Anyone lost weight with swimming?

Hey guys - I'm starting swimming lessons this week @ the Y - I'm excited but have read alot of stuff on the web about swimming not being very effective for weight loss. I've got a bumm ankle - so all I can do is bike and I'm looking forward to something different. But wondering ... has anyone here lost a good amount of weight with swimming?

Swimming burns like 600 or more calories an hour! Why wouldn't it be effective?

Swimming lessons are the best. I took it over the summer at my college and I found that it really helps with losing weight (lost about an additional 5 lbs doing it for 2 months). It's very easy on the joints and breathing is a challenge in and of itself. Go for it.

heck yes! Not only will you lose weight, but you'll get nice and tooned if you keep it up. Swimming does wonders for the body!

I DID IN THE SUMMER!! UR SO LUCKY YOU GET TO SWIM..IT'S SUPER FUN AND EFFECTIVE!!!

41 lbs gone and I eat 1500-1800 cals (I'm a big girl but I'm old) Swimming was my only exercise for most of the past three months

I have heard about studies where people who swam for exercise lost less fat than other activities, which is where I think this rumor started. But I think the gist was that swimming, particularly in cold water, makes you hungrier, so if people were just told to exercise then the swimming group ended up eating more and losing less. If you are counting calories it should not be an issue. My pool is also not all that cold.

 

 

swimming is better for weight loss in guys than in girls

because swimming takes up SO much energy, you're REALLY hungry afterwards, and girls tend to eat more than guys do after the swim, because their bodies naturally need more nutrition than guys bodies (because of the feminine hormones and what not)

my brother was on the swim team, and would go to the meets  and notice that ALL the guys were skinny and the girls were chunky...so i asked him about it, and he told me that whenever they went out to eat after a swim meet or practice, he noticed that the girls chose fattier foods and ate more than the guys did...

it's different for everyone though :)

just a thought, hope it helped :)

a little bit of discipline is required regardless of what you do.  I eat after I practice every time -- an apple or a granola bar seems to do me fine.

Furthermore -- I have an awful lot of teenaged girls (women) on my team who would be mortified for someone to consider them chunky -- I think they are all too skinny, personally, but they are definitely NOT chunky.  No one with evidence of an ED is allowed to continue practice. 

I met a lady at my water aerobics class who lost 60 lbs just from swimming :) I think it's a great exercise...I intend to swim more myself!

Good luck with the lessons :)

Yea ... thanks so much everyone ... I really appreciate your responses. Its got me totally excited for my lessons tomorrow night!!!

I read all these studies that for weight loss its not the best exercise to do - but I'm fairly limited in what I can do - just bike - so I'm just really happy to have something new to do and something new to learn.

I have read about the appetite issues and I'm not sure exactly how I'll combat it except that my lessons will be out at 8pm and I think if I'm super aware of that being the biggest issues I'll try to really watch what I eat. I've also read that if you take a hot bath when you are done that helps with the appetite.

THANKS EVERYONE!

Hey!  I was just wondering this same thing b/c I just took up swimming laps like a week ago.  I'm doing 1000's on Tuesdays and 750s on Thursdays.  I really hope it helps w/weightloss b/c my whole workout on those days is just swimming.  Should I keep w/only swimming or should i workout in the gym before/after too?  I'm thinking if I add more to these days it should be before b/c i'm dog tired after swimming.  Please more info about swimming would be helpful!

I was about 5 feet tall and 140 pounds before I started swimming. For the first 3/4 years or so, I didn't count my calories at all, I drank soda, I eated fried things, ice cream, cheese, and I grew taller: bottom line, I lost weight. A lot of weight. I'm now 5'8, 125 pounds.

I read one study about how based on other cardio exercises (running and biking), people who swim have a higher percentage of body fat. Some other people alluded to the fact that people are so hungry after they swim that they tend to pig out. If you have practice at 6 AM, but then gorge yourself at breakfast and do nothing the rest of the day, then it may hamper your ability to lose fat.

I particularly think my face is fat and swimming has not changed that. On the other hand, my brother has been running for 15 minutes on the treadmill for about 3 weeks now and i can see a noticeable difference in his face (and he eats about twice as much as i do). I would still stick with swimming though if you're trying to lose weight from all over.

i lost 30 lbs swimming and was in the best shape of my life.

now...not so much.

i really miss it and would love to get back into it though.

i can also credit my dreads to swimming, because the chlorine distroyed my hair and i just gave up and this is what happened.

so, use a swim cap and condition well I guess.