer, and start walking more often. He's not going on any real "diet" per se, just modifying his eating habits. I think "diets" are what set most women up for failure because they are not very maintainable usually. You have to learn to modify your lifestyle in order for weight loss to be permanent. This is why exercise is so key...it helps you maintain weight loss long term.

Who says WW sucks "big time"? There are plenty of "low carb" diets out there that suck big time as well. The key is to find a plan that you can stick with long term. I know for a fact that I could never give up my morning oatmeal and brown rice for dinner, so I knew WW was the plan for me...you can eat whatever you want, just smaller portions.

I think this disparity is caused by the different things men and women are encouraged to focus on through the popular media. Women are measured against standards of thinness, implying attractiveness. Prominent muscles are considered too masculine, unattractive and undesirable. On the other hand, men are encouraged to take these same things seen as unattractive in women as a model of manly-ness. You can't get muscles by dieting, and you usually don't get a skinny, young boy body by lifting weights.

Men and women can definitely learn a thing or two from each other, but does it seem like women are more harshly judged and expected to be attractive than men are? Not only in body image, but in areas like age? I'm not trying to play the "we're the discriminated population" card, but what do you think?

Sorry guys,

Just wanted to explain - that I invested a lot of time and money in Weight Watchers and it didn't address my needs.

They were certaintly happy to take my money.

I can't see how anyone is surprised any longer that most women, even those of "normal" weights, think they need to lose weight. I mean, I've lost count of the number of women's magazines that urge women who are already at a healthy weight to lose more. It's such a crock. And we wonder why women hate their bodies and think they're fat? Hello, it's because we're told we're fat every day, even when we're not.

I think that while WW might certainly work for some people, my friends who are on it often eat processed garbage cause it is "low in points", even if it is chockfull of sugar, etc. So while I understand the whole "no food is bad for you" logics behind you, I think it discourages people from looking at the nutritional value of foods, when they equate a carrot with [insert overprocessed food, preferably with the WW brand name on it, here] cause both are 1 or 2 points. So I don't know.

And in my experience men are much more sensible about weight loss, they try minor changes like no beer, no fried foods instead of trying to cut 1,000 calories off their diets at once - which could also explain why they are more successful.

Jan--I know what you mean and that is indeed one of the drawbacks to the WW system. You have to be sensible with it. I had a friend who would literally eat 9 WW ice cream bars a day and that was it because they had 2 points each and she'd get her 18 daily points that way. That is in NO WAY a healthy way to lose weight! But the WW plan does focus on trying to get you to choose foods from all different categories. My strategy with WW was to replace my higher-calorie choices with lower calorie ones...swap skim milk for cream in my coffee, eat a homemade popsicle (from frozen fruit puree) instead of ice cream, eat veggies with dinner instead of a dinner roll, etc. It worked for me, but I can see some people focusing only on the calorie content of what they eat and not the nutrition.

I think for someone who goes to meetings, they'll probably get good advice, but the people I know are doing it online... and I think if you get someone with terrible eating habits for starters and lets the person worry just about the points, well, you know what happens.

Nic--yeah, no kidding. When you read any women's magazine, you see thin women modeling on the "lose 10 lbs by Thanksgiving" page and you subconciously think "Well, if that waif needs to lose 10 lbs, I must need to lose at least 20", which is such a negative thought process. Why can't they at LEAST maybe show people who maybe COULD lose 10 lbs without looking like a skeleton model in the article?

Spectra, that is my problem with the ads for Xenical here... (it is still rx only but doctors are rx-happy, so it doesn't really matter. plus there are online pharmacies). They show 5 women. One looks about 10lb overweight. The other ones, including one shown *in a white bikini, from the back* look perfectly thin. I'm not saying they look "normal" cause normal is fat, I'm saying that their BMI cannot be over 22, let alone 25. They are thinner than Kate Winslet, for comparison, and they are saying they need an rx to lose weight. It is sick.

Re Spectra's comment: "Seems like men are a lot more forgiving about their bodies." I don't know, Spectra; I think it's just good old supply and demand. Maybe men know they're more 'valuable' because there are more of us than of them---except maybe in Alaska! The demand for them is there, no matter what they look like or what their physical state.

If people see a woman who looks healthy, they invariably react with vicious comments and gossip about her size, weight, lack of self-control (in their opinion); if she is not exactly a thin stick they never ever suspect she might be healthy, or strong, let alone otherwise worthy.

This is precisely the social bias that results in anorexic, bulimic, suicidal young girls - no wonder, because they have experienced feeling unwanted as a race (women). Males on the other hand suffer little social stigma even for drinking, smoking, or crime, in comparison - they get the "let us try to understand" reaction instead.

This is bound to provide an unhealthy society.

If any women - girls - really do need to lose weight, the healthy way to do it is: go for the sort of exercise that would make you happy, walk, dance, bicycle, some weights (children and otherwise), and have a diet which is for health rather than reduction (brown and dark breads, more fiber, fruits and vegetables, beans ...) and have some activity of your own that would give you a purpose of your own and satisfaction for yourself. Expect slow results and don't check weight every day, lose the anxiousness and the lack of self worth, first and foremost. There is no greater work or profession or potential than bringing up humanity, and so you are worthy already, by definition. And you need, and deserve, to be healthy and happy, in order to do it properly, even if all you do is be a woman. When you are not healthy, not happy, it is unfair to yourself and your children. So ignore the unhealthy pressures and take care of yourself. It is an uphill fight in today's society but you can do it.

Dr. J that is very sound advice.

thats is a good advice some people dont need to lose weight but say they do thats my P.O.V

As a man who has been overweight for 30-odd years, my persepective is that men prefer to have the hype cut out of losing weight -- and sitting around talaking about weight loss with a group of overweight women once a week falls into that category. Men like it simple, and they like it humourous. A new website, www.recoveringporkers.com provides a politically incorrect, women-free, hype-free online home for fat guys.