Eating too much with Insanity

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I know Insanity is tough (I did the fit test yesterday and the first workout today) and according to calculations, I should be eating 2300 calories a day and still lose weight. I think this sounds ridiculous. I used to eat about 1600-1800 and maintain my weight. I know I'm working tough which burns more calories, but I don't see how eating THAT MUCH MORE is really going to help me lose. I am getting a lot of protein and following the diet plan word for word. I'm just lost on if I really should be eating 2300 calories (5 small meals a day, 300 for the snacks and 500 for the meals plus a snack of 200 to make up the difference).
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Replies

  • braykay23
    braykay23 Posts: 28
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    That does sound like a lot. I'm on day 5 of insanity and my calculations told me 1750 calories a day. I think it depends on your age height and weight. I'm 30, 5ft 2 in and weigh 132lbs
  • Amberh82
    Amberh82 Posts: 468 Member
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    The nutritional guide told me to eat 1700. I'm 4'10 and 125. I only burn 300 calories at the most during the month 1 workouts so far, so I don't think I should be eating that high of an amount either. I've been sticking to the 1200 that MFP gave me + my calories burned. so if i burned 300 calories in a day, I eat 1500.
  • MJ7910
    MJ7910 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    mine said to eat 1650-1900 depending on how much i wanted to lose. i am 5'4" and 125 lbs. if i want to lose a lb a week i would go with 1650 and if i want to lose 1/2 lb a week, 1900. i have been a lot closer to averaging 1800 and have not lost very much weight although i feel a lot stronger. i think you want to use the insanity guide as a rough guide. i am not a huge fan of anyone eating 1200 but i think if you are pretty short it might be more like 1600 for this workout. from what i have heard, just make sure you are eating NET calories above your BMR and you shoudl be fine. figure out what your TDEE is (that is what you would eat to maintain) and you could eat just a little below that and still expect to lose weight on insanity. although i haven't yet, i think my body is just adjusting to it. a lot of peopel see their results in the second month from what i have heard.
    just FYI, my BMR is around 1300, TDEE is around 1900. so i thought by eating 1700-1800 that would allow me to have enough energy for the workouts and lose mostly fat and not muscle.
  • Amberh82
    Amberh82 Posts: 468 Member
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    mine said to eat 1650-1900 depending on how much i wanted to lose. i am 5'4" and 125 lbs. if i want to lose a lb a week i would go with 1650 and if i want to lose 1/2 lb a week, 1900. i have been a lot closer to averaging 1800 and have not lost very much weight although i feel a lot stronger. i think you want to use the insanity guide as a rough guide. i am not a huge fan of anyone eating 1200 but i think if you are pretty short it might be more like 1600 for this workout. from what i have heard, just make sure you are eating NET calories above your BMR and you shoudl be fine. figure out what your TDEE is (that is what you would eat to maintain) and you could eat just a little below that and still expect to lose weight on insanity. although i haven't yet, i think my body is just adjusting to it. a lot of peopel see their results in the second month from what i have heard.
    just FYI, my BMR is around 1300, TDEE is around 1900. so i thought by eating 1700-1800 that would allow me to have enough energy for the workouts and lose mostly fat and not muscle.

    you must be younger than me, my BMR was 1335...which I don't even think that is correct based on the calculations. I wore a HR monitor one time all day and night and it was a lazy day and only burned like 900 calories
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
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    While doing Insanity I was eating about 1900 to 2000. I know this is why I didnt see any results. I don't have much weight to lose, but I was hoping to lose fat. I didnt I started to gain around my stomach.
    Insanity made me really hungry so I ate all my exercise calories even though I only burned about 300 a workout.
    I did gain some nice thigh muscles and I am happy with how my behind looks now. However a little disappointed with my results, again because I think I was eating to much.
    I dropped my calories down and started ChaLean Extream and already feel much better and leaner.
  • TranceGirl
    TranceGirl Posts: 121 Member
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    Everyone is different but in order for ME to eat 2300 calories and lose weight, I need to be burning around 600 calories during Insanity, which I did; so I ate 2100-2300 and lost weight. But I have had my resting metabolic rate measured and it's 1795 calories a day for me just to exist. Since you will NOT lose weight if you eat too little while doing Insanity (and you will not make it through the workouts), try eating 2300 calories for your first two weeks of Insanity and see how that affects you. If you haven't lost ANY weight (doubtful), I would take the calories down to about 2100 or so the 6 days you work out.

    Sidenote: Eating 2300 calories is easier than you think when you're doing Insanity. Your body's metabolism will be going so crazy, you'll be hungry all the time. Just make sure the calories you're consuming are healthy ones.
  • leanby2013
    leanby2013 Posts: 137
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    I done insanity and ate the 1600-1700 it recommended, didnt lose 1 single pound, no inches either.

    Im only 5ft aswell.

    Dropped my calories, added a spike day and lost 1 inch in the last 2-3 weeks. Not much but ill take it considering i hit a plateau for 6months.
  • hpage84
    hpage84 Posts: 20 Member
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    I followed the Insanity nutrition guide calorie estimate of 1750 for the first 8 weeks of Insanity and I think it was too high for my size (5'7 140-145 lbs). My visible results were minimal: an inch from my waist and one from my hips (I could stand to lose 3" in both of those places). Everyone talks about how the 2nd month is where the results are, but I can't tell a difference between my Day 30 and Day 55 pics. By the final week, I decided I had had enough - my knees hurt and I was just run down. This wasn't the program for me.
  • MJ7910
    MJ7910 Posts: 1,280 Member
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    mine said to eat 1650-1900 depending on how much i wanted to lose. i am 5'4" and 125 lbs. if i want to lose a lb a week i would go with 1650 and if i want to lose 1/2 lb a week, 1900. i have been a lot closer to averaging 1800 and have not lost very much weight although i feel a lot stronger. i think you want to use the insanity guide as a rough guide. i am not a huge fan of anyone eating 1200 but i think if you are pretty short it might be more like 1600 for this workout. from what i have heard, just make sure you are eating NET calories above your BMR and you shoudl be fine. figure out what your TDEE is (that is what you would eat to maintain) and you could eat just a little below that and still expect to lose weight on insanity. although i haven't yet, i think my body is just adjusting to it. a lot of peopel see their results in the second month from what i have heard.
    just FYI, my BMR is around 1300, TDEE is around 1900. so i thought by eating 1700-1800 that would allow me to have enough energy for the workouts and lose mostly fat and not muscle.

    you must be younger than me, my BMR was 1335...which I don't even think that is correct based on the calculations. I wore a HR monitor one time all day and night and it was a lazy day and only burned like 900 calories

    nope, i am 32. my body fat is about 24% though which is what makes my BMR 1300. also with insanity, they tell you to use the mulitplier for moderately-very active... so that is what puts me around 1650-1900. i definitely have been hungrier when starting the program so i do believe it is giving me a metabolic boost. that is exactly what i'm looking for as i near maintenance. i want to be able to eat a few more calories and not pay for it. but i was thinking about staying around 1800-1900 for month 2 of insanity since that is the big calorie burn workouts (like 500-1000 per workout)... so if that is true and i do burn 500 per workout, i'd only be netting 1300-1400 calories... since my BMR is supposedly around 1300 i wouldn't want to NET below that.
  • islaybower
    islaybower Posts: 57
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    I know Insanity is tough (I did the fit test yesterday and the first workout today) and according to calculations, I should be eating 2300 calories a day and still lose weight. I think this sounds ridiculous. I used to eat about 1600-1800 and maintain my weight. I know I'm working tough which burns more calories, but I don't see how eating THAT MUCH MORE is really going to help me lose. I am getting a lot of protein and following the diet plan word for word. I'm just lost on if I really should be eating 2300 calories (5 small meals a day, 300 for the snacks and 500 for the meals plus a snack of 200 to make up the difference).

    Just a quick check - did you subtract the last but of the sum instead of adding it? I was all excited that I had loads and loads of calories, then realised I had added instead of subtracting one bit. Whoops!
  • PaulJRaymond
    PaulJRaymond Posts: 100 Member
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    I think it is 3x500 main meals, 2x300 smaller meals (5 meals in total) and 200 snack to get to 2300.
  • LoveLivingHealthy
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    when you exercise your calorie intake goes up... and i hear that insanity is an insane workout so i would imagine you would have to eat more because you burn a billion calories.
  • Mommy_Time
    Mommy_Time Posts: 256 Member
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    I will be starting it soon and plan on just using my hrm and seeing how much i burn and just eat that much more than my 1200 mfp says to eat.
  • pgaines73
    pgaines73 Posts: 2 Member
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    Thank you so much for this information. I am on day 5 of Insanity and I love it!! I was also surprised to see that I should be eating 1700 calories while doing Insanity but I don't think I could get through the workout if I didn't. I have had to eat about every 3 hours or I get a HUGE headache........
  • shaycat
    shaycat Posts: 980
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    when you exercise your calorie intake goes up... and i hear that insanity is an insane workout so i would imagine you would have to eat more because you burn a billion calories.

    You only feel like you burn a billion calories. Really you are not burning that much. It is very easy to over eat while doing this program.
  • Billywoo
    Billywoo Posts: 141 Member
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    I just started month 2. Im trying to lose weight all around. MFP is what i think is helping me lose the weight. By following the MFP formula. Im not in it for big "Quads". If I here Shaun T talk about Quads one more time....!!
  • Willbenchforcupcakes
    Willbenchforcupcakes Posts: 4,955 Member
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    I'm eating a rock bottom minimum of 2100 calories(rest day), all the way up to 3500 calories, depending on what other workouts I do as well. (I am a nursing mom on top of this), and so far I've lost 7 pounds doing Insanity - and today is day 5 of week 4.
  • kizimberly
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    I did the calculation and it said I should eat 2300 calories. I don't think so! I'm on day 4 and I feel like I'm eating way too much. Yesterday I was super full all day almost to the point of discomfort. I never did reach 2300 calories, but I did reach 1900 day 1 and it just didn't feel right.

    I love eating every few hours, it does wonders for my energy levels and concentration. I think going forward I will eat 250 calorie meals ever 2-3 hours, with a 300-350 calorie lunch. Then I'll modify it if I need to.

    Does anyone feel that they should supplement insanity with running or additional exercises? Am *I* insane?
  • birdieaz
    birdieaz Posts: 448 Member
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    Nope sounds about right. I'm 5'2 120lbs and eating 1950 cal, my burn is approx 400cal per my HRM in a 45min workout. It does not seem unreasonable to eat 2000+ cal
  • tylerherrin
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    The idea is to increase your metabolism! The heavy workout along with the increase in calories pushes your metabolism up. If you eat under the recommended calories you will end up with a platue in weight loss because of low metabolism. Also if your working out half hearted you wont lose much unless your exessively overweight.

    I found its better for me to give all I got for half of each exersize instead of trying to go as long as I can at the workout level that is required to go for long periods of time. This builds my burst muscle and explodes calories.

    The idea is working out as though its a 100 meter dash on each exersise instead of a marathon but again this is for my specific desire in body type.

    If you look up the difference between marathon runners and sprinters they have completely different types of workouts and body shapes.

    Really anyone can do insanity but like any workout there is different levels of doing it.

    Jumping jacks done with higher jumps, straighter arms, and more force are a whole different level than doing them normal.

    So if your not losing weight push harder because it isn't the program thats the problem or the calorie intake.