Insanity Calories - Please help

I am a guy who has been trying to lose weight for a long time, i have no problems eating healthy and doing any cardio, intense or long boring cardio, I have done all and tried everything. I think my biggest issue has to be Caloric intake, I don't believe some of the figures I am told to eat as it seems too much, so I eat less. Sometimes I just see that my body looks the same, and my arms have gone skinnier (worst feeling ever). I dont mind loosing some muscle, but it has to be mainly fat.

I love pushing myself to the limit, so enough is enough, I am planning on starting Insanity within the next few weeks, but need help with how much calories I need to consume.

I am 5 foot 7 (67 inches) and weigh 80kg (176lbs), I am a 24 year old male. My biggest issue has to be my butt/back fat. Everytime when walking on the streets, I will look at my reflection in the car windows and I get so disheartened by what I see, it sticks out, and I don't like it.

Anyone have experience doing Insanity? Or anyone that has lost 15-20 lbs? Please help me with Calorie info. I would appreciate it, thanks.

Replies

  • Mrsjones172
    Mrsjones172 Posts: 69 Member
    Hey,

    I have had difficulty with this issue myself but it can be easily sorted :)

    Do you know how many calories you are consuming at the moment per day? How many times a week do you work out? Do you have a physical job or sit at a desk all day? Sorry for the 20 questions but this has a massive impact on how much you should eat.

    What sort of foods do you eat at the moment? How much water do you drink a day?

    If doing insanity 6 times a week you will need to eat LOTS (but not too much lol) and drink LOTS of water.

    Claire
  • Mrsjones172
    Mrsjones172 Posts: 69 Member
    Actually this web page will help you a lot if you use their calculators
    http://iifym.com/

    Obviously take what they say with a pinch of salt, there is no solid number of calories you should eat every day. Also if you can put on fat easily (like me) maybe eat 200 less than what it tells you to.

    If you get stuck just shout :-)
  • nikky31
    nikky31 Posts: 63 Member
    I eat roughly 1800 calories and I am a woman doing insanity <3 insanity! You will lose sooo many inches from it!! They give you a meal plan to follow. Depending on the workout I burned around 600ish calories some days were less others were more. Month 2 you will burn mor I normally burn a steady amount of calories. Feel free to add me! I am on my last week of insanity then I am starting round 2!

    It really depends on how much you burn I would suggest buying a heart rate monitor, then you can accurately know how much to eat/how much your burning. Expect to lose more inches then pounds (at least that is what happened for me).
  • Hey,

    I have had difficulty with this issue myself but it can be easily sorted :)

    Do you know how many calories you are consuming at the moment per day? How many times a week do you work out? Do you have a physical job or sit at a desk all day? Sorry for the 20 questions but this has a massive impact on how much you should eat.

    What sort of foods do you eat at the moment? How much water do you drink a day?

    If doing insanity 6 times a week you will need to eat LOTS (but not too much lol) and drink LOTS of water.

    Claire

    Thank you for the reply, And i will definitely answer if it means it helps me. Generally i eat MOSTLY clean around 1900-2100 calories a day, whilst doing cardio 6 times a week, 30 mins a day of cardio doing running, skipping, burpees and other workouts which make me sweat a LOT. This is generally the kinds of food i eat.

    Skimmed Milk Weetabix for breakfast

    Brown Rice, Grilled Chicken Breast and frozed mix veg

    Diet protein shake with very low fat and carbs with skimmed/unsweetened Soy milk

    Wholemeal brown bread tuna/Mayo spread and cottage cheese sandwich

    Wholemeal bread with organic peanut butter spread

    Fruits (Banana and Apple)

    I generally finish a 1 litre bottle of water during workout, and have 4-5 cups of water a day around this and currently unemployed
  • I eat roughly 1800 calories and I am a woman doing insanity <3 insanity! You will lose sooo many inches from it!! They give you a meal plan to follow. Depending on the workout I burned around 600ish calories some days were less others were more. Month 2 you will burn mor I normally burn a steady amount of calories. Feel free to add me! I am on my last week of insanity then I am starting round 2!

    It really depends on how much you burn I would suggest buying a heart rate monitor, then you can accurately know how much to eat/how much your burning. Expect to lose more inches then pounds (at least that is what happened for me).

    That is exactly what I want, I want to burn inches, I am planning on putting muscle on later so i don't care about the pounds, but inches definitely.

    Question about the 1800 calories you consume, is this the exact number you got from doing the formula on the insanity program? Mines says 2650 calories, but why does that seem so much to me?

    I will try to add you once i figure out how to. I am very new to these online forums. thanks
  • nikky31
    nikky31 Posts: 63 Member
    I eat roughly 1800 calories and I am a woman doing insanity <3 insanity! You will lose sooo many inches from it!! They give you a meal plan to follow. Depending on the workout I burned around 600ish calories some days were less others were more. Month 2 you will burn mor I normally burn a steady amount of calories. Feel free to add me! I am on my last week of insanity then I am starting round 2!

    It really depends on how much you burn I would suggest buying a heart rate monitor, then you can accurately know how much to eat/how much your burning. Expect to lose more inches then pounds (at least that is what happened for me).

    That is exactly what I want, I want to burn inches, I am planning on putting muscle on later so i don't care about the pounds, but inches definitely.

    Question about the 1800 calories you consume, is this the exact number you got from doing the formula on the insanity program? Mines says 2650 calories, but why does that seem so much to me?

    I will try to add you once i figure out how to. I am very new to these online forums. thanks
    There calculation said I should be eating 1944 calories but I don't I will eat between 1500-1800 max. If I exercise more I eat more. Yours seems really high. You can always lower the number by 500 calories.
  • [/quote]
    There calculation said I should be eating 1944 calories but I don't I will eat between 1500-1800 max. If I exercise more I eat more. Yours seems really high. You can always lower the number by 500 calories.
    [/quote]

    When i enter my details into the calculation and multiply the number by 1.7 (as advices by Insanity) i get a total of 3150 calories, then Insanity asks me to minus 500 from this, which leaves me with 2650. Surely if I minus another 500 that would be too low? See this is the aspect that really confuses me. 2650 seems too much..
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    What's the number you are multiplying by 1.7?
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    When i enter my details into the calculation and multiply the number by 1.7 (as advices by Insanity) i get a total of 3150 calories, then Insanity asks me to minus 500 from this, which leaves me with 2650. Surely if I minus another 500 that would be too low? See this is the aspect that really confuses me. 2650 seems too much..

    2650 doesn't sound too high to me, considering you're a male in your early 20's. If you're worried about it, maybe try 2300 for a few weeks and see how it goes.
  • stacymae1013
    stacymae1013 Posts: 3 Member
    There's actually some good science behind the Insanity nutritional information.

    Activity Factors in HBE:
    An activity factor must be applied to REE (*Resting Energy Expenditure= amount of calories your body needs
    to merely exist) to determine the total amount of calories needed to sustain your
    current weight. This number is known as your BEE (Basal Energy Expenditure). Multiply the number from above by an activity factor. 1.1 -1.5 depending on how active you are. Typically 1.3 is used for average activity. 1.7 would be used for extremely HIGH/ strenuous activity.

    Calculating Estimated Nutrient Needs
    Harris Benedict Equation (HBE):
    Females REE* (kcal):
    655 + 9.56 (weight in kilograms) + 1.85 (height in centimeters) – 4.68 (age)

    Males REE* (kcal):
    66.5 + 13.75 (weight in kilograms) + 5.0
    (height in centimeters) – 6.78 (age)
    (weight in kilograms=weight in lbs/2.2)
    (height in centimeters=height in inches x 2.54)

    ****For a healthy weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week, decrease your BEE by 250–500 calories per day. ****
  • What's the number you are multiplying by 1.7?

    I am multiplying my BMR Basic Metabolic Rate by 1.7. my BMR is 1856.53, this is what is says on the insanity program.
  • leehudson1
    leehudson1 Posts: 22 Member
    I've just finished week 6 of insanity the calculation in the nutrition guide put me at 2550 a day and using the one on the Beachbody website put me at 2600 I found I had to up this to 2650-2700 due to hunger and I'm still loosing about 2lb a week which has been consistant .