Competely Discouraged with Insanity

I ranted about this a couple weeks ago, when it was just bothering me a bit, now I am completely discouraged. I have been doing Insanity for 5 weeks now (ending my recovery week today and starting month 2 on Monday). I have gained 7 pounds since I began this program 5 weeks ago. I am not following the nutrition plan, but I do stay within my calories everyday. I eat 1,200 calories per day PLUS eat back my exercise calories of about 300 or so per day. I am averaging about 1,500 calories per day then. I am only 5'5 and 125 or so, so I don't believe I should be going over 1,500 calories per day.

I know many people say the weight loss comes in month 2, however, I seriously don't want to continue to bust my *kitten* when I am constantly gaining here. I haven't lost any inches either, so I don't know what is going on. I have however noticed my abdomen area looking a lot better. My thighs have gotten solid in muscle, but I really don't like the look of them as they are getting too big, as are my calves. I don't know if I should continue with month 2 or if I should maybe switch back to my old routine, which helped me lose a bit of weight last year.

Just realized I spelled completely wrong in the topic area, sorry - just woke up lol!

Replies

  • Alta2000
    Alta2000 Posts: 655 Member
    Scoobie has you at 1693 calorie every day for 3-5 hours exercise per week.

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    You do not really need to lose lots of weight and I would actually change your weight loss to 0.5lb per week since you are already in the target range. You need to strength training to tone and sculpt. for 5% loss, the calories should be 2000. Since you were eating so low for so long, you should start increasing by ~100 calories per week and reset your metabolism. Search in the forum for metabolism reset and you will find how to do it.
  • brendajhernandez
    brendajhernandez Posts: 11 Member
    U only weigh 125 so i think u gained muscle. Muscle weights more than fat. I am going in to recovery week in about 3 days and i started at 210 and i am now at 206. Its a slow weight loss but i've also herd that the real weight loss is in month 2 so i hope u keep going with the program to c what u can achive. Dont feel like wasted ur time, i bet ur more fit now than u were a month ago. Good luck
  • Guamybear
    Guamybear Posts: 1,061 Member
    I have one week left and I have noticed in the past week the most change. My inches aren't moving that much either in the places I measured but they are definitely moving in other places.. how do your clothes feel? You should go by that and not the scale..
  • whats your diets consist of and what is insanity is it just cardio?
  • Mighty_Rabite
    Mighty_Rabite Posts: 581 Member
    I have however noticed my abdomen area looking a lot better. My thighs have gotten solid in muscle, but I really don't like the look of them as they are getting too big, as are my calves. I don't know if I should continue with month 2 or if I should maybe switch back to my old routine, which helped me lose a bit of weight last year.

    Just realized I spelled completely wrong in the topic area, sorry - just woke up lol!

    This is really all you need. I'd say to continue forth - you're not going to become a female hulk without some serious supplementation, and never on those calories. And forget what the scale says. I was my lightest last year at 159lbs after a hospital stay but I will say I look a hell of a lot better right now at 175lbs!

    Muscle definition on a woman is really hard to put into appropriate words as far as how most of us guys think of it, lol.
  • stacw1987
    stacw1987 Posts: 206 Member
    I would take a look at what your diet consists off. I can't see your diary but you could be eating your calories but these could be empty calories. For example not fuelling your body correctly etc....check your micro nutrients and see that your not going over things like your sugar and sodium. Small things like that really help. If your not already, eat clean.....

    I have just started Insanity and I'm on Day 5 so feel free to add me : ) x
  • stacw1987
    stacw1987 Posts: 206 Member
    Also remember you could be gaining more muscle. Have you tracked your fat % as your weight may be up but fat % down.
  • jennifershoo
    jennifershoo Posts: 3,198 Member
    You can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit. Are you sure that you burn only 300 cals per workout? Do you use an HRM? It's pretty Intense so you might burn. Way more and therefore not eat enough. Also, it might be water retention. This can stay with you for a few weeks because of the intensity of the workout and constant muscle soreness (that's assuming you're pushing yourself very hard).
  • manique45
    manique45 Posts: 99 Member
    I've been doing a combination of zumba and insanity since January... While I feel my endurance and strength has improved dramatically I was only eating around 1200 cals and netting way below that on most days.... I am very sad to see that all my hard work really was getting rid of muscle so in a result while I have gone from 181 to 163 I used to have 38% body fat and now I have 34%.... SO I am taking a break from the insanity routine and increasing my cals to 1600-1700 cals a day and starting a cardio routine mixed with weights. I am also not going to be weighing in this month as I doubt I will see much change on the scale I've been at a plateau for nearly 3 weeks and even 3 wks before that only lost 2 lbs.... Focusing on healthy eating and lower intensity muscle sculpting work outs... I really want to loose my body fat not my MUSCLE! Maybe after this month I will return to insanity. I think you really need to eat way more than what you are eating.... Just speaking from my experience and as dedicated as I am its crazy not to get results.... Good luck to you feel free to add me as a friend :o) manique45 on instagram too!
  • Sarah1023
    Sarah1023 Posts: 194 Member
    I would keep pushing forward!!! You don't have weight really to lose, but I will say you should notice body changes (you are!) and possibily inches lost. I am in round 2, 3 weeks or so left in month 2. I lost 10 lbs and 11 inches with round 1 and have lost another 4 pounds so far with round 2. I haven't measured inches yet. I notice more muscular changes than anything, especially in this round b/c I'm so close to my weight goal. I think the less you have to lose, the harder it is to lose it. You seem to be seeing some positive results, but I understand where you are coming from. Month 2 is a B to go through if you feel you aren't getting much out of it.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    You are at the low end of what a healthy weight is for your height. I wouldn't be worrying about weight loss and instead gaining muscle which means you do need to eat a lot more than you are now. Eating at a deficit won't allow you to build muscle.

    Eat more.. focus on building muscle instead of weight loss now.