Hi Laurie you look great in your pictures! Im trying to get the hang of this zone diet but cant seem to understand it well. Im a picky eater so anything with veggies is a no go as well as seafood. Do you have any suggestions for meals? I would greatly appreciate any feedback

Hi Brandi! Thanks so much for the compliment !

A favorite breakfast is Greek yogurt or lowfat (1%) cottage cheese -- mixed with blueberries or strawberries and almond slices.

I also love egg-white omelettes -- I know you said you aren't crazy about veggies, but do you like beans or salsa? You can fill an omelette with a beans/salsa mix and top with a little lowfat shredded cheddar.

For dinner, I love this chicken recipe:

Lemon Dijon Chicken

4 chicken breasts (can be frozen)
1/3 C lemon juice
1/4 C olive oil (I only use 2 T, it's plenty)
2 T red pepper (optional)
1 T dijon mustard
2 lg garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper

Marinate at least 20 minutes; grill on medium heat 6-8 minutes per side (baste during grilling).

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You might also consider the Zone foods (order from the "Shop" tab on this site) -- they're a good way to get your carb blocks in without veggies (note that the Zone foods are balanced, so they include a balanced portion of protein, carbs and fat).

Finally, check out the many many recipe threads posted in the "Cooking Tips" section of the Zone Forums:

http://www.zonediet.com/Community/F...fault.aspx

Sue K also has a ton of recipes (you'll see the links in her post signature).

Laurie

How funny I cook that meal ALL the time its my favorite except I bake it. I think im confused on how many of each Protein, fat, and carbs I can have. Let me see if I have this right.

A two block meet consist of 3g of fat, 14g of protein and 18 g of carbs? Am I right or wrong. At the end of the day the total amount of everything would be 15g of fat, 70g of protein and 90g of carbs? I think im going to go nuts trying to figure this out

A 2 block meal is 6 grams of total fat (or 4 blocks of fat or 2 blocks of ADDED Fat!)

Hi Brandi -- I know, it can be confusing! Keep in mind, there are a few different ways to eat in the Zone. A great summary of the options can be found on the "Resources" tab of this website, and then the first link is "Zone Diet Hints". You can follow the simplest "hand-eye" ("At-a-Glance") method, and lose weight very successfully (Sue K lost over 100 pounds that way!)

If you like to be more precise, you can follow the Zone Blocks method. Again, a great summary is on that same web page.

Your 2-block meal example is exactly right ... 14g protein = 2P / 18g carb = 2C.

As John explained in his response, if you're having a very low/fat-free protein (such as egg whites, nonfat cottage cheese, fat-free deli meats), then you actually need to double your fat grams. Because technically 3g fat = 1F block. But if we have protein that has fat in it (such as grilled chicken), we're figuring 1.5g fat is already in each block of protein so we only have an additional 1.5g fat per block of protein.

For example, if you're having a very lowfat/nonfat protein, you're 2-block meal would look like this:

14g protein / 18g carbohydrate / 6g fat

If your protein has some fat in it, your 2-block meal would consist of:

14g protein / 18g carbohydrate / 3g fat

Hope this helps!

Laurie

Brandi, welcome!

You mentioned not liking veggies at all... but I want to share that many veggie haters have been successful in the Zone.  Usually there are a select few veggies that they may allow, and sometimes that is all they can take.  I knew a gal that I chatted with years ago who was not a veggie fan, but ate a small variety.  She was very successful in meeting her goals, despite the fact that she was eating a lot of fruit. 

And, myself, I have found over the years that there are veggies that I really love now that I would not have even considered back when I started. 

Tastes change, and veggies are more palatable, depending on cooking technique.

Just keep your mind wide open!

That makes a little more sense. Im just confused on how to get EXACTLY 14-18-6 in every meal. Are there any foods out there with just carbs and just proteins?

Do you know of any good things to eat that do not consist of veggies. Im finding it hard to meet my blocks exactly.

Brandi, here is the link to the food guide: http://www.zonediet.com/Tools/Quick...ault.aspx.

Berries have the lowest glycemic load of all the fruits, so they are a good choice. If you are not opposed to legumes, they make a good carb choice. In addition, milk and yogurt are mixed protein/carb choices.

You don't have to be exact in the Zone. It is a zone, not an exact point. It is ok to be off a few grams here and there.

Brandi, I will add a couple of link ID's to help you...

http://www.zonediet.com/Tools/Quick...fault.aspx Check out the tabs here.

http://www.drsears.com/ArticlePrevi...fault.aspx Here is the food block guide.

http://www.zonediet.com/WeightLoss/...fault.aspx This talks about ZoneFast Program.

It sounds like you already utilized the calculator, but if you need that it's a tab on the Quick Start Guide page.

Hi all -- just a reminder to jump over to this week's "Daily Challenges and Solutions - Week of 11/8/10" ...