After our first ever try at Xcountry skiing (9 Jan), I went on a 5+ mile winter hike the next day. (Was supposed to be snow shoe, but snow was well packed at the park's trail, so we put on our shoe traction instead and hiked.) Yes, I felt it for almost a week. Xcountry skiing was a good work-out on my calves.

John, if you've never done it, a great winter hike, sort of in your neck of the woods, is the Tuckerman's Ravine trail on the back of MT Washington, starting from the AMC (hut, house, lodge...whatever it is). There’s no difficult terrain, just that it's mostly all ascent on the way up and all descent to get back. If not for the continuous ascent, it would likely be classified as one of the easiest trails. I know that many hear Tuck's and think of scary serious hiking, but it's not like that. You'll see people of all ages on it, kids to older senior citizens. On a later winter or early spring afternoon, you can easily make it up to the base of the bowl (there's also an AMC hut there), and back down before dark. The bowl is still filled with snow even in the end of April (at least it was when I was up there at that time of year). It's beautiful up there! Oh, almost forgot to say, always check the avalanche warnings before you drive all the way there for the day; it’s a serious avalanche area.

John, I didn't realize that was your first-ever experience with XC skiing! I guess I thought it might have been your wife's, though-lol!

My calves were fine, but my thighs are still feeling it. Much better today.

OK so I have another question!!!

Today I weighed myself and I had put on 5 pounds in a week! Only thing I have changed is my amount of blocks. Still going to the gym 6 x per week....

Rundown:
Last week I was:
Weight: 160
Height: 65
Abs: 32
Hips: 36

Active


Today I was:
Weight: 165
Height: 65
Abs: 32
Hips: 35.5

Active

This week has been the 1st week I have been having 13 blocks (zone suggests, 14 but I wanted to see if 13 was ok). I feel good on 13.

LBM seems to have gone up from 120.02 to 125.50.
Percentage Body Fat seems to have gone from 24.99 to 23.94

So I guess I shouldn't be concerned about the weight gain right??? (Although it is hard not to!! haha)

Any suggestions? Thoughts?

Thanks in advance!!!

Looks like water retention to me. I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks for that. !

Hi there,

Ok so I am meant to be on 14 blocks (Per the calculator) but I am just having 13 blocks for the last few weeks.
Here is my new stats

Weight: 160
Height: 65
Ab: 32
Hips: 34
LBM: 124.50

Any thoughts on if I should be on 14 blocks?
I really appreciate all the input. It makes it way better!

(PS - I lost 77 pounds in the first year of my zoning - 2005 and have stayed between 145 - 165 pounds since. I LOVE THE ZONE).

Well, to me it looks fine. You don't appear to be losing any LBM, and so I would recommend doing what you are doing. And, it appears as though you may have lost 5# of bodyfat--congrats!

I think that if you are feeling well in the Zone, no hunger issues and good energy, and you are not losing any LBM, then I think you can stick with 13 blocks. But, you should continue to track these stats over time, as you will be able to see more patterns develop over time.

Victoria, it would be better if you ate 14 blocks now.

The big changes in your stats during the first couple of weeks were mostly due to fluctuating amounts of fluid retention. You didn't actually gain 5 pounds of LBM in a week (1-15 to 1-25). Most likely you had about 125 pounds of LBM to start with (on 1-15). Barry Sears' suggestion is to recheck LBM after you've been in the Zone for a couple of weeks and use it as you baseline, because retained fluid from your previous eating plan skews your initial stats. The retained fluid is usually gone by the time you've been in the Zone for a couple of weeks. When you asked earlier in this thread about whether to try 13 or 14 blocks, you might remember I recommended 14 and I said you could try 13 if you want. I made that recommendation because, at that time, your LBM of 120 gave you an actual protein requirement between 13 and 14 blocks. Now, with your more realistic LBM of 125, your actual protein requirement is between 14 and 15 blocks.

Thanks for this. What I need to do is get my books out again and refresh myself with all this knowledge. It is really good having people to talk to though! So thanks to you both!

Victoria, you're welcome!

Remember, the "numbers" are relative and they are fairly accurate; however, they do not always represent reality. I really think you have to use your own "gut" feeling on whether to go up to 14 blocks, or to stick with 13 blocks. And, you would do this by judging your 4 hour meal satiety, and your overall sense of being in the Zone. As I suggested on my previous post, you should be experiencing good energy and mental focus. If you are feeling fine on 13 blocks, then stick with what you are doing; if you are having some issues, then you might want to consider the change.

Regarding your "LBM", this number represents basically all that is not fat. It represents all of the tissues AND the fluids in your body. Fat may hold a small amount of "water", but the majority of the water in your body is tied within the "LBM". That is why keeping track of your stats for a period of time will give you more of a "baseline average" of where you are at with regard to your LBM and fat.

You're welcome Victoria!

Congratulations on your Zone success! Losing 77 pounds and keeping it off is excellent.

I love the Zone too. It's changed my whole life. :-)