When a couple shares everything, they sometimes share bad habits too. Many happily wedded duos find that as the years pass, they put on weight together, and if only one of you is committed to losing that weight, it can be very difficult. At the same time, when both of you decide to get healthy together, it's important to understand how men and women differ when it comes to weight loss.

• Men Lose Weight Faster
  
  Men hold two big advantages over women when it comes to losing weight. According to WeightWatchers.com, the first is that a man's body composition typically contains more muscle mass than a woman's, which means that he will burn more calories than her even at rest.
  
  The second involves a man's activity level. Men tend to be more active than women. A study in the American Journal of Physiology found that women burn an average of 16% less calories than men during the day. Furthermore, women's resting metabolic rate was 6 percent lower, and that in physical activity women burned 37% less calories men. The guys simply burn more calories and will lose weight more easily as a result.
  
  
• Who's Cooking?
  
  In many families, women are primarily responsible for preparing everyone's meals, which means women are facing temptation more often than men. Between grocery shopping, planning menus, and cooking, not only do women spend more time and energy thinking about food, we spend more time in food's presence.
  
  Cooking with the family is the best way around this hurdle. You'll find that you're less likely to snack while cooking if you've got an audience. Get everyone involved in the kitchen and you can not only teach your kids healthy food lessons, but you'll spend some quality family time as well.
  
  
• Attitude is Everything
  
  When was the last time you heard a man complain about being fat? Men and women have different perspectives on their bodies and women are typically harder on themselves. Women seek out weight loss solutions more often than men, although the prevalence of obesity is about equal amongst the two groups. Having a positive body image from the start helps men celebrate every pound lost rather than berating themselves for not losing more.
  
  Also, women tend to eat for emotional reasons more often than men. Being depressed about your weight or body image will often lead a woman to the freezer for ice cream to salve her emotions rather than the gym for exercise.