Hello everyone,

I'm glad I found this site...I called the 800 number and the person was nice but didn't know too much about the diet which was surprising...

Anyways just a couple of questions...

1. Can you eat oat bran instead of oat meal? Or I also have Uncle Sam's wheat cereal but I figure it is not the zone.

which brings me to the next question

2. Is there a list of zone foods on this site? like all of them that are allowed?

3. I find it confusing...for example for lunch or dinner I can have 3 ounces of chicken but 4.5 ounces of ground turkey. To me this doesn't make sense because chicken is lower in fat and calories. Does anyone know why and should I opt for the lower calorie/fat options if I am trying to lose weight such as fish and chicken?

4. Do I have to go by the calculator on here that tells you how many blocks to have per day or should I just go by what a woman should eat which is listed in the books?

Sorry for so many questions...just trying to get started and a little confused...

Thanks so much!!!:)

Hi Jenny,

1. Oat bran is a bit more processed just like regular oatmeal. What you want to find is steel cut or Irish oats. They are not processed as much, and have GLA, which makes them favorable.

2. Zone foods can be found under the Eating tab on the top toolbar. Just click on "quick start" once you get there.

3. The portion sizes of those meats vary because of the protein content. You are right to some degree, it might make more sense to choose the least fatty of the meat choices. Ground meat always tends to be more fatty, but if you look carefully at labels, you can find some "extra lean" ground turkey, which might fit better in the plan. Generally, fish is an excellent choice in the Zone.

4. I would use the calculator to determine your # of blocks, as it is more personalized.

Not a problem, hope that helps!

Dear Cranberry Cat,

Thank you so much for answering my questions. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!!!!!:P

I actually thought of one more if that's okay. I also read in one of the Zone books...it was one of the meal ones...that for example, a woman would have her protein for lunch and then for her carbs she would have 1/2 cup of lentils on a small salad with a half an apple...but all of that is supposed to add up to 3 blocks but seems to add up to more. My question is, is salad kind of like something that you can add to a meal but don't have to count? That was the only thing that I could figure out...

Thanks again!:kiss:

Jenny,
If the salad is fairly small, then you would not have to count the lettuce. So, the 1/2 cup of lentils is 2 blocks, and the 1/2 apple is 1 block. The lettuce basically wouldn't have much impact, unless you use at least 5 cups, and then you could count 1/2 block. Most people would probably make a smaller salad than that, my salads are usually 2 cups of lettuce or less, because I enjoy my salad toppings much more than the lettuce! ;)

Glad to have helped!