How to Lose Weight Swimming a Mile a Day

Swimming a mile a day can boost your weight-loss efforts. Combine swimming with a healthy diet to lose weight properly. Health professionals recommend weight loss of one or two pounds per week. The number of pounds you will lose depends on how much you weigh now, how much you need to lose, and how many calories you eat per day.

Instructions

1

Determine how many pounds you need to lose, and plan on shedding a pound a week. Ask your doctor for a healthy weight range. Choose a weight that is manageable within that range.

2

Expect to burn roughly 300 calories for every mile you swim. This number varies, depending on how much you weigh and how fast you swim. A person accustomed to swimming might take 30 to 40 minutes to swim a mile. For someone new to swimming or out of shape, it will take longer.

3

Calculate how long it will take to lose one pound. Without restricting your diet, a 150-pound person might lose one pound in a little more than 11 days. In one week, you will lose roughly 2,100 calories.

4

Make sure you are not eating too much. Calculate how many calories you are ingesting each day, compared with what is recommended for your age and health. Most people need somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 calories. You aren't likely to lose weight if you are eating more than that.

5

Determine how many calories you need to cut from your diet. To lose one pound a week, swimming a mile a day won't cut it. You will need to cut out an additional 1,400 calories (3,500 calories per pound minus 2,100 calories burned by swimming a mile a day for a week). Over the course of a week, you need to cut 200 calories a day to eliminate 1,400 calories. That is the size of a medium-sized snack. So, if your recommended caloric intake is 2,000 calories, aim to eat 1,800.