These questions are prompted by reading many of the Zone tip posts:

I bought the older book "Enter the Zone." I also purchased but have yet to receive "Master the Zone."

Can someone tell me where it is stated that the fat grams were adjusted or accommodated as you say? I find that in some parts, the book is a little unclear to me, and I just wanted to read from the horse's mouth where he tells that we get some good fat from protien sources meaning your fat blocks in each meal/snack are actually doubled (example: a 3 block meal is actually 9 grams of fat and not 4.5). (That evidence is not in Enter the Zone--at least I can't say I've found it).

Another question is where does he say to assume 50% body fat if the measurements are out of his scale range?

Lastly, for mixed protein/carb block items: When do we assume something is mixed. For example, in the Soy ZOne, he says soybeans (which I assume to be edamame) is a mixed block, but Trader Joe's edamame doesn't seem to fit this profile since it really only has 1 net carb and 3 grams over a block of protein (see below):

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size: 1/2 Cup edible portion
Calories 120
Total Fat 5g 8%
Saturated Fat 1g 5%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 10mg 0%
Potassium 485mg 14%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 7g 28%
Sugars 1g
Protein 10g

So the question here is (and I know we don't have to be totally exact on the macronutrients) what is a good rule of thumb for considering something a mixed protein. For example, if something has 7 g P but only 5 g C and 0 fiber (these are made up numbers), then whould it be considered a mixed block? Hope this makes sense--again, looking for a rule of thumb for how close to each macronutrient number we should be for considering something a block--within 2 grams either way, 1 gram, etc?

Thanks much for advice and asnwers on all of these questions.

Hi Amber,


For answers in "Mastering the Zone" (I happen to have that right book at hand at the moment) refer to the following:


fat blocks and amounts of fat, page 292-293

assuming 50% body fat, page 292

For mixed P/C foods, simply follow the food block lists. For soy foods follow the advice in "The Soy Zone". If your soy product has a label and contains 1/2 a block or more of C, I'd count the C. If less than 1/2 block C disregard it.

Thanks Sue, when the book gets to me, I will refer to those pages! Glad to know it's written somewhere.

As for the soy products, I was using the Soy zone but again the soy beans were counted as a mixed nutrient, however, the label of my product wasn't consistent with that. So, I'll use your advice of the half--block carb rule (over 4.5 carbs and I'll count it as a carb!)--that helps!

Another example is the soy hot dogs I purchase--under the block lists, Sears says count them as a mixed nutrient block, but again according to my product labels, they really are only a protein block.

Thank you--you're so wonderful with clearing up confusion!