Strange, but can a lot of exercise slow down weight loss?

Swimming is hard to track accurately.

How far do you swim in an hour?

it's probably just a little plateau. you're not going to lose weight consistently every week but it will catch up to you. it's totally normal and happens to the majority of us. stay away from the scale if you're getting frustrated. also remember that you've already lost A LOT of weight as it is and at some point it's going to slow down.

rayrayfitz wrote: »

azulvioleta6 wrote: »

Swimming is hard to track accurately.

How far do you swim in an hour?

It's a 35m swimming pool, I think I average about 65 lengths an hour so about 2,275 m. I usually swim for an hour 15/30 mins. Now I sometimes do 2 hours too. Same pace.

Are you swimming for 15, 30, 60 or 120 minutes? Sorry, I am not following this.

In an hour, you average just a little over a mile? Sorry, in my country pools are either 25 or 50 and I'm not finding any quick conversions online for 35m pools.

If you are swimming slightly over a mile in a hour, that's slow.

Yes it can! I was loosing steadily with 1200 cals and interval training 3 times a week then tried the 30 day shred dvd and just stopped loosing throughout the 3 weeks I did it for. I know people say don't get hung up on the scale and its inches that count but I'm afraid I do and I was actually putting on whilst killing myself with the workout. I git so disillusioned I slipped back in to bad habits. I could understand it if I only had a stone to go but with 4.5 stone still to go I also accused my scales of taking the piss :-) xx

Have u checked ur measurements? Maybe ur losing inches rught now instead of weight.

quote="rayrayfitz;10089155"]Is it worth it?

Since Jan I've been breaking a ball trying to swim 5x a week. I've swam for at least 6 hours a week. I also have recently started strength training. I try to walk and remain active. I swim for a minimum of 6 hours a week, sometimes much more.

I in theory burn more cals swimming than other forms of cardio, example walking, per hour.

MFP is set at a deficit so I should lose 2lb a week anyway. I have it set on lightly active.

I weigh EVERYTHING that goes past my lips, I don't cheat, I don't even usually eat back any exercise calories. Though I have occasionally ate back 100-300 . I have 1370 cals daily.

Since Jan 1st I've lost just 3lb.

Nothing for 2 weeks now.

How is it even possible? I know weight loss isn't linear but I just feel it's taking the piss now.

I've lost 3stone 9lbs (14lbs to a stone if you're US) and I probably still have 5 stone to lose.

When I first started I did no exercise just diet and lost weight. I see people who exercise far less than me, eat more and lose weight.

So why can't I lose weight faster than the rate I'm going? It's really frustrating and disheartening. I feel like what's the point using all my spare time bloody swimming each day if I'm not losing weight anyway? I may as well not bother.

It seems like the more exercise I do, the slower my weight loss. :-/[/quote]

My weighing and logging is very strict. Once I started exercising I didn't lose anything, on the scale, for a month. I did lose inches, though. Tighten up your eating/logging and keep going. The scale is a poor measurement device when exercise is incorporated, it doesn't tell you the whole story.

Honestly it's way too little food for your activity level. Go to http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/ and figure out a 20% deficit and eat that - it's WAY healthier to have a REASONABLE deficit.

But 2 weeks stalls happen all the time and usually don't mean anything. If your period is due soon, that explains it too, I usually gain a couple pounds of water weight beforehand.

You've been quite successful so far - 51 lb lost, halfway to goal! Yay, you!!
What are your measurements doing? Are you dropping inches? Are your clothes fitting better?
Then you're seeing progress. Keep at it.
If you're not seeing progress in any way, consider dropping 50 calories/day or increasing the intensity or time of your exercise. (At this point, faster would probably be better than longer; better use of time.)
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rybo wrote:

I think you need to eat more for all that swimming

rayrayfitz wrote:

But I'm not losing weight as it is... I think if I ate more, I'd put weight on.

Exactly right.
If you're not losing weight at your current calorie/exercise level, the solution is _not_ to raise calories or lower exercise. That will just make the problem worse.
Your body does not hang onto calories if you're eating in a deficit (which with so much exercise & a low calorie level you certainly are).
If you're eating less than your body needs (and again, with so much exercise & so little food taken in, if you're being accurate, then you certainly are eating at a deficit) you will lose weight. You can't not.

One thing you could try is adjusting your macros. Eating higher protein & lower carbs leads to more weight loss. Links to the studies here. Try 45% carbs, 20% fat, 35% protein to stay within the healthy macro ranges.
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Your diary still isn't open. You probably just have it open to your friends only. Can you open it to public?

But as far as swimming calories burned, it's really not as much as you think. MFP estimates are high and what it categorizes as a easy swim really isn't an easy swim for most people.

As others have mentioned, it's also very common for weight loss to stall with new exercises since your muscles will retain water. It by no means suggests that workout is keeping you from losing weight because it's not fat. So it's definitely worth it. If you're doubling up on workouts as well, that would also contribute to an increase in retained water. You're losing so I wouldn't be overly concerned, provided your logging is good.