Swimming for weight loss and general fitness-time for a new me!

[DtPeabodysLoosePants]

I have a stone I'd like to shift. During term time I'm pretty active as I walk a minimum of 5 miles a day. I've been fairly active over the summer too with a few 5/6 mile walks but nowhere near the daily amount I normally do. I also cycle once a week and do 11 miles along a cycle/leisure track (old railway line) but again its term time only. As soon as my youngest is in school full time from mid September then I'll be increasing my activity levels and getting back on my bike. I'll probably go twice a week seeing as he'll be full time at school now.
In addition to this I was thinking about swimming. There's a lovely pool a few miles away. How good is swimming in general for toning up and healing weight loss?
My diet is vegetarian and reasonably healthy but could be better, I don't drink on a regular basis, don't smoke, and despite chronic pain from endometriosis and a back that's in spasm I consider myself pretty healthy.
I have very limited funds and don't like the gym or classes so that works out well but I need to do more. I'm 43 and peri-menopausal and middle aged spread is creeping up on me
Does this amount of activity sound like it will shift some lard if I address my chocolate consumption too?

Anyone?

An hour's hard swim (2.1 km) seems to use about 500 kcal for me.
If you want to lose weight, you need to not make up that food. You need to eat 500 less than you're body will be wanting.

You'd need to do 7 swims a week (1 hr each) to lose 1 lb /week, and make sure to eat no more than you do now.

So might work for weight loss... but does involve watching what you eat.

I swim a lot & can't say most the swimmers are 'toned'. The open water types who do things like the Channel, I suppose they are toned.

Sounds rather pointless then!

Ultimately, if you use more calories than you eat, you'll lose weight.

Swimming feels like hard work to me, so it must work! Running also feels like hard work, and I know that it works.

I also feel like my appetite is controlled / suppressed more effectively when I exercise, which helps too.

Good luck.

I was over 2 stone overweight and started swimming to build up fitness/start losing some weight. It did work but I found after a few months I had to add in some classes and running to keep seeing results and get to target weight.

I was going to start swimming but now wondering if cycling is better?

Swimming doesn't have a good record for weightloss and there are plenty of studies showing this.
Good for fitness, of course, but we're supposed to do weight bearing exercise as well.

Well I walk 5 miles a day and cycle 11 miles a week too so it would be an additional activity.

Total walking distance for the past week is 25 miles. Ds did all of those with me with no complaint too. This makes me very happy as his father walks a mile and complains so I'm glad laziness is not genetic! (He's only met his dad once. As a baby).
Ds is doing the daft half day thing next week then full time from the 16th so I am going to give swimming a go once a week and see if I feel any benefit.