Upping calories?

ashleynicoleh04

So for my job I sit on my butt all day and answer phones but I started doing the Insanity program so I work out 6 days a week with one rest day. I have a HRM and since it is my first round and the moves are pretty intense I sometimes find myself having to pause once in a while. I typically burn around 300 calories a workout and have kept my diet at 1200 cals but sometimes i get pretty hungry but don't want to go over my cals. So on a typical day I will have 1500 calories to eat after I have worked out but I will only eat about 1400 sometimes less. I have looked through the insanity book and calculated that I am supposed to have about 1800 calories for working out 6 days a week but i am not sure that I burn enough to eat that amount and still lose about a pound a week. Any suggestions?

kristelpoole

everyone will need stats to calculate that

ashleynicoleh04

my weight and height? 5'3 134 pounds. anything else that would be helpful?

MaryDreamer

I bumped my cals to 1500 then do a workout and eat back some exercise cals til my next is at least 1200.

kristelpoole

So it looks like your estimated BMR is ~1400 and your estimated TDEE is ~1700 (as sedentary) and ~2400 (as active, working out 6 days/wk). It makes sense to me that 1200 might be too low since you need more than that just for your organs to function properly.

I was in the same boat...

I realized my BMR was ~1440-1470 and my TDEE was ~1800-2000 with little exercise other than my dog walking. Eating at 12-1300 just didn't seem right anymore and I was stressing wayyyy too much all day, which probably didn't help! It led me to too many "low fat" foods and avoiding any beans, legumes or grains. It wasn't fun. And for me, food should be fun.

Anyway, after a plateau/mini gain over 2 months at 1310 calories, I have moved to 1450 and feel so much better, mentally and physically -- and when it comes to my relationship with food, I was emotionally healthier too. I would seriously consider switching to 1/2 lb/week or manually adjusting your calories to at least cover your BMR. Keep working out and eat back what you can, but don't stress if you're not eating 2,000 cals/day. When I eat more, I can burn more and I feel better all over.

It's not scientific, but it's my experience.

Good luck! xo

ashleynicoleh04

thanks ladies!!!