Insanity Plateau

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meganwolsker
meganwolsker Posts: 47
in Fitness and Exercise
I normally don't post in here, but I am getting pretty frustrated so here goes...I need some ideas for getting over this plateau. I am on month two of Insanity and haven't seen any changes in a couple weeks. The scale hasn't moved, inches haven't gone down...nothing. I have my calories set at 1200, however I usually eat back most/all of my exercise calories. I burn 400-600 calories per workout (yes, using a heart rate monitor), and I weigh all of my food using a scale. My BMR is 1489 and my TDEE is 2048 (not counting those workouts). I feel like I am doing all of the right stuff and am not seeing the results I deserve. Has anyone else gone through something similar, any suggestions?

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  • Karri_Lynn
    Karri_Lynn Posts: 83
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    Personally I believe 1200 calories is to little. I think we aim to net at least at our BMR. Our bodies need that many calories just to do our basic bodily functions with no activity, or what we need to survive if laying in bed everyday. When I did Insanity, I was not consuming enough food. When I started eating more, I started losing more.
  • alikat2986
    alikat2986 Posts: 72 Member
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    I agree, you should probably be netting at least 1700
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
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    I started week 6 on Monday. I am finding this first week of month 2 that I am sore like I was in the first week. I have gained a couple of pounds this week but I am going to assume it is water weight again like it was the first week. Perhaps you are in the same boat, I don't really know.

    How on earth you can do this program on 1200 a day is beyond me, but to each their own. I tried the first 2 weeks on 1200 and was gassed ALL the time. I bumped it up to 1500 and saw both my energy increase and my size (not weight) decrease. I am feeling a bit sluggish in this first week of month 2 but I have a head cold so I don't want to mess with my calories just yet. I will give it another week and if I still feel sluggish I will likely up them again. I eat back some, not all, of my calorie burn simply because I did my BRM and TDEE as "sedentary."

    Ultimately you need to do what you feel is best for you.
  • stingrayinfl
    stingrayinfl Posts: 284 Member
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    Trust in your program..always can tweak it...but gotta trust in the basics...
  • meganwolsker
    meganwolsker Posts: 47
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    Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I just want to clarify that I am not doing this workout on only 1200 calories-that would be crazy. I have my base set at 1200 and I eat back the exercise calories I earn. I usually burn between 400-600 calories depending on the workout so I am usually eating between 1600-1800 calories total for the day. I think I am going to try bumping up my base calories to 1400/day and continue to eat back most/all of my exercise calories.
  • MissNix007
    MissNix007 Posts: 5 Member
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    Hi, I know this was a while ago now I just wondered how you got on? I have 2 weeks left of insanity and did measurements today and haven't lost inches, body fat or weight since last weigh in 2 weeks ago. I'm not too worried about the scale as I haven't lost much at all, I'm more interested in inches and body fat. I started on 66kg and 28%body fat, I'm 5.5. Last weigh in I was 65 kg and 24%body fat and have dropped around 15cms all over so was very pleased however I haven't lost anything at all in inches or body fat in 2 weeks, these workouts are intense I feel very frustrated that I haven't budged on anything. I'm eating around 1800 calories a day in total, regardless of exercise the only thing that has changed for me in 2 weeks is my work contract ended And my job was very active so I've dropped about 1000 calorie burn a day. I have been doing extra cardio. I was thinking I should decrease my calories but everything I read says to up them. Please help as I'd really like to get the best results for the end of this programme. I can open my diary if anyone needs, I really wanna break thru this plateau. I'm planning on doing a second round after a week or so break as have some serious toning to do. Any help appreciated. :-)
  • MissNix007
    MissNix007 Posts: 5 Member
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    Sorry should've said my diet is very clean, I upped my carbs as thought I'd need more but try not to eat any after 5 and loads of veggies instead with my protein. I do love my nakd bars but they're not bad. Not sure whether to up or decreases cals. I've also stopped smoking a week ago but I'm not replacing that with food so can't see that being an influence? Don't ask how I got thru month 1 still smoking! Fool. :-) should I be eating 1400 net?

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