A lot of weight to loose and not sure which exercise to do

betterbefore
betterbefore Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi,

I have a lot of weight to loose, about 10 stone and have done every diet under the sun, lost weight and regained. Anyway I am now using MFP and trying to make healthy choices to make changes for life so I don't go through this yoyo dieting again. I have started swimming as it's a form of exercise that I feel confident with, this morning I did 50 lengths of a 25m pool in 40 mins so I was feeling quite good about myself, but tonight I have read a lot of articles that say swimming doesn't help you loose weight and now I'm totally confused as to what to do? I would love to do workout classes but I am much too heavy. Any advise on the best exercise to do or a good exercise plan would be great. Thanks Sarah

Replies

  • poptart280896
    poptart280896 Posts: 7 Member
    Hi Sarah,
    I swim as well for health but I don't use it as a primary way to lose weight. I find that I am really hungry and tired after swimming so I eat and then nap. Not the best way to drop weight but a great way to get overall fit. Supplement your workout's with walking and yoga and then you'll see results. I've only been at this for a short time this round, but those are the strategies that have worked for me in the past. Good luck and if you want to friend me for mutual support I would love to follow your journey.
  • christinalong1991
    christinalong1991 Posts: 74 Member
    Anything that gets you up and moving is good for exercise!! And I'm not sure where you possibly read swimming doesn't work for weight loss, with a decent amount of effort, you burn more calories than jogging, with the added bonus of not ruining your knees!! If you are doing lap after lap, at any pace, you are burning a lot of calories after 40 minutes and if your eating within your calorie goal, then swimming will absolutely help you lose weight!!
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    lose weight is through eating a calorie deficit.

    exercise should be about getting fit, not for weight loss. trust me, i exercised regularly (lifting, running, swimming, martial arts, etc) and still gained 70 pounds.
  • christygb
    christygb Posts: 84 Member
    I also started out with swimming. It is a great workout. Water aerobics classes got my muscles working again and vastly improved my flexibility. My gym offers high intensity interval training in its classes, so they are a great cardio workout. As I've lost weight, now I'm loving walking. I downloaded the FitRadio app on my phone, and channel my inner "clubbing" 25 year-old (I'm 47:tongue: ) Lively DJ music mixes get me to push myself to walk faster and I don't even realize it. So much fun!
  • Cc215
    Cc215 Posts: 228 Member
    If you like swimming - do the swimming.

    In the end weightloss is mostly down to diet.

    Exercise - in any form - improves your health - so I'm a huge fan of doing whatever exercise you enjoy. That way you are more likely to keep doing it.
  • Robertarocks
    Robertarocks Posts: 1 Member
    Keep swimming if that's the form of exercise you enjoy and can do. Any kind of exercise is better than none. You will lose weight plus walking 30 minutes a day is really good. Doesn't have to be fast brisk walking just walk. You will notice your pace picking up on it's own after about 2-3 weeks.

    Good luck don't give up!
  • Maeleemooka
    Maeleemooka Posts: 19 Member
    Amen. Do what you enjoy and you will have a better chance of sticking to it. No secret to weight loss. Burn more calories than you take in. :-)
  • sympha01
    sympha01 Posts: 942 Member
    I think I've seen a lot of stuff lately that generally says that "ANY exercise isn't particularly helpful for weightloss" and these recent studies just suggest that people who exercise ::sporadically:: tend to overestimate how hard they worked and overestimate how many extra calories they can eat. I've never heard anything about swimming specifically, but I do know lots of people who say that swimming tires them out and makes them crazy hungry, so I can see that swimming COULD be an issue that way.

    THAT BEING SAID, I think any exercise that helps you build a good base of cardiovascular fitness (like swimming) is going to help you enormously in the long run. It's helping to get you in the habit of exercising regularly -- that in itself is HUGE -- and it's going to help you have more endurance. Later on, when you're feeling more confident about trying harder things, that base will be so useful.

    Speaking from my experience, when you have a lot of weight to lose, just getting into the habit of exercising at all is a very big deal. When I was much larger it was very difficult to move much at all, everything hurt, I got tired easily, sweat caused more chafing issues, etc. etc. Just going for a 10 minute walk pooped me; it was so discouraging.

    If you're out of shape and want to get fitter, the BEST exercise is whatever is going to encourage you the most to KEEP GOING. Whatever you're going to stick with, right? Don't be afraid to be gentle with yourself at first. Just be consistent and keep that habit going.

    The only thing I'd add to that is, the sooner you feel confident enough to start trying more things, the better! I really hated the first 4 months of exercising regularly, partly because I was out of shape but largely because I did the same damn thing 6 days a week. Once I had enough of a base to start mixing it up, it really started getting fun. Not to mention that if you are alternating different exercise things throughout the week, you'll reduce the risk of overuse injuries and will be able to give one system a rest while you keep working with another system. I cycle through swimming intervals 2X a week, cardio kettlebell 2X a week, circuit training 2X a week, and on the 7th day I yoga. Plus I walk 4 miles a day, every day. I rarely have serious trouble with DOMS and man I feel GREAT.
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
    I have read a lot of articles that say swimming doesn't help you loose weight and now I'm totally confused as to what to do?
    True--losing weight is mostly about diet. Focus on calories in vs. calories out to lose weight. From exercise you're mostly looking for strength, toning, cardio, fun, and some cushion to allow eating more treats. :)

    Regular exercise is at least highly correlated with weight maintenance.
  • love8383
    love8383 Posts: 169
    When you have alot of weight to lose you really don't have to do much exercise at first to see the lbs drop off, light walking is all i had to do for the first year to lose, it's mainly about the calorie reduction. good luck :)
  • JoJoVan96
    JoJoVan96 Posts: 26 Member
    Hi,

    I have a lot of weight to loose, about 10 stone and have done every diet under the sun, lost weight and regained. Anyway I am now using MFP and trying to make healthy choices to make changes for life so I don't go through this yoyo dieting again. I have started swimming as it's a form of exercise that I feel confident with, this morning I did 50 lengths of a 25m pool in 40 mins so I was feeling quite good about myself, but tonight I have read a lot of articles that say swimming doesn't help you loose weight and now I'm totally confused as to what to do? I would love to do workout classes but I am much too heavy. Any advise on the best exercise to do or a good exercise plan would be great. Thanks Sarah

    Actually, for us bigger gals, swimming is the best way to go! You get an excellent cardio workout without putting a lot of stress on your joints. It was the first thing my doc suggested to me until I was ready to start running.

    http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/fitness-basics-swimming-is-for-everyone
  • JG762
    JG762 Posts: 571 Member
    Any advise on the best exercise to do or a good exercise plan would be great. Thanks Sarah

    Any or all of them.
    I didn't read the rest of the posts but any movement or exercise is good, pick something that you can enjoy and keep going, change it up once in a while and just KMF.
  • deansdad101
    deansdad101 Posts: 644 Member
    I have read a lot of articles that say swimming doesn't help you loose weight and now I'm totally confused as to what to do?
    True--losing weight is mostly about diet. Focus on calories in vs. calories out to lose weight. From exercise you're mostly looking for strength, toning, cardio, fun, and some cushion to allow eating more treats. :)

    Regular exercise is at least highly correlated with weight maintenance.
    CAU;

    Thank You, thank you, thank you.
    Finally someone with an understanding of the vocabulary.

    "...exercise s at least highly correlated with weight maintenance."
    Might take issue with "highly" but otherwise, a totally accurate statement.

    NO ONE argues (or hopefully believes) that exercise, ANY exercise (done properly and which doesn't lead to any of the possible deleterious effects or injuries), isn't better than not doing any at all - that's not the question.

    But correlation DOES NOT EQUAL causality!

    An excerpt from someone better able to explain than I:
    " The first event is called the cause and the second event is called the effect. A correlation between two variables does not imply causation. On the other hand, if there is a causal relationship between two variables, they must be correlated."

    In fact, there are any number of "studies" documenting that "exercise" (per se) has little to anything to do with either weight loss or maintenance.

    One can (and many do) lose weight with absolutely ZERO exercise (beyond normal daily routine). That "fact" doesn't speak to the question of "does exercise provide a incremental benefit while losing weight?"

    It may, it may not, but regardless of if it does or not there may be a "correlation" (even a high correlation), but, until independently proven (under strict scientific regimen), there is NO "causality".

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