I have a question about the timing of meals. I use the block method and am eating 11 blocks per day. I break that up into 3) 3 block meals and 2) 1 block snacks. My question is I usually have breakfast between 7:30 and 8:30 am and lunch between 11:30 and 1:00 pm. I would prefer to eat another 3 block meal between 4:00 and 5:30 and then have my two snacks to finish out the evening. I usually have my final snack about an hour before I go to bed so that it can process before I lay down. I usually go to bed between 10:30 and midnight. I was concerned that because I start a little later in the day (I don't like to get up before 7 am!) if I eat meal, meal, snack, meal, snack - I eat my supper meal around 7-8 pm which seems kind of late. But I'm concerned that my eating meal, meal, meal, snack, snack that I'm not getting enough nutrition late in the day to keep my blood sugar regulatd overnight. Any thoughts would be appreciated, as always!

Another thought would be to eat as follows - 3 block meal, 3 block meal, 2 block meal, then 3) 1 block snacks to finish the evening a couple hours apart. Is that feasible? Is it desirable?

Christie, yes, any of those scenarios would be fine as long as you don't go more than about 5 hours without a meal or snack. I usually eat 2 block meals throughout the day.

____________________________________________

sue
Consultant of Zone Labs
Certified Zone Affiliate

Lost 100 lbs 15 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil. ZoneFast 1-2-3 is the best!

View my Zone Fast 1-2-3 meal photos here:
http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/...3%20Meals/

View my classic Zone meal photos here:
http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/...4/?start=0

Great - thanks, Sue! I'm going to play around with the different scenarios and see how I feel, but I wanted to just double check myself to be sure I was following the parameters. It's one of the things I love about the Zone is the flexibility. Have a great weekend!

Christie, I sometimes do the same thing as you, break up the supper meal so that I have 3 snacks instead of 2. I tend to feel the need to eat earlier in the day. By suppertime, though, I just don't even feel the need to eat a heavy meal. My best scenario is to eat 2 meals and 2 snacks prior to suppertime, and then I usually only need a 2 block supper and a 1 block snack.

Just keep meal timing in mind. I usually plan on a 1-block snack lasting me about 1-2 hours, while a 3 block meal should last me about 4-5 hours. So, a 2-block meal would last me about 3 hours. As long as I plan my meals to fall within MY estimated timeframes, things work out great. Also, my timing might be different than yours, depends on how you respond to a typical meal/snack.

Great information, Cranberrycat! I was just getting online to ask that question about timing when the meals are smaller and voila - here is my answer.
That may answer another question, too: if for any reason I get hungry prior to a "scheduled" next meal/snack is it smarter to stick to the time or the meal? In other words - if I eat a 3 block meal and for whatever reason it doesn't keep me sated as long as normal should I eat when I'm hungry or when I'm scheduled to eat next. It really doesn't happen very often but every once in awhile a meal that previously has kept me sated for up to 5 hours, doesn't.

Thanks!

If you get hungry prior to the time of the meal, then go ahead and eat. Being hungry means you aren't in the Zone, and eating a zone meal or snack is the way to get back in.

Perfect - thanks!

no problem!

Incidently, this is one of my most common problems in the Zone. And after doing this for 6 years, I still muck it up. I eat a breakfast at 6-7 am, and my lunch comes closer to noon. My breakfast is usually good for 4+ hours, but if I don't eat a snack in the morning, I will get hungry before lunchtime. Of course, during the morning I am at work, and not always able to take the time to eat a snack.

I have not ever really found a good solution to this problem, it will really only solve itself if I am able to take my morning break!

Hi there.

I am trying to get back on track from Ramadhan, when we fast from sunrise to sunset (this year it was 16 hours +).

I stayed in the Zone by flipping my meal times. For our early pre-dawn (before sunrise) meal and eat 4 or 5 blocks, fast all day for 16+ hours, and then break my fast with 1 block snack and then eat dinner with 4 or 5 blocks. Go to bed late.

And now, I am still using the similar ratios, but during the day. I end up combining my snack with two of my meals: 4 blocks for breakfast, 4 blocks for lunch, and 3 blocks for dinner. And I really need to start exercising.

Is it better to break it back up to a 3 block meal for breakfast, 1 block snack, 3 block meal for lunch, 1 block snack, 3 block dinner? Or as long as I get the blocks in per day? With my schedule, the 3 meals per day is easier for me.

Thanks.
Ayesha

Ayesha, the goal with timing of your Zone meals and snacks is meant to provide protein to you body throughout the entire day. In his books Dr. Sears compares it to an IV drip, by talking about having a constant protein drip throughout the day. From that point of view, it's better to spread out your blocks instead of combining the snacks into you meals and eating only 3 times a day. Regardless of how you decide to split the blocks, when it's not Ramadhan try to keep the time span to no more than 5 hours between meals. Another thought I have about an 11 block a day person consistently eating 4 block meals, thought I'm not sure if this would be an issue, is whether 4 blocks at a time might be more then their body needs at any given time, which could cause the body to store the excess (as stored fat).

Hi Sue.

Thanks. I read all but the latest book several years ago, although I don't remember all of the details, I understand in general. And more recently, I remember reading a group discussion, of some women who like the approach of "French Women Don't Get Fat", and were discussing a 6-6-12 rule for eating, which sounded very Zone-like for meal timings. I believe it is the Leptin Diet they were referring to, although I am unfamiliar with it.

I will have to dig the books back out on the last point. I am super busy with my 4 year old twin daughters and their activities. They get their meals and snacks, and I am too busy to remember (even with a timer) to eat a snack, so I prefer to just eat 3 meals at this point. I wonder about it because the total amount of calories are not really changing, just the timing of them. During Ramadhan I actually lose weight because sometimes I need the sleep more than the food, and will not eat all of the blocks needed, or the timing is thrown off due to long fasting hours. I just get thirsty, and only slightly hungry. The only time I begin to gain weight is when I get out of the Zone quite a bit for an extended period of time, which I have done recently. So, I am going to start writing down my meals again which really helped me prior to and during expecting, and when the girls were younger. I just have get back on track again and need to adjust our schedule to include a treadmill walk most days of the week.

I will look more into the 3 meals vs. 3 meals + 2 snacks and let you know what I discover.

Thanks!

You're welcome Ayesha. The food diary is a good idea. Please keep us updated.

Here's a thought for busy moms. My daughter, who eats Zone friendly, has an almost 1 and an almost 3 yr old who both also eat Zone friendly. Many times she makes the same snacks for herself and the boys all at once. That way she makes sure to get her snack, too.

Ayesha,

the rationale for eating meals and snacks is that you are keeping the glycemic response from your meals steady.

If you eat 3 meals and no snacks with the same amount of calories, you will have sharper rises in the glycemic response, which in turn raises insulin levels.

Hmmm. I called the Customer Service number today and asked, and they said that I could do the three meals, and that the insulin levels would be steady as long as the meals are balanced, so I am unsure about the details.

Since I am now writing down my actual meals, I will have a better opportunity to plan the snacks and timings on the particular form I use. I also found the sample meal timings on another site:

Zone Meal Timing
Dr. Sears provides an example of meal timing to stay in the Zone throughout your day:

Meal * Timing * Approximate Time

Breakfast * Within 1 hour after waking. * 7:00 A.M.

Lunch * Within 5 hours after breakfast. * 12:00 P.M.

Late-afternoon snack * Within 5 hours after lunch. * 5:00 P.M.

Dinner * Within 2-3 hours after snack. * 7:00 P.M.

Late-night snack * Before bed. * 11:00 P.M.

I just figured out how to use NutritionData (dot) com's tracking tool that is great for tracking calories and overall grams of protein, carbs, fats, and other nutrients.

Do you also write down your meals? And do you track calories?

Interesting (and surprising) response that you got from the zone support team...

I use nutritiondata.com to look up info, but I have never used their tracking system. When I log meals, I use myfitnesspal.com. Keeps track of calories, I can adjust the ratios (although I know that it may not be entirely accurate because of some nutrients that are not counted). And, even though calories are not counted in the Zone, I do watch the calorie intake. I also like the feature of tracking my exercise there.

They also have a very active forum (too active for me-lol) and a social networking system, so that you can link up with friends and provide support to each other.

Hmmm. I like the Body-for-Life forms for planning and actual; but I wanted to see my calories and decided to use the ND site today, and will use for a few days until I am tired of entering data. And I am glad that I have spent time entering everything a in grams. And it seems I have been eating twice the amount of dried fruit when I looked at the actual weight, as opposed to measuring cup nutritional content. I even entered the Omega Rx capsules (8 per day) and it adds 70 calories! I will have to cut down on my flavored coffee creamer amount by 1/4 because today, I added an extra 2 tablespoons more than normal to offset the strength of the coffee; and it was 240 calories for 8 tablespoons with 12g fat and 40g carbs. And I also had pizza with the girls and ate 2 oz. extra of protein. I am anticipating that I will most likely get sick with dairy allergies and on the verge of a sinus infection in a few days, at which point, I will declare to not eat pizza again - that will last for about a month - and it will be enough time to get Zone pizza crusts and some goat cheese. I will be sure to check out the other site as well. Thanks.

Yep, a lot of useful information can be gleemed from journaling your food (as you have found out). I have found that little things do add up, and so journaling really is a great way to keep it real. I think of it like I am writing in my check register!

I do like the glycemic load info found on nutritiondata.com, but I actually like that there are a ton more food entries available on myfitnesspal.