Just throwing down my own recent experiences…
I’m 6, 1’ and at my heaviest have been 16 st. 7 lbs. Which has definitely put me into ‘looks fat’ territory.
Around October last year I decided that I was sick of being such a fatty and to do something about it. I started swimming just 20 mins, 3 times a week, breast stroke. As well as being quite mindful of what I ate.
Gradually, I’ve build up to 40 minute swims, 4 times a week, front crawl - being one of the speedier swimmers in the pool (although not quite ‘full dolphin mode’ like the super elites). According to my Apple Watch, this burns around 600 active kcals per session. If I’m not swimming, I’m at least doing an hours walk a day… mixing in some free weights too.
I’m now down to just under 15 stone and if I’m honest I’ve been dissatisfied with this progress. It has taken almost a year to lose a stone and a half, some of which is probably water bloat anyway, which based on my prior weight losses from my younger days is unacceptable progress.
I’ve now realised that there is really only one way to smash the weight loss, which is being strict with your diet. Managing the calories and the content etc. So as of the last couple of weeks I’m really being strict on this to make progress.
I’m currently aiming for 1,500 - 1,800 kcals a day, with a fairly consistent diet of huel/protein shake for breakfast (550 kcals, 45g protein), huel savoury afternoon snack or quorn sausages (400 kcals), Gousto meal for dins (600 - 800 kcals, not to strict on type as variety is welcome) and then a protein yog for pud (100-150 kcals). When it’s bed time, I’m tired, which feels right. I’m at risk of loosing weight too fast, so I’ll keep monitoring it.
Now the weight is seemingly flying off at around 1.5-2lbs a week. I need to make sure that I keep the strength training in there to ensure I don’t loose too much muscle, but I’ve found that less strength training (as a ‘beginner’) is actually ‘more’ - I’ve definitely seen muscle growth from just 4 sets of 12 reps, one exercise per day only, just that 3x a week when I’m not swimming. This has avoided overtraining and supplemented the swimming nicely.
Overall, the exercise takes effort to improve and I’m delighted with how far I’ve come with the swimming, but there really is no substitute for being strict with your diet and consistently eating under you calorie requirements, which are easy to figure out from a quick google based on weight, sex and height.
Good luck to others!!!
