If I swim 20 lengths of an Olympic-sized pool 4 times a week

[wallyfeatures]

• how long before I am absolutely gorgeous?!?

I am 5'3' and in the last year, due to a job change, have piled on a stone and several inches. I look like a blob and none of my clothes fit. I hate diets, but want to up my activity levels. Swimming is a good one as if I buy a monthly card, I'm so tight, that I feel motivated to get every last penny's worth from it. So, will it make a difference to my weight and figure?

I love the idea of losing a lb overnight.
Don't get new batteries for your scales- unless you put a lb on!
I swim one hour a week but it's fairly hardcore- with a masters( over 25) club. We do sprints and drills and reps... no plodding up and down sedately.
I was eating like a horse and losing about a lb a month.
In June I decided to make an effort to lose weight. I dropped to moderate carbs and 1200 calories and was losing 2-3lbs a week. I stopped though, because I felt so weak, I actually didn't have the strength to train. Im doing a competition (!) soon, so I'm eating normally til it's over, then I'll probably try eating 1500 calories with lots of protein to lose weight less quickly and without feeling weak.

That sounds seriously hardcore zymandiasFanClub !
I think I might end up losing a little bit each week as I'm not planning on eating more than I was before, so there must surely be a calories deficit compared to previously? I tend to just have a coffee before swimming and have my breakfast about 9.30ish. I'm quite good in what I eat and I am weird in that I don't like crisps and we never have biscuits in. However, I have a huge husband who eats like a horse and I have rather got lost portion wise when dishing up meals. So I guess I need to maybe cut the portions down a bit. Hopefully with swimming 4 times a week and not eating too much I will lose as well as tone.

I'm not plodding on purpose, btw. My 20 lengths over 31 minutes is me going fast and breathing hard. I am very out of shape!

ooooh 20 lengths in 30 mins is not plodding. I didn't mean to imply that! Quite the opposite in a 50m pool.

I really have no gauge, so thanks for that. I overtake the elderly swimmers, but the swim training team go like lightning and I'm the only 40 something in the water. I read somewhere that 2 minutes for 100m is a good time, but i think the write was talking about people competing? Anyway, maybe speed and technique are not the focus but rather the out of breathness

I've been swimming 6 days out of 7 for he last 2 months. 50 minutes or so. Breast stroke only as I have a bad shoulder that's aggravated by freestyle. I have found my arms, legs, back and bum look so much better now. I am losing weight off my middle slowly but only because I am watching what I'm eating as well. I feel amazing after each swim in a way I didn't when I ran. It makes me so happy and I'd been feeling quite low due to a lot of stress. Best thing I've found to stop over eating is to have my dinner an hour before I go.

Oooh can I join you? I cant swim until kids back at school. I used to swim as a kid but now obese. I do 1k in 30-36 mims and get excited if I get it down to 30mins so not quite as fast as you.

My kids are planning to join the swim club. Id love to have structured sessions but am currently obese...

I too am hoping swimming will help - but if nothi ng else I love feeling fitter. I did avout 4-5 months before the holidays and despite being a whale felt amazing.

I do worry about getting bored but dont reallt know how to mix it up. Swimming 1k 3 x a week will be my goal til xmas!

So pleased to hear that it has made a physical affect on your body roundturnandtwohalfhitches I'll keep going. I was wondering whether to take a for and after photo just so I can see if there are any changes (not for showing to anyone else!!!!). Think I might do that tomorrow morning when I have the house to myself, don't want to scare the kids....

It has also affected my mood a bit, in that I feel a bit more motivated to get other stuff done. Long may it continue.

Hop on board AdventuresRUs , thrilled to have a swimming buddy.

It does get a bit boring doesn't it? And it's not like one can listen to music or anything .

I concentrate on lane rage and overtaking pensioners for my motivation. But any tips from a seasoned swimmer gratefully received.

32 lengths is a mile so 20 lengths in 30 mins thats about a 50 min mile which is a good speed.

You can get waterproof iPods
www.amazon.co.uk/Underwater-Audio-Waterproof-Swimbuds-Bundle-Royal-Blue/dp/B013RV4SPG/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=waterfi&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1535456485&sr=8-13

Cheaper options are definitely available

I quite like the quiet when i swim. My brain whirls a lot and its kind of meditative. Im getting excited avout getting back in the pool! Next wednesday...

Try aqua-jogging. You'll need a decent flotation belt and you can wear wet shoes and gloves for extra resistance. It is a more effective exercise in terms of calorie burning and cardio than swimming or aqua fit. I lost five pounds in two weeks by adding it into my routine and it's made a noticeable difference to my muscle strength.
There's instructional videos online and lots of info on how to make it as effective as possible. It's detailed on a lot of runners' websites as a good addition to training. You basically stay in the deep end (tho you can do it in the shallow end) and try mimic a running gait, making sure you stay vertical. Raising your arms while 'running', to different levels, increases the intensity.

You look like a bit of an eejit but I totally recommend it!

I lost about half a stone swimming a mile twice a week.

I used to try to do complicated mental arithmetic while swimming to keep myself entertained

Sounds like you are really enjoying it. Keep going!

I need to do 50 lengths of a 25m every single day to lose weight.

No idea about swimming OP but your posts are pretty funny.

Sorry for being MIA yesterday. A few things cropped up and I ended up stuck at home with a child who said they were sick but then bounced around the house saying they were bored . Packed off back to school today despite their protestations that they are at death's door and back to the swim pool. 1 more km today. I couldn't tell you the time as I forget to take a pair of contacts with me. Had several near misses with other swimmers as I am as blind as a bat, so that upped the excitement levels somewhat.

Thank you for the link to the waterproof ipods, billybagpuss I am certainly interested in one. However I think I might wait a bit and see if this swimming is a flash in the pan before forking out for a new bit of kit. We have had an expensive summer and with a holiday next month coming up too and several birthdays we (me!) are running a tight ship at the moment.

Hopped on the scales again this morning (I know, I need to stop doing this!) and the 3lb has stayed off. I'll check again next Monday and see what happens. I have one more swim this week, tomorrow, and then that's it until Monday. Other half is away for a week from today which could go one of two ways 1. I eat my head off. cos there is no one there to frown at me, 2. I am sensible and stop eating husband sized portions.

*EllenRipley aqua jogging sounds interesting! I think that was sort of what two ladies were doing one of the first times I went to pool last week. Our big pool is very fancy in that it has a section in the middle where the floor can raise to a depth of 90 cm from 200cm. I thought that they were walking and that the middle section was up and so tried to stand up and promptly sank like a stone. When I surfaced I noticed that they were casually leaning their arms on a noodle each and walking though the water. Felt like a right tit. I might give it a go on next week's 'rest' day.

AdventuresRUs one week to go!

I used to swim 32-50 lengths 3 times a week, I lost 3 stone. I cut out all chocolate and biscuits as well.

Loved reading this thread; you are funny OP! I hate swimming as have no technique, so thanks to whoever posted the link to the Speedo video clip. I'm going to watch a few more and see if I can improve (can't run due to bad back).

Swimming doesn’t burn anything like something like running, sorry to say. Obviously any exercise is good news if you havent been doing much and are looking to lose weight but in general swimming just ain’t the one.

Well done wally! I have prescription goggles now but the off the shelf/near enough ones I got online were actually almost as good. Definitely recommend over contacts (they scare me in the pool!)

Ive taken my kids to a billion swim lessons so really looking forwards to getting back on it next Wed. It wont be 1k in 30min after a 6 week break though!

I've just checked my resting heart rate this week and it's down to 60 BPM. That's really good for me. When I cycled and ran it was about 64 at its lowest. Proves swimming gets you fit. I was always told it was pretty useless. I am a total convert. Not sure my hair is loving it as much despite my best efforts.

roundturnandtwohalfhitches excellent news on the resting heart rate. I haven't checked mine in a long time. It used to be a bit on the low side, like 54, but jumped up to 65-70 when I put on weight with the children and inactivity. 54 was not down to any super efforts on my part, btw, just appears to be the way my body works (always at top of healthy bmi for example!). I'll check that in a bit when I've been sat on my derriere for a bit longer.

AdventuresRUs prescription goggles are something else to add to my list. But at the moment our finances are not healthy (I spent most of last night going through them with a fine toothcomb trying to figure out how we are spending so much!) so they will have to wait. Maybe they can be a Xmas pressie from dp. I have a pair of prescription scuba mask goggles somewhere, but I think they would create a lot of resistance and I'd look like a plonker

SwimmingKaren arrr, don't tell me that! It's the only exercise that I like doing, other than going for long walks and that ain't happening where I live. It's as flat as a pancake and boring boring boring. I'm not a keen runner, especially since I appear to have developed a bunion (just the one) and my heels are dodgy so that it hurts to get out of bed and start walking around in the morning. I really have been very inactive, so I'm going to stick with it anyway and see what happens. I did a quick google and according to this link this one every 30 minutes of vigorous breast stroke burns 372 calories. This means I must be burning 1,488 calories a week, which has to be doing something?!

BretonStripe I need to watch some of those videos too. No one ever taught me to swim and I'm sure I'm doing it all wrong. I seem to put in a lot of effort to not really go as fast as all the effort warrants.

brizzledrizzle you are an inspiration. I must ask though, was this a 50 meter pool ???

Ladies, I swam 20 lengths (1 km) in 29.55 minutes this morning. I am well chuffed. Almost couldn't haul myself out the pool afterwards and my legs felt like lead. I can do this!!!

Does your membership give you access to aqua classes? I do three a week, and my favourite is the Deep End Aquafit, we do circuits and a lot of stuff to raise the heart rate. Excellent for toning, my arms and legs are feeling sleeker.

mazylou unfortunately not, and I can't afford classes at the moment. But thank you for the recommendation. There are various bits of kit we can use, so I could have a go at some exercises and I did do this last week. But agree that a class is definitely better than doing it on your own.

A pity, but keep it up! You’ll see results, I’m sure.