I know that you are suppose to keep unfavorable carbs to 25% of your carb intake per meal, but how do you do that when eating a 3 block meal? If you do end up eating more than 25% of your carbs in the form of unfavorable carbs, do you basically go out of the zone? Thanks!!

Kerry, don't worry, it is a "guideline".

You would not want to do it consistently, but we all have varying ways in which we handle unfavorable carbs. So, if you do go a bit over (say for instance you use one block unfavorable carb), I don't really think it will be a huge issue, unless you are carb sensitive. If that is the case, then using unfavorable carb could be an issue no matter how much or how little you use.

I think I would just "gram it", just make sure that your unfavorable portion is 7 grams of carb or less, to keep it under 25% in a 3 block meal. Or, if you count blocks and not grams, then you could just estimate and go more than 1/2 block, but less than a block.

Hi Kerry!

A good rule of thumb is to go with no more than 1/2 block of unfav in a 3 block meal. For the Zone, the lower your insulin level the better (the ideal insulin level is under 5 on the fasting insulin blood test). To achieve the lowest insulin levels, the lower your GL in a meal the better as long as you aren't hungry at 4 hours after the meal.

Sue, that is exactly what I do. I figure that is as close to 25% as I can get. Besides that, it means I get to enjoy the other half for a second meal. I'm all for that! LOL!

hmm, I haven't got there yet...I put in an unfavorable carb every other meal or snack just out of habit, or lack of imagination or to simplify. I see that I am going to have to lessen that amount. Like I had split pea soup for all my carbs in a lunch yesterday....seems innocent but hey....I'm getting it.

You're doing great janet! Keep reading here and in Zone books and you'll learn lots of helpful tips.

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Sue on 01/14/2009 10:16 AM

Hi Kerry!

To keep it simple, a good rule of thumb is to go with no more than 1/2 block of unfav in a 3 block meal. For the Zone, the lower your insulin level the better (the ideal insulin level is under 5 on the fasting insulin blood test). To achieve the lowest insulin levels, the lower your GL in a meal the better as long as you aren't hungry at 4 hours after the meal.</div>
------------------------------------------------------------------
But, Sue, if Kerry can only eat 1/2 block of unfavorable carb in a meal, you are cheating her out of her due portion!

1/2 of a block in a 3 block meal is only 1/6.

Not that we are to encourage it, but the Zone guidelines state no more than 25%. The less, the better. But, if someone is going to add an unfavorable carb to a meal, a one block portion is really a pretty small portion, let alone 1/2 of that.

BTW, Sue, is that how you do it when you eat Zone pasta? Just wondering. 1/6 of 3 blocks of pasta is only 1/3 oz. Not much pasta to put on your plate!

CC, Maybe a way to balance it would be to eat a half of a block of unfavorable carbs, and the go heavy on one of the other favorable blocks?? (I think I'm starting to get it!)

Sue, what I'm wondering is if I eat 1/2 a zone bar as a snack, aren't all my carbs coming from unfavorable carbs??

Hi Kerry!

Barry Sears designed his bars as a functional food with the specific intent to control insulin levels, and test results demonstrate that the bars do so. He holds a US Patent(s) on the bars in regard to this. You don't need to have concern about eating those carbs in the context of a Dr Sears Zone bar.

Geez, this computer is really running slow today!

Kerry, first I must just let you know that I was poking fun at Sue's advice regarding how to easily divide the blocks up for allotment of the unfavorable carbs. Her method only allows for 1/6 of the meal to have unfavorable carb. While that IS optimal, I was wondering why Sue felt that my method was so confusing!

I think that you could either choose to do 1/2-1 block of unfavorable carb. In fact, there was a section in "Zone Meals in Seconds" in which Lynn Sears basically advised to not go over 1 block unfavorable carb in a 3 block meal. Obviously, this is a bit over what Barry says, but really it is all about making it easy.

The more unfavorable carbs that you add to a meal, the more likely you will go out of the Zone ( I think that this is really the question that you were asking in your original post). Some people can tolerate up to 25% unfavorable carb, and some (like me) would not be able to tolerate that much unfavorable carb in a meal. Some people can even tolerate more than that, but generally not consistently.

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Cranberrycat on 01/15/2009 5:22 PM



Kerry, first I must just let you know that I was poking fun at Sue's advice regarding how to easily divide the blocks up for allotment of the unfavorable carbs. Her method only allows for 1/6 of the meal to have unfavorable carb. While that IS optimal, I was wondering why Sue felt that my method was so confusing!

</div>

To clarify, I don't think anything is confusing.

Well, I could have swore that you wrote in your original post that your method was easier and less confusing for zoners. But, either I imagined it, or else this is another case of posts that are being edited and threads being altered.

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Cranberrycat on 01/15/2009 8:23 PM

Well, I could have swore that you wrote in your original post that your method was easier and less confusing for zoners. But, either I imagined it, or else this is another case of posts that are being edited and threads being altered. </div>

No, I did not write that, nor did I make any comment regarding the info you posted, Cran.

whatever!