I had an open-face hot turkey sandwich made of two slices of toasted hearty white Zone bread topped with deli turkey and Trader Joe's turkey gravy (very low fat and low carb gravy), all warmed in the microwave. On the side I had cut cucumbers, a couple orange slices and some fresh red raspberries. Delicious!

Mom's having surgery so we ate cafeteria food. I had a cod fillet baked in a tomato herb sauce, brussels sprouts, and a mixture of roasted veggies including red pepper, fennel, and tomato. Was very impressed and worked into the zone nicely!

Best wishes to your mom for a good result and an uneventful and easy recovery.

thanks. It has been a rocky day. Surgery was delayed 3 hours, and she had bradycardia during surgery and now gas pain, so very uncomfortable and having to stay overnight in the ICU :(

Today I made a quick turkey chili. Ground turkey, cherry tomatoes, cubed zuchinni, and mushrooms, sliced strawberries on the side and some almonds. Good hot lunch on a snowey day

Tracie, sounds delicious. I had a toasted Zone Sesame bagel topped with a little light cream cheese and smoked wild salmon, strawberries on the side.

Cooked up a veggie omelet before leaving for work, sauteed some green/yellow peppers, mushroom, and topped it with some salsa and green onions. My co-workers were very envious! LOL!

Snowed here, too, Tracie. We have been so mild, and it was a welcome surprise!

Friday I had to cheat a bit - I was rushed and didn't have time to prepare anything before heading to work so I grabbed a can of Progresso soup. Based on the 1-2-3 method (10 g fat, 20 g protein, 30 g carbs) outlined in the book I had I figured a few almonds and 1/2 oz of cheese would get me close enough. Each serving was 2 g fat, 14 g carb (16-2) and 8 g protein - but I had the whole can so X2. 4 g Fat, 28 g Carb, and 16 g protein. I figured the Carbs were close enough and upped the protein with 1/2 oz of cheese and a few almonds to help the fat. Would this have been correct? Seemed correct - I felt great and wasn't hungry at snack time.

Sounds good Jessie. That not what i'd call cheating. :)

If you have that again sometime the only thing I'd do fifferent Is to eat more almonds in addition to the ones you had. You want a minimum of about 9 or 10g fat in a 3 block meal.

Okay - Thanks Sue!

Jessie, that isn't cheating... that is actually an old Zone hint!

I don't remember the particular variety of Progresso soup, but I think it was a beef barley, and it was actually very close to balanced, without a lot of unfavorables. Many soups rely on noodles or other starchy carbs as soup fillers, but this particular one had very little of that. I honestly haven't had it in quite a long time!

Just add the additional fat, and you're good to go!

Glad to know my "cheating" wasn't cheating!

Today I had a spinach salad with some cucumber and tomato, S&P and balsamic vinegar for dressing. I followed that up with 2oz of lox that I had chopped up and mixed with 1/4 humus (I was out of my little 3 oz tuna cans) and had a 2% cheese stick. To finish up carbs and fat I had some unsweetened apple sauce and 3 almonds (figured I didn't need to do a full 3 blocks worth since there was probably extra fat already in the smoked salmon). That all held be through to snack time where I just had 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese with cup up strawberries and dried apricots and 6 almonds on the side.

On a side note, Sue, I'd love to pick your brain on the ZF food. I enjoy it but am never sure how many blocks it is. Are they balanced 2 blocks? ("They" being the basic bagels, breads, pastas, etc. that come with the quick start program.) If so, does that mean that if I add anything to them I need to make sure I add in 1-1-1 of protein-carb-fat? I'm trying to mix in what I've got left and am also trying to decide what to reorder but want to have a better understanding of how to use them when they're not the only thing I'm eating.

Thanks!

Hi Mary,

They contain 2P, 2C, 2F, with the exception of the 9 inch pizza crusts which are 4P, 4C, 4F. It's not necessary to be exact to the block with what you add. Use them as you would for snacks of meals the same as if you were eating Zone Fast foods all the time. If you add one ounce of protein, with or without carbohydrates, you can consider it to be a 3 block meal. The grocery additions list has typical suggestions (http://www.zonediet.com/plans/groce...dditions). If you stick with Mediterranean type veggies you can't go wrong. The Zone Fast recipes give a good idea of the typical amounts and types of foods to add, and will also demonstrate it's not necessary to be too exact. We like orzo or fusilli tossed with roasted or steamed veggies and balsamic veggies.

Mary, typo. Should be meals or snacks.

I made a sauteed veggie mixture of spinach, onion and tomato, sauteed in olive oil, and seasoned with some apple cider vinegar and worchestershire sauce. I had deli roast beef for my protein.

Today lunch was a toasted multigrain Zone bagel with a couple big spoonfuls (about 1/4 -1/3 cup) of Trader Joe's 5 layer dip (Mexican style dip with salsa, guacamole, black beans, etc.), plus a snmall handful of red raspberries. One of my favorite lunches! :)

My lunch was basically the same veggie combo as yesterday, but used chicken breast instead of the deli roast beef as my protein.

This sautee is very easy to make, takes very little time to whip up, and VERY tasty!