Does swimming help with losing weight

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kirsty852015
kirsty852015 Posts: 3 Member
in Getting Started
Hi there very new, any story's on weight loss through swimming?

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  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Weight loss is at least 80% diet.....but exercise can help. If you enjoy swimming, if you can be consistent thru swimming, then swimming is a great choice.
  • jaqcan
    jaqcan Posts: 498 Member
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    If it adds to your calorie deficit, it's a great way to exercise.
    I, however, get so hungry after swimming it would negate ANY burn that occurred!
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    jaqcan wrote: »
    If it adds to your calorie deficit, it's a great way to exercise.
    I, however, get so hungry after swimming it would negate ANY burn that occurred!


    I agree, I swim because of the other health benefits of swimming, but I am so hungry on days when I swim in the morning. Other forms of exercise do not make me near as hungry.


  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    edited August 2015
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    jaqcan wrote: »
    If it adds to your calorie deficit, it's a great way to exercise.
    I, however, get so hungry after swimming it would negate ANY burn that occurred!

    This ^^ If you can avoid eating back all of the calories then it can help, but I too find swimming makes me ravenous. Although, when I used to swim most everyday, I was closer to the low side of BMI instead of just above the high. I wish I still had somewhere convenient to swim regularly.
  • cdahl383
    cdahl383 Posts: 726 Member
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    If it helps you maintain a calorie deficit then yes it will help you lose weight. A good diet and regular exercise is a hard combo to beat to stay fit and trim. If you can find an activity that you enjoy and look forward to doing, then that's awesome. So much more fun than dragging yourself into the gym to run on the stupid treadmill for 30 minutes or something like that.
  • zombiemusicgirl
    zombiemusicgirl Posts: 98 Member
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    I love swimming and running! When I am on track, I find that exercise is what keeps me focused. While it is 80% diet, my diet tends to get derailed any time I stop working out. Chicken and the egg situation, totally.

    However, I don't find that working out makes me any more hungry than I normally am. But I am very, very, very hungry all the time.

    Mostly, you won't know until you try. Good luck to you!
  • Sandcastles61
    Sandcastles61 Posts: 506 Member
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    I started swimming twice a week earlier this spring and found that it helped lean me out incredibly well. I need to do low impact and it is a pretty good whole body work out. If you enjoy the pool, go for it. I lost 30 pounds and have been maintaining for 6 weeks now.
  • kirsty852015
    kirsty852015 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thank you all for your Replies, I think I'll give it a go, I only had a baby 4 months ago and was back in the gym after 4 weeks, tried to hard and done to much. Now have a bad back so looking for something not to hard, low impact.

    Thanks again
  • cuckoo_jenibeth
    cuckoo_jenibeth Posts: 1,434 Member
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    Almost all of my exercise has been swimming/pool related! Here is a tip....part of the reason you feel hungry after swimming is because you lower your core body temp & your body looks to eat to warm itself. If you take a quick hot tub dip or a nice warm shower immediately after swimming, the hunger will be largely abated.
  • luluinca
    luluinca Posts: 2,899 Member
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    I got back in the pool two years ago with a bad back and it worked wonders.................I still swim a couple of days a week but mostly lift weights now. I think swimming is wonderful exercise and burns plenty of calories. I do get a little hungry when I swim but it's manageable because I eat plenty of calories anyway.....LOL
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Weight loss comes from a caloric deficit. Exercise is for health, but ANY exercise will help the deficit.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    jenibethbu wrote: »
    Almost all of my exercise has been swimming/pool related! Here is a tip....part of the reason you feel hungry after swimming is because you lower your core body temp & your body looks to eat to warm itself. If you take a quick hot tub dip or a nice warm shower immediately after swimming, the hunger will be largely abated.

    That's helpful. Thank you. I did not know what caused the hunger.
  • kirsty852015
    kirsty852015 Posts: 3 Member
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    The hot tub or hot shower is great to know

    Thanks
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    jenibethbu wrote: »
    Almost all of my exercise has been swimming/pool related! Here is a tip....part of the reason you feel hungry after swimming is because you lower your core body temp & your body looks to eat to warm itself. If you take a quick hot tub dip or a nice warm shower immediately after swimming, the hunger will be largely abated.

    Thanks for this great tip!!!

  • PShizle
    PShizle Posts: 48 Member
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    Swimming is one the THE BEST ways to burn calories. First, it is low impact on your body. Second, studies have shown you burn up to seven times more calories swimming laps than other workouts. Third, it is super relaxing. I swim two nights a week around 1500m (40 laps) and it helps me to lose weight. While I'm hungry afterwards, discipline in eating is what transforms your body and life. Therefore, I usually east a sensible meal and protein shake and then go to bed.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    losing weight is largely about diet, not what exercise you do. Any exercise and moving in general is going to help because you're increasing your calorie (energy) requirements thus making it easier to sustain a reasonable deficit...but exercise in and of itself isn't going to get you there.

    I cycle 60 - 80 miles per week, more if I'm training...I lift 2-3x per week...I run a 5K or two pretty much every week...I walk my dog regularly...I do a little hiking and swim here and there. I've lost weight, gained weight, and maintained weight doing all of these things...in fact, I gained a good 8 Lbs while I was training for a century ride and riding about 130 miles per week. My weight was not controlled by that exercise, it was about my diet and how much I was eating.
  • dubird
    dubird Posts: 1,849 Member
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    Losing weight is simply a function of taking in less calories than your body burns (calories out). Any form of exercise adds to the calories out, which is helpful, but weight loss can be done with just monitoring calories in. However, exercise does have other benefits, so if you can work it in, it's a good idea to do so. Swimming is actually a very good exercise as it's very low impact. The hardest part is figuring out how many calories you actually burn. If you use MFP to log it, be aware that MFP vastly overestimates your calorie burn, so only eat back about half of what MFP says you burned.

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