Today is Day 1 of Zone eatting for me. I've followed the plan exactly for me - 3P, 3C, 3F per meal. I use an online tracker to track protien/carbs/fat/calories as well.

My question is this: Should I be concerned that it's showing 49% of my calories came from fat????? Even though the majority of that percentage is the "good" monounsaturated fat???

Other than that...my calorie intake is sufficient and I haven't felt hungry at all.
Please let me know.
Thanks

Hi Mary,

It's a very good sign that you haven't felt hungry.

If you are following Zone instructions correctly, 50% of your calories will not be from fat when 3P, 3C and 3 F per meal. I'd suggest to review your meals and compare them to Zone guidelines. If you'd like to post what you ate, I'll be happy to take a look.

A tip, it's not really going to be of help for you to use online trackers in the Zone, unless it's one designed specifically for use with the Zone Diet.

THanks Sue. It's the "FitDay" tracker...not made for Zone meals. But...here's what I ate.

Breakfast:3P: 1/2 C Eggbeaters + 1/2 oz. Reduced Fat Cheese
3C: 1/2 sl. Whole Wheat Bread + 1 tsp. sugar (for coffee)+ 1/2 C. grapes
3F: 2/3 tsp. olive oil + 2 tblsp. low fat half & half.

Lunch: 3P: 3 oz. Deli style Chicken Breast + 1 oz. Reduced Fat Cheese
3C: Large Tossed Green Salad (from book) + 1 Nectarine
3F: 1 tblsp Olive Oil & vinegar (dressing)

Dinner: 3P: 3oz ground Turkey + 1 oz. Reduced Fat Cheese
3C: 1 1/2 C. Green Beans + 1/2 C. Salsa + 1/2 oz. Tortilla chips
3F: 1 tsp. Butter

I ate dinner early because I have a yoga class tonight...that's why there's no 4pm snack noted. I'm planning the snack for when I get home from yoga.

FitDay tracks all the fat calories....so it counted a good amount of them in the ground turkey and the olive oil.
Let me know what you think and thanks again for your help. Like I said...it's only day one and I'm already confused.

I can help,

Breakfast: I see no problem with the amount of fat. There might be a few grams in the bread, which we don't assume in the zone.

Lunch: you probably went way over in the fat with this meal. Lets assume, for the sake of argument, that your chicken was fat free (most of them are close to it). You are still getting about 6g of fat from the lowfat cheese, and a tablespoon of olive oil is actually around 14 grams of fat. That puts you at 20g of fat for that meal, much more than you need. I would add a teaspoon, rather than a tablespoon. That will probably put you just a tad over, but much more reasonable.

Dinner: looks fine, there could be a bit of additional fat calculating in there because of the chips and perhaps a bit in the salsa. Ground turkey can vary in fat content, I would recommend checking the label of the brand that you are using. Mine is Jennie-o Turkey Store Extra Lean, and it is just that--very lean. If you have a turkey that is higher in fat, then I would not add the butter at all, and I would consider using all turkey and no cheese for your protein block

Overall, I hope that helps. I have other suggestions on how to tweak your meals, but since your question was not about that, I won't go there right now.

Thanks for your reply...
Lunch: Isn't 1 tbslp. of Olive Oil = to 3 fat blocks?

I thought by staying within the Prot./Carb/ & Fat blocks it keeps you in "the zone"...Do you also have to take into account the labels on various brands of low fat cheese/ground turkey/etc.? Like the Cheese has Protien & Fat...but in the book it's only counted as a Protein. The Deli Chicken may have some Fat but again...the book counts it in the Protein Block.
PS. That lunch was taken directly from the book!

You're welcome Mary. Looks good for your first day. A tip re your breakfast, bread and sugar in the same meal won't work well for the Zone. Your fat amounts look good enough, assuming the tablespoon of dressing was made with 1 teaspoon of olive oil (or contained about 4 or 5 grams fat). Remember to eat your bedtime snack too, in addition to the snack you switched to after yoga. (I practice yoga too, 2 classes a week, and on my own almost every day the rest of the week...love it!) Again, it's not always the most helpful to rely on an online tracker when doing the Zone diet. A better idea for keeping a food diary would be to use the Zone Success Journal in Quick Start Guide (link at right).

A block of olive oil is 1 teaspoon, not 1 tablespoon.

For the most part, you just need to be "close" not dead-on accurate. So, the book tries to make it easy. If you want to be closer, then reading labels will help you with that. I was just trying to show you why you were seeing differences in Fitday.

I think that the lunch with the "additional" fat is probably what led to the inaccuracy on Fitday.

I can't speak for the recipe, but maybe it was a typo?

Mary, I just re-read your post.

For your lunch, did you use 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon for your oil/vinegar dressing? I was assuming that you used too much, but after re-reading your post, then maybe you didn't.

I think using a tracker is a good idea. You can use Fitday or other trackers and change your goals so that your meals are 40/30/30. You will have to accept the fact that it isn't going to be perfect, but you can definitely pick up on errors that you didn't realize (like too much olive oil). I use a tracker, and it helped me to see an error that I made just this morning, when I used a whole egg (didn't realize how much fat is actually in one whole egg), along with adding fat to my meal. I ended up with too much fat in the meal, just as you did. However, I would not have caught that if I had not been using the tracker, as I wasn't LOOKING at the actual count of the fat in the egg (not listed on block list).

I use a tracker on www.myfitnesspal.com. I can enter my foods, along with comments on how my meals worked for me, and my exercise and water intake for the day.

Hi Mary,


For a better understanding, 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.

Thanks for the reply (s)...I think I see where my error was...
The book said 1 TABLESPOON of Olive Oil and Vinegar to taste dressing (for the salad). It uses that dressing discription several times so it can't be a typo (can it?).
Is it possible that what is meant is 1 TEASPOON of Olive oil and the rest vinegar...so that it equals a tablespoon of dressing?

Clearly, 1 TABLESPOON of olive oil would be 9 Fat blocks (1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons....1 teaspoon olive oil = 3 fat blocks) if I'm calculating that right. Yikes!

Well, today is day 2...I'll see how I do.
Mary

Mary, good the you found the discrepancy. Have fun with the Zone. :-)

You're welcome!

Mary, I just went to make the correction in my copy of A WEEK IN THE ZONE, and noticed something. Hopefully this info will be of help. My copy of the book says to use 1 tablespoon of "olive oil-and-vinegar dressing*". This following recipe for the dressing appears just below the recipe instructions: "* Zone olive oil-and-vinegar dressing contains 1 teaspoon olive oil and 2 teaspoons vinegar. Extra vinegar may be added to taste."

Hi, I didn`t want to open a new post for this question because is't more or less what you are talking about..
I started on monday with the zone diet, and I`m not sure about how to calculate olive oil.. The book says 1/3 teaspoon is 1 block so logically, 1 whole teaspoon would be 3 blocks.. The problem is I live in Spain and I was on the Spanish website of the zone diet (not some web that talks about it) and they talk about 1 block, 1 teaspoon olive oil.. I thought maybe it was a matter of language but I even put "teaspoon" on google images and it`s the same.. Of course for me the book has more credibility but on the spanish forum they insist on it being wrong..
Thank you for helping me out here..

Recheck the wording in the book. Either you misread or it is a typo.
1/3 "Tablespoon" = 1 "teaspoon" = 1 block.

This is incredible! It definitly says 1/3 teaspoon, the book is in Spanish so "cucharadita de té"! And not one time, several times and in recipies..
So the only time when I've been eating the right amount of fat has been at breakfast and snack, because 6 peanuts= 1 block or 3 almonds= 1 block is correct isn`t it!!?
Thanks for answering John..

Eva, they (Spain) could be referring to the 3 grams needed to balance one fully balanced Zone block of P, C and F (7 g protein , 9 g insulin stimulating carb and 3 g fat). 2/3 teaspoon will give you a 3 gram block of fat (I mention this becasue 2/3 is closer to the 1 teaspoon they are mentioning in Spain). The fat blocks we add when using the block system each contain 1.5 blocks, for the following reason. Half the 3 g fat needed for total balance of each block of P, C and F (half is 1.5 g fat) are in each protein block (meaning, the low fat Zone protein sources contain about 1.5 grams fat to every 7 grams protein). Together, the fat in the protein block plus the fat in the fat block provide the fat needed for each fully balanced block of P, C and F (1.5 + 1.5 = 3).

Ok, now I'm totally confused, in my book it says that one block fat should be about 1.5 gr...not 3, the amounts in protein and carbs are the same you are saying.. And then what I don't get is that they calculate it correctly for almonds and peanuts and not for olive oil..

Eva, the fat block we add should contain 1.5 g, because there are about 1.5 g fat "hiddden" in each low fat protein block, which together with the gives the total 3 g fat needed for Zone balance. For a better understanding read Dr. Sears' quoted explanation of fat blocks in my 01/27/2010 9:47 PM posting in this thread.

Eva, - it is simpler to understand that 3g fat are eaten with every 7g protein.
What Sue is saying is that there is always some Fat inherent in Lo-Fat Protein and therefore you only need to add an additional 1.5g fat to get to the 3g of Fat.
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It would have been much simpler if Dr. Sears defined 1 block of Fat as 3g - then we would not continually have this confusion. He defines 1 serving = 1 block of Protein as 7g. he should have defined 1 serving = 1 block of fat as 3g. But, in some of his books he did not.
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The problem with Dr. Sears saying that 1 block of fat is 1.5g is that folks then get more confused with a no-fat Protein.
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However, in the first book I read (not the one Sue quotes), he (Dr. Sears) made it clear that 3g of fat for 7g of protein for 9g of favorable Carbs is the staring point for a balanced snack/meal.
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Apparently, in some of his other books, in trying to clarify, it seems as if 1.5g of fat makes a full serving - when it is not. In trying to explain, and by his (confusing to some) explanation being quoted - it makes it seem harder than it really needs to be.
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I write technical training for software, and I teach Formal Writing to SAT prep HS students. I know Sue means well; but when she merely quotes by copying and pasting Dr. Sears specific writing from one of his books - it does not necessarily clarify it for some folks.
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Different audiences have different understanding types, and not all can understand the way Dr. sears wrote that one particular explanation.
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I hope this helps clear it up for you.

Ok...I thought I had this figured out.
1 block of fat = 1.5 grams (according to the book Mastering the Zone)...so at each meal I've been eatting the 3 Proteins (=21 gms/protein), 3 Carbs (=27gms/Carb) and 3 Fats (=4.5 gms/fat)
But based on John's explaination...it seems like I should be eatting 9 gms/fat per meal...is that right?

Also, John you mentioned in other posts about Jarrow Protein powder. I am looking for an unflavored protein powder (I'm getting sick of meat already!)...but on the Jarrow website it says for the Whey Protein...DO NOT use for weight reduction. What's up with that? Will it make me gain weight???
Any and all help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Mary

I had not seen that before about Jarrow; probably, because I order it from a vitamin shop web site.

OK...but does it make you GAIN weight?

And also....am I understanding that I should be eatting 9 gms of fat per meal? (To go with the 21 gms of Protien and 27 gms of Carbs per meal?)
Thanks.

I do not know about gaining weight. It does have BCAA's or something, that might be why?
I'll have to investigate.
YES, a 3 block meal consists of about 21g P, 9g F, & 27g Carbs.
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Note that you will tweak this after a while, as it is just the starting guide, and everyone is different.
The web site itself has resources to help, after you've got the hang of it.

Mary, I am just guessing, but maybe the warning on the Jarrow product is for those who may try to use that product exclusively for weight loss, like a weight loss shake?

Personally, I don't see why it can't be used as a protein supplement in a weight loss plan. Many people think of weight loss as just that. But, on the other hand, protein supplements are sometimes viewed as something used to build muscle, and this is more often associated with weight gain, rather than weight loss.

Again, just guessing.