Hello

I'm new to the Zone and was excited to find te tools on this website.

However,I'm a bit confused on the food block calculator. My numbers came up as 11:11:11.

Does that mean 11:11:11 per meal or for the whole day?

Thanks in advance. :-)

It is 11:11:11 for the entire day. Many people divide that up into 3 meals of 3 blocks each, and 2 snacks of 1 block each.

Just to be clear: each meal/snack is balanced to the same equal number of blocks each of P, C, & F. (That is until you tweak your own individual hormonal requirements.)

i am 130 pounds and 5 feet 6 inches waist 33 inches when i entered these figures in Zone Block caluclator my zone blocks are caluclated to be 9blocks.I found another Zone Block caluclator which showed me 12 blocks/day.when i gone through crossfit journal 21 i found that i am a small male so i needed to take 16 Zone Blocks I am happy with 16 Zone blocks than 12 Zone Blocks what do i need to do in this issue do i continue 16 blocks or stay on 12 blocks

Viay, 16 sounds like too many. What is your wrist measurement? (accoring to Zone instructions: "Measure your wrist (for men) at the space between your dominant hand and your wrist bone, at the location where your wrist bends." With that info, and the statistics you've already given us, I can calculate your protein and block requirements using the tables in Zone books.

Viay,

Definitely don't eat 9 blocks! THat is not enough for any adult.

I think you could probably settle in at an average of 14 blocks per day. You may be small, but your activity requirements may be higher. But, it might be fine to shoot for more, and if you find that you are not staying in the Zone, then drop it down. I would not shoot for less and then work yourself up. Eating less than what your body requires means that you may lose some LBM.

Make sure that you use the calculator on this site for "males", because that may be where the difference lies, if you didn't measure the right body part.

Thanks for the clarity.

Breaking 11:11:11 throughout the day seems more doable. Using that equation per meal was definitly a bit daunting.

John, you mentioned tweaking depending on your own hormone balance. Could the blocks be 14:11:11? Or did you mean that at some point I might decide that 14:14:14 or 12:12:12 works better for me?

Some folks find they might need additional fat, or some folks need to add a little more carbs to each block, or some folks need to eat less carbs for each block, or some folks find that fruit though favorable, is too high a Glycemic index to keep them in the zone. There are links on this web site to help you, once you've been on the zone for a while.

Ok, I will try again, sorry if it posts a 2nd time...I am very new to the Zone, and even though the scale shows I am doing okay, can someone help with the whole block thing. I find it might be easier to follow a grams of protein, carbs, fat ratio than blocks. Is 9grams Carbs, 7grams Protein, 1.5grams Fat for 1 block seem right to any of you? I use the list when I can but there are times when I will eat something not on the list and then I'm stuck. I tried reading past threads for this info, but spent so much time looking/reading I was getting dizzy! (Maybe it's time for my snack! Anyways, if you could point me to the right thread instead of taking the time to repeat, what I'm sure is out there somewhere, I would appreciate it. Unless, of course you don't mind typing!

You are correct except that you need 3g fat for every 7g Protein and 9g Carbs.
You might see adding additional 1.5g instead of 3g fat because most Proteins have some fat in them which you count. What you do not count is protein in grains (breads) which are unfavorable carbs, anyway. Soy is the exception. When Soy is the protein source, you count it.

Thanks, John! That is very helpful for me to know. I will keep that in mind when calculating.
Can anyone suggest some breakfast meals, I love the sound of smoothies, but can't quite stomach something cold in the early am, and there are only so many eggs I can eat! Oatmeal and a few pecans is fine but how do I get a protein, other than eggs?

Lisa, there are over 100 breakfast recipes in the Tools tab.

Great! Thanks,Sue! I will surely find something I will like!

Lisa, I like mixing chocolate protein powder into my oatmeal, along with peanut butter. This is truly a "stick to your ribs" breakfast!

Thanks CC, I might have to try that. I will have to get some choc. protein powder first. I use soy protein, not very fond of the whey taste, but I am hypothyroid so I try to limit the soy when possible. Do you have a brand you like? Is it whey or soy?

Lisa, you can also simply add a spoonful of cocoa powder along wth your current protein powder. The small amount of cocoa powder usually contains minimal amounts of fat and insulin stimulating carbohydrate, so there's no need to count it. Everyone at my house likes Dr. Sears Zone Protein Powder the best of all the many types and brands we've tried.

BTW, I have hypothyroidism too.

Oh, that's a good idea, Sue. Thanks. I will try it that way, until I can get the choc. protein. Is the Dr. Sears brand soy or whey? Do you feel any difference if you eat more soy, as far as your hypothroidism? I'm not sure I have, but reading all the info about it, says to avoid alot of soy.

Lisa, you can either mix in some cocoa powder into your protein powder, or you could consider purchasing an egg white protein powder. Then, you are getting neither the whey nor the soy! Jay Robb makes an egg white protein powder (both chocolate and vanilla), I usually see it at Whole Foods Market.

Thanks, CC. I've never heard of it. We don't have a Whole Foods around here, but I will check it out online and see if any of the local stores here carries it.

You're welcome Lisa!



Re "Is the Dr. Sears brand soy or whey?"

Whey and milk, you can read all about it (including ingredients) on this website (go to the SHOP tab).



Re "Do you feel any difference if you eat more soy, as far as your hypothroidism?"

Nope, no difference. I asked my endocrinologis about it. He teaches at Yale University in CT, which is known for it's ontstanding thyrioid center, and he specializes in thyroid disease, diabetes and bone density. In his practice he combines nutritional interventions with traditional medicine and complimentary alternative medicine. His reply was not to have concern about eating soy, and that if anytihg I ate were to make a difference, my thyroid levels are already being addressed by my medication anyway (I take Levoxyl, which is a brand name for levothyroxine).

Also, Jay Robb's Egg White Protein Powder is one of the ones we used to eat at our house a number of years ago, before Zone Labs came out with their's. Dr. Sears Zone protein powder tastes so much better than Jay Robb's (no comparison in flavor!), and it mixes into food much easier, too.

I have never had an issue with regard to how Jay Robbs mixes in to food...

I used to use it all the time, not even sure why I gravitated away from it. I wanted to find a brand that had the least amount of ingredients. The Zone's protein powder has a lot of stuff on the label, things people can't even pronounce. And, that is one guideline that I try to stick with, eat only what I can pronounce!

Hi Zoners!

If you look ingredients in Dr. Sears Zone Protein Powder, you'll see the big words listed are the vitamins in the vitamin blend it contains (to view all the ingredients, go to the SHOP tab and click on the details and ingredients link next to the product photo).

Sue: Good to know about the soy and thyroid issues, thanks. Unfortunately, my endocrinologist left the area and my primary doc is the only one to question now. He's great, but I can tell he is just repeating the same things I have read with only about as much knowledge on it as me. Anyways, I'm sensitive to milk, although I seem to do ok with cheeses, and I'm just not fond of how Whey protein tastes. I will check out the Dr. Sears brands and see if they have small/trial sizes. If I don't like it I'm sure my husband will use it up! Thanks, again

CC: I agree with your philosophy! If I can’t spell it, I don’t want to eat it! :0 Except for veggies, that is: zucch….asparg…aruga…! Maybe I’m just not a good speller! lol

LOL! I don't make it mandatory to spell, but I should have a fairly good idea on what it is without having to look up words on the internet.

Sue FYI, Most of my other protein sources come with the vitamins that they are intended to have. Also, same with my veggies. I think it is quite redundant to put more vitamins into a protein powder. Vitamins are best absorbed in the body when they are consumed from the source. Those who worry that they are not getting enough vitamins from their food take supplements for that. But, thanks for the info.