Hi everyone, I'm new to the Zone. I'm not sure how to tell how much protien I need. I work out 6 times a week. A total of about 3 hours a week. I do heavy weight lifting 3 times a week and cardio 3 times a week. That would put me in the very active category right? But I'm an accountant and I sit most of the day at work,so does that lower my activity level? The difference between the blocks required for each category is from 13 to 11 blocks. What should I do? I don't want to lower my calories to much and do harm to my body. Thanks. Andrea

Hi, I woudl agree you are active to very active. Sitting while at work all day will [b:a6414e5adf]not[/b:a6414e5adf] lower you activity level. If you think 13 is too much, yopu can try 12 blocks, and keep a check on your LBM. If at 12 blocks you begin losing LBM (or if you find you are always getting hungry and it can't be eliminated with adjusting C and F) then you should be at 13 blocks. Unless you are very petite, IMO, from the info you posted, you can handle 13 blocks. Sue

Thaks for the advise, but how do I know if I am losing lean body mass or fat? Also what is IMO? I am 5 feet 5 inches and petite. Andrea

[quote:24ec715c96="Android"]Thaks for the advise, but how do I know if I am losing lean body mass or fat? Also what is IMO? I am 5 feet 5 inches and petite. Andrea[/quote:24ec715c96] Here is a link to a research post I did about activity levels and amount of blocks required: http://pgfo.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=16 As you are only 5' tall, I think 11 blocks is suffice with one additional block added a day to build muscle. So in total I would eat 12 blocks. How do you know if your losing LBM?? - well you can check with the Body Fat Calculator on this site or you can get fast testing done every 4 weeks or so. The method of fat testing I prefer is bio-electrical impedance.

I'm not 5 feet tall, I'm [b:c5991d1dd2]5 feet and 5 inches[/b:c5991d1dd2]. Would this change your answer? Thanks.