Insanity workout and unwanted weight gain

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G123Girl
G123Girl Posts: 10
in Food and Nutrition
Can somebody please give me advice...

I am a 30 yr old female. Had a shoulder injury a year ago and am finally getting back into working out hard, after easing into it. Unfortunately, I have gained 25 pounds in the process

I am on week 3, day 5 of the Insanity workout. I have been eating anywhere from 1500-2000 calories a day depending on my workout day( rest and recovery days I eat closer to 1500, other days I eat 2000). My average daily intake on MFP after inputting my activity from MFP is about 1500-1550 per day. I had a slip-up last weekend and ate really, really bad. That was only 2 days out of the last 19 though. My macros have been at about 50% carbs, 25%-30% protein, 15-20% fat.

I have GAINED 5 pounds??!!! I am so frustrated...as I still have a lot of weight I need to lose, and I am nowhere near my goal weight. I have noticed that I look like I have lost a little belly fat, but that is about it.

Do I decrease my food intake? Adjust my macros? I am lost. I am busting my *kitten* everyday and it is frustrating that I am not losing weight, and I am instead gaining.

Replies

  • getstrongkaylen
    getstrongkaylen Posts: 137 Member
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    you shouldn't necessarily look at the number on the scale per say.... you should check your body fat percentage.... i've lost a little more than 40 lbs total... however, a couple of weeks ago, i started strength training... and now i'm up 5 lbs... but my body fat is going down.. muscle weighs more than fat.. and it is also less dense... so my clothes are still getting too big for me! now, im not sure about insanity, because i've never done it, but i assume it does build muscle, so maybe you have to look at how you feel and how your clothes fit!(:
  • nerckman
    nerckman Posts: 2
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    My suggestion would be to do measurements, the scale can be evil and misleading. Also take pictures of yourself! Yes, they are evil and no one likes doing them, but it gives you a starting point.

    Personally, I always find that MFP suggest a high ratio of carbs, I would cut back and increase protein in my personal opinion. (I aim for 30% Fat, 30% Carbs and 40% Protein)

    Stay strong and focused, its about your health, and unfortunately a scale never fully represents how healthy or unhealthy we are :)
  • Efflictim
    Efflictim Posts: 147 Member
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    Ditch the scale. Take measurements.
  • roxielu0422
    roxielu0422 Posts: 102 Member
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    My guess is that you are gaining muscle and losing fat. NOrmally when you start putting on muscle you gain some from the muscles being built and needing nutrients and water. Give it a couple of weeks.
  • G123Girl
    G123Girl Posts: 10
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    OK so an update....I dropped my calories to 1600 yesterday and switched to 40% carbs for the day...well I woke up and I was 2.5 pounds down!

    I think I was overeating calories and carbs. When month 2 starts I will bump up my calories to 1700 or 1800 since I will be burning more calories. I know that the meal plan says for me to eat 2000 calories to fuel my body...but I think that everybody is different and I needed to drop my calories and carbs down so my body could burn fat instead of my carbs I have eaten.

    I also switched my snacks yesterday...I usually have a protein shake (vegan Arbonne) with a cup of almond milk and half a banana as my midday snack, and then I have a brown rice cake with peanut butter and jam at night after dinner. I had the rice cake midday and the protein shake (with no banana) a couple hours before I went to bed.

    So I think that little tweaks like that are helpful. Everyones' body works differently and you have to see what works for you. Hopefully I will continue to see some weight loss!! :)
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
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    Ditch the scale. Take measurements.

    ^this. Normal weight can fluctuate a lot for several reasons such as having too much salt, not having an empty stomach, water retention due to the time of the month, etc. Working out can also cause your muscles to retain water while thy are working to repairing/rebuilding. The fact that you were 2.5 lbs. down overnight points to the 5 lbs. probably being mainly water weight. Gaining 5 lbs. of muscle is hard work, and requires a calorie surplus.

    You should do your measurements (neck, chest, waist, arms, wrists, thighs, etc.) and also see if you can get a body fat percentage. Even if you use a body fat scale, which can be inaccurate, it will generally be consistently inaccurate and you can see which way your body fat is trending.

    ETA: a real 5 lb gain of fat alone would require a total surplus of 17500 calories over your maintenance amount. If you are eating 2000 or less calories a day, that would also take a long time.
  • aleggett321
    aleggett321 Posts: 186 Member
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    It's highly unlikely that you gained 5 pounds of muscle in 3weeks. Likewise you probably didnt gain that much fat based on the intake you describe. It's mostly water retention in your muscles in response to your new workout. You should find it drops back off as your body adapts to the new stress you're challenging it with. It took about a month for my loss to pick up again after I started lifting weights. Don't worry too much!

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