As I've said before in some of my previous posts - I had been in the Zone for about 4 years, and managed to slowly get out of it during my time in college.

Sometime last year I decided that I wanted to start eating healthier, but felt I wasn't totally ready to get back to the Zone just yet...So I had been tracking my food to make sure I stuck around 1200 calories per day.

Well I am still in the habit of tracking what I've been eating, and I noticed yesterday that I was only at about 1,100 calories and my food tracker gave me a warning that I was under 1,200 and stated that I should be consuming at least that per day.

I don't really remember calories being addressed at all in the Zone, so I am going to assume that I should only worry about my blocks and forget about the warning that my calorie tracker is speaking of <img src='desktopmodules/ntforums/images/emoticons/wink.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='Wink' align='absmiddle'>

Is this a good assumption?

Just for an example, yesterday's food was:
Breakfast
Whey Protein Shake w/ 1% Milk (1C, 3P, 1F)
Raw & Unsalted Premium Nut Mix (2F)
A fruit, or veggie that I don't remember? ha ha (2C)

Snack
Thinly Sliced Turkey Breast Meat with Garlic Hummus and Lettuce (1P, .5C, 1F)
4 Cherries (.5C)

Lunch
3oz Albacore Tuna with Olive Oil Mayo and Celery (3P, 2F)
1/2 of Small Multigrain Pita (2C, 1F)
1 Clementine (1C)

Dinner
Whey Protein Shake with 1% Milk (1C, 3P, 1F)
Roma Tomatoes (1C)
Red Seedless Grapes (1C)
Almonds (2F)

Snack
All Blended Together (1C, 1P, 1F):
Lowfat Kefir
PB
Banana
Zone Protein Powder

Yes Jennifer, very good assumption on you part (the calorie warning).

Looks good.

A few tips:

1. Be careful to replace any missing fat when you choose a fat free protein (see ** below)

2. Try to get more veggies into your day

3. You'll be better off replacing the pita with favorable carbohydrate.


Keep up the good job!




**Here’s Dr. Sears explanation of fat blocks (taken from MASTERING THE ZONE, page 292 and 293).

“Why is a fat block only 1.5 grams?

Every block of low-fat protein contains approximately 1.5 grams of “hidden fat”. Therefore, by adding one extra fat block (which is defined as 1.5 grams of fat) for each block of low-fat protein, you are actually consuming 3 grams of fat or two blocks (one internal in the protein and one external) for each protein block. If you are using fat-free protein sources, such as isolated protein powders, then you should be adding two blocks of fat to achieve the same ratio. Obviously, if you are eating higher fat protein choices, you would not be adding any extra fat blocks to your meal. Remember that every time you add additional fat blocks to a meal, they should be composed primarily of monounsaturated fat.”

Common fat free proteins eaten on the Zone diet are egg whites, protein powder, fat free dairy products, some deli-style meats, and some soy products.