I'm 5'4/5'5 and 119lbs (female). According to Zone, I should be on 11 blocks (or 12 blocks with daily exercise). From what I have read, 11 or 12 blocks is somewhere in the range of 1100-1300 calories. That is WAY too low for my 3x per week Rippetoe SS program (burning 400+ calories in an hour) and my 3-4x per week running program (4-10 miles per week). I am looking to really build muscle.

From what I've read on here, I should be adding GOMAD to this (in addition to Zone) but I cannot handle dairy very well (it makes me sick, although I am not lactose intolerant but my mom and sister are). How many Zone blocks should I be adding to sustain my physical activity? I am an "ectomorph" bodytype (generally) and I would burn all muscle and get sickly on 1100-1300 calories with that amount of exercise.

Thanks

Hi ali!

Use the Zone Calculator (link at right) to determine your protein and block requirement.

Olympic athletes who are in the Zone have won many gold medals. It will work well for you, too once you know how to tailor it to you needs. It's not all about the number of calories alone, but more importantly what macronutrients those calories are composed of. As an athlete in the Zone, you should be eating your appropriate protein requirement, balanced with the amount of C to keep you in the Zone, and adding extra monounsaturated fat to provide for our increased energy needs. You'll be amazed at the improvement in your performance once you are solidly in the Zone and are supporting your individual needs appropriately.

I'd highly suggest you do some reading (a ZONE book or two; TOXIC FAT would be an excellent choice to start with). The following info, and the addresses I've listed after it, should also help to give you a better understanding:


To quote Barry Sears (pg. 104, The Anti-Inflammation Zone”), “One of the more difficult concepts to get across to athletes, coaches, dieticians, and physicians is the differences between burning calories and producing ATP from calories. ATP is the chemical that is required not only for muscle contraction, but also for virtually all of our metabolism. ATP is made on an as-needed basis from either glucose of fat. Your production of ATP is far greater from a calorie of fat than from a calorie of glucose. In the Anti-Inflammation Zone you are primarily burning fat for ATP production as opposed to glucose. This means you are also making all the ATP you need, even though fewer calories are being expended. This is why diabetics, world-class athletes, or just plain normal people require fat fewer calories on the Zone Diet than calculated from the usual metabolic equations. It is because they are producing more ATP from less calories.”



http://www.zonediet.com/FITNESS/Eli...fault.aspx



Fuel your Body for Optimal Performance
Mary Dinehart-Perry MS, RD, LDN
http://usatriathlon.org/content/index/6549





Eating in “The Zone”
Bob Seebohar, , MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, sport dietitian for the USA Olympic Triathlon Team
http://www.zonediet.com/Portals/0/p...heZone.pdf



Recovery, Recovery, Recovery
Dr. Kevin F. Reichlin, CCSP, Garmin/Chipotle Pro-Cycling Team.
http://www.zonediet.com/Portals/0/p...covery.pdf




Diet Tips to Aid Recovery – An inside look at the Garmin Pro Cycling Team nutrition program
From “Cycling Magazine UK” April 9, 2009
http://www.zonediet.com/FITNESS/Eli...fault.aspx




The Natural Anti-Inflammatory Drug
Dr. Barry Sears
http://usatriathlon.org/content/index/6216




Balancing Elite Nutrition, Training and Performance
Justin Trolle, Head Coach fro Athlete Development with USA Triathlon
http://www.zonediet.com/LinkClick.a...&tabid=182

Hi Ali,
I've also recently begun Rip's SS program, but I don't run as much as you. I am doing Tennis 6 days a week for 2-3 hours but teaching it, so not running around like a madman. So far I've kept to my block requirement and not needed anything extra. I calculate my block intake weekly because fat is dropping, Muscle is increasing, and activity levels vary, so an extra block here or there might be necessary. Depending on the activity level of the day I add 2X or 3X fat for the quick energy resource. Calculate your protein to the gram, because this is what your muscles need to recover. If you take less protein your muscle breaks down and you end up weaker than before (happened to me a few years ago). This also goes for rest. If you don't get enough rest (recovery) you won't be able to progress in SS as Rip says, and your running and other activities will suffer too. And don't forget that sleep. 8 hours minimum.

If you are strict at the beginning you will gather the necessary info for later on without having to weigh everything or rack your brains for what to do.

Good luck with SS!! It's a great program <img src='desktopmodules/ntforums/images/emoticons/smile.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='Smile' align='absmiddle'>


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