As an incentive to keep exercising, she tells women to buy a dress that's just a little too tight. By the time the holiday party rolls around, she's ready to model the ensemble. Gamely, she suggests men might try doing the same with a smaller size of pants. Whether or not men would go for such a gambit, they can take comfort in the fact that they can eat sparely during the week, pig out during a holiday and not gain weight. Men have higher bone density and higher lean-body mass, so they require more calories to function.
Women are designed for making babies, so they have a much greater ability to store fat.
Unless someone is morbidly obese, Tonsits recommends losing no more than 1 pounds per week. But it's safe and it's the only way it's likely to be permanent. Judy Banathy, an exercise physiologist in Colorado Springs, Colo., calls the body a perfect calorie-counter. To maintain weight, it must burn all the calories it takes in. Banathy realizes that's not easy during the holidays.