The calorie needs of women and men often differ significantly. You probably know that male family members can eat almost twice as much as female family members.
They lead roughly the same lifestyle, but still hardly have any love handles or gain weight. The reason for the different calorie needs lies in the biological differences between the two sexes.
Men have a different body composition than women and the hormonal balance also plays a role in whether someone gains or loses weight.
In the following article, we will explain the biological differences between the sexes. You will learn approximately how high your personal calorie requirement is and what you can do to increase your calorie requirement.
Biological differences between men and women
Men and women differ from each other not only in appearance. Biological differences such as the genital organs, but also the body composition or hormone balance define the male and female body.
For example, men have a higher muscle percentage and women have a higher fat percentage because the body stores sufficient reserves for strenuous times such as pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Furthermore, men have more testosterone, women more estrogen, and also greater fluctuations in hormone levels, which sometimes affects food intake.
In particular, when estrogen levels are lower – that is, in the days before your period begins and during menopause – the body reacts with an increased sense of hunger.
The altered hormonal balance also promotes water retention in the tissue, which can cause weight to increase slightly.
Men's hormonal balance is not subject to such major fluctuations, which is why they rarely experience phases of increased hunger or water retention.
Another gender-specific difference can be seen in the stress hormone cortisol, which women produce in greater quantities. Cortisol inhibits muscle building and promotes fat storage.
Furthermore, cortisol can suppress the feeling of satiety and at the same time activate the hunger hormone ghrelin. A stressful lifestyle can therefore cause you to eat more than you feel hungry for, as you feel less satiated and are also more hungry.
However, the extra calories are not stored in the muscle tissue due to the increased cortisol level, but unfortunately in the fat deposits. So if you want to lose weight, whether you are a man or a woman, you should avoid stress. This has a counterproductive effect on muscle building and the metabolic rate.
Calorie requirements for women
You can easily calculate your calorie needs using a calorie calculator or find a guideline based on your daily activity in the following table:
| Exercise workload per day | Calorie requirement |
| less than 30 minutes | 1800-2000 kcal |
| 30 to 60 minutes | 2000-2200 kcal |
| over 60 minutes | 2400-2800 kcal |
Calorie requirements of men
The calorie requirement is slightly higher in men because of the higher muscle percentage. Therefore, other guideline values apply to them:
| Sports activities | Calorie requirement |
| less than 30 minutes | 2100-2500 kcal |
| 30 to 60 minutes | 2500-2700 kcal |
| over 60 minutes | 3000-3500 kcal |
Calorie calculator – Calculate your calorie requirement now!
Body size, musculature and fat cells
The larger you are, the higher your calorie requirement. The body burns more energy to maintain all bodily functions and to keep you going.
The most crucial factor in terms of metabolism and calorie requirement is the distribution of muscle and fat. Women have a higher percentage of fat, which is particularly evident on the stomach, hips and thighs.
This “gluteofemoral” fat ( gluteo from the gluteus muscle = buttock muscle, femorale from the quadriceps femoris muscle = front thigh muscle) is less metabolically active, which is why it stubbornly stays in place and is difficult to get rid of.
In contrast, men have two advantages. Firstly, they have a lower fat percentage and a higher muscle percentage, which means that their calorie requirement is inherently higher due to the higher metabolic rate of muscles.
Secondly, men store fat around their stomachs. This “abdominal” fat ( abdominal from the rectus/transversus/obliquus abdominis muscles = abdominal muscles) is highly metabolically active, which means that it is easy to get rid of through sport, an active lifestyle and the right diet.
How does metabolism affect calorie requirements?
Metabolism refers to all the processes that take place automatically in the body, e.g. maintaining all bodily functions (organs, body temperature, ...), building muscle tissue, digestion, providing energy, etc.
The more your metabolism works, the more energy it needs in the form of food. Your body needs this energy to live and function. This is called the (individual) basal metabolic rate.
In nutritional science, the basal metabolic rate is divided into five different groups, depending on physical activity. These are characterized by the so-called PAL (“physical activity level”) factors. The PAL value thus depends on whether you do physical work or spend most of the day in a seated position.
You can increase your metabolism by having a high muscle mass with a low fat mass, protein-rich foods but also by doing sports.
Proteins require more energy to digest than carbohydrates or fats, and sports and the subsequent regeneration increase your metabolic rate, which in turn increases your calorie requirement.
Tips for losing weight for men and women
There are several ways to lose weight:
- You can eat in a calorie deficit, i.e. slightly below your calorie requirement.
- Avoid stress.
- A higher muscle percentage and an active lifestyle increase both your basal and active metabolic rate. You don't just have to do strength training to build muscle. A combination of endurance and strength training is most beneficial. But you can also burn calories by taking a longer walk.
- Eat a healthy and balanced diet.
A balanced diet contains a little of everything. Every meal should contain the three macronutrients carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
Carbohydrates are found in grains such as oats or starchy vegetables such as potatoes, fats and proteins in fish, milk and dairy products, avocados, nuts and seeds.
Micronutrients, i.e. vitamins, minerals and trace elements from fruit and vegetables are important for bodily processes and the immune system. Choose foods according to the “eat a rainbow” principle; the more colorful your meal, the more different micronutrients you consume.
Oats are particularly recommended for losing weight. They keep you full for a long time, promote gut health and can be prepared in a wide variety of ways, both sweet and savory.
For example, you can prepare oats or porridge with milk for breakfast and add fresh fruit and nuts, or make broccoli porridge for lunch instead of broccoli risotto.
