I am in dire need of some help guys...I am at a crossroads with the Zone diet.(My daily food intake is 1-4-5-1-5-1-1.I also cheat once a week usually with ice cream.) I recently used the bodyfat calculator under the tools tab and it gave me this: -Body Fat %: 14 -Body Fat Weight (lbs): 20 -Lean Body Mass (lbs): 125 -Daily Protein Requirement (g): 112 -or # of Blocks of Protein: 16 -# of Blocks of Carbohydrate: 16 -# of Blocks of Fat: 16 Now I'm not sure what to do because my goals are 1.)lower my bodyfat to single digits 2.)maintain my strength 3.)gain lean muscle mass at the same time. For some reason I still manage to keep my love handles and this is driving me crazy because everything else looks good.I do Crossfit religiously and I also am starting a strength program.What I need help with is setting up my daily food intake to help me reach all my goals because I am confused on to how much I should eat. I'm sorry but 112 grams of protein does not seem to be enough to gain much of anything.Some other questions: -How do I adjust fat to help fit my athletic training? Because,as of late, I have been eating an extra block at each meal. -Am I hopelessly lost? -I train abs every other day with L-hangs and a variation of situps...so when do the love handles and pooch go away? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Jake,

I will apologize, I don' t have a lot of time to go over all of your stats as detailed as you might like.

Are you being realistic with your expectations on your bodyfat?  A bodyfat% in the single digits is where triatheletes usually are at.  Is that your goal?  The ideal bodyfat% for a male is 15%, so you are below that.  I am just posting this for you so that you can use it as a reality check. 

Now, on to the belly fat...

We may typically gain fat in an uneven pattern (elevated insulin causes fat to be stored in the mid section).  However, we lose fat in an even sweep.  We are not able to target the specific areas that we want to lose it from.  So, my assumption is that if you have been burning the fat at a fairly consistent rate, then you should continue to do so, and it will eventually come off.  Think of some people that you have seen lose weight, we don't carry that much fat in our face, but the face seems to be the first place that you notice fat loss.  In reality, the fat is coming off evenly throughout the body, but the areas with less to lose will appear more apparent.  So, hang in there, if you have been successful thus far, I assume you will continue.

Your protein needs are dependent upon what you perceive to be your activity level.  I don't know what you are entering for that factor.  It could be possible that you need to increase your protein, and my intuition says that if you are "feeling" like you are working hard but not gaining any LBM, then perhaps you might need to increase it. 

Now, here is a question for you... how have your stats changed over time since doing the Zone, in terms of bodyfat and LBM? 

 

Cranberrycat my bodyfat has dropped 11% from 23 to 12 but as of recent has gone back up to 14%due to adjusting in college and not always being able to eat correctly. As far as lean body mass goes I am not entirely sure what I started at but I'm sure it has dropped.

Well, if you are fairly sure that you have lost LBM, then I would definitely encourage you to increase your protein intake.  Especially in light of the fact that your goal is to GAIN lean body mass, and as long as you are participating in an activity level that is geared towards that. 

I am not in a position to give you a recommendation on what to aim for in terms of protein intake, but just looking at your overall goals, your initial concerns of not getting enough, and the fact that you feel you have lost LBM, that leads me in that direction. 

Hopefully someone else can take more time than I can to look at your stats and give you a more direct recommendation on how much to increase it by.  Your first post you are indicating that 16 blocks is recommended, but you are currently eating 18 blocks.  Does that seem to satisfy you better? 

From this point onward, keep good record of your stats, and track your bodyfat% as well as your LBM.  If you are eating 18 blocks instead of 16, it will be important to continue tracking your LBM to see if it is increasing.  And, obviously, if you want to decrease your fat, you will need to stay in the Zone.  Try to avoid those weekly cheats!