so you've decided you wanted to lose weight maybe you've entered an event that you'd like to get fitter for or you're just a bit heavier than you prefer and you want to adopt a healthier lifestyle whatever the reason losing weight is something that quite a few of us aspire to so today in this video I'm going to be explaining how you can use swimming as part of a weight loss plan and also how to incorporate it as a good exerciser let's dive in [Music] something is a great way to get regular exercise in fact it's a lot of people's go-to for fitness but why is something so great well the main point is the fact that it is a weight bearing so before I let sites get injured compared to something like running and that in the long run means you're able to train more consistently and you're more likely to stick to that weight-loss plan and on top of that the conditions remain pretty constant all year round if you're training indoors so it's going to help with motivation where maybe it's cold and wet outside during the winter and dreamers tell me if you live somewhere that gets really hot you know you can still train indoors but I overheating [Music] how has this got anything to do with swimming well if you are intending on using swimming as your main way of expending those calories then ideally you need to know how much you expend when you swim and therefore how long you need to swim so you can factor it into this weight loss plan now swimming as a rough approximation uses eight times the amount of calorie compared to resting obviously that does vary as if you're doing easy slow backstroke for example it's gonna burn far less than say during butterfly or hard front crawl but as an estimation you'll be burning between five and seven hundred calories an hour when you're swimming so let's take 600 as an average but for men it will be slightly higher than women and also if you're heavier you will also be burning it slightly more if you'd like to get a more accurate figure of how many calories you've consumed to your son's session then there are plenty of online catfish out there which can help you so ideally you want to be targeting trying to swim for an hour but we understand if you've not be something for a long time or swimming isn't your strength then that might seem a little daunting to start with so start with a shorter time generational if you can then complete and build up from there but it's actually the amount of time you spend for me that has a greater bearing on the amount of calories you burn as opposed for the intensity so really focus on trying to increase that length of time and you'll find that as you naturally get fitter you'll actually be able to get a little bit quicker anyway and once you've been swimming for a little while you might want to change the pace and mix it up just to keep swimming a bit more interesting now we know that in order to lose weight you need to maintain a small but consistent negative energy balance over a long period of time the question is how do you maintain that then where does swimming fit into the mix well we've got some tips to help you as well as some interesting sport science coming up increased duration of exercise has been proven or shown to have a more long-lasting effect when it comes to losing weight and it's not known exactly why but it's thought that it might be to do with planning and having something put in your diary so say you're committed to swimming a certain amount of times a week and you put it in your diary you are more likely to go and then after a while if forcing this habit it should become more of a natural and easy occasion so that's the simple part but when you are thinking about losing weight you need to plan it in the overall picture and that's where you also need to plan your nutrition intake [Music] when it comes to planning ahead and using swimming for your weight loss you do need to be aware that something comes with a slight caveat as it can actually make you feel more hungry as a result and there's been some studies that have shown that swimmers have more hunger than say after doing cycling or running training this is a result of the hormones coming from swimming in initially you might feel that hunger suppressed but not long after your appetite will significantly increase so you need to make sure you've planned for that and you've got the correct nutrition there but if you do want to know a little bit more about why something makes you hungry and how you can deal with it we've made a recent video on that topic so go and check it out on GTN well sticking with nutrition now you may be someone who skips breakfast or you're thinking about doing it as part of your weight loss plan well before doing so just have a think because they've been some studies that have shown by missing breakfast that actually upsets your hormone balance for the rest of the day and people who actually have breakfast more likely to have more energy in the morning and therefore be able to do more activity and also it can prevent having such a big lunch and then that slump afterwards which can then lead to wanting or craving some high sugar snack which you need to try and resist final few tips which you might find help you to stick to a weight-loss plan when it comes to us to me one could be joining a group whether that's a local club or just finding a few friends making it a little bit more enjoyable and sociable side of it and then finally setting some goals both short-term and long-term make sure they're realistic and somehow try to hold yourself accountable whether that's writing them down sharing them with a friend or maybe you could even share them on your social media so that people will remind you and that could be maybe a certain amount of weight loss distance you want to square more a time frame you want to be swimming for at the end of the day losing weight for most people is challenging but it's totally achievable and swimming on its own isn't going to do that but if you incorporate it into a larger plan and make sure your nutrition is planned around it as well then it can be a great tool to help you lose weight and you never know you might meet some friends along the way and if you're swimming consistently you're play find as a bonus your swimmer will naturally improve so let us know if maybe you're using swimming to help with your weight management or you've got some other tricks or tactics you find that work and you can do that by sharing in the comments section below and check out all of our other social media channels and give us a like and a follow