My wife is 100 pounds. As I read in the fisrt edition of the Zone, she needs to eat 7 to 8 blocks a day. In new editions it says that the minimum number of blocks is 11. If she eats that much, she will put on some wait. Furthermore, she is pregnant now, and I told her that she needs 13 blocks a day now. She began to eat that much and she gained some weight very fast. Something is wrong with this. If someone knows more about this, please tell me. Thanks, Pancho

Dear Pancho, Yes, 11 blocks are the minimum. I am 105 lbs and I eat 12 blocks a day due to my activity level and I loose weight if I do not add extra fat. Your wife should absolutely not gain weight with 11 blocks. If she does, something must be wrong in your calculation of the sigle meals. It's also possible that the weight gain is due to pregnancy, but unfortunately I can't be of help about this. I can just reassure you that a 100 lbs woman which is not pregnant will not gain weight at 11 blocks if the single foodblocks and their combination is calculated properly. Best wishes, Paola

>Yes, 11 blocks are the minimum. I must respectfully disagree with this statement as there are always exceptions to the rule. There was a huge debate on this very subject on the old forums. >I am 105 lbs and I eat 12 blocks a day due to my activity level and I loose weight if I do not add extra fat. Paola, you are also very lean and exercise a lot. Persons with low body fat require extra calories in the way of monounsaturated fat. IMO, you could eat less than 12 blocks, eat more monounsaturated fat and still maintain your weight. >Your wife should absolutely not gain weight with 11 blocks. If she does, something must be wrong in your calculation of the sigle meals. It's also possible that the weight gain is due to pregnancy, but unfortunately I can't be of help about this. I agree with your statement that during a pregnancy 11 blocks is definitely the minimum. >I can just reassure you that a 100 lbs woman which is not pregnant will not gain weight at 11 blocks if the single foodblocks and their combination is calculated properly. Again, I have seen many posts wherein persons weighing 100 lbs., (very petite) that has low LBM requires LESS than 11 blocks. :cry:

Thank you Anne Marie. I'm sorry and you are probably right, since you are more experienced. I could just not believe that a person, even a very petite one, could gain weight with only about 1100 kcal per day, unless she is one of the 25% "unlucky" people. Further I've read in all the recent books that 11 blocks is the minimum... I'll have a look at the past discussions about this. ciao Paola

Thank youy both. The fact is that I am 165 pounds and need to eat 11 blocks when not exercising. If my wife (100 pounds) eats all this food she will put up some wait for sure. The only way she could eat those blocks is with a lot of exercise. That's why I don't understand, I think we can't eat the same thing because she is much smaller than me. I will wait for the old forums to transfered to the new format to know more about it. Bye, Pancho

[quote:7793452b1e="pancho"]Thank youy both. The fact is that I am 165 pounds and need to eat 11 blocks when not exercising. If my wife (100 pounds) eats all this food she will put up some wait for sure. The only way she could eat those blocks is with a lot of exercise. That's why I don't understand, I think we can't eat the same thing because she is much smaller than me. I will wait for the old forums to transfered to the new format to know more about it. Bye, Pancho[/quote:7793452b1e] While the minimum blocks when starting is certainly set at 11. Dr. Sears has said that many people do well on less. At 100lbs total weight your wife would appear to be one of the few exceptional cases that would do better on less. Please also bear in mind that the absolute minimum is 8 blocks. White Light