Hi all,

I just picked up the book yesterday due to a recommendation from a friend. My goal is to drop excess fat while maintaining my strength.

I train 3x per week, very intensely. My regime includes squats, deadlifts, benchpressing and overhead pressing, in the 1-5 rep range anywhere from 75-95% of my 1 rep max.

I figured I need 22-24 blocks per day. I carry most of my excess weight in abdominal area as my arms/legs are relatively lean. will probably do 3 x 6 block meals and 2 x 2 block snacks.

few questions about meal timing since I wake up at 7am, and train around 7pm.

Should I eat breakfast upon waking up, or is waiting an hour ok?

Should I consume a snack an hour before training? Sears recommends not going 5 hours between food, so eating a snack around 6pm will be very close to that 5 hour mark depending on when i eat breakfast.

Will my 3rd meal of the day (dinner) suffice as good post work out fuel?

Thanks all!

Hi!

Waitign an hour is OK. I

It would be fine to eat a snack one hour prior to training.

Yes, dinner will be fine post workout.

You may find 6 block meals a bit daunting in volume. The 3 meal and 2 snack a day plan is a suggestion only. You can arrange your blocks to eat more frequently during the day as long as you do so according to the Basic Zone Rules found in the Quick Start Guide link at the right of this page.

THANKS SUE!!!

my first day went ok. I need to go food shopping though because my protein sources and carb sources were probably unfavorable (turkey sausages, bread/waffles). But I limited my quantities accordingly.

I may have to retake my measurements as i'm 1.5lbs less than yesterday morning. I'm going to assume it's due to bloating from what was a staple in my food intake prior to this, oatmeal.

I have one more question relating to the caloric content of the foods within the blocks.

If the diet is based on 40/30/30 % of carbs/proteins/fats, and if carbs&proteins contain 4 calories per gram and fat contains 9 calories per gram, I do not see how each meal follows this 40/30/30 split given that 1 block of c/p/f has 9/7/1.5 grams.

Following the above, the caloric split % is more like 46/36/18 c/p/f.

You're welcome!

Sounds like you're making a great start! The 1.5 pound difference will not significantly change your calculator results.

Each Zone balanced block of P, C and F contains 3 fat grams, 1.5 g in the F block and another 1.5 g hidden in the low fat P block.

Also 40/30/30 is just a way to roughly describe the midpoint of the Zone (the mid point being a P/C of about .75) The actual range of P/C acceptable for the Zone is .6 to 1.