Sue,where do you live in CT?

I had a genuine question and sincerity at trying to understand.
Thanks for clearing up that they're not related; however, you haven't addressed the issue nor answered the question, please. You made a statement concerning 2% VS 1% or no-fat and it would help me and most likely others, if you were to actually address it.

I am confused again based on the answer about milk. If I don't need to worry about the block ratio, do I need to make sure I am adding a serving of fat to each meal. What if I just added veggies to my meal, is that okay.

Also, I saw tomato sauce in a recipe but don't see that on the list. Is that a serving of veggies?

Mari,

Did anyone post a response to your question? I didn't see it but I may have missed it.

kimberly,

"Sue,where do you live in CT?"

Vernon

BTW, I replied to Mari's qn tje other day, a few hours after she asked it.

Debi,


"do I need to make sure I am adding a serving of fat to each meal."

Not really



"What if I just added veggies to my meal, is that okay."

Yes



"Also, I saw tomato sauce in a recipe but don't see that on the list. Is that a serving of veggies?"

Yes

I am asking where in CT because I grew up in Oxford and still have family there and in Cheshire. I moved to Florida 9 years ago.

I will have to look for your answer. I didn't see it earlier.

Hi Everyone,

Here's the reply to Mari that some of you have been asking about today. It's my 2-11-10, 3:08 PM posting in this thread.





Hi Mari,




"Sue, I noticed that most of your meals are now vegetarian."

Good observation. Yes they are. I don't add much protein to my ZoneFast meals because with added protein comes unnecessary calories, AA, and omega 6. Limiting these will enable me to further lower inflammation. Inflammation lowering is of great importance to me because I am a cancer survivor and I also have a strong family history of Alzheimer's Disease (my dad, his mom, and all of his siblings). Cancer and Alzheimer's are both inflammatory conditions. The best way to prevent Alzheimer's is caloric restriction. That's the goal of using these Zone foods.




"Can a block of protein be added to say, a bagel for breakfast."

Up to 1 oz of lean meat or 2 egg whites (no yolks) can be added to a ZoneFast meal (refer to the protein section of the "Zone Living Easy as 1-2-3" pamphlet and the Grocery Additions page of this site).




"I do like my turkey bacon, or intead of bacon, a cup of 2% milk for the extra fat?"

I would consider bacon to be the meat added to a meal, and milk to be the one optional dairy serving for the day, if you keep the milk to about 6 oz. as the example shows.




"Also, say, if I were to have only one cookie for a snack, can a string cheese be added? Just curious. Couldn't find anything about this in the literature included."


String cheese would be the one optional dairy serving for the day, if you keep it no more than 1 oz. (refer to the Dairy section of the literature and website page I mentioned).

Sue, with your knowledge of the ZoneFast program, maybe you can answer this one for me.

If a stick of string cheese is a protein block in the traditional zone, then why is it a dairy on the Zonefast plan? The nutritional values are not close. I see the same thing happens with cottage cheese, although with cottage cheese there is much less fat and a bit more carb, so maybe some similarities. Still, if these things are considered protein blocks in the traditional zone, why do they count as dairy in the ZoneFast plan?

Doesn't make sense, because if you exchange milk for string cheese, this is not an equal exchange.

Still confused about whether balance is important or not, I guess!

Cran, are you carb sensitive with cottage cheese?

Hi!

Today I met friends for lunch at Burtons Grill. Burtons is a very small chain of restaurants in CT, MA and VA. They’re known for the freshness of their food and for supporting local growers. They also have and extensive separate gluten-free menu (one of the friends I ate lunch with is gluten-free). You can read more about it here: http://www.burtonsgrill.com/index.html

I had the Marinated Mediterranean Salad. It was a mountain of salad consisting of chopped lettuce that had been tossed with marinated baby grape tomatoes, yellow pepper, red onion, red pepper feta, several types of olives, etc (they appeared to be marinated in olive oil and vinegar), and an oregano, olive oil and vinegar dressing. Absolutely out of this world! It contained approximately 1 fully balanced Zone block with a little extra fat, even though it more than filled an entire large serving plate. For those who are wondering how I fit this into my Zone fast day, I treated it as an additional snack in my day.



Here’s today’s journal entry


Fri. 2.12.10


B: Zone peanut butter granola topped with a little WestSoy Chocolate Unsweetened Soy Milk and some blackberries

walk

S: 1/2 recipe Orzo with squash (leftover from yesterday), it’s a ZoneFast recipe.

Lunch: at Burtons Grill, the Marinated Mediterranean Salad

S: 1 Zone brownie

Dinner: ½ package Fusilli with broccoli a little sun dried tomato, olive oil and S&P

Vestibular PT exercises

Yoga

S: 2 Zone Heath Bar Toffee Cookies

I used to think so, but I don't think I am anymore (hope that makes sense).

Depends on whether I use one block vs. 3 blocks at a time. If I use 3 blocks, then the additional carb seems to contribute to my carb sensitivity. But, smaller amounts don't seem to trigger a problem. I have been using cottage cheese with blueberries and almonds as a snack and generally do pretty well with it, but if I turn it into a meal, I could almost guarantee that it probably won't work for me.

John, I have no doubt of the sincerity of your questions. It appears to me the questions took a simple statement of mine and ran with it in a direction I had not taken it, making them hypothetical in my mind. I simply don't have time to address all of the hypothetical questions here.

In regards to my comment about changing the plan, something I had mentioned previously, in my mind it's simple. Examples exist on the Grocery Additions page of this site, and among them is listed 2% milk. I consider using skim milk to be changing it. This is a simple statement abotu keeping the plan the same or changing it. It is not comment on which types of fats are preferable for the Zone or whether or not it's acceptable to make changes to plan.

Have a good weekend and enjoy the dinner you have planned at the nice restaurant! :-)

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Debi on 02/12/2010 8:46 AM

In the Grocery Additions under Dairy it lists 2% milk. Is there a reason you can't use skim milk.</div>

Debi,
You asked a good question waaaay back there.

I see no reason why you can't use skim milk in the ZoneFast plan. Of course, knowing that you are missing fat by using skim milk, you would merely replace the missing fat with another fat, such as almonds, which is an excellent source of monounsaturated fat, and lower in AA than 2% milk.

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By Sue K on 02/12/2010 11:22 AM
The ZoneFast plan and the Zone Food Blocks method are two different ways of eating the Zone Diet, which both accomplish the same goals, except people will be even more successful with caloric restriction and inflammation lowering when using the ZoneFast plan. The balance is all done for you by the ZoneFast plan. The balance is still important, but there's no need to think about it as long as you follow the plan. If you make changes to the plan, you're no longer following it as it was designed and you will need to pay attention to maintaining the appropriate Zone balance.


This makes no sense to me, and I can see that it is also confusing others.

If you say that the the ZoneFast plan lowers inflammation levels by calorie restriction, would it not reduce calories even further by eliminating some of the fat in the milk?

But, you say balance is still important. So, if you eliminate the fat in the milk, which has some AA content, and replace the fat with an equivalent amount of fat found in almonds, then we have essentially not altered the calorie content, nor have we altered the fat content. We have just made the fat content even more healty because we have cut back on the AA content.

To argue that we MUST use 2% milk just because the plan suggests it, is ridiculous.

Just an observation for the Cran's and John's that are not following the ZoneFast diet. Sue's journal is very helpful for those that are on this program and it is becoming tiring following her postings when there is constant banter over what she is saying. Could you please begin your own journals to discuss these topics and allow Sue to post her updates so that those that wish to follow them can do so without so much disruption? I don't believe that someone's personal ZoneFast journal is the forum for picking apart the ZoneFast method/molecular baking/ratios. Sue is writing this to help others, please let her do so. Also, if a poster is writing to ask Sue what her feedback is on a particular topic (2 percent milk for example), please allow Sue to give it without criticizing. You have an entire forum to make your observations on this topic but the question was posed to Sue.

SUE~ THE DINNER AT BURTON'S SOUNDED GREAT. I HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR SPRING AND SUMMER AND YOUR SALAD WAS A HAPPY THOUGHT. THANKS FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT TODAY. I HAVE A TENDENCY TO "STRAY" RIGHT AFTER I HAVE A FEW GOOD DAYS. ALMOST LIKE "TESTING" OR "DARING" THE FEELING TO COME BACK. I KNOW...CRAZY. BUT I AM NOT GOING TO "LOOK BACK" THIS TIME ...THANKS FOR THAT REMINDER...IT HIT ME RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES AND KEPT ME OUT OF THE KITCHEN!! LOL
I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION (ROFLMAO) I HAVE THE 14 DAY FAST TRACK KIT ON AUTOSHIP. IT'S ALMOST THE SAME AS THE WOMEN'S REGULAR KIT. MAYBE LESS PASTA, I FORGET. CAN I JUST LEAVE MY ORDER ALONE OR AM I SUPPOSED TO CHANGE IT. I HATE TO CHANGE ANYTHIONG THAT IS WORKING FOR ME RIGHT NOW. SOOOOO WHATCHA THINK?
HOPE YOU AND THE FAMILY HAVE A GREAT VALENTINE'S DAY!


SARAH...I AGREE... MY 2% CENTS IS THAT WE NEED TO LEARN TO BE MORE TOLERANT OF OTHERS AND LESS JUDGEMENTAL. AFTER ALL THIS IS SUE'S SANDBOX.

Okay, that is what I thought. I eat 3b of cottage cheese with 1 or 2 blks of blueberries and then 5-6b of almonds and am always hungry a short time later. So, I guess I have to cut down my cottage cheese blocks. I can't eat anything. LOL!! I am super sensitive for sure. I am thinking about going to see an endocrinologist to maybe help me figure out how my system works if that is even possible!

<div class='NTForums_Quote'>Posted By sarah on 02/13/2010 6:25 AM

Just an observation for the Cran's and John's that are not following the ZoneFast diet. Sue's journal is very helpful for those that are on this program and it is becoming tiring following her postings when there is constant banter over what she is saying. Could you please begin your own journals to discuss these topics and allow Sue to post her updates so that those that wish to follow them can do so without so much disruption? I don't believe that someone's personal ZoneFast journal is the forum for picking apart the ZoneFast method/molecular baking/ratios. Sue is writing this to help others, please let her do so. Also, if a poster is writing to ask Sue what her feedback is on a particular topic (2 percent milk for example), please allow Sue to give it without criticizing. You have an entire forum to make your observations on this topic but the question was posed to Sue.</div>

Sarah,

First, you are incorrect about my following the Zonefast diet. I am trying, and I do have my own journal.

I actually welcome those who would like to comment on it, any comments are welcome, good or bad.

I see this as a learning tool, and I don't see any problem asking questions about what others are doing.

There is no criticism here, only debate. In the example of the 2% milk, it has been a cornerstone of the Zone for years to avoid additional AA. Using skim milk with a block of almonds has always been the preferred way to drink milk and replace the bad fat with good fat. John's and my observations are that we are confused as to why this all changes in light of the new superzone products.

Thanks for your input, though. Hopefully my post explains it a bit better.

Kimberly,

Hang on to your money, maybe we will get this all figured out!

I would eat cottage cheese and blueberries as snacks (with added fat), but it is probably just too much glycemic load for a meal. Probably the combo of the carb in the cottage cheese, and then having 2 fruit blocks all in one meal, making the glycemic load a bit too high for us to tolerate.

Hmmm, hopefully we are not in Sue's way posting this on her forum!

kimberly,



"I eat 3b of cottage cheese with 1 or 2 blks of blueberries and then 5-6b of almonds and am always hungry a short time later."

Remember to judge the type of hunger you have. The carb adjustment differes depenging on whether you have focused or unfocuased hunger. If when you eat 3 blocks co cottage cheese and 1 block of berries be sure to add at least 1 more block fo favorable carb to the meal that meal, to keep it within the PC rations of the Zone.



"So, I guess I have to cut down my cottage cheese blocks".

In regard to the P/C ratio, that would be the same as increasing carbohydrate blocks. It would be best to keep your protein amount the same and make changes to your carbohydrates (amounts and/or food choices). If you start cutting back on the amount of protein your meals, be sure to eat additional snacks in order to get your entire protein requirement every day. Keeping food diary can be a big help while you’re working things out. Poor responses to meals can also be related to what you ate prior to that meal, your meal and snack timing throughout the day, your hormonal control in general (that's whether or not you have lowered your insulin into the Zone yet), your inflammation levels, etc.

MEL SNEAKS INTO THE SANDBOX TO SEE IF THERE IS A BROWNIE SUNDAE RECIPE YET...NO LUCK

Hi Everyone,

Hope you had a fun Saturday. I was out all morning a good part of the afternoon, much longer then I had expected to be. Fortunately I had put a Zone sesame pretzel in my bag on my way out in the monring, just in case. The pretzel and finding a Whole Foods nearby made lunch a snap. After I got back this afternoon, I decided to experiment a little, and made a brownie sundae for my snack. You can find the recipe in my ZoneFast recipe thread.




Here's today's entry in my journal.

Sat. 2.13.10


The countdown to Eli's (my little grandson) visit starts today...5 more days.


B: 2 slices cinnamon bread, toasted, with a little almond butter

Vestibular PT exercises

S: Zone peanut butter granola with a little WestSoy Unsweetened Chocolate Soy Milk and a few black raspberries

walk

Lunch: (at Whole Foods) roasted mushrooms, roasted broccoli, roasted red and yellow peppers, a marinated artichoke heart , one olive and a little olive oil, from the Whole Foods cold bar (I picked up these separate items and mixed them together on the plate to made a delicious salad), a teaspoon of sliced almonds, and a Zone sesame pretzel that I’d grabbed on the way out of the house in case I didn’t make it home by lunch (good thing, because I didn’t get home until 3PM).

S: Zone brownie sundae (see my Zone fast Recipe thread)

Dinner: ½ package cold Zone fusilli tossed with julienne strips of sundried tomatoes and Trader Joe’s Pequillo Peppers, fresh oregano leaves, fresh thyme leaves, olive oil, pink salt, fresh ground pepper, a few pinches of grated parmesan and a little Zone olive oil

S: 2 Zone peanut butter chip cookies warmed in the microwave

Here's today's journal entry.



Sun. 2.14.10 Valentine's Day


The Eli countdown...4 more days. :-)


Had a crumb off my husband's Valentine chocolates. Yes, only a crumb, lol. That stuff is way too sweet for me! :-)


B: 2 slices Zone cinnamon breast, toasted, with a sliver of butter

Vestibular PT exercises.1

S: ½ a Zone Peanut butter chip cookie (someone’s leftover) and ½ toasted Zone onion bagel with a little light cream cheese

Lunch: Zone multigrain sandwich roll, toasted, with 1T lemon hummus, 2 thick OG tomato slices and 1 T avocado

walk

S: Zone peanut butter granola with a little WestSoy Unsweetened Choc. Soy Milk and 3 black raspberries

Vestibular PT exercises.2

Yoga

S: negligible amount; a few broke pieces of garlic bagel chips with a dab of light cream cheese

Dinner: Fusilli with Roasted Mushrooms (a ZoneFast recipe), had ½ package of fusilli in mine; side salad of OG baby romaine lettuce with a dash of balsamic vinegar and a dressing of a spoonful of hummus thinned with water.

S: 2 Zone milk chocolate chunk cookies

NOW ONLY 3 MORE DAYS TO ELI DAY!!