Page 37 - The Skinny On Your Diet Plan

• resting metabolic rate. (men are typically higher than women at
the same body size)

• fat-free mass. (men typically have more than women)
• hormones. (testosterone, of which males have about 10-12 times

more than women, increases lean mass and metabolic rate, while
estrogen and progesterone tend to increase body fat)

• energy use and nutrient sensing. (for instance, women’s bodies
tend to defend energy balance, and resist losing body fat, more
than men’s)

These are just average tendencies, and there’s quite a lot of variation
between individual males and females (for instance, a 20-year-old female

Olympic wrestler will likely be much more muscular than a 60-year-old

sedentary male office worker).
If you identify as intersex, sex-based calculations may not apply well to

you; use outcome-based decision making over time to see which

calculations get you in the right ballpark (even if they don’t fully reflect
your physiological reality).

If you’re undergoing gender transition, and supplementing hormones, it
usually works best to choose the equation that matches your destination

gender. (In other words, if you’re a trans man who has been on testosterone
for a while, choose the male equation; if you’re a trans woman who’s been

using estrogen, choose the female equation.)

5. Our age
As we get older, our resting metabolic rate goes down (about 1-2% per

decade after age 20), even if we’re active. This decrease is due to different
factors at different ages; for instance, ceasing to grow in your 20s, or losing

lean mass in your 50s and beyond. Age related muscle loss is known as
sarcopenia. (Of course, if we’re inactive and/or eat poorly, this decline

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