I'm currently living in Switzerland and am finding it somewhat challenging to find foods that I would normally eat in the states. One item I have found that i LOVE is Quark. It is basically considered cottage cheese but has more casein protein. I eat this a lot out of ease and because I really enjoy it with some frozen berries and crushed almonds - delicious! So, my question is if I should limit my quark servings since it is a dairy product. I tend to eat the same type of foods here because it's hard to read labels (don't know German) and because we eat only organic food including meats. My typical day consists of 13 blocks which I break into smaller meals more frequently throughout the day: I also drink only water and lots of it with 2 cups coffee in the morning). Pre workout meal ( 2 blocks) 7g whey protein/ with 8oz low fat milk/1/3 banana and 3 almonds. I eat this prior to working out. After workout Breakfast: (3 blocks) 2 eggs/1 block cheese (they do not have reduced fat cheese here) eggs are REALLY expensive so I usually eat the whole egg, but sometimes I'll just eat the whites (which I prefer). Sometimes 2/3 cup of oatmeal, and 1/2 apple. Or one whole wheat tortilla and 1/2 apple. 9 almonds. Snack: (2 blocks) Quark with berries and almonds. I often split this and have 2 snacks of 1 block each during the day. Lunch: 2 blocks: 1 block Fruit (1/2 apple, nectarine, strawberries, blueberries) 1 block veggies (zucchini, red peppers, salad, cucumbers and tomatoes) 2 blocks protein (lunch meat, leftover chicken or turkey or 1 block cheese, 1 block meat). I know I eat too much cheese, but sometimes I have no choice. Dinner 3 blocks: 3 blocks protein (chicken, turkey, lean beef (rarely). 3 blocks veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant (very often I make eggplant parm with homemade marinara, mozzarella and eggplant ) and 3 blocks of olive oil and/or almonds. Before bed snack 1 block: Always quark with berries and almonds. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions! Carol

I do not know why high dairy intake is frowned upon. Lately I've drank 16oz of 2% Milk post work outs and regularly eat pizza with cheese or yogurt with grenola/fruit to meals along with sometimes Greek yogurt snacks. I digest it all easily so for me it's a sensible zoned option for my diet several times a day.

Carol I spent some more time looking into some of the upside of proper dairy ingestion. For instance, in the Zone Blog, there is a story of Milk Helpful in Recover of workout:

http://www.zonediet.com/Community/Z...overy.aspx

In a controlled study, a group of women who consumed 1L of Milk post work out, 500mL at a time, 15m and 1hr after had on average higher LBM increases & larger fat weight decreases than a control group on a constant carbohydrate drink flavored the same.

Also, did you try Greek Yogurt? It's the preferred yogurt for some in bodybuilding due to its naturally high concentration of Casien Protein, which is the slow digesting protein that forms 80% of Milk's content (and dairy as a result). In Greek Yogurt, the Whey has been strained away so all that is left is this form which is very nurishing before and after a strong work out to preserve existing LBM.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/...n31024209/

Steven thank you for the response and research information! I workout quite heavily (P90x) so it's helpful to know about the study regarding milk consumed after a workout. I used to eat Greek yogurt exclusively in the states, but they don't have it here in Switzerland. Magerquark is what I eat here and from what I've researched, it's high in casein protein, non-fat, and just a trace amount of salt. It's been my food staple and it's very tasty!

Oops! I just realized that I've been eating WAY too much protein with the Quark. It is so dense and loaded with casein protein. I've accidentally been counting it as 1 block of protein when it should be more like 2 or more at least. One small container has 20g of protein. At least I'm glad that I realized it instead of continuing.

20g of Protein is really 3 blocks 7g per block x 3 blocks = 21g in 3 blocks.

Yeah I know, but luckily I haven't been eating the entire container in one meal. Usually I eat about 2/3 which would be 2 blocks.

Dairy is not frowned upon on the Zone Diet you don't have to limit it as long as you maintain your protein blocks and have no intolerance.

That's very good news! Thank you.