Swimming to lose weight?

Not an icecream lover....but if there is a food that inspires me to "swim it off", I would have to say CHEESEBURGER!!!! In and Out - double double animal style.... large fries.... MMmmmmmmm........

Only if it's curly fries! :) We're so bad.

Originally posted by khiliah OK, well I'm completely addicted to whitey's ice cream.... so I'll just have to double up the swimming effort so I can be guilt free for a double scoop? :) :D I didn't know that Whitey's was ice cream. I thought it was frozen custard. Don't they have some nonfat flavors? Oddly, almost all studies concerning weight maintance were centered on diabetics or top atheletes. Only recently have people began to study weight and average people. It truly is a controversial issue. Most swimmers, even some elite male (it might be hidden)swimmers have body fat. I woudl bet that the average female high school swimmer has less body fat thtan the nonswimming high school girl. Most people don't swim long or hard enough towork into the reserve fat that their body hasstored. If you get into a pool and swim laps, itis very unlikely you will lose a significant amout of weight. I know a guy who islosing weight by kick 25yds as fast as he can, resting to a count of 15, and then, kicking again. He flys down the pool.

Well....I understand that anyone can think what they want, but I have lost the weight I needed to without and I really mean NO other form of exercise. I watch what I eat and it has worked just fine just as it did when I was in high school. I swim 5-6 days a week about 4000-6000 yards per practice and it has done the trick for me. I just don't think that a generalization can be made about all women in general!!!

I think heridity takes part in weight, too. My mothers side of the family just naturaly gains a lot of weight easily. All of my sisters are like this. My husband takes off of his dad's side of the family were all he as to do is lift a finger and he starts losing weight. My husband can pig out and not do any exercise and not gain a pound. Me, I work out four times a week and not even eat half as much as he does. I am lucky that I lose a few pounds. Also, woman naturally have more fat then men. I think it is harder for a woman to lose weight. I felt it was unfair to put woman up against men on the show "The Biggest Loser". The men had an advantage over the woman.

No one likes to be told they are heavy or ugly. Being a little heavier than I'd like and a lot uglier, I will just resign myself to both. However, personal perception of ideal height/weight shouldn't be confused with the realities of actually being overweight and the health consequences of such. You may be the hottest 196 pound, 5'10" person on the planet but you should also consider that the doctor isn't trying to be insulting by advising you on the risks you take by being too heavy. I watched a fascinating Frontline on PBS about the plumping of Americans and the point was made that obesity is as big a health problem as smoking but no one seems to want to stand up and yell at fat people like the way smokers are increasingly berated.

But the point Geek is that she is NOT obese like the nurse was telling her. Size 12-14 is not obese, maybe a little overweight, but in no means obese. In fact when I was a size 14 and 180, I had a doctor tell me he was really surprised I weighed as much as I did because I did not look it. Charts and BMI said I was obese, appearances said otherwise. BTW, charts still say I am overweight at 145-150 and 5-4, but at that weight I wear size 6-8. If I got down to the bottom weight of 115 for my height, people will tell me to eat, in fact, at my lowest I was 138, and people were telling me I was guant. So muscle makes a big difference, and I think height/weight charts do not take that into account. But this is a little off the subject..swimming to lose weight, yes, if you get your heart rate up, do it for a sustained amount of time to burn the calories, and then don't go and eat all of those burned calories.

Have to side with geek on this one. Yeah, 124 lbs would be awfully thin, but it's a very tough sell to consider 5'10" and 196 lbs in the normal range. I don't think you should evaluate whether or not you're overweight based on what dress size you wear.

She didn't say she was normal weight, but that the range was given for her height is too small for having the muscle mass she has. Having the same issues, I understand how having muscle mass and the BMI and height weight charts don't mesh. Clothing size is a much better indicator. Size 12-14 on a 5-10 frame is not a huge person. Just by going down one size, you could probably look at her and say she is normal weight, and that would be 10-15 pounds.

One's own perception of their ideal weight is quite different than the medical definition of obesity/overweight. You may think all is well but that's a personal impression. Carrying too much weight sets you up for many maladies, slower swimming being one. Just because everyone is getting bigger and the perception of ideal weight has shifted does not mean that the problems associated with being heavy have also shifted.