Insanity workout and unwanted weight gain

G123Girl

Can somebody please give me advice...

I am a 30 yr old female. Had a shoulder injury a year ago and am finally getting back into working out hard, after easing into it. Unfortunately, I have gained 25 pounds in the process

I am on week 3, day 5 of the Insanity workout. I have been eating anywhere from 1500-2000 calories a day depending on my workout day( rest and recovery days I eat closer to 1500, other days I eat 2000). My average daily intake on MFP after inputting my activity from my HRM is about 1500-1550 per day. I had a slip-up last weekend and ate really, really bad. That was only 2 days out of the last 19 though. My macros have been at about 50% carbs, 25%-30% protein, 15-20% fat.

I have GAINED 5 pounds??!!! I am so frustrated...as I still have a lot of weight I need to lose, and I am nowhere near my goal weight. I have noticed that I look like I have lost a little belly fat, but that is about it.

Do I decrease my food intake? Adjust my macros? I am lost. I am busting my *kitten* everyday and it is frustrating that I am not losing weight, and I am instead gaining.

michelle_belle07

Are your clothes fitting looser? The scale is not always an accurate measurement for weight loss. The scale can fluctuate due to water weight, gained muscle, etc.

Roadie2000

I'm a little confused about your explanation of calorie numbers, but just about everybody on here who does Insanity says that they either gained or didn't lose much the first month. I lost a couple lbs I think but I wasn't really tracking my calories.

stef_monster

I've only done a couple of Insanity workouts, so don't take my word as law. Insanity is REALLY intense if you give it everything you have. I had to take a nap after the first workout, I was so tired. I felt like I'd been hit by a train the next day, and I'm in pretty good shape.

This was also around the time I started lifting heavy. I was freaking out every time I weighed myself for the first 2 months or so because I KEPT GAINING WEIGHT. My body was looking much better, and my clothes were fitting about the same (a bit snug in the thighs, but whatever), but the scale kept going up. I fluctuated about 5 pounds, depending on how long it had been since I lifted when I weighed myself.

The moral of the story is, if you do a workout and are sore and broken the next day, you're likely retaining a bunch of water. It will eventually subside, but you'll still fluctuate. The best advice I can give you is to keep eating at a deficit and keep working out. Give it a little longer before you quit. Take some progress pics as soon as you can, and measurements with a cloth tape. Measure and take pics again in a month, and see what you think. Best of luck!

randrews0407

I gained 4lbs my first week of Insanity last time and they didn't come off until the last week of the program for a whopping net zero but I lost inches ... was able to see definition in my abs that I'd never seen before, tighten up and sculpt my thighs and my arms looked great afterward as well.

I just started Insanity again this week, I haven't lost anything (didn't expect to) but I didn't gain either. I'm trying to keep my macros at 40/40/20 (40/30/30 for days I have nuts or peanut butter).

ChampCrucial

Don't think anyone has said but it is muscle mass that you are gaining from a sudden jump to near maximum intensity. Building muscle and fluid(sarcoplasmic hypertrophy(muscle pump)) and burning fat at the same time

G123Girl

I haven't really felt a significant difference in my clothes since I wear scrubs everyday, which are unfortunately/fortunately very forgiving when you are gaining weight, and you can't really tell a big difference in fit with weight fluctuations. But, I have lost an inch in my belly area, and I look a tiny bit leaner in my progress pictures so far.

To clarify my caloric intake...

On my plyo/pure cardio/power and resistance days I eat approx. 2000 calories. But then I burn about 450 according to my heart rate monitor, so my net is around 1550.

On my rest and resistance days, I just eat about 1500 calories.

Yes I am happy to see some inches coming off, but with so much to lose still, I feel like I should be dropping weight since I am 3 weeks in.

I am going to try and drop my intake to 1700 a day on my high workout days for the next week and see what happens.

ashm233

I'm not doing insanity but I'm doing T25- just finished week three and haven't lost a pound. BUT I measured and I've lost 1 1/2 inches off my thigh. So I'm thinking I gotta build muscle too- these workouts are tough!!

G123Girl

Looks like we are in the same time period...nice to know I'm not the only one that's losing some inches but no weight. I think T25 is supposed to be somewhat similar of a workout. Guess we just gotta stick at it and hopefully we will eventually see a budge in that darn scale!!

G123Girl

OK so an update....I dropped my calories to 1600 yesterday and switched to 40% carbs for the day...well I woke up and I was 2.5 pounds down!

I think I was overeating calories and carbs. When month 2 starts I will bump up my calories to 1700 or 1800 since I will be burning more calories. I know that the meal plan says for me to eat 2000 calories to fuel my body...but I think that everybody is different and I needed to drop my calories and carbs down so my body could burn fat instead of my carbs I have eaten.

I also switched my snacks yesterday...I usually have a protein shake (vegan Arbonne) with a cup of almond milk and half a banana as my midday snack, and then I have a brown rice cake with peanut butter and jam at night after dinner. I had the rice cake midday and the protein shake (with no banana) a couple hours before I went to bed.

So I think that little tweaks like that are helpful. Everyones' body works differently and you have to see what works for you. Hopefully I will continue to see some weight loss!!

ashm233

I fit into smaller pants!!! I've been eating 1200-1400 calories.