I am new to the zone .. just finished my first day.. I am confused about 2 things.. well more then two.. but 2 big things..

number one.. I have the 7 day meal plan guide.. do I do the 3 meals outlined there (which include fruit for dessert) and then 2 snacks as well?

Also I am not allowed dairy or Gluten.. I usually eat Soy cheese.. can I sub 1 block of normal cheese for one block of Soy cheese?

Thanks so much!

Tammy, welcome!

Yes, you can have the 3 meals and then add 2 snacks. Even better, you should enter your stats into the bodyfat calculator at the right, to make sure you are getting adequate protein.

I am not familiar with soy cheese, so I would suggest studying the food label for the nutrition info. If it is primarily a protein, then you could use it in place of normal cheese. But, if it has a fair amount of carb content, then you would have to adjust the other carbs in the meal.

Hi Tammy!

The soy cheese I use, Trader Joe's "Soy Cheese Alternative Mozzarella Flavor", substitutes equally for regular cheese (1 oz = 1P block).

My cheese is Earth Island Cheddar Flavor.

calories 50
fat 4.5
saturated fat .5
trans fat 0
cholestoral 0
sodium 220
carbohydrates 2
fibre 2
sugar 0
protein 2

Can I sub this?

Looks like you can sub it, but be careful of the fat. In order to get a block's worth of protein, you would be consuming over 3 block's worth of fat.

Hi Tammy,

I would look for a different soy cheese that contains more protein. The portion of that cheese for which you gave the nutritional values contains 3F and not enough P or C to bother counting. Also, the fat it contains may or may not be a Zone favorable fat (check the ingredients on the label to be sure), so eating 3 or 4 times that amount of that cheese to get enough protein for one block would mean you’re eating 9 to 12 blocks of fat which would be too much fat, and might also not be a Zone friendly fat. All things considered, I'd say next time buy a different soy cheese. One ounce of the Trader Joe's soy cheese I mentioned contains 7 g P, 4 g F, and 2 g C. This compares almost equally to low fat dairy cheese, so it substitutes ounce for ounce. Also, the fat included in the ingredients that varitey of Trader Joe's cheese is Zone favorable (olive oil and canola oil). There are other brands similar to Trader Joe's, so it should be relatively easy to find one.

Thanks Sue.. I just can not seem to calculate things by reading labels.. is this something learned over time?

You're welcome Tammy!

Yes, the more you do it the easier it is. Since people usually eat/buy the same items you really only need to figure it out a couple times before you remember what it is. After the first few times you use a product, you instinctively know the amoutns to take. I find I think in blocks without even realizing it.

The info on using grams from a nutritional label is in Zone books. It's as follows.


Gram method of the Zone:

A 3 block meal contains 21 g protein, 27 g insulin stimulating carb (insulin stimulating carb = total carb minus total fiber), and 9 g fat.



Block method of the Zone:


1 P block = 7 grams of protein

1 C block = 9 grams of insulin stimulating carb (insulin stimulating carb = total carb minus total fiber)

1 F block = 1.5 grams fat

The block method takes into account that half (1.5 g) of the 3 grams fat needed for balance is hidden in your protein choice. The other half (another 1.5 g) is in the added fat block. For every block of fat free protein you eat you would add 1 extra monounsaturated fat block in order to get the full 3 grams of fat needed in every completely balanced block of P, C and F.

I am sure I will get it lol.. just worried about messing up and gaining weight instead of loosing fat and being healthy!

Hi Tammy!

Don't worry about messing up. We all do it! :-)

Soy cheese! Now that's a great idea!

Make sure to get the kinds of soy cheese that contains about 7 grams of protein to a block. Soya Kaas varieties are good, especially their fat free mozzarella flavor. It looks a bit different, but is really nice when melted.

Sue, what is the difference between the fat in soy cheese compared to the fat in the Gazebo? That's why I wrongly figured it to be ok. Do they do something to the soy oil?

Hi!

I don't recommend eating soy cheeses that have soy oil included in the ingredient list. I don't buy them myself. The only soy oil in the soy cheeses I buy is that which occurs naturally in the tofu they are made from. In case you're wondering why soy foods would be ok for the Zone at all, in light of the fact that they contain some omega 6 fat, most all Zone protein foods (meat, dairy, soy, etc.) contain some omega 6 fat. One important basic principle of the Zone diet is to avoid adding omega 6 fats to you foods (soy oil, safflower oil, sunfloweroil, corn oil, etc.). When you use a soy oil based dressing for the fat blocks in you meal, you're adding an omega 6 fat to your meal in place of the monounsaturated fat you should be adding. A salad dressing made from monounsaturated fat would be a much better choice.

The two cheeses I mentioned earlier in this thread are ones that I choose to eat specifically because they don't have soy oil added to the ingredients. Most other soy cheeses I've seen do have added soy oil, and, incidentally, the fat content goes way up with those varieties. Of those two that I prefer, Soya Kaas Fat Free Mozzarella contains no fat, and the fat added to Trader Joe's Mozzarella Alternative is olive oil and canola oil. Another good alternative is Almond Mozzarella Style by Lisanatti, which also has canola oil as an ingredient instead of soy oil. One ounce of it is 1P block containing 1 gram of fat. It tastes almost identical to Trader Joe's Mozzarella Alternative, even though that is soy based, and this one is almond based.

Oh, you know I will be going to Trader Joe's for lunch today. I keep finding things in my pantry that didn't get properly tossed on my first cabinet "cleansing." I have decided to use a small pantry in my kitchen as the Zone Zone. I think it will assist me in my meal planning. I won't have to read and re-read labels in my own kitchen. Thank you so much for your patient assistance.

You're welcome! Have fun with it!

Also, today I'm planning to reply to your menu revamping request in "Insulin Resistant" in the Health forum. I haven't forgotten it!