What is the best way to swim for weight loss?

I've been working on losing weight for a few years now with very little success. I started out with some workout videos (kick boxing was my preference), moved on to swimming, and then (hearing it was 'the best way to lose weight') started running. The most success I've had at any given time period in the past 3-4 years was last summer. During the summer swim season (late May through late July) I lost about 10lb. What did I do differently? I was swimming about 2.5hrs a day, doing doubles, 5 days a week (I did often miss the Masters practice, but swam at least once a day 5 days a week, averaging 7-9 swims a week). I swam long course with my Masters group in the early AM and then later on swam with my kids' age group in the intermediate group. Sadly, when swim season ended, I had nowhere to swim for a while. I had to go back to running (which I hate and am really no good at). I ended up breaking my elbow doing that (see?). Luckily, it was healed in time for the fall/winter swim season to start up. Unfortunately, I regained the 10lb in the time I was unable to run OR swim (UGH). I dropped a little weight at the beginning of fall season and then held steady until the last couple months when I was able to start swimming 5-6 days a week again. I've had times when I was just running, times when I was just swimming, and times when I was running and swimming. The most successful thing for me is to swim 5-6 days a week for 60-90min at a time. With regards to calories - I definitely eat MORE with all that swimming! But remember the most important thing about calories is that it's not nearly so much about quantity as it is about quality - especially when swimming. You can eat all the fresh fruits and veggies you want and still be losing weight. Make sure you're cutting back on as much processed food as possible and focus on eating fresh foods. Cutting back on desserts, refined sugars, and not over-doing it on alcohol will help too. There are websites/apps that can help you find the right balance for how many calories burned versus consumed to follow. But, I found, that I still had to maintain a pretty high level of activity in order for any of it to work. I'm not a big eater. I often only eat 1200-1500 calories a day, less when I'm not swimming, and I'm still overweight. I have to be really active in order to shed any pounds. We are all different and it can take some work to find what works for you. There are some vitamin/mineral type supplements you can take to aid with metabolism as well. Not diet pills, just nutritional supplements. Like CoQ10, Omegas, etc. Also, some people find protein shakes to be helpful. As far as what kind of swimming work outs to do - just keep it varied! Muscle confusion is important. Doing the same type of workouts over and over won't get you very far. Work in some drills, work in some speed sets, work in some long slow swims. Variety is the best way to go for just about everyone. Anyway, sorry this is so super long. :blush: Hopefully it was at least helpful! Good luck!

I've been working on losing weight for a few years now with very little success. I started out with some workout videos (kick boxing was my preference), moved on to swimming, and then (hearing it was 'the best way to lose weight') started running. The most success I've had at any given time period in the past 3-4 years was last summer. During the summer swim season (late May through late July) I lost about 10lb. What did I do differently? I was swimming about 2.5hrs a day, doing doubles, 5 days a week (I did often miss the Masters practice, but swam at least once a day 5 days a week, averaging 7-9 swims a week). I swam long course with my Masters group in the early AM and then later on swam with my kids' age group in the intermediate group. Sadly, when swim season ended, I had nowhere to swim for a while. I had to go back to running (which I hate and am really no good at). I ended up breaking my elbow doing that (see?). Luckily, it was healed in time for the fall/winter swim season to start up. Unfortunately, I regained the 10lb in the time I was unable to run OR swim (UGH). I dropped a little weight at the beginning of fall season and then held steady until the last couple months when I was able to start swimming 5-6 days a week again. I've had times when I was just running, times when I was just swimming, and times when I was running and swimming. The most successful thing for me is to swim 5-6 days a week for 60-90min at a time. With regards to calories - I definitely eat MORE with all that swimming! But remember the most important thing about calories is that it's not nearly so much about quantity as it is about quality - especially when swimming. You can eat all the fresh fruits and veggies you want and still be losing weight. Make sure you're cutting back on as much processed food as possible and focus on eating fresh foods. Cutting back on desserts, refined sugars, and not over-doing it on alcohol will help too. There are websites/apps that can help you find the right balance for how many calories burned versus consumed to follow. But, I found, that I still had to maintain a pretty high level of activity in order for any of it to work. I'm not a big eater. I often only eat 1200-1500 calories a day, less when I'm not swimming, and I'm still overweight. I have to be really active in order to shed any pounds. We are all different and it can take some work to find what works for you. There are some vitamin/mineral type supplements you can take to aid with metabolism as well. Not diet pills, just nutritional supplements. Like CoQ10, Omegas, etc. Also, some people find protein shakes to be helpful. As far as what kind of swimming work outs to do - just keep it varied! Muscle confusion is important. Doing the same type of workouts over and over won't get you very far. Work in some drills, work in some speed sets, work in some long slow swims. Variety is the best way to go for just about everyone. Anyway, sorry this is so super long. :blush: Hopefully it was at least helpful! Good luck!