Best body ever!

lucytalbot94

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening fellow fitties!

So, I have recently escaped an abusive relationship in which I was force fed and discouraged from attending the gym, resulting in a three stone weight gain. I have never in my life weighed so much and my goodness it has ruined my self esteem!

Due to feeling so rubbish and realising my weight is the highest it has even been, I now have a fiery motivation to achieve my best body ever!

My current workout routine is a 7am swim; I swim a mile every morning which currently takes around 50minutes. My first question is; doing this, am I going to be able to lose three stone (currently 88kg/13stone 8poundsish) and am I going to notice toning? I know a few people say that weight loss/toning by swimming alone is a myth, especially PT's!

In terms of my diet; my plan is to completely cut out processed foods, starchy veg and white bread. I'm going to try to only eat what could be harvested/hunted and cut out everything else (with the exception of coffee, I need it in my line of work!!).

I want to get rid of my little belly; I haven't had one since I was a kid!! If something needs to change or you think there is a better way to achieve my goals, please share

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Anna022119

I think you made a start and doing great! Swimming is perfect and you can always add/change things up later.

Happy you left an abusive relationship, take small steps towards working on yourself and you will get there.

Good luck!

sijomial

You can lose weight while swimming a mile a day but you could also maintain weight or gain weight - it's your calorie balance that determines if you lose or not.
Lets guess that you burn 350cals with your daily swim, 10 sessions to burn the equivalent of a pound of fat, 420 sessions to burn your 42lbs. That shows how difficult exercise for weight loss is, I wouldn't call it a myth but your PTs have a very valid point.
Diet, and especially size of your diet, is far and away the most important factor.

If your swimming (or other exercise) pushes the boundaries of your current capabilities you will adapt by becomming fitter and stronger. Not sure what you mean by toning as that seems to mean different things to different people. If it's the appearance of being fitter then remember any muscularity changes tend to be limited, slow and are also hidden under your excess weight.
Exercise is great (I do a lot of it!) but you need to be realistic about what it can do and especially the timeframes involved.

MyFitnessPal also intends that you don't use exercise to boost weight loss, trying to reinforce that exercise is for health/finess/enjoyment for life rather than a limited duration diet strategy. Far too many people pick an aggressive rate of weight loss, then try to make it faster with exercise and simply fail and give up as they have made a hard task even harder. Have a long think about sustainability.

Congrats on your courage in making major changes in your life. :flowerforyou:

MaltedTea

lucytalbot94 wrote: »

*snip*
So, I have recently escaped an abusive relationship in which I was force fed and discouraged from attending the gym
*snip*

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Beyond the nutrition and exercise, counseling. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand. Glad you're on your way to getting better.

Avidkeo

MaltedTea wrote: »

lucytalbot94 wrote: »

*snip*
So, I have recently escaped an abusive relationship in which I was force fed and discouraged from attending the gym
*snip*

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Beyond the nutrition and exercise, counseling. Mental health and physical health go hand in hand. Glad you're on your way to getting better.

This was my first thought.
OP I didn't have the experience you had, but did have low level anxiety my whole life. It wasn't till I got counselling I was able to finally lose the weight. Going through abuse such as you had I highly recommend looking after your mental health as well as your physical.

I also have concerns about your approach. It's best to start small and build up. There is no need to cut out whole food groups, as long as you eat in a calorie deficit it doesn't matter what you eat. Starchy vegetables and breads have nutritional value as well. Sure cut down on these but I wouldn't eliminate them all together straight away. I'd start by portion control. Having the same foods., just less. This is because generally a complete overhaul of your diet doesn't work, most people fall off the wagon and go back to how they used to eat. Making small changes over a longer period of time does.

Remember slow and steady wins the race.

lucytalbot94

Thank you all for your support and advice!

I'd eventually LOVE to have a six pack, hence the toning question! Hehe. I'm going to up my lifting once I have a routine with my swimming (so far I do a mile every morning barre one) I'm going to incorporate weight lifting twice a week.

I am in the process of getting counselling, unfortunately I am a very 'all or nothing' kind of person so I have to keep reminding myself that weight loss takes time, improved stamina takes time, healing takes time. Trying to take baby steps, instead of sprinting for the finish line!

Thank you all