New Insanity Thread

Just finished Day 2 of my second week. I am absolutely loving this workout. It is brutal, but I feel so good after I complete it. I am looking forward to seeing my results. We are supposed to check results every two weeks right?

Hey Herewego,
Paul's right - the fit test is written in to the schedule. However I'm also weighing myself once a week, and measuring every two - so depending on what you meant, you could be right!
I also had a look at your food diary earlier (just cos I was a) curious and b) trying to put off doing some work!), and noticed you are only eating 1200 calories a day... according to the Insanity manual, you should be eating WAY more than that - or eating back at least 1/2 to 2/3rds of your exercise calories... A lot of people on this thread and others have made the same mistake and realised to their cost that their body just gave up after the initial reserves were burnt through. I know it is counter intuitive. For the first week on 1700 calories (Insanity calculates 1900!) I thought - there's no way I'm going to lose anything with this. I lost 2lb... I'm half way through week 2 and have lost a 1lb already, despite being TOTM (which usually means 2lb ON!) (Sorry for TMI folks! I'm sure you needed to know that ;-) )
Do you check your average heart rate during the exercise? If so, it might be worth going to a web based heartrate calorie burn calculation site as I burn about 100 more calories than you each time. It probably is because I'm older, unfit and heavier, but worth checking, as I don't think in this case MFP really does Insanity justice (I enter it as Cardio Interval, but alter the calories according to the calculations based on my heart rate, not on what MFP estimates for duration and exertion level). That way, I eat 1700, and burn about 500 calories (walking the dog as well as Insanity). Which brings me to the magic 1200 number but with fuel in the tank for the workouts...
This is purely based on interweb psuedo science and all of 2 week's browsing the threads and working out what my body is doing, but I can already see the results so something is working for me... However if 1200 is working for you then fab! Ignore me and my unsolicited advice ;-D

Thanks Paul for your encouragement - and well done on your workout. I'm so impressed that you do Yoga on your rest day too - I may try that this week. I'll have to dig out my old Gerri Halliwell Yoga videa (! - yes, it's that old!) or do Darcy's Pilates routine...

Anywho, this isn't getting any work done, plus I'm sitting in my workout clothes ready to press play again shortly, so I'd better finish up and get on.

Keep it going all!

I didn't press play yesterday...but it was my rest day so I took full advantage with doing nothing and now I'm so ready to press play after work today. Week 1, Month 1 complete...down about 2 lbs and I'm already feeling a bit tighter in my mid-section - did anyone else notice a difference too? Can't wait to see my results in a week when I measure and complete my first fit test comparison!

Thanks for the feedback guys (: it's always good to hear from someone else that they can see a difference, I'm still pushing play, today was core cardio and balance, day 4 of recovery week done! Hopefully month 2 will kick up my results a bit, everyone says month 2 is where the results are!

Hey Herewego,
Paul's right - the fit test is written in to the schedule. However I'm also weighing myself once a week, and measuring every two - so depending on what you meant, you could be right!
I also had a look at your food diary earlier (just cos I was a) curious and b) trying to put off doing some work!), and noticed you are only eating 1200 calories a day... according to the Insanity manual, you should be eating WAY more than that - or eating back at least 1/2 to 2/3rds of your exercise calories... A lot of people on this thread and others have made the same mistake and realised to their cost that their body just gave up after the initial reserves were burnt through. I know it is counter intuitive. For the first week on 1700 calories (Insanity calculates 1900!) I thought - there's no way I'm going to lose anything with this. I lost 2lb... I'm half way through week 2 and have lost a 1lb already, despite being TOTM (which usually means 2lb ON!) (Sorry for TMI folks! I'm sure you needed to know that ;-) )
Do you check your average heart rate during the exercise? If so, it might be worth going to a web based heartrate calorie burn calculation site as I burn about 100 more calories than you each time. It probably is because I'm older, unfit and heavier, but worth checking, as I don't think in this case MFP really does Insanity justice (I enter it as Cardio Interval, but alter the calories according to the calculations based on my heart rate, not on what MFP estimates for duration and exertion level). That way, I eat 1700, and burn about 500 calories (walking the dog as well as Insanity). Which brings me to the magic 1200 number but with fuel in the tank for the workouts...
This is purely based on interweb psuedo science and all of 2 week's browsing the threads and working out what my body is doing, but I can already see the results so something is working for me... However if 1200 is working for you then fab! Ignore me and my unsolicited advice ;-D

Thanks Paul for your encouragement - and well done on your workout. I'm so impressed that you do Yoga on your rest day too - I may try that this week. I'll have to dig out my old Gerri Halliwell Yoga videa (! - yes, it's that old!) or do Darcy's Pilates routine...

Anywho, this isn't getting any work done, plus I'm sitting in my workout clothes ready to press play again shortly, so I'd better finish up and get on.

Keep it going all!

Thanks for all the great advice. I have been stalled at this weight for a few weeks. I know I have been told before that I should up my calories a bit. I am going to try and work on that. I am going to get a heart rate monitor so I can more accurately check my calorie burn. I log my Cardio Recovery Day as yoga as well. I saw that on another thread when I was trying to figure out how to log it. I added you as a friend and look forward to working with you. Thanks again!

Nicolette's back, yay! Water gain tends to go away quickly when you get back into the routine. Just get back to what was working before and your body will soon forgive you. I'm working off fat gain from the bulk phase of the Body Beast weight training program. Trying to cut fat without losing muscle gain is a bit tricky, but seems to be working.

Keep the daily chatter up everyone as its really helpful to both the givers and the receivers. Checking in everyday is almost as important as pressing play for achieving your goals. Speaking of goals, simply publicly articulating WHY you are doing insanity is extremely motivating too. Please post your goals if you haven't already done so.

Completed x3 yoga on my rest day. Insanity recovery week is over. Makes me sad. That said, it was actually my best yoga session ever. Every pose worked really well. Thank you insanity!

JLWyatt...good, I'm glad you'll be posting some before & after's when you're done. I'm still finding it really good. I did my Month 1, Week 2 workout last night - Cardio Power & Resistance - and although I'm still having difficulties with the up/down/pushups and the walking pushups (partly due to my limited space to workout), I was able to make my way through a lot of the moves, much better than my last time with this video. Pretty inspiring to see how in just 1 week, you can see noticeable improvements in your endurance.

I'm eating between 1500-1600 calories. That might be a bit low but I feel satisfied after my meals. I'd like to get a heart rate monitor to confirm how many calories I'm burning so that's next on my list. With MFP's estimates on my excercise calories (I'm logging my workouts as circuit training), I'm netting around 1300 calories/day.

What about all of you?

I'm currently running at 1743. I was higher, but recent,y recalculated things and dropped it to this level. Since making the change I have started to see results. I use this calculator and find it works well if you follow instructions exactly.

http://theathleticrider.com/clean-eating-101/bmr-for-rider-fitness/

Id just split the difference at 1700 Jennifer. When I was doing Body Beast, I learned what an amazing difference little 200 calorie swings could make. The thing people don't realize is that these calorie targets need to be regularly readjusted as your body changes. I also have found that the MFP calculators tend to be too light for people working out on these Beachbody programs. The calculator you just used seems to work well. Oh one more thing. With this calculator that is your calorie target. Period. Ignore the MFP net calories calculations.

Id just split the difference at 1700 Jennifer. When I was doing Body Beast, I learned what an amazing difference little 200 calorie swings could make. The thing people don't realize is that these calorie targets need to be regularly readjusted as your body changes. I also have found that the MFP calculators tend to be too light for people working out on these Beachbody programs. The calculator you just used seems to work well. Oh one more thing. With this calculator that is your calorie target. Period. Ignore the MFP net calories calculations.

Okay great, thanks Paul. Will look to up my calories towards 1700 and see how I do. Much appreciated for your input.

Remember to watch your macros too. The insanity book recommends 40% protein and carbs and 20% fat. You will probably need a protein supplement to approach the recommended level (I'm usually in the 30s). The GNC 100% Whey stuff works great. I'm sure the Beachbody stuff is good too, but it's a lot more expensive. Stay away from the cheap stuff Walmart sells as it has lots of fillers, rather than just the protein you need. Greek yogurt and cottage cheese are also great protein sources. If you are low on Carbs at the end of the day adding bananas to the protein shake or just eating one works wonders. If you are low on fat at days end, it's a miracle and just ignore it! Bottom line though, stop eating when you get to 1700 calories regardless of where you are on macros. I tend to look at the MFP weekly macro numbers as its easier to make needed macro adjustments over the course of a whole week rather than a single day.

Hello everyone! I think this is my first ever post here on MFP :-) I'm on day 13 doing Insanity and I am still enjoying it. I love that feeling of sweat dripping off me and feeling like I've pushed my limits a bit. It also just fits perfectly into my routine, I've got three kids and a husband who is away 7am-8pm but I've made a promise to myself that as soon as I have put my youngest down for her nap, I put on my gym gear and just press play. I'm keeping my goal simple, to complete the 63 days of the Insanity programme and then reset my goals. I'm no angel when it comes to the nutrition part but I am counting my calories and limiting my alcohol intake...severely.
I do feel ridiculously tired in the evenings though and find myself in bed between 9-10pm and I sleep like a baby till 7am. Is this normal? I know the BBC keep saying "get enough sleep" but I'm normally fine on 6-7hour nights. Also, the calorie recommendation I got was 2100 kcal. I have tried to consume 2100kcal (so much!) but end up usually consuming around 1800kcal. Do you think this is going to affect my results? I really feel so full, what would be the easiest way to get those extra 300kcal? I mean, that's another meal to me! And finally, if you miss a workout...what do you do? Work through your rest day or?
Thank you for posting your insanity stories here! I keep going through your posts as they really inspire me to just keep going..
Ps. I'm 175cm and weigh 86kg. I would like to lose 13 kgs and be 73 kgs. So far I haven't lost weight but I can feel a change in my body.

Congrats on starting the programme especially with three kids to take care of! Once you start to see results you will love it even more believe me!! As for the tiredness I get that too, I'm normally in bed by ten no later easily sleep till my little boy gets up at seven, I just put it down to the workouts being so intense your body needs to recover? (I'm no expert by the way) also I do know that exercise does help you sleep so that could be part of it. With the calories, I am also not eating the recommended amount by the nutrition plan, I just can't eat that much in one day, maybe try working out your BMR with the link that someone posted above. I wouldn't panic too much about trying to cram in the extra 300 as long as your eating the right amounts of protein/carbs/fats and you don't feel like your starving/depriving yourself you should definitely see results still! God knows I'm no angel with nutrition either!! Good luck!

This is the start of month 2 of insanity. Completed max interval circuit. Over 1000 calories burned this morning with this and the earlier test. Umm this was hard. I don't know that I would recommend doing these two back to back. Maybe test in the morning Max at night.

Edited to show quote

Welcome Thuridurga! And well done on getting to day 14. I was also wondering about what happens if you miss a workout, so I look forward to hearing people's answers.
As for the whole calorie issue - I echo jlwyatt's recomendation from Jennifer_Lynn:

I use this calculator and find it works well if you follow instructions exactly.

http://theathleticrider.com/clean-eating-101/bmr-for-rider-fitness/

Thanks for the heads up Paul - I had heard others suggest that one did the fit test on the preceeding rest day... I guess they were right.

Well, I did the 2nd fit test and am pretty pleased with the progress:

Switch kicks: - 3 (Eh? What's up with that?!)
Power Jacks: + 6
Power Knees: + 6
Power Jumps: + 3
Globe Jumps: + 4
Suicide Jumps: - 1 (Meh!)
Push-Up Jacks: + 14 (Yes, that really is a 14!)
Low Plank Oblique: + 10

Very pleased with that, although I would have been happier if it was consistently up, but hey ho!

Keep pushing play :-)