Insanity workout

I started the Insanity program yesterday with the fit test and today I completed the first workout. I know people have amazing results with the program, but I'm just curious about those that have had surgery do with the program. I am 16 months post op today and still about 10 pounds away from my own personal goal. The only thing I am worried about is how much I need to be eating. Everything I have read on the websites say to increase your calories. I'm not going to lie, I am terrified to increase them too much and also trying to figure just how I am going to increase them. I still have great restriction and do not want to push that. I also plan to continue going to the gym during the 60 days of the program and lift. I have been working out consistently for a while now so I know my body is up for the added exercise.  

Anyways, any thoughts, advice, experience? 

When it comes to eating back calories, I have a personal rule of thumb.  Anything under 500 burned and I don't worry.  Anything over 500 and I eat back some.  Now this can change depending how I feel, how hard the workout was, etc., but that's my general guideline.  If you want to eat calories but are worried about eating too much volume, look to nuts and nut butter.  Lots of good calories in a small package. 

As with a lot of this stuff, it's very personal.  Experiment and find what works best for you. 

Increasing your calories will allow your body to retain weight and fat.  The only way to lose weight is to eat less calories.  The advice you are seeing is not for people who had weight loss surgery.

To lose your weight and maintain your loss you will always have to eat less calories than you did before surgery.  Surgery was a shock to your body.  It had to do with less food than before and it will always try to gain the weight back.

The fight is not over at one year or ten years.  Workouts are wonderful for your health but only cutting calories will result in weight loss.

I workout for 2 hours a day 5-6 days a week on average.  I eat between 1300-1500 calories a day and my weight maintains.  I am in the process of building muscle and such but before I started working out, I limited my calories to no more than 1100.  When you exercise, your body needs fuel to complete the exercise at the best of your ability but also to recover from it well and rebuild.  Depending on how your body responds, you may/may not need to increase even by just a couple hundred calories if this is something that you are doing most everyday and that is intense.  Watch your macros to make sure they are in the right ranges and make sure the food you are eating is literally body fuel or else any added calories are a waste.  A calorie isn't a calorie, a carb isn't a carb, etc.  Eat the right foods and drink water, etc.  Good luck!

Thanks! I am trying to just increase a little per day but not eat back exercise calories. Which I honestly don't think I could do anyways, I am struggling with just getting in over 1200. I am just trying to focus on getting in enough protein. Right now I guess I am playing around with my macros to find my perfect range. I usually stay under 80 carbs. That is the hardest part for me. 

Thank you! 

You're welcome!  Keep in mind I had surgery back in 2009, so little by little.  You are doing a great job and I hope you will keep up the workouts!