Losing weight like a man

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Ask any woman who’s ever dieted along with her husband, and she’ll tell
you: Men lose weight easier than women do.

‘It’s their metabolism. It’s their testosterone,’ said personal trainer Jillian Michaels. The co-star of NBC’s reality show ‘The Biggest Loser’ added that men simply don’t carry their fat and hold on to it like women do.

Five seasons in to ‘The Biggest Loser,’ and a woman has yet to walk away with the prize, leading some critics to say that the scales are tilted -- literally -- in favor of men.
But that could change Tuesday night during ‘The Biggest Loser’ season finale that begins at 8 on NBC.

For the uninitiated, the show sequesters a group of obese men and women with two tough-as-nails trainers -- and watches as the drama unfolds to see who can lose the largest percentage of their body weight.

This season, fans of the show were given the power to vote online to decide which of the remaining male contestants will get the third and final spot in the weight-loss competition that comes with a $250,000 cash prize. Ironically, the outcome of that vote could determine whether a woman finally walks away with the prize.

If the audience votes for Roger, the affable former football player who has lost 144 lbs. will likely go on to win the game. A vote for the fiercely competitive Mark, however, could boost the chances that Ali, a former championship synchronized swimmer who lost 99 lbs., could become the first-ever female to win the U.S. title. The fourth contestant for the prize is Kelly. She’s a long shot, even as she endeared herself to viewers with her Little Engine that Could attitude.

Executive producer Mark Koops said there are no plans to change the structure of the show. (Some have suggested creating two prizes -- one for the women, and one for the men.) He says, however, that it’s just a matter of time before a woman wins.

--Rene Lynch