fatness

Julie, I can totally relate to what you are saying. In college I thought anything over 110 lbs was fat. When I was hired as a Flight Attendant in 1986, we had weekly weigh in and I was 114 lbs. At some point in the last 10 years - bam! (and I don't mean Emeril) - 80 extra pounds appeared and I have been struggling to get it off. I started swimming to lose weight 1 month ago and I have done ALOT of research seeking encouragement, advice, tips, etc. In a nutshell, here is what I have learned so far - see also a thread I started - Swimming and Weight Loss. 1. Swimming is excellent exercise to lose weight because it uses alot of different muscles from head to toe. The key is to swim hard enough to get your heartrate up to at least 70-85% of your max heart rate. 2. The next thing is to make sure you get your heart rate up for at least 20-60 mins. For me personally, my metabolism is so out of whack for whatever reason, I don't see any results unless I work out at least 45 mins. for 5-6 times each week. I tried the 3x week thing, but nothing was happening. 3. You will not see immediate results. In fact it will take at least 12-20 weeks before you start seeing results. This is the real hard part because if you are like me, you want IMMEDIATE gratification. I have my calendar marked for 12 weeks from when I started swimming and I am doing other things to keep my motivation up. For example, I am noticing I just FEEL better after swimming. My patience level is up and overall happiness is really great and everyone around me can tell. 4. I bought a scale that was recommended by Dr. Phil (ok, I'm a sucker for celebrity endorsements). The scale allegedly tells me if I am losing fat or holding onto water. Women's weight fluxuates dramatically from day to day. I personally like to weigh myself daily to note the changes and then I analyze why the changes occur. For example, I noticed that I gain weight after working out hard and this is because when muscles are repairing, muscles will hold onto water. (Another reason why you don't see immediate results). 5. Swimming is one form of exercise that you need to watch your eating AFTER you work out. You will notice on your drive home from the pool that you are absolutely starving. You will need to drink alot of water between getting into the pool and getting home to cure any tendencies to clear out the cupboard after eating. Just knowing this helps. I have found that eating a power bar or PBJ sandwich about 1 hour before swimming helps too. Personally, I hate plain water, so I drink Crystal Light. They have those cool "to-go" pouches now that you just pour into bottled water. 6. You need to watch what you eat. I tend to eat healthy so that is why not losing weight is extremely frustrating for me. The main thing is portion control. Think of your stomach as a gas tank. You want to eat until your tank is full, not overflowing. The key here is to eat slowly and stop after one helping. If you are still hungry, eat more. But ask yourself, am I REALLY hungry? I personally have a hard time with eating too much because I love food! If something I eat tastes really good, I just want more and more. Some people are emotional eaters. My best friend overeats out of loneliness, for example. These are issues that you really need to be honest with yourself and try different things to resolve. I started crocheting in the evening and it is really hard to eat when both of your hands are busy AND I have made some really cool throws for my friends (great holiday gifts too). 7. Two great books that talk about weight loss and recap most of the above are Total Immersion and Fitness Swimming - Emmett Hines. So, if you are wondering how I'm doing after 1 month. Something is starting to happen. First, I feel great and my confidence is back. I have not lost weight on the scale, but my Fat percentage shows I've lost 3 lbs. of Fat. That's all I really care about. I also take my measurements since I don't care what the scale shows if I can fit into a size 6. I have lost anywhere from 1" to 1/2" from various body parts. Bust - lost 1", Arms - lost 1/2", etc. This time I refuse to give up. I am going to keep swimming because it is a form of exercise I can do until I die. I plan to be the 100+ Age group national masters' champion. Perhaps you will be my main competition?!? We should start a weight loss blog/thread of some sort. Good luck!!

Julie, I can totally relate to what you are saying. In college I thought anything over 110 lbs was fat. When I was hired as a Flight Attendant in 1986, we had weekly weigh in and I was 114 lbs. At some point in the last 10 years - bam! (and I don't mean Emeril) - 80 extra pounds appeared and I have been struggling to get it off. I started swimming to lose weight 1 month ago and I have done ALOT of research seeking encouragement, advice, tips, etc. In a nutshell, here is what I have learned so far - see also a thread I started - Swimming and Weight Loss. 1. Swimming is excellent exercise to lose weight because it uses alot of different muscles from head to toe. The key is to swim hard enough to get your heartrate up to at least 70-85% of your max heart rate. 2. The next thing is to make sure you get your heart rate up for at least 20-60 mins. For me personally, my metabolism is so out of whack for whatever reason, I don't see any results unless I work out at least 45 mins. for 5-6 times each week. I tried the 3x week thing, but nothing was happening. 3. You will not see immediate results. In fact it will take at least 12-20 weeks before you start seeing results. This is the real hard part because if you are like me, you want IMMEDIATE gratification. I have my calendar marked for 12 weeks from when I started swimming and I am doing other things to keep my motivation up. For example, I am noticing I just FEEL better after swimming. My patience level is up and overall happiness is really great and everyone around me can tell. 4. I bought a scale that was recommended by Dr. Phil (ok, I'm a sucker for celebrity endorsements). The scale allegedly tells me if I am losing fat or holding onto water. Women's weight fluxuates dramatically from day to day. I personally like to weigh myself daily to note the changes and then I analyze why the changes occur. For example, I noticed that I gain weight after working out hard and this is because when muscles are repairing, muscles will hold onto water. (Another reason why you don't see immediate results). 5. Swimming is one form of exercise that you need to watch your eating AFTER you work out. You will notice on your drive home from the pool that you are absolutely starving. You will need to drink alot of water between getting into the pool and getting home to cure any tendencies to clear out the cupboard after eating. Just knowing this helps. I have found that eating a power bar or PBJ sandwich about 1 hour before swimming helps too. Personally, I hate plain water, so I drink Crystal Light. They have those cool "to-go" pouches now that you just pour into bottled water. 6. You need to watch what you eat. I tend to eat healthy so that is why not losing weight is extremely frustrating for me. The main thing is portion control. Think of your stomach as a gas tank. You want to eat until your tank is full, not overflowing. The key here is to eat slowly and stop after one helping. If you are still hungry, eat more. But ask yourself, am I REALLY hungry? I personally have a hard time with eating too much because I love food! If something I eat tastes really good, I just want more and more. Some people are emotional eaters. My best friend overeats out of loneliness, for example. These are issues that you really need to be honest with yourself and try different things to resolve. I started crocheting in the evening and it is really hard to eat when both of your hands are busy AND I have made some really cool throws for my friends (great holiday gifts too). 7. Two great books that talk about weight loss and recap most of the above are Total Immersion and Fitness Swimming - Emmett Hines. So, if you are wondering how I'm doing after 1 month. Something is starting to happen. First, I feel great and my confidence is back. I have not lost weight on the scale, but my Fat percentage shows I've lost 3 lbs. of Fat. That's all I really care about. I also take my measurements since I don't care what the scale shows if I can fit into a size 6. I have lost anywhere from 1" to 1/2" from various body parts. Bust - lost 1", Arms - lost 1/2", etc. This time I refuse to give up. I am going to keep swimming because it is a form of exercise I can do until I die. I plan to be the 100+ Age group national masters' champion. Perhaps you will be my main competition?!? We should start a weight loss blog/thread of some sort. Good luck!!