Hi there,

I am new at using the zone diet and I am not sure that i am counting properly the blocks. As far as i understand it, as a woman i need to take 11 blocks per day, that is 3 blocks for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus 1 blocks in each snacks. A 3 block meal should include 3x 1 block of carbs, 3x1 block of protein and 3x1 block of fat. I just find that this is too much food for me and i cannot eat it all!

Let me give you an example of a meal:

Carbs: Brocoli 24 oz, Mushroom 32 oz, cherry tomatoes 16 oz (each of them is 1 block)
Fat: oil + 6 almonds ( oil = 1 block, 3 almonds = 1 block)
Protein: Cod 4.5 oz

Am i doing it totally wrong??

I am seriously considering to reduce my meals to 2 blocks cause i find that i cannot eat this amount of carbs. Is it mandatory to eat 3 blocks? if i do reduce my intake is it going to affect the diet and therefore i will not lose any weight?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Hi Silvia!

Yes, you are doing it correctly.

You can certainly eat 2 block meals, but if you do you will need to eat more meals a day in order to get all 11 blocks each day.

If you mix carb densities your meals will be smaller and still contain 3P, 3C and 3F. For example you could eat 3 oz chicken, a 1 C block 3 bean salad (3/4 cup green beans mixed with 1/8 cup of a combo of chick peas and kidney beans, with a dressing of 1 teasp olive oil ,1 tsp vinegar and seasonings of your choice) and an apple. The salad would contain the 3 F.

If you reduce your block intake below your protein requirement, you will probably begin to lose LBM (thay is not good to do) and also probably have a difficult time losing stored body fat.

You're welcome!