Insanity diet check up! Need advice!

No.

800 calories? You need to double this, at least. A child needs more than this, an adult needs more than this lying in a coma. You haven't given your weight, so I can't give a more accurate number.

I'm about 100 Ibs. - and most of it is fat, which is why I look so much fatter than what I actually weigh I believe. I just don't really understand how eating more will help me lose more weight? Thanks for the reply!

Eating more won't help you lose weight. Eating more will prevent you from causing your body harm which is what 800 calories a day with exercise will do very quickly. At that calorie intake your body will start to consume your muscle, you will feel weak, lethargic and as your muscle lean mass decreases so will your bodies ability to burn calories. Losing belly fat isn't going to do you any good if you lose your muscle as well. I assume you want to look good right, eating in a way that will make you skeletal isn't going to do that.

You need to eat more, twice that isn't an exaggeration. You want to eat an amount that when you lose weight its fat only, not your muscle and bone density along with it.

I heard you were only 4'10'' and 100. Doesn't matter, there is no way 800 calories is enough food for you to live off of. You are likely mostly fat at only 100 pounds because I'm guessing you haven't ate at a surplus and tried to put on some muscle.

What you probably should do if you wan't advice is to eat at maintenance or a surplus NET (meaning eating back any calories you burn from exercise) and include some resistance training with weights (non-cardio) to try to put back some muscle. All you are going to do on your current path is destroy what muscle you have left and that is not going to help you get rid of the "fat" look.

I'm about 100 Ibs. - and most of it is fat, which is why I look so much fatter than what I actually weigh I believe. I just don't really understand how eating more will help me lose more weight? Thanks for the reply!

Eating more won't help you lose weight. Eating more will prevent you from causing your body harm which is what 800 calories a day with exercise will do very quickly. At that calorie intake your body will start to consume your muscle, you will feel weak, lethargic and as your muscle lean mass decreases so will your bodies ability to burn calories. Losing belly fat isn't going to do you any good if you lose your muscle as well. I assume you want to look good right, eating in a way that will make you skeletal isn't going to do that.

You need to eat more, twice that isn't an exaggeration. You want to eat an amount that when you lose weight its fat only, not your muscle and bone density along with it.

I heard you were only 4'10'' and 100. Doesn't matter, there is no way 800 calories is enough food for you to live off of. You are likely mostly fat at only 100 pounds because I'm guessing you haven't ate at a surplus and tried to put on some muscle.

What you probably should do if you wan't advice is to eat at maintenance or a surplus NET (meaning eating back any calories you burn from exercise) and include some resistance training with weights (non-cardio) to try to put back some muscle. All you are going to do on your current path is destroy what muscle you have left and that is not going to help you get rid of the "fat" look.

I've witnessed a friend of mine who did insanity, but at the end of 60 days, she simply gained muscle on top of all the fat she already had, so now she might be more 'fit' per say, but she looks fatter. It could've been her dieting, but I'm scared that by consuming more calories, I will end up like her.

Did your friend eat 800 calories a day?

You are not going to gain muscle eating 800 calories a day, you will lose muscle guaranteed.

Look, my advice is 800 calories a day is a DANGEROUSLY low amount of food. If you don't want to believe me fine go ask your doctor but I would advice you to not continue that course of action or you will literally hurt yourself.

You are not going to put on fat doing insanity and eating 1600 calories a day.

Insanity has a nutrition guide that goes with it. If you are going to do the program, do it right. Based on your height, weight, and age, you should be eating at LEAST 1600 calories per day if you are doing Insanity. You'd probably be better off starting out closer to 1800 and see how the first 4 weeks go then tweak if necessary. If you don't have the materials that come with the dvd's for whatever reason, here is the nutrition guide. You can do the calculation yourself and see.

http://www.teamunify.com/cast/__doc__/Insanity Nutrition Guide.pdf

http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/ideal_bw_women.htm

Height in Feet&Inches Small Frame Medium Frame Large Frame
4'10" 102-111 109-121 118-131


Even if you are small framed at 100 pounds you are underweight. If you look and feel fat at that weight it means that likely throughout your life you were undereating and your muscles weren't developing or you did a destructive diet (like 800 calories a day) and burned through much of your muscle.

You don't need to lose weight, you need to gain weight in the form of muscle. To do that you have to eat at or slightly above your maintenance calories. If you are doing insanity that is probably at least in the area of 1600 calories a day.

You do not need to nor is it in your best interest to lose weight.

4'10" and 100 lb is a BMI of 21. Dead middle of 'average: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

Are you seriously suggesting a diet of 1lb loss per week to someone who weighs 100 pounds? No.

Yes. There's a thing called nutritional science. It dictates how metabolism, lipid mobilization, and functional nutrition work. You're welcome to read about it. Here's a few links to get you started:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18688113
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Typical_body_fat_amounts
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/12amhq/keto_calculator_20/c6vvu7f?context=3
http://examine.com/faq/how-do-i-stay-out-of-starvation-mode.html

http://www.healthdiscovery.net/links/calculators/ideal_bw_women.htm

Height in Feet&Inches Small Frame Medium Frame Large Frame
4'10" 102-111 109-121 118-131


Even if you are small framed at 100 pounds you are underweight. If you look and feel fat at that weight it means that likely throughout your life you were undereating and your muscles weren't developing or you did a destructive diet (like 800 calories a day) and burned through much of your muscle.

You don't need to lose weight, you need to gain weight in the form of muscle. To do that you have to eat at or slightly above your maintenance calories. If you are doing insanity that is probably at least in the area of 1600 calories a day.

You do not need to nor is it in your best interest to lose weight.

4'10" and 100 lb is a BMI of 21. Dead middle of 'average: https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/obesity/BMI/bmicalc.htm

Are you seriously suggesting a diet of 1lb loss per week to someone who weighs 100 pounds? No.

Yes. There's a thing called nutritional science. It dictates how metabolism, lipid mobilization, and functional nutrition work. You're welcome to read about it. Here's a few links to get you started:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18688113
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_fat_percentage#Typical_body_fat_amounts
http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/12amhq/keto_calculator_20/c6vvu7f?context=3
http://examine.com/faq/how-do-i-stay-out-of-starvation-mode.html

You are suggesting to someone who is at a healthy weight but low lean mass (if she is right about having a high fat comp) to go on a VLCD. No, that is not okay nor is it healthy. It would be much better for her health and for her aesthetics to eat at least at maintenance and probably at a surplus and through exercise put on some muscle. It would probably make for a healthier attitude as well given we are talking about someone who is afraid to gain weight and afraid to eat more than 800 calories a day while doing exercise that probably burns 300+. Netting 500 calories a day is not okay and suggesting to someone in that mindset how they can lose 1lb a day starting at 100 pounds is not a good idea in my opinion.

Aaron,
The science is there and available to you. If you want to run the numbers yourself you are welcome to. Spouting anecdotal 'experience' and opinions aren't helpful to anyone. If you want to show that a basic calorie restriction within the bounds of estimated body fat is harmful - please provide a resource. I'm confident you don't have one - my recommendations are within well researched and validated guidelines. The calculator even takes into account essential body fats that she should not lose, which is an additional safety factor. Weight loss is not magic - its biology.

I am not arguing with your numbers I am arguing that it is a bad idea to instruct someone with a poor body image who is currently starving themselves on how to lose weight. She doesn't need to lose weight if anything she needs to gain some weight in the form of muscle. Why you would advice someone who is afraid to eat more than 800 calories a day for fear of being fat on the ways of weight loss I do not know. You seem to be blinding yourself to the situation and just doing the math.

You are telling someone with a borderline eating disorder how to lose weight. My point is not to argue with you about whether or not your math is correct my point is advising her to try to lose weight at all is not really the best thing given her current situation. Just underlining that for emphasis.