I swam for years and always kept in great shape.
I quit for 2 years. After turning 41, which was 7 months ago, I started back up again. I swim 5 days a week for an hour, mostly freestyle. I'm in great shape again everywhere except for this stomach fat I can't seem to lose. Can anyone recommend any good workouts that can get rid of this?
This SCY season I had a two week period (in between the weeks I was sick!) where I was working out 5-6 days/wk 2-4 hours per day (weights, bands, swimming, and abs). I was consuming no more than 1200 cal/day (usually around 1000). I did not lose a single ounce. I realize I gained a lot of muscle, but alas, the belly fat did not budge.
Karen, I strongly suspect you were indeed replacing fat with muscle. If you had continued this program, which is extreme -- I'm pretty sure I would starve on so few calories/day -- I have no doubt you would have lost the weight.
Two weeks is simply not very long, PARTICULARLY if you (a) eat balanced meals (protein/complex carbs/fat) and (b) excercise a lot.
Yes, there are some diets where you can lose a lot of weight very quickly, even in the first week. This weight loss is illusory, however (usually water weight). Burning off fat takes time (weeks/months).
If you ramp up your exercise and eat a proper diet, there should be a lag time where your weight will not change much, and then will start decreasing steadily, assuming you maintain your exercise level and diet. I think losing no more than 1-2 lbs per week is best.
Here is a typical experience for me...during tapers (3 weeks for me) I usually indulge myself, food-wise. Mostly that means, I still (try to) eat healthy but I won't let myself get hungry when I taper. My exercise level goes down and my food intake probably goes up a little. And yet my weight usually stays steady.
After taper, however, I start hitting the weights and working out longer/harder; simultaneoously I decrease my food intake. But this is where I see a momentary weight gain, before it falls back down to normal levels.
Good luck. And get more sleep!
This SCY season I had a two week period (in between the weeks I was sick!) where I was working out 5-6 days/wk 2-4 hours per day (weights, bands, swimming, and abs). I was consuming no more than 1200 cal/day (usually around 1000). I did not lose a single ounce. I realize I gained a lot of muscle, but alas, the belly fat did not budge.
Karen, I strongly suspect you were indeed replacing fat with muscle. If you had continued this program, which is extreme -- I'm pretty sure I would starve on so few calories/day -- I have no doubt you would have lost the weight.
Two weeks is simply not very long, PARTICULARLY if you (a) eat balanced meals (protein/complex carbs/fat) and (b) excercise a lot.
Yes, there are some diets where you can lose a lot of weight very quickly, even in the first week. This weight loss is illusory, however (usually water weight). Burning off fat takes time (weeks/months).
If you ramp up your exercise and eat a proper diet, there should be a lag time where your weight will not change much, and then will start decreasing steadily, assuming you maintain your exercise level and diet. I think losing no more than 1-2 lbs per week is best.
Here is a typical experience for me...during tapers (3 weeks for me) I usually indulge myself, food-wise. Mostly that means, I still (try to) eat healthy but I won't let myself get hungry when I taper. My exercise level goes down and my food intake probably goes up a little. And yet my weight usually stays steady.
After taper, however, I start hitting the weights and working out longer/harder; simultaneoously I decrease my food intake. But this is where I see a momentary weight gain, before it falls back down to normal levels.
Good luck. And get more sleep!
