Weight Loss

I know this sounds fictional .....and I've mentioned this in other threads...but what the heck, I like repeating this fact over and over anyway so here goes.....I weighed 275 pounds in the middle of last May (so a little over six months ago)....I now weigh 205 pounds (and still losing rapidly)....I haven't starved myself by any stretch of the imagination (that's for sure believe me...I eat in large quantities!)....I get around 2500 - 3000 calories a day of food I think....I cut out sodas, and "bad" fast food, (greasy food), and most processed bad carbs...I eat a lot of good carbs though (like whole wheat bread, friuts and veggies, some pastas etc...as well as fish, white meats, some red meat occassionally, milk, eggs, cheese, ....and lots of other stuff too). The main secret to the weight loss has just been consistent swimming (and some dry land exercise thrown in from time to time). I don't feel depleted (or weak in any way) at all....In fact I feel 100% better than I did back in May!!....It is very strange how much weight I have lost (especially when you consider that I have put on a fair amount of muscle as well)......Swimming has been the miracle cure for me so far! newmastersswimmer

and of course you can 'cheat' yourself when you are figuring calories burned only replace 1/2 of them. That's how WW does it... sure way of putting you in a deficit.

What I hear the most of why swimming is not as effective as running, for example, is this... Swimming works mainly your "smaller" muscles, like arms, back, abs, not as much as your "big" muscles like your leg. Running, works your "big" muscles. Bigger muscles, just by being there, burn more calories than the smaller ones, and requires more of your body enhancing then your metabolism... Not sure how much this is actually accurate, but last time I went to the doctor for a check up he kept going on and on about this! (But I hate running and love swimming, so needless to say I didn't pay much attention to it.) I just got back to swimming after about a 7 year hiatus (lived in NYC and for the life of me couldn't find an affordable pool to go to, or one that was open when I was off work), so haven't been back at it long enough to have any weight loss (had to get my conditioning back first!), however it feels so good to be there in the pool, and when I'm done, my face is red, I'm tired, in a great mood and sleep like a baby, so I'm sure I'll be back in shape in no time! And like someone here said, the only exercise that works is the one you'll actually do!

I lost 15 pounds since I started swimming more seriously last August without even meaning to.

Challenge discussion: Any thoughts on the difference aerobic swimming vs. anaerobic swimming will play on metabolism ergo weight loss? If I remember correctly --and I may not, aerobic swimming (exercise with oxygen, or the huffing and pounding of the heart as you swim) will lead to weight loss… Anaerobic swimming (-swimming with controlled breathing or exercise with out oxygen), won’t do a darn thing for my shapely bottom! But may improve my swimming performance tremendously. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

I'd say 95% of the time I am not hungry after a workout - and once in a while I am even nauseous. However, I have to eat something within the hour. But I am not starving. In the mainstream, swimming gets a bad rap - probably because when most people think of swimming, they think of easy laps; as someone mentioned. Also, I know of people who have lost weight walking. And I don't mean going out for a stroll at the mall - this is arm pumping race-like walking. Anyway....

I lost about 25 pounds since I started swimming over 2 years ago. Actually most of the loss occurred in the first 6 months. According to Dr. Phil Whitten, the swimming guru, author and scientist, many of the studies comparing running to swimming used fast runners versus slow swimmers, thus leading to skewed results. I don't agree with the large muscle versus small muscle theory that would favor runners. If your heart and lungs are telling you that you are working hard, then you're getting the job done no matter what exercise you're doing. I also don't buy the "thermodynamic" argument that swimmers are at a disadvantage because the water is an infinite heat sink. The temperature rise experienced by runners is due to an accumulation of waste heat, not greater calorie consumption. Swimming utilizes both aerobic and anaerobic energy pathways. The more intense the effort, the greater the anaerobic component. Roughly speaking, the total calorie consumption per unit time varies with the perceived intensity level, and that is the determining factor. Some argue incorrectly that lower intensity aerobic is better, but that is a misconception due the the fact that aerobic exercise derives a higher percentage of energy from fat. However, it is total calories that matter. The fact that running is weight-bearing is irrelevant to the energy equation. Your body's chemical pathways don't know or care whether gravity or a viscous fluid is the source of mechanical resistance. (Your joints, on the other hand....) The appetite-suppressing effect of elevated body temperature is utterly marginal, i.e., it shouldn't affect your decision whether to choose swimming or running. If you are doing either one regularly, you are waaaay ahead of the pack.

Originally posted by thisgirl13 Studies have shown that swimmers tend to lose weight less than any other sport. Mostly, it's because higher body temperature results in temporary appetite suppression. Translation: Swimmers eat more, because they're hungrier after a workout than non-swimmers (runners, cyclists, etc). We can replace the energy we've burned in a single meal if we want to. Also, swimmers use more energy in training sessions than non-swimmers, which leaves little energy left for substantial physical activity outside the pool. Translation again: We train, we sleep, we eat, that's pretty much all we do. Now, the above refers mostly to competitive swimmers who aren't on a controlled diet, except to ratio their carb/protein/fat intake. But that's the skinny of it (pardon the pun). I would be interested in seeing these studies.

I'm ussually starving after a workout. I'm very skinny. I have been told by most dietitians I know, for some reao i know many, that theoretically, swimmers won't lose weight. Very likely, some peole will lose weight when they swim and some peole won't.

Interval workouts ... what is what it sounds like most of us are doing are actually a highly effective way to loose weight. I also think that whenever you start doing something active (especially when you go from doing nothing to doing something active) you are going to lose weight ...