Ok-
I love pasta and I am looking for quick pasta meals that I can eat during the week because I typically work late and don't have a lot of time to cook. Obviously the pasta portion of ravioli is the carb, and the cheese is the protein. I have frozen ravioli that is just filled with cheese only, so could I do...Like 1/2 cup ravioli for 2 blocks of carbs and 2 blocks of protein, with some pasta sauce for 1 block of carb, and then add another block of protein and the 3 blocks of fat? Does this work out right? I am craving pasta but wheat pasta with no sauce is not cutting it for me. Thank you in advance for all of your help!

Hi Jenna,

While the numbers might add up to look Zone balanced on paper, it would not be a meal that keeps a person in the Zone, because of the amount of pasta involved. Pasta is considered an"unfavorable"carbohydrate for the Zone (it spikes blood sugar). One of the principles of putting together a Zone meal is to limit unfavorable carbohydrates to no more than 25% of all the carbohydrate in the meal. An excellent alternative would be substituting a Zone 1-2-3 pasta for the ravioli. It looks and tastes like pasta, but acts very differently in the body, and it's fully Zone balanced. For more info check out the WEIGHT LOSS tab and also the SHOP tab at the top of this page.

Just a note, here: Dreamfield's pasta, though still unfavorable - have patented a process to lock most of the carbs, so that it acts like insoluble fiber. Two servings (by label) is 4 oz uncooked or 8 oz cooked (by weight) and is equivalent to NET 10g Carbs. So, you could use 4oz (8oz cooked) of Dreamfields pasta, as long as the remainder of your Carbs are favorable in your meal. AND, though I am Carb sensitive, i can eat the Dreamfields pasta, enjoy it, and it does not have an adverse effect on me when combined in a Zone favorable meal. Though they do not have a raviloi, they only have available: spaghetti, linguini, lasagna, elbows, and pencil points.
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There is also the Zone Foods pasta; however, I like to use Dreamfields pasta, because I like to add real meat protein and not solely have the Zone pasta food using its protein.

Don't forget that you can add "real meat" to any ZoneFast 1-2-3 meal.