I am brand new to The Zone and have a question. From what I understand I am to have 3P, 3C, 3F at each meal and 1P, 1C, 1F at each snack. The recipes listed state only a total block for each serving. If it says 4 blocks, am I to assume that means 4P, 4C, 4F for each serving? Thanks for your help.

Hi,

"paste in" the recipe you are referring to so I can be sure of what you mean.

E.Wally

Here is one I looked at from the website:

Pat's Pancakes
When I began following the Zone nearly 11 years ago, I created this recipie, and it is still my favorite breakfast.

3 Blocks

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tarter
2 tbsp rolled oats
2 scoops Zone protein powder
dash each of cinnamon and nutmeg
2/3 tsp olive oil
Choice of 1 cup blueberries or 1 apple chopped

Instructions:
Beat egg whites stiff; add cream of tarter. Process oatmeal in blender 2 seconds and add to egg whites. Stir in remaining ingredients, then fold in fruit. Cook on a teflon or a cast iron griddle until golden brown. Makes three small Zone balanced pancakes that do not need butter or syrup.

Submitted By:
Pat H.

Generally, a "4 block" recipe means 4 balanced blocks of protein, carb and fat. Most of the time! It helps to be able to calculate it all out, and you can do that by using the food block guide. It is also helpful to do this if you want to make a substitution.

Lisa,

By "3 blocks" at the top of the ingredient list it means that the recipe will include 3 blocks of Protein, Fats, and Carbohydrates - or -


about 5g of Fats, 21 grams of protein and 27 grams of Carbohydrates.

E.Wally

Slight correction to E. Wally's numbers. 3 fully balanced Zone blocks woudl contain about 21 grams protien, 27 grams carbohydrate and 9 grams fat (not 5).

The recipe posted in this thread doesn't contain enough fat for Zone balance. It would be balanced with the addition of another 6 grams of fat (4 blocks).

Thank you all so much for your replies. I have been feeling great since I started about a week ago and am getting the hang of the blocks. I had been suffering from bouts of hypoglemia every couple days. I am 43 years old but last year had a surgical procedure called a whipple that removed the head of my pancreas (due to an extremely rare type of cancer called Zollenger Ellison). After the surgery, I endured six very rough months of chemotherapy. I did so poorly on the chemo that the doctor took me off for a month for a rest. Miraculously (praise be to God) after the break, I got better. Each time I have gone back, things have gotten better without further cancer treatment. I feel wonderful again but have been trying to learn to eat healthy and not tax my pancreas. This plan seems like a perfect fit.

Thanks again for your help.

Lisa:)

You're welcome Lisa!

Congrats on the great news about your recovery! I'm a cancer survivor, too and on July 1 celebrated 6 years of being cancer free.

You're welcome Lisa!

Congrats on the great news about your recovery! I'm a cancer survivor, too and on July 1 celebrated 6 years of being cancer free.

Thanks Sue and congratulations to you too. No one can quite understand what that feels like unless you've been there too.:)

Thanks Lisa! Yes, it's quite a big deal, both physically and emotionally. I'm glad I had the Zone to help get me through it.

Hi Sue,

I was reading this post because...well, you know how I am. Anyway, according to the fat in the block list in the quick start guide, 1 fat of block = 1.5grams. So I have been using 4.5g of fat in my 3 block meals. Did I miss something???

[quote]Posted By Sue on 07/07/2008 7:30 AM

Slight correction to E. Wally's numbers. 3 fully balanced Zone blocks woudl contain about 21 grams protien, 27 grams carbohydrate and 9 grams fat (not 5).

The recipe posted in this thread doesn't contain enough fat for Zone balance. It would be balanced with the addition of another 6 grams of fat (4 blocks). [/quote]

Yes Lisa, you missed something.

The following is fully explained in Zone books. One completely balanced block of P, C, and F contains 7 grams of protein, 9 grams of insulin stimulating carb (that's total carb minus total fiber), and 3 grams of fat. Dr. Sears designed the block method to give people an easy and exacting way to compose a balanced Zone meal without having to count grams. In other words, he did all the work for you. Since we choose low fat protien sources for the Zone, most of them contain approximately 1.5 grams of fat to every 7 grams of protein, or approximately half of the 3 grams of fat that are needed for Zone balance. For this reason he designed the added monounsaturated fat blocks so that each contains the other half of the fat needed to balance (another 1.5 grams). The fat in the protein source (1.5 grams, also referred to as the "hidden fat") added to the fat in the fat block (1.5 grams) yields the total amount of fat (3 grams) needed for Zone balance. (1.5 + 1.5 = 3) 9 grams of fat is needed to balance a 3 block meal (3 grams x 3 completely balanced Zone blocks = 9 grams). 4.5 grams of these 9 grams come from the hidden fat in the 3 blocks of protein (1.5 grams X 3 = 4.5 grams); the other 4.5 grams of these 9 grams come from the fat blocks added to the meal (1.5 grams x 3 = 4.5 grams) 4.5 + 4.5 = 9. (I know you're a mathematician, but I want to be clear!). :)

If you choose a fat free protein source (e.g. a fat free dairy product, egg whites, protein powder, many soy "meats", etc.) you should double the number of added fat blocks for every block of this low fat protein source. Otherwise you don’t have enough fat to stay in the Zone. If you choose a protein source that already contains 3 grams per each protein block, you won't need to add fat blocks. The more important thing to remember is to add the missing fat (double fat blocks) when you choose a fat free or an extremely low fat protein source, because too little fat will prevent you from being in the Zone. Too little fat means less than a total of 3 grams for each balanced P, C and F block. A little extra fat is ok because it will enhance your ability to control your blood sugar levels, which leads to better insulin control.

Simply choose 3P, 3C and 3F. Then ask yourself if you have chosen a fat free protein source. If the answer is yes, then double the fat blocks to 6. (3P, 3C, 6F).

Hi Sue,

Alright...now I feel better. When I was reading your post to the other Lisa, I thought that you meant we were supposed to be ADDING 9g of fat to the P and C. When I read that I nearly went off the deep end died because I thought...here I go again!!!

So it turns out (for once) that I AM putting in the correct grams of fat because most of my protein contains the remaining fat to balance the meal (I have been reading labels more...it seems to be easier).

Also, for the past few days I have been using your idea to add a block of carb to my meals (minus snacks) and I have been feeling much better. The scale showed I dropped to 115lbs this morning. I mentioned that have have a bit of fat in some places that I'd like to get rid of so I am not really relying on the scale to go down. I just am desperate to stay in the zone because it helps my foot and will improve my overall health.

Thanks again!!!
Lisa:crazy:

You're welcome! Just curious, if you don't mind posting it, what is your LBM?

I'm surprised you feel better with the additional carb block because when you ate Linda's meal, making it with 2P, 3C, you got hungry. Maybe that was more due to you trying to go too long on a 2 P meal, regardles of the amount of C you had in it.

Hi Sue,

My LBM is 100.98 according to the calculator on this site with 15.85% body fat. With respect to the body fat, I say that there is NO WAY! Its true that I dont have that much fat on me, but my thights,butt and hips DEFINETLY some improvement.

In fact, I had my body fat measured at the gym just about 2 or 3 weeks ago and I was at 24.3% body fat according to them. So who knows?

Thanks for the LBM info. I think the calculator may be rounding your weight up. Did you happen to notice? That might be a slightly skewed LBM and body fat% resulting on the calculator. Just to clarify, I was curious to know the amount because I was mulling over some things in my mind about your hunger with that meal you ate several times last week. I wasn't asking in regard any analysis of your body fat %. :)

Hi Sue,

Sorry...didn't know if you needed all the info or not. So...what are you thinking about? Now I am the curious one :)

Lisa,

A bit late in jumping in, but I wanted to extend my congrats on your recovery from pancreatic cancer! That is a tough one!

I have been quite busy lately, used to be much more active in this forum. But, I am dealing with several members of my family who have all seemed to receive a diagnosis of cancer.

First my dad's second wife was diagnosed late last year. She had cancer over 5 years ago (lung) and was diagnosed with a new tumor. She is trying an investigational treatment, as she did not want to go through more major surgery and chemo again. So, we are all behind her. Then, my dad just got diagnosed with prostrate cancer. Seems early for him, and he should recover with treatment.

Then, most recently, my brother-in-law was just diagnosed with an inoperable and incurable bladder cancer. This really has caught us all off-guard, since he was really fairly healthy and only had some kind of nodule in his abdomen, which everyone thought was just some scar tissue. When they opened him up, they basically just took some biopsies and closed him back up again. He is only 45, married to my sister, and they have 2 children ages 8-10. My family (my kids are 11-8-5) are very close to them. So, we have been going through some tough times, some emotions, etc.

Cranberrycat:

So sorry to hear about all your family members. I will definitely add them to my prayer list. Tell your brother in law not to give up hope. The doctors tend to tell worst case scenarios but they are not the final authority-God is. I have two children also-both boys(ages 13 and 18). My 13 year old had a really tough time with me being sick but is so thrilled now to have me healthy again. I would love to tell you the story of my healing so you could pass it along to him to give him hope. My email address is ljaap64@aol.com. Feel free to email me anytime you have a chance.

I have read several of your postings on the Zone Forum. How nice of you to spend time helping others while you have all this going on your family. How long have you been following the Zone diet?

[quote]Posted By Lisa on 07/13/2008 3:54 PM

Hi Sue,

Sorry...didn't know if you needed all the info or not. So...what are you thinking about? Now I am the curious one :)[/quote]

I missed this the other day. Sorry! I was trying to put together all the possibilities of why you might be hungry with that 2 block meal, and it would have been helpful to know your LBM. But that's beside the point now, because since then I realized the calc. might be rounding your weight of 115 up to 120 (if I'm remembering correctly it won't go lower than 120 pounds). That probably explains why the body fat % result differs so much from the body fat% result from when you were measured. It's not an issue because you'll most likely still be at the minimum of 11 blocks.

Lisa,
Thank you for your touching post, and for the prayers. I am definitely looking to God on this one. So far, there hasn't been any other good treatment options offered to him, just palliative.

The circumstances behind his cancer diagnosis were all very strange to me, especially as a professional in the health care industry. So, as strangely as it came on, I hope and pray that God can send us a miracle!

I find that the forums are like an outlet for me. As a nurse, I think that it comes naturally for me to want to help others. And, I have always had an interest in nutrition. I have been zoning for about 4 years.

Look for my email, I will certainly send one to you.