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Jennifer 
Posts:4
Newbie
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| 11/19/2008 12:57 AM |
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OK, here's the scoop, I have tried the zone 6xs, and its not working out. I am a Crossfitter, I workout 3 days and rest 1 (on average). I am about 5 ft 2 in tall, weight about 120, I tried both 10 and 11 blocks per day. By the 3rd day I feel weak, tired, cranky, shakey, and have barely any energy to be able to lift my 2 year old, my performance in my workout has dropped considerable, and I am very irregular. I have lasted 3 weeks twice, on the zone but the symptoms never go away, they don't get better either. I eat lean meats, mostly vegys, walnuts, seeds, avacados, and olive oil, little if any fruit, and no grains or dairy, I just drink water, about 80 to 100 oz of water a day. I take a multi vitamins 3xs a day and fish oil. I've tried eating 5 meals a day dividing everything evenly like standard zone. I've tried cutting the carbs and adding 3 blocks of fat for every carb I've taken out, I've tried eating 4 meals a day with the fat replacement for carbs removed, I've tried eating strick paleo, eating in my blockage (lean meats, raw vegys,few fruits, no dairy, raw nuts and seeds).
What am I doing wrong, and why isn't this working for me!!! PLEASE HELP!!!! Anything you can offer I will take! |
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Sue K
Posts:9177
Zone Expert
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| 11/19/2008 7:50 AM |
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Hi!
One or a number of the following would be the cause of you difficulty:
eating an insufficient number of daily blocks
P/c ratio needs ajdustment
meal and snack timing
more fat might be necessary
Without knowing your LBM, your activity level and exactly what you're eating and when (specific foods and amounts and the timing) it would be impossible to suggest what you need to adjust.
If you'd like to post your typical daily menu noting the info I mentioned above, plus the timing of your daily workout(s), I'll be glad to take a look. It would also help if you noted how you feel 4 hours after each of the meals you post. |
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sue
Lost 100 lbs 15 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil. ZoneFast is the best!
To view my before/after pics and meal photos click on this picture
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Jennifer
Posts:4
Newbie
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| 11/22/2008 11:26 AM |
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| OK so I don't know exactly my LBM, but I did the measurement calculation (weight, wrist, waist, hips, forearm) and it said my LBM is 89.09, I am a dedicated CrossFitter, so I workout 3 days on and 1 day off,(they are very intensive workouts), I've tried several different meal plans, the 1st one was eating 5 meals a day on an 11 block meal plan. B(7:30)=3 eggs, 1 bran muffin, cashews (3 blocks), L(11:30-12:00)=3 oz meat, tossed salad, oil and vinegar dressing (even 3 block meal), S(3:00)=1oz meat, celery, olives, D(6:00)=3 oz meat stir fried vegys, nuts, S(9:30)=1 oz cheese, 1/2 apple, peanut butter (3 blocks). The second meal plan I tried was 4 meals a day on an 11 block meal plan, taking out a few carbs and replacing them with fats. B(7:30)=3 eggs, 8 blocks nuts, L(12:00)=3 oz meat, 1 block raw vegys, tossed salad, oil and vinegar dressing and nuts 8 blocks worth of fat, S(3:00)=1 oz meat, 8 blocks avacado, D(6:00)=3 oz meat, vegys and fruit (2 blocks worth), 8 blocks of avacado or nuts. I tried both meal plans for 3 weeks and couldn't make either of them work. |
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Sue K
Posts:9177
Zone Expert
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| 11/22/2008 7:02 PM |
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| Jennifer, for starters, you meals aren't Zone balanced. The muffin meal contains all unfavorable carb, another meal contains no carb, only meat and avocado, etc. Begin with 11 blocks a day composed of meals of equal P, C, and F blocks and adjust if needed for hunger, according to Zone recommendations. |
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sue
Lost 100 lbs 15 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil. ZoneFast is the best!
To view my before/after pics and meal photos click on this picture
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Jennifer
Posts:4
Newbie
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| 11/23/2008 1:15 AM |
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| I know, I tried the balanced meal plan for 3 weeks. Breakfast lunch and dinner were 3 even block meals (3 oz meat, 3 blocks vegys or fruit, 3 block fats), and two 1 block snack (1 oz meat, 1 block fruit or vegy and 1 block fat). I tried that for 3 weeks and it was awful. The higher fats and removed carbs actually work better, I was still weak and tired but not as bad as the "balanced" zone. |
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David
Posts:16
Aspiring
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| 11/23/2008 3:54 AM |
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Hi Jennifer,
When starting the Zone almost nine years ago I had trouble with low blood sugar. I went too long between meals, I wasn't accurate enough in the amount of food I was eating, and the different types of food, despite similarily low GI levels had me become hungry again at different rates. Some foodstuff's GI impact are only estimated. Furthermore my fat stores have always been low, and so I needed to eat more fat regularily, something I really didn't learn until after several years. The following things have helped me:
I got myself a digital food scale, and a list with all food stuffs with their respective protein, carbohydrate and fat content. Based on this I weighed all food to ensure I got the right amount (Sometimes I found the blocks harder to follow, such as a 1 cup of cooked broccoli equals one block of carbs, there may be some air in there etc vs 290 grams of broccoli, then I know exactly the amount of carbs I get (9 grams). A tossed salad as you specify in one of your meals, what exactly does it contain? Do you know how much green foliage, lettuce etc you have to eat to make up just one block? You know one block lettuce is something like 10 cups. So if you had a tossed salad, assuming no tomatoes etc, for three blocks, you'd be eating 30 cups of lettuce... It's a lot. It's easy to underestimate the amount of food you need to eat. The tossed salad would probably need to be large enough to serve what 4 or 5 people eat normally. So be sure you really are getting the right amount of blocks. There are also some mistakes and adjustments made in the Zone books over the years. For example in one of the books published in 2002 it says 1 block of carbs equals 4 artichokes, in the original Zone book it said one block equaled one medium artichoke. Quite some difference there. This is why I weigh my food. After a while I also learn what amount I need. In addition I suggest you may keep a food diary for the first few weeks, and note which foods make you stay satiated longer, or alternatively hungry/weaker sooner.
I switched from red meat to fish. This allows you to eat 50% more volume for the same block amount.
If you are certain you do the above, and that you are getting the right amount of blocks, and you still become weak, or go hungry, add more monosaturated fat. I would add until I feel stronger again, rather than follow any given block amount. Fat is energy and low in volume. It makes you become satiated and stay that way for longer. You eat cashews, so do I. You can try macadamia nuts as well. Or add more avocado and olive oil to your salad. I would experiment (keep your diary) with eating more fat until the weak feeling goes away.
Finally tlhe activity level has a big impact on the amount of blocks you can eat. I find that estimating the activity level can be tricky.
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Jennifer
Posts:4
Newbie
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| 11/23/2008 12:02 PM |
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I do measure with cups and less with grams, right now I am using a digital scale but I've just been using it for meats. I'm going to try to use the grams measurement for a week or so and see how that goes. Do you have a good place to find how many grams are a block in vegys and fruits? I've been using www.calorieking.com for some of my info.
THanks, I hope this works! |
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aaron
Posts:7
Newbie
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| 11/25/2008 1:42 AM |
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Jennifer,
I use http://www.fitday.com to track all my daily calorie intake. With me too, using this tool, I see the zone blocks falling short. I exercise about 6 days a week, running and weights and take a lot of my workouts from Crossfit. Fitday helps with the balance and shows where you stand nutritionally. I eat 16 blocks a day, and I feel it's not enough. Even with the 16 blocks of carbs I'm still not getting my carbs above 30% of my daily intake. |
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I am running my own business in Tokyo. I have been an active runner for over a year and have been working on my diet for the past 3 months. |
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David
Posts:16
Aspiring
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| 12/04/2008 4:16 PM |
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Jennifer,
I used a non-English language source so not much help there. An alternative could be a food scale with preprogrammed foods, which gives you the grams of protein, carbs and fat. See e.g. Salter. Amazon carry them. I've never used one so I cannot vouch for their usefulness. |
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Trudy
Posts:1
Newbie
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| 12/10/2008 9:45 AM |
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Jennifer,
You indicated you're 5 ft 2 in tall, weight about 120! Not sure you have to get to crazy with dieting.. Eating Healthy is the best plan and enjoying life.. Live Girl... ! |
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JoAnne
Posts:1
Newbie
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| 12/14/2008 8:54 AM |
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Hi Jennifer
At 5'2" and 120 and a dedicated crossfitter you probably don't have more than 5-10 lbs to give and depending on your body type maybe less. I am also a dedicated crossfitter and my stats are about 5'2' and 110-113 lbs at any given time, sometimes up to 117. I've been zoning for about 4 months and have seen very good results. I dropped 10+ lbs right off and have stayed within about a 5 lb range since. The result I saw was loss of body fat and seeing more muscle. I have to admit that I don't always get my first meal in within the first hour of waking but other than that I'm pretty steady. Some days I am hungrier than others and if I am hungry I up my fats per meal. I can't remember for sure, but I think I was pretty hungry as a rule for the first two weeks or so. If you're struggling with the zone and you look good, I wouldn't fight nature too hard....good luck! |
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