Swimming as a calorie burner?

..just not binge on ring-dings, ho-hos or, god forbid, twinkies! What do you have against Twinkies?

I just heard on the radio that one of the ingrediants in twinkies is"food grade Plaster of Paris.":2cents:

just not binge on ring-dings, ho-hos or, god forbid, twinkies! So what the heck are Ring Dings? I've heard the term before but have never actually seen them. Is this some kind of regional thing? I'm more of a Little Debbie man than Hostess, personally :)

Of course swimming burns calories, and lots of them. Sleeping burns calories. I don't understand the obsession with how many calories various sports burn. I know plenty of skinny golfers and plenty of fat runners. For me, it's about enjoying the sport.

I just heard on the radio that one of the ingrediants in twinkies is"food grade Plaster of Paris.":2cents: Yuck, I'm not eating that stuff. :shakeshead: For me it's about enjoying the sport and also feeling fit, trim and healthy in an all around sort of way. If you start out overweight, swimming will definitely burn through calories and make you more fit. If you're already fit and start swimming exclusively .... not sure. I agree with Fanstone, you have to swim more time wise to get the same bang for your buck. There aren't many fat runners where I live. I see more overweight masters swimmers than overweight runners. Just my personal observation, I'm sure. I try not to observe any golf because I don't enjoy it. I never step on the scale. Why bother? I think Rich's mirror test is better. Or the "do my clothes fit" test.

I enjoy burning calories in many different ways. Sleeping is close to the top of my list. I have always considered sleeping an art form. I enjoy sleeping. Miles Miles: How true! I love sleeping too. Of course, I do wish I could do more of it. I used to be much more talented at it. Now, the hormones and kids and whatnot interfere. I do think Jim has a point up there about the calorie burning component of sleeping. Glad you're keeping the waters so unexpectedly calm, StillWater. ;)

here's a calorie calculator www.self.com/.../calculators ande

I've been told that the major amount of calories that you burn have more to do with your metabolism which burns calories while you are at rest (such as when you are sleeping as Miles points out) then the actual calories that you burn while exercising....and the swimming (and other exercise related activities like spin classes...jogging....etc..) help to increase your metabolism This is probably true, but it seems a little counterintuitive to me. It seems like the more "in shape" you are the fewer calories you would burn at rest, because your body is more efficient: it needs less energy to do basic tasks. Why is this not the case?

I swim and only swim and have lost about 5 lbs in the last year, keep in mind I was already thin and I'm only 5'2" ... so I'm a 2/4 now. I have big shoulders and a big ole back too ... very much a swimmer build ... Anyway ... swimming burns calories, as long as you workout regularly and eat well you'll be fine. At least that is my view. I have heard that your body has an ideal weight range and will naturally settle into that range unless you do something drastic ... like swim 10 x a week at 7K a pop OR sit on your butt and eat all those trans fats ... The bottom line is balance, if you want to get skinnier burn more calories then you consume, it's that easy. Don't forget about fruits and veggies and lean protien and don't forget athletes NEED carbs and then treat yourself every once in awhile, too ... (or in my case daily)

You are both correct. Intense exercise keeps your metabolism elevated long after you quit exercising. However, once you have reached you base metabolic rate a fit person will burn fewer calories than an unfit one.. Is this why overtraining can actually slow your metabolism? Scarey thought. Seems kind of unfair. You're training like crazy, but slowing down the calorie burn ... :dunno: Then there's the age metabolic slow down ... FlyQueen is obviously not suffering from that!