Why do I lose more weight the weeks I exercise less?

batty5

OK let me say to start with that we have already established, as have my doctors, that my system works in very strange ways yet to be understood. As long as it works I am alive so that will do for me but I do want to get to grips with it as am determined to be slim at 60 (March 2011).
I joined mfp in June & since then have had an uphill struggle to lose weight despite having no problem eating healthy food as I have always eaten quite healthy food but seemingly too much of it!!!
Health issues prevent any form of exercise unless supported in deep water so, 3 months after major back surgery in Feb. 2009 (they tell me I am still in recovery) I started swimming again. Now I usually swim for a minimum of 5 hours per week & one session last week I swam 2 miles for the first time in 1 session; I was thrilled.
I have ALWAYS been under the calories recommended by mfp since June yet this week I logged another 1lb gain. I am just 4 lbs lower than I was in mid July but am 12" smaller: 3 each from bust & butt & 6 from waist & people are noticing. Looking back I see my biggest losses came on the weeks I did little or no swimming!!!!!!
So my question is should I swim less? I cannot walk much without support so more walking is not an option; I need to continue to swim to exercise all my body but also because I want to prove doctors wrong & not have to use a wheelchair.
I would be very interested to hear what others experience, although I am a little dispirited I shall continue my journey despite my very peculiar system.Thank you for any input you may choose to share & good luck to you all.

jamie1888

Always eating under your calorie goal could be the problem. You may not be eating enough to support the exercise that you do.

erickirb

when you exercise your muscles hold on to water to aid in recovery after a few days your body lets go of this water or after your muscles get accustom to the workout. So it could easily be water when you exercise, then when you don't you drop the water making it look like you lose more when not exercising. More weight maybe, but definitely not more fat, its just the water difference.

turbojanem

few points: your body does get used to the exercise...that's why it's recommended that you change your program around every 6-8 weeks.
a few suggestions. are you able to hold onto the ladder and kick like crazy? if so, do this for 5 minutes every so many laps. do it about 4-6 times while in the pool. the speedy movement of your legs will get your heart going a bit faster.
are you able to lift even 1 or 2 pound weights? if you do some upper body sculpting with light weights (not wanting to hurt your back) you can get some muscle tone.
muscle will burn your calories 24/7. while cardio is good, it has little effect on building any muscle than your heart. swimming is more cardio than strength training.
there are a few DVD's that you can get for little money that you could do the strenght training 3 days a week in addition to your swimming.

fyi...i've got a backwards body too: my heart races and i can NOT sleep if i have benedryl.

together we will get you down the scales. and a smaller waist is never a bad thing.

fitgirl4life

I assume your goal is to be as healthy as possible. Exercise is the key to health! Swimming keeps your muscles, bones and heart strong, all of which aid in your recovery. And as it is the only exercise you can do, I would definitely stick with it. It also makes you feel good!

I say, throw away the scale and focus on being as healthy as possible! Also I would mix up your eating weeks. Change to "maintenance" calories for a week and eat your full allowance, then go back to your deficit. This might be the thing you need to break through your plateau.

willimh

I don't think you are eating enough. You may want to bump up your intake a little so your body has something to burn. We did a fast before eating fruit, veggies and nuts from 6am to 6pm and I lost weight more without exercise than with exercise because there was not enough food being consumed to exercise.

MissyMorganFit

Each of the posts above are correct. I cannot tell you how many times I have to explain to my customers & clients the importance of making sure you eat enough calories to meet your minimum daily requirement. If you are withholding even 100-200 calories per day from your requirement of needed calories, your body will naturally begin to "think" you cannot get to food & go into "starvation mode". This causes the body to store any amounts of fat you ARE getting in order to prevent you from "starving" which does exactly the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. Once you correct this, I am almost positive you will be well on your way to seeing weight loss

batty5

As to strength training I shouldn't do it but I do try to intersperse my swimming with a few other exercises such as leg kicks, pulling myself up by my arms & a few others but I have to see how they feel before knowing if they are safe for me. Can't do them out of the water as I dislocate (most joints except toes) very easily.