Help with new Insanity & diet

Hello all,

This is my first post. I'll be 45 years old next January. I'm 6'2", weigh 228lbs, waist around 36-38", and my BMI is around 29%. The only regular exercise I've gotten in the past 5 years is casually walking the dogs for 30-60 minutes daily and using the stairs at work instead of the elevator. I have minor knee pain when using the stairs, and I have pain in my right elbow & right wrist due to a broken arm that apparently never healed correctly a number of years ago. I had my knees x'rayed last year and they just told me it was because I could stand to lose some weight, they found no problems.

On 10/14/13, I began the Beachbody Insanity program because I'm tired of my gut and lack of endurance. I would like to at least get my weight below 210, (perhaps as low as 190, it just depends on what I look like at that time), my body fat into the teens, and my waist back to 30-32. I originally purchased a cheap HRM at Walmart but took it back and bought a Polar FT4. Overall I like the FT4 with the exception of the practically inaudible heart rate alarm. I bought a fitness mat (not specifically for plyometrics) at Walmart and it seems to help but it keeps sliding around on the carpet.

So I was doing good on Insanity the first 3 days (14th-16th), then I skipped 17th-19th days due to scheduling complications, then I skipped the 'recovery' day that was scheduled for the 14th and continued with the program intended for the 15th... so I'm a few days behind the actual calendar schedule. The first couple of days I would pause the program when I needed to rest, which turned the 40'ish minute workout into a 90'ish minute workout. Later I switched to leaving the program play, figuring as long as my heart rate was up I didn't need to continue beating on my joints unnecessarily; my heart rate has been peaking in the upper 160's before I take a break, then I wait until it's near 130-140 before continuing. The HRM said my rate heart range should be 114-149, but I've changed the upper end to 165. Sometimes I have to take breaks due to muscle or joint pain, or try to improvise on a low impact variant to work around my knees/wrist; it's very tough to do pushups because the right angle in my wrist is painful.

I added the MyFitnessPal (MFP) app a few days into Insanity, and I told it I wanted to lose 2lbs/week. So it's telling me to have a net 1500 calories each day. My food log shows I'm typically consuming 2100-2200 calories daily, and I eat my final meal after my evening workout so I can adjust my total intake. Insanity's formula suggested I take in around 2500-2600 calories though. I bought a multivitamin as well and began taking it daily, but then MFP was showing that I was really exceeding the RDA of many vitamins and wasn't sure about possible side effects... I decided to just check at the end of the week and take one if necessary. I like simple meals so there isn't much variety in my diet at this time. I've marked my diary public, although I've combined the mid-morning and afternoon melas into 'snacks' for now.

I'm eating 5 times a day, typically around 7AM, 10-11AM, 12:30-2PM, 3-4PM, workout around 7-8PM, then eat dinner around 8PM, going to bed somewhere between 9:30-10:30PM depending upon how tired I am. I'm often hungry between these times, do I need to eat less more frequently? I also would like to cut even further down on my sodium intake, suggestions? What does the body do when it's hungry, meaning, where does it get the energy...I'm hoping it's from stored fat, for example.

So far, it doesn't seem as if the MFP 1500 calorie goal is going to net 2lbs loss per week, so should I increase my daily calories to reduce the hunger? Any other changes you think would be beneficial?

Thanks!

Jim