5 weeks in Insanity...seeing no change and bigger thighs?!?

yelainne

I'm currently on the 5th week (recovery week) of insanity and sadly I'm not seeing any changes on my abs AND my thighs definitely got bigger. I kind of expecting this during insanity because there's so much squat exercises and such, but does it ever get slimmer? I'm 4' 9" and about 100 pounds so my goals is to lose fat while mainly maintaining my overall weight - maybe lose about 5 pounds. I've been eating about 800 calories and moved it up to 1200 about a week ago - eating healthy most of the time, I cut all the pastries and junk ever since I started the workout, having whole wheat instead if I can, and my guilty pleasure would be like a scoop of ice cream or one cheat meal a month. I'm trying to figure out what I could improve to see changes mostly on my core - i got some belly fat and thighs. Any suggestions will help! Thanks!

November_Fire

Losing fat is about what you eat.

Exercise will burn a few hundred, if that. Exercise to get strong, but don't think a bit of a workout is going to burn off thousands, or counteract an unhealthy diet. You can eat back a workout's worth of calories just stopping at the vending machine on the way out of the gym (or getting a Starbucks after doing Insanity.)

800-1200 calories and doing workouts will just make you ill. 1200 diets are for obese people trying to shave of pounds to avoid heart attacks and other health emergencies. You need to use a TDEE calculator to estimate how much you burn in a week, and eat a little less than that. I'm 5 foot 3 and, at 114lb, my estimated burn was around 1700, so I eat 1400. Losing just fine.

A 'cheat meal' of many, many calories will simply make you gain back any weight you lost. There is no 'cheat'. Calorie count, and factor in any high-calorie foods into your plans. Words like 'cheat' and 'junk' only demonise food and create guilt.

So, you want to lose fat. You probably have good muscle under there, but you want to shed fat to show it. This means eating a little less than you burn. You're currently eating more than you burn. Log everything you eat, from the butter on your toast to the milk in your coffee. See where changes can be made, see exactly how much you're eating. Weigh everything.

Being 4 foot 9 and wanting to be lower than 100lb whilst eating 800 calories, though, your post rather concerns me.

TattooedNici

Bump for later, because I'm curious to know how this goes. Today will be my last day for week one.

yelainne

I have been counting calories day to day using this website and I eat about net of 1000 to 1200 calories each day so are you saying that I should eat more,? I know that I need to for the second half of insanity I don't have any equipments to measure precisely how much calories I burn each day and such. I've been just trying to eat healthy most of the time .

albayin

I don't know because just finishng 4th week of insanity, I definitely feel heavier than ever...especially around the waist area which was never a problem for a pear shape like moi...:(

lisaxxa

we are kinda similar
I am 5 ft 2, 106~110 pounds . eat 800~1000 calories a day when on diet. 5 out of 7 days I'm on diet.
and usually during weekend, will eat out. may consume 1600~3500 calories depending on what i eat.

i think people in small size as we are, should not adopt the 1200 calories diet.. because i really find that I'm perfectly fine eating only 800~1000 calories everyday. and i can still workout. if i wanna lose weight fast ill keep calories under 800 cal, usually 600~700. but i couldn't workout with such low calories intake.

when i did insanity i found my thighs getting bigger too.
later days i went back to do cardio---which is just running jogging for about 30~40 mins
tights getting slimmer immediately.

SLLRunner

Being 4 foot 9 and wanting to be lower than 100lb whilst eating 800 calories, though, your post rather concerns me.

This, plus the fact that you say your thighs and stomach are getting bigger, especially if you have not gained weight. Women don't bulk up with exercise, even squats. It sounds to me like you might have some body perception issues. I urge you to speak with your doctor.

Since you are short, your BMR and maintenance calories will be fairly low. However, being that you are 100 pounds, you should not be trying to lose any weight at all. You can eat at maintenance or a slight surplus and work on body recomposition.

SLLRunner

we are kinda similar
I am 5 ft 2, 106~110 pounds . eat 800~1000 calories a day when on diet. 5 out of 7 days I'm on diet.
and usually during weekend, will eat out. may consume 1600~3500 calories depending on what i eat.

i think people in small size as we are, should not adopt the 1200 calories diet.. because i really find that I'm perfectly fine eating only 800~1000 calories everyday. and i can still workout. if i wanna lose weight fast ill keep calories under 800 cal, usually 600~700. but i couldn't workout with such low calories intake.

Not good.

Strokingdiction

we are kinda similar
I am 5 ft 2, 106~110 pounds . eat 800~1000 calories a day when on diet. 5 out of 7 days I'm on diet.
and usually during weekend, will eat out. may consume 1600~3500 calories depending on what i eat.

i think people in small size as we are, should not adopt the 1200 calories diet.. because i really find that I'm perfectly fine eating only 800~1000 calories everyday. and i can still workout. if i wanna lose weight fast ill keep calories under 800 cal, usually 600~700. but i couldn't workout with such low calories intake.

when i did insanity i found my thighs getting bigger too.
later days i went back to do cardio---which is just running jogging for about 30~40 mins
tights getting slimmer immediately.

You're only two inches shorter than me and I lost weight eating 1700 calories a day. Eating so few calories means you're likely going to suffer from some form of malnutrition. It's difficult to get all your micros on 1200 a day without being very careful about every morsel that goes in your mouth (no room for nutrient sparse treats) and would be even harder at anything lower, maybe even impossible without a specialized medically supervised and supplemented diet.

Don't short change your health, please and do not recommend this unhealthy eating style to anyone else.

Edit: your vs you're, why do you always try to make me look foolish?

SLLRunner

Just taking a guess here. OP, are you really 20? Or did you put that in so it would let you sign up?

That's a good point.