I’m 20 Pounds Down Swimming In The Winter!

Five weeks and twenty pounds later, I'm still swimming at the West Boise YMCA & Aquatic Center and it's really paying off... Here's my update!

When I started swimming at the Y back in January (here's the article I wrote on 2/3) , I was taking a lot of breaks and it was just really hard in general. By the last week of January, I thought it would be a good goal to be able to swim 30 laps (2 interrupted/non-stop) by the end of February. Well, I pushed real hard and accomplished that goal by February third and had to reevaluate my goals.

So the new goal was set! By the end of February, I wanted to be able to consistently swim 40 laps (in the hour available to me each swim session) and to do 4 uninterrupted laps per session, and I've done it! That's my consistent now, though my best ever was 50 laps with six uninterrupted. It's been a busy month of swimming about four times per week.

Well, the side effect of all this is that I've been gaining muscle and losing weight (fat). I've been eating healthier as well and making sure I'm sufficiently hydrated every day (that's really hard, by the way...) and now my resting heart rate is lower, I feel better, and I'm twenty pounds lighter. My clothes are fitting a bit better and I'm feeling happier and healthier overall.

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I'm a person who has always had a goal to "lose weight" and it's exciting now that my goals center around swimming and the weight loss is a cool side effect. Now for march, I'd like to lose another 10-15 pounds if possible but really I want to improve my endurance. So I'm upping my lap goal to 50 and what I really want to focus on in getting as many laps in without taking a break as possible so my goal for March is 10 in a row.

I'll update you once April comes around and if you have any questions, reach out to me on instagram @johnMOUG. I'm really excited about my new journey with swimming and I'd love any tips, or, if you're looking for some motivation, I'm here for ya!

-Moug