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Lost some weight swimming most days, then leveled off

dwisehart
dwisehart Posts: 36 Member
edited November 2024 in Introduce Yourself
I lost 22 pounds the first year I swam--more like paddled around with fins on--swimming 2-3 of times a week. Then a new coach arrived at my gym and I started learning how to swim, which motivated me to swim most every day. I lost another 33 pounds in the first 10 months of the second year, but then I leveled off.

I just downloaded MFP so I could start tracking my calories: it is great just to be aware of what and how much you are eating. I am at 215 lbs and I would like to lose a pound a week and get down to 185 or maybe lower.

Are there other swimmers out there who are using MFP? How do you estimate your exercise calories? A fitness watch? An online calculator? Others?

Replies

  • allison4224
    allison4224 Posts: 80 Member
    I was just using the generic - Swimming laps, freestyle, light/moderate effort from the Exercise DB. I recently bought a Polar A360 (which unfortunately doesn't count laps) and it gives me calories burned when I'm swimming - which is actually lower than the MFP estimate. The Polar's probably more accurate because it's using my HR.
  • dwisehart
    dwisehart Posts: 36 Member
    I found that MFP is estimating high from what I expect. The Apple Watch 2 gives what seem like reasonable calorie estimates--or maybe a bit low--if you are just swimming (and its lap count is quite good), but when doing a kick set it gives you less credit than a casual walk, and you know how tough a kick set is in the pool. I have thought of telling it I am doing an "other" workout when on a kick set and seeing if it just uses heart rate and how many calories it estimates. Thanks for the reply.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    Many have found that MFP's calorie burns are overestimated. Activity trackers can sometimes overestimate too, depending on the algorithm used to calculate the burn. Either way, many suggest eating back 50-70% of your exercise calories in order to compensate for inflated burn numbers. That said, I've a couple of friends who use the Apple Watch 2 to track their swimming and they seem pretty happy with it.

    Whichever direction you choose to go in (activity tracker or MFP's estimates), try it for a month and reassess your progress. If you've gained or maintained your weight during that time, adjust how many exercise calories you're eating back and reassess in another month.
  • dwisehart
    dwisehart Posts: 36 Member
    That's good advice. But maybe the trial needs to start the second week. Being this is my first week doing something new, I lost five pounds, but I know that won't continue.

    It is funny how this works: you start out two or three pounds heavier than normal and then you are very careful to follow the plan exactly the first week. Plus I put in a record day of exercise burning 2,700 calories on Thursday--as indicated by the Apple Watch--in order to win an Apple Watch achievement award. That evening I was too tired to be hungry so I ate nothing over my base goal calories.

    Maybe that is a good plan for me that will keep me losing weight at or better than my goal: stay within my calorie goals all week and on one day do 2-4x my regular exercise. Thanks for the reply.
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