Swimming = DAYS of hunger!

moonangel12

I am pretty sure it’s not a coincidence at this point. The last 3 Sunday’s I have made it to the pool to swim a few laps in prep for a Sprint Tri in late April. I have improved enough I don’t feel like I am trying to drown myself, so that’s good

I am doing about 24 laps/600m using a combination of strokes (freestyle, back and breast)... all of maybe 21-25 minutes (I have been told my pace is a bit fast since I am just beginning again, but any slower and I sink 🙄). It doesn’t seem like much but it sure does kick my butt! And the last two weeks I have turned it into a mini brick workout with a 1.25 mile run on the park trails. Garmin is saying I burn just shy of 350 calories between the two, which I eat back all of.

I am generally not overly hungry the rest of that day, but the next two or three or more?? I can’t eat enough! I was trying to fill up on veggies and salad (lower cal options for dressing and toppings, truly just trying to make it palatable enough to fill my grumbling stomach), but still going over my calories for the day. It’s making me quite grumpy TBH. I got to bed hungry, I wake up hungry, most of my brain energy is spent thinking about food! About the time it levels out, it’s time to swim again.

I know I need to keep swimming, but knowing I can do the allotted 10 laps well below the given time constraints makes me not want to deal with it anymore. It hasn’t been long enough to see how the scale truly reacts, but in the short term I definitely am stalling a bit.

I have been tracking since September - running, biking, and other forms of activities definitely don’t trigger my appetite like swimming does! I can run a 5k race or bike 12 miles and be content with a banana and maybe a granola bar afterwards and resume my “normal” eating no problem.

kshama2001

On another thread about swimming recently several people suggested that since swimming is dehydrating, people are actually thirsty afterwards, but the signals get crossed and they feel thirsty. Try upping your fluid afterwards and see if that helps.

350 calories for the swim and the run seem on the low side to me, but what is your age, height, and weight? And how long does the run take?

Or just plug this into MFP manually and compare what you get vs Garmin.

girlwithcurls2

I find that when I have a really active day, I need to factor in more calories. On the day of the workout, I need to frontload them (I might be spending 45 min lifting, then a tough cardio class or 60 min swimming laps, then the cardio class). The next day, depending on how hard the night before was, I will be very hungry. I have found that hardboiled eggs are my best friend. I eat tons of them. For me, they give the most bang for my buck. Oh, and light Laughing Cow cheese. It's a delicate balance because I might have a rest day after a really tough day, so I don't want to eat hundreds of extra calories, but I do need to stay fed. Play around with your macros and you'll probably find something that works for you.

moonangel12

kshama2001 wrote: »

On another thread about swimming recently several people suggested that since swimming is dehydrating, people are actually thirsty afterwards, but the signals get crossed and they feel thirsty. Try upping your fluid afterwards and see if that helps.

350 calories for the swim and the run seem on the low side to me, but what is your age, height, and weight? And how long does the run take?

Or just plug this into MFP manually and compare what you get vs Garmin.

5’4” female, 144ish weight, age 35... normally I have a 10-12 minute/mile running pace depending on location and if I am doing a training plan or free run.

Since most of the talk on here is about trackers over estimating calorie burn I hadn’t really stopped to consider it might be under...

I do try to make a mental effort to up the liquids as well, in the form of regular water, sparkling water, and various unsweetened teas (some caffeinated some herbal). Maybe I am not increasing it enough 🤔 I don’t track water intake so I can’t say for sure looking back, but I usually loosely track by how many times I refill my water bottle.
ETA: going by urine color and frequency I seem to be plenty hydrated...

deannalfisher

kshama2001 wrote: »

On another thread about swimming recently several people suggested that since swimming is dehydrating, people are actually thirsty afterwards, but the signals get crossed and they feel thirsty. Try upping your fluid afterwards and see if that helps.

350 calories for the swim and the run seem on the low side to me, but what is your age, height, and weight? And how long does the run take?

Or just plug this into MFP manually and compare what you get vs Garmin.

i'd say its actually on the high side

15min swim - probably going to only be in the 100cal range and then rule of thumb (i'm about the op's height and weight about 20lbs more) is about 110 cal for me - so 220ish cal

cwolfman13

Could be the swimming...it could also be that you're training for a sprint tri and the combination of all of that training is making you hungry. I trained for a sprint tri years ago (injured 2 weeks before the race so I couldn't do it) and I was pretty ravenous. I was already in maintenance, so I could at least eat more, but I was still very hungry a lot of the time. Same when I was training for endurance cycling races. I am one of those people who actually has a hard time losing weight training for big events and putting in a ton of time training. On the weight management front, I do a heck of a lot better with more light to moderate exercise.

moonangel12

girlwithcurls2 wrote: »

I find that when I have a really active day, I need to factor in more calories. On the day of the workout, I need to frontload them (I might be spending 45 min lifting, then a tough cardio class or 60 min swimming laps, then the cardio class). The next day, depending on how hard the night before was, I will be very hungry. I have found that hardboiled eggs are my best friend. I eat tons of them. For me, they give the most bang for my buck. Oh, and light Laughing Cow cheese. It's a delicate balance because I might have a rest day after a really tough day, so I don't want to eat hundreds of extra calories, but I do need to stay fed. Play around with your macros and you'll probably find something that works for you.

I need to make some HB eggs, I used to keep them on hand but got lazy. Maybe the added protein would help in addition to low cal veggie fillers... I don’t normally know if I am going or not until I am heading out the door (it just happened to work out for me to go on a few lazy Sunday’s in recent weeks) so it’s hard to prep for it food wise, but I will try and plan better in the future.

moonangel12

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Could be the swimming...it could also be that you're training for a sprint tri and the combination of all of that training is making you hungry. I trained for a sprint tri years ago (injured 2 weeks before the race so I couldn't do it) and I was pretty ravenous. I was already in maintenance, so I could at least eat more, but I was still very hungry a lot of the time. Same when I was training for endurance cycling races. I am one of those people who actually has a hard time losing weight training for big events and putting in a ton of time training. On the weight management front, I do a heck of a lot better with more light to moderate exercise.

“Training” for me isn’t too hardcore. Mostly I run a couple miles a couple times a week, swim once every week or two, and a bike ride once every couple/few weeks as time and weather permits (I have fibromyalgia and pushing myself to workout in too cold of weather will trigger a flare so I have learned to take it easy in winter). The rest of the days I am not doing much physically (homeschool mom of 4, lots of sitting at the table while the kids plug away). I am not out to compete, just to (hopefully) finish to show myself I can.

That being said, it is more than I was doing 6 months ago, but based on rate of loss I am where I need to be for CICO... although, as I type that I am realizing that I might be at the point in my WL journey that I need to shift from 1 lb to .5 lb per week. Need to look into that (20 lbs down, less than 10 to go).

PAV8888

You're not on a timeline. Goal setting is part of the equation. Some goals work better with other goals. Training for best athletic performance may not work best, in your case, with anything but a miniscule deficit. You can always resume deficit eating after your event

moonangel12

PAV8888 wrote: »

You're not on a timeline. Goal setting is part of the equation. Some goals work better with other goals. Training for best athletic performance may not work best, in your case, with anything but a miniscule deficit. You can always resume deficit eating after your event

100% true, and not something I had stepped back to think about (I have a hard time seeing the forest through the trees). Since September it has been a focus on WL, some days I truly run for chocolate But now that my weight feels more manageable to actually get out and do more, I do find myself having more of a fitness mindset (WL was a big part because I knew if I shed a few pounds I wouldn’t be as heavy on my feet when I ran thus helping my overall stride and joints). Adjusting to .5lb/week, I’ll give it some time and see how it goes. It might be that as race time nears I slowly move more towards maintenance then I can pick back up afterwards.

moonangel12

After adjusting my goals to .5/week, I now get 1680 calories per day rather than 1370 - that will make a BIG difference! WL will slow, but hopefully I will have more day to day energy to gain overall strength and endurance...

PAV8888

Now don't panic with a tiny bit more food in transit and some extra water retention if you start killing it at the "gym" (I assume you're probably not going to an actual gym to prepare for a tri!) Best of luck with your race!!!

moonangel12

PAV8888 wrote: »

Now don't panic with a tiny bit more food in transit and some extra water retention if you start killing it at the "gym" (I assume you're probably not going to an actual gym to prepare for a tri!) Best of luck with your race!!!

Thank you!

The only gym time I have is the pool - I try to get outside as much as possible! But a good reminder overall. I am not a huge stickler on the scale. I am learning my body’s ebbs and flows. Sure, I will miss the bigger drops, but I already know I am on the right track and so much for the better than I was just a few short months ago. My husband even commented/admitted, after me being well on my way, he wasn’t sure he would ever get his wife back but is excited to see the changes and is my biggest cheerleader. My body was a mess, and mentally it was hard to push past that hurdle so a deep but subtle depression had set in. I am learning my limits, but at the same time learning when I can safely push past them!

AnnPT77

moonangel12 wrote: »

After adjusting my goals to .5/week, I now get 1680 calories per day rather than 1370 - that will make a BIG difference! WL will slow, but hopefully I will have more day to day energy to gain overall strength and endurance...

That's a much better plan, with so little left to lose, and important training goals besides.

moonangel12 wrote: »

(snip for reply length)

Since most of the talk on here is about trackers over estimating calorie burn I hadn’t really stopped to consider it might be under...

(snip for reply length)

Trackers can be under; even MFP - which does seem to estimate high for some things - can be under.

How does your Garmin all-day calorie estimate over a period of time line up with your weight loss rate and food logging over a period of time? That's your best hint.

moonangel12

AnnPT77 wrote: »

moonangel12 wrote: »

After adjusting my goals to .5/week, I now get 1680 calories per day rather than 1370 - that will make a BIG difference! WL will slow, but hopefully I will have more day to day energy to gain overall strength and endurance...

That's a much better plan, with so little left to lose, and important training goals besides.

moonangel12 wrote: »

(snip for reply length)

Since most of the talk on here is about trackers over estimating calorie burn I hadn’t really stopped to consider it might be under...

(snip for reply length)

Trackers can be under; even MFP - which does seem to estimate high for some things - can be under.

How does your Garmin all-day calorie estimate over a period of time line up with your weight loss rate and food logging over a period of time? That's your best hint.

Honestly, I had just been plugging along... hadn’t even realized how close I was to goal weight until I thought through the numbers today! Yay! I would weigh, plug in the number the scale gave me, check out the graphs and other info, but hadn’t truly looked at the actual number...

I don’t really pay much attention to the Garmin calories for day to day, relying on MFP exclusively for that information. I will run the Garmin and RunKeeper for biking and running and the calories burned are usually pretty similar, but doesn’t really work for swimming. I will try looking back and see what I can see, but will start paying closer attention... it would be good info to have/know anyway.