Insanity Question.

jadieee123

I'm taking a leap and i've decided to jump on the insanity train! (I must be mad...)

The only thing is, im employed but on an extremely low wage as I am still a student. i still have to rely on my parents to buy my food as I cant afford to buy it myself. She can afford to buy me a few things but not enough ingredients to really satisfy the Insanity meal plan. As the whole of my family eat everything Insanity says to avoid, this already makes life pretty difficult for me. I really don't know what to do about this situation, does anyone have any ideas?

Ssecondly, the job I have is a full time job and I only have time for one meal whilst im at work (Lunch) as I only have a 1 hour break throughout the whole day, no breaks. The insanity meal plan states to eat 5 meals a day and this is just impossible for me but I don't want to be burning out when it comes to the workout at the end of the day due to me not having enough food in my system.

Help, please? Haha

Thanks

milkyskinn

First off, good luck with Insanity! It's tough. But you'll definitely get a kick out of it and you can definitely have fun with it *because* it's tough! I'm almost in my last week and feel great!

Like you, I also still live at home with my family. Moving out is not do-able (rising property/apartment prices, higher living expenses, rising taxes, thank you Europe...) for me however it's a little easier as I get to do a lot of the cooking around here so I can adjust them and make them better.
I'm not following Insanity's meal plan exactly though; and you don't have to! Especially if you really just don't have the time and you need your energy to get through work during the day as well, and not just your workouts. The important thing is you should eat what you like but if they're bad foods, find healthier substitutes.

There's a few things you can do;
I'm not sure what your family eats that is all that bad, but the small changes I made around here that made no-no dishes do-able for me is substituting minced beef for chicken (put it in the blender and you have the same, you can use spices to adjust the taste!) introducing more ideas for things to eat that come out the oven (roasted meats and veggies that are marinated can be liked by everyone!) and have sauces served on the side so you can decide your own portion, same with pasta

If your family isn't willing to co-operate, make sure you eat plenty of good things during the day so you'll need smaller portions during dinner; you still eat with them, but the damage won't be as big if you're not starving!
If you're looking to kick up protein if your family likes having tons of evening meals loaded with carbs, the quickest way is to take boiled egg whites with you, or make egg-white salad sandwiches if you have the time. Some deli sliced turkey or chicken can be taken as a snack, as well nuts that are available everywhere and require little to no preparation.
If your work has a refrigerator like mine does, ask them if it's okay to store some yoghurt in there as an afternoon snack. You can also plan an evening/midday during the weekend to make a huge batch of protein bars using any recipe you like to take to work with you

There's plenty of possibilities, really! It sounds to me like you have the power over your breakfast and lunch, so go for it! As breakfast scrambled eggs with lean ham are good and quick, or some oatmeal with yoghurt/milk and some fruit and nuts, or you can make a breakfast-version of a protein bar of protein pancake which you can make the day before or even a week ahead in big amounts and freeze/refrigerate.

Good luck, I'm sure you'll get something figured out!

916lude

I didn't follow the meal plan included with Insanity and lost weight and transformed my body no prob.

I also work full time and only have time for lunch. You don't need to follow their meal plan or the foods involved. You do need to make an attempt to eat clean though and at a cal deficit if you're trying to lose weight. If you're really digging deep, those workouts will burn you out regardless of what/how much you eat. Burns soooo good.

Good luck. It was a fun and life changing ride for me.

jadieee123

Thanks guys you've really helped Right now i'm not really eating 'clean', im mostly eating weight watchers food and other low calorie foods such as chicken breast and steamed fish with veg. My main problem is getting protein into my diet as I have no idea where to buy protein shakes and which ones are nice. I've tasted a few before and they've been disgusting I do have a smoothie maker though!

milkyskinn

Thanks guys you've really helped Right now i'm not really eating 'clean', im mostly eating weight watchers food and other low calorie foods such as chicken breast and steamed fish with veg. My main problem is getting protein into my diet as I have no idea where to buy protein shakes and which ones are nice. I've tasted a few before and they've been disgusting I do have a smoothie maker though!

Because Insanity is heavy cardio, I decided to let loose on the protein a bit. I still try the best I can do it my minimum required for my weight every day (between 60-80gr protein usually) and it works fine. Getting more carbs during Insanity is good because it's a cardio and not a weightlifting program and I actually found in the beginning, when I was eating too MUCH protein, I was bloated and got cramps during my workouts more often because it's hard to digest.

This doesn't need to be the case for you, but as long as you're getting your minimum, don't fret I'd let go of the idea of protein shakes if you don't need them (as in not lifting) and you can get them from natural sources, which is always, ALWAYS better and sure as hell less expensive than those expensive shakes and whey powders!

SickSkilz

I am not doing their meal plan either. Besides eating healthy, I have added 2 "meals". I eat 1 of these mid afternoon and 1 after my evenign workout

1) 8 ounces vanilla Chobani. I buy the 32 ounce containers at costco.
2) 3/4 cup basic oatmeal + 1/4 cup raisins

To each of these I add Splenda (I buy the bigger box) and a fair ammount of cinnemon. The other thing I do with breakfast and lunch is to spread it out. Eat the same but when about 75% done I stop and eat the rest a bit later (like an hour).

Thats what works for me.

jadieee123

Thanks guys you've really helped Right now i'm not really eating 'clean', im mostly eating weight watchers food and other low calorie foods such as chicken breast and steamed fish with veg. My main problem is getting protein into my diet as I have no idea where to buy protein shakes and which ones are nice. I've tasted a few before and they've been disgusting I do have a smoothie maker though!

Because Insanity is heavy cardio, I decided to let loose on the protein a bit. I still try the best I can do it my minimum required for my weight every day (between 60-80gr protein usually) and it works fine. Getting more carbs during Insanity is good because it's a cardio and not a weightlifting program and I actually found in the beginning, when I was eating too MUCH protein, I was bloated and got cramps during my workouts more often because it's hard to digest.

This doesn't need to be the case for you, but as long as you're getting your minimum, don't fret I'd let go of the idea of protein shakes if you don't need them (as in not lifting) and you can get them from natural sources, which is always, ALWAYS better and sure as hell less expensive than those expensive shakes and whey powders!

Ahh I see, I guess even after over a year I still struggle with how to eat healthy and what my body requires! You say more carbs, does this mean im able to (because for the last few weeks i've stopped eating) bread and potato? Obviously I knw not to go overboard it would just be nice to know I can eat them! Using the formula given in the meal plan booklet my daily calorie amount is 1876.

jadieee123

Plus I only weigh 121 lbs, I dont know if that matters or not

PapaDunx

Im thinking that eating fruit, veggies and low fat meat (cutting out the sweeties, MacDs and other unmentionable items of dietary doom) would lower your weight anyway. The exercise plan will improve your cardio and that will tone you nicely.

Not sure what 121lbs is (Im a European Brit) but it doesnt seem a lot. Everyone could always do with a healthy heart and trust me, I know how financial embarrassment works, Im a student as well.

For me, Im on the tuna, chicken, veggies and loads of fruit. I have cut out potatoes and pasta and only eat minimal amounts of bread. I live on rice, so meh!

Good luck.

BeantownSooner

Eat your bread and at 121 I wouldn't sweat all the rest. Do the best that you can and in your case if I came out of it still at 121 but nice and toned I'd be excited. Use that as an expectation vs. losing 5-10 lbs (which you'll probably do).

For the Protein, get any kind that you can afford. Walmart has stuff called Body Fortress that's pretty inexpensive for a large tub. I think most Protein powders taste the same. The trick is to add the following: 1c of 1% milk or a container of Greek Yogurt, 1c Frozen Fruit and a banana. Very simple, lots of calories for you and you will not even notice the Protein powder flavor. Do this for your breakfast every morning, grab a fruit or veggies + some nuts for snacks, etc. Sounds from the other stuff you're eating (chicken, fish, vegs) you should be fine. Maybe get some Sweet potatoes and whole grain rice for another carb.

You'll be fine.

jadieee123

Thanks guys you've given me some really good ideas! I've heard tuna, rice and soy sauce is really nice and it's healthy too!

And just to say, i'm not doing insanity to lose massive amounts of wieght, I just want to lose a tiny bit more weight and tone the hell up! I don't want to make it sound like i'm being ungrateful for being 121lbs

milkyskinn

Thanks guys you've really helped Right now i'm not really eating 'clean', im mostly eating weight watchers food and other low calorie foods such as chicken breast and steamed fish with veg. My main problem is getting protein into my diet as I have no idea where to buy protein shakes and which ones are nice. I've tasted a few before and they've been disgusting I do have a smoothie maker though!

Because Insanity is heavy cardio, I decided to let loose on the protein a bit. I still try the best I can do it my minimum required for my weight every day (between 60-80gr protein usually) and it works fine. Getting more carbs during Insanity is good because it's a cardio and not a weightlifting program and I actually found in the beginning, when I was eating too MUCH protein, I was bloated and got cramps during my workouts more often because it's hard to digest.

This doesn't need to be the case for you, but as long as you're getting your minimum, don't fret I'd let go of the idea of protein shakes if you don't need them (as in not lifting) and you can get them from natural sources, which is always, ALWAYS better and sure as hell less expensive than those expensive shakes and whey powders!

Ahh I see, I guess even after over a year I still struggle with how to eat healthy and what my body requires! You say more carbs, does this mean im able to (because for the last few weeks i've stopped eating) bread and potato? Obviously I knw not to go overboard it would just be nice to know I can eat them! Using the formula given in the meal plan booklet my daily calorie amount is 1876.

Of course! Your body needs carbs, it's silly to fret them. Anything in excess is bad, and this includes protein and fat too. I wouldn't really opt for potatoes too often as they're pretty high in starch, but sweet potatoes are good and taste amazing, and you can make oven baked fries out of them or bake them as a whole with the skin on and make some protein-packed dressing/sauce as a side with yoghurt as a base
Bread's good too, as long as you're not eating white/refined bread every single day. Personally I'm only consuming dark, frisian ryebread atm (although I think it's hard to get outside of holland..) it's almost black in color and is very massive in structure. Maybe you can find a similar kind of ryebread in your country, look for bread packed with fiber and you're good to go!