Hi Luis!

I swim in the afternoons when I get off work at 3:00 and don't usually eat anything after lunch until I go home (usually a piece of fruit). I have found though if I eat a larger lunch, I have a lot more energy. When I have some kind of red meat for lunch, I feel like I could outswim even Ian Thorpe!!

When I swim on Saturdays, it's always in the morning and eat my regular breakfast of 2 hard boiled eggs. I could never swim on an empty stomach, when I have I'd feel weak and not enjoy the swim at all. I keep a liter of water at the end of the swim lane.

I used to think that I needed carbs to keep my energy up during the whole swim, but have found that I have even more energy without carbs. Before I started eating L/C I'd be so hungry by the time my swim was finished. Now I don't have that "I need food or I'm goin die" feeling. Eating this way has definately improved my ability to stay strong the entire hour.

If you do find you need the carbs before you dive in, I'd recommend a piece of fruit, but give L/C foods a try, you'll be amazed!

Best of luck and let me know how you do......Happy Laps!!

Thanks a lot Swimmer.

I was having a glass of juice and after the laps I drink a Gatorade. I have been in LC diet for two months and it has worked great (23.5 lbs lost). However, I didn't do any exercise at all. Now I am swimming about 800 mts a day and I thought I needed the carbs (just the juice and the gatorade). I will pump up the protein in order to increase my calorie intake and see how it goes.

I enjoy swimming a lot however I live in the snow capital of America (syracuse, ny) and I think after summer I will start with Body for Life program, although I have never been a gym fanatic.

Thanks a lot again.

Luis

So thrilled I found this thread. I adore the water. Can't swim, but I love to water walk. Can someone tell me if it's possible to lose weight walking in the water? How fast a pace should I keep up and for how long? Should the pace be continuous in order to lose weight? How many times a week do you suggest? How long before results show if I stick to between 20-25 carbs/day? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Shaco

Hi Shako! Seems we have a lot in common. I also do not swim but love to water walk. A trainer at my gym told me that her track team used to walk/run in the water to train, so it must be good. Someone, I believe it was Swimmer, said that 15 mins. walking in the water is the same as 60 mins. on land!

I jog 30 mins. per day, about 6 days per week (if the weather doesn't cooperate, I do 2 miles on my treadmill). I count the number of laps I do in 30 mins., and strive to increase them so I'm pushing myself.

I'm sure the water walking must be helping -- I am losing weight and inches again. I also do Tae-Bo kicks and punches in the pool. My grandson told me that I look silly, but hey, whatever works, right?

Keep us posted regarding your progress.

Peg

pegm, so glad to hear you are losing inches, I'm not surprised....keep up the great exercise!

Shaco, it's very much possible to lose weight by water walking, it's a great exercise! I read that thirty minutes of water walking is equivalent to two hours of walking on dry land at the sportsplex that offers the group walks. It's amazing what the resistance of the water will do. As far as how much, I'd take it at your own pace. Your legs will probably have a bit of a weak feeling at first when you get out of the water. I'd go for the whole thirty minutes to start with and see how you feel after that, increase or decrease at your own pace. Be sure to walk backwards, you use different muscles.

I'm not sure about the continuace pace. When I swim I start off slow for the first 15 minutes, swim hard for the next 30, and then slow down the last 15. But again, do what feels best to you. Have patience, it may take a few weeks to see results, but I'm sure you will. I dunno about the others, but I noticed I lost a lot of my butt at the beginning.

Enjoy the Water!!

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Thanks zillions Peg and Swimmer for your input. I enjoy water walking far more than any other excercise. Truth be told, I hate all other forms of excercise. I get so hot walking on dry land that I get sick to my stomach. No problem in the water. My hubby and I are going again tonight, but we won't be able to water walk for the following four days after that. Hopefully, by next Tues. we'll be able to go back to it.

You are right about my legs being weak after one hour of H20 walking. Maybe it won't be so pronounced after a while.

Thanks for everything,

Sharon

Sharon,

I agree with you totally about getting too hot walking on land. I dread the days when it's raining or too cold for me to walk/run in my pool and I have to use my treadmill. I get so hot that it takes an hour to cool down! It takes so much longer to get ready for work because I have to cool down for at least half an hour before I even get into the shower. If I shower right away (even a cool shower), it does not do any good because I'm still so hot that I continue to perspire for a long time afterward and it feels like I did not even shower at all! Water walking/running is the best!!!