Steven
Basic Member
Posts:282
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| 13 Dec 2010 10:33 AM |
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I have a quick question related to the Zone Calculator. I'm pretty happy at my current weight and want to start getting out of "diet mode" now that i'm at 187lbs. The last week or so, i've felt a little light headed 4 hours after meals, and this is with some very very zone correct eating using ZoneFast foods and Zone cereals.
I'm surmising that now that i'm at 16% Body Fat, my body doesn't really have the fat stores to kick in to get energy in the long periods between meals, mainly at the 4-5 hour mark. I want to make sure I'm not creating temporary hypoglycemia or any other issues with dropping blood sugars. That leads to higher cortisol levels and other issues. I've found that actually I am having some adrenal fatigue, now 6 months into the diet, and a leading cause of that is caloric restriction with exercise. I've made the concious decision to take the rest of the month off from the gym, but that would put me down at about 11 blocks a day on sedentary/ 13 blocks on light fitness which I guess means walking around the house and to my car after work, and if I only eat that much, I've gotten symptoms of hypoglycemia and other issues like heart flutters and fatigue. I'm thinking it's time to leave diet mode and go to maintenance mode. This caloric prescription seems to be eating into LBM as much possibly as what fat stores are left. I've not tried an 11 block day, or even a 13 block day, being I'm still usually getting 16-18 blocks per day, but that's alot higher than the calculator and I want to be sure I'm doing it right so as not to lose or gain but only maintain.
So, my question is how do I recalibrate the ZoneBlock calculator to Maintenance without caloric deficit, and keep my weight steady but not lose anymore. And please, don't tell me that it's already calibrated that way. I've found that with the calibration it's given, every week that I've eaten precisely the amount prescribed, I've lost some amount of weight. I don't want to lose anymore, and I don't want to gain any either at least until next month sometime when I've had a chance to give my adrenals a solid month of properly nourished rest so i can get back into the gym and start adding muscle. As the calculator is calibrated, for me at least, it has me at approx. 1200 calorie deficit a day. That's not healthy forever now that I'm at my target weight. A healthy male with 16% Body fat will experience problems at 1800 calories a day if it goes on to long and I'm thinkin I'm starting to hit that point.
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Before in April at 245 
Now at 208 and looking 10 years younger 
I love the Zone! |
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John
Veteran Member
Posts:2198
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| 13 Dec 2010 11:03 AM |
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Simple, double your fat blocks to enter maintenance mode. |
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~john --> Happily married 26 years --> 07 Feb 1986
<>< <>< <>< <>< PTL Col 3:23-24 ><> ><> ><> ><>
Live the healthiest life you can enjoy, not the healthiest life you can tolerate. |
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Sue
Posts:14659
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| 13 Dec 2010 11:47 AM |
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Hi Steven,
At 16% body fat you still have plenty of stored fat to tap into. Dr. Sears recommends to slightly increase monounsaturated dietary fat to prevent further stored fat loss once you reach ideal body fat. It works extremely well. I've been maintaining this way in the Zone for about 15 years, varying between the "Active" and "Very Active" levels on the Zone calculator. Use the calculator recommendation and double the fat blocks, or triple if needed. If you begin to gain body fat you then cut back on the additional monounsaturated fat to find the happy medium when you're not losign or gaining body fat, but don't go below the Zone balance minimum of 3 g fat for every 7 g protein. You can read about it in the FAQs chapter of Mastering the Zone.
Keeping a journal of your meals (especially the carbohydrates), daily habits, water intake, exercise, and sleep should help give you insight into the symptoms you're feeling. Extra calories (your extra blocks) elevate insulin and keep you out of the Zone, even when the extra calories are in Zone balanced proportions. This could be at the root of your symptoms.
Remember to focus on hormonal thinking to stay lean strong and healthy. Caloric thinking will not serve a body well in the long run. A tip, read more about calories and ATP in your Zone book(s) for a better understanding.
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sue
Consultant of Zone Labs
Certified Zone Affiliate
Lost 100 lbs 16 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
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Sue Knorr
Lost 100 lbs 18 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil.
Consultant of Zone Labs
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Steven
Basic Member
Posts:282
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| 14 Dec 2010 11:25 AM |
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I guess that's one way to look at it but it may not work for me. Yesterday I tried to go the requisit length of time between meals but again I started to fail physically and got very bad mental fog. I attribute the problem mainly to the decreased caloric consumption that I'm getting now that I'm trying to eat according to the low activity basis.
While I was exercising daily, I would enjoy 18-20 blocks a day and get good energy all day without hunger. Yesterday, when I got home fatigued and irritable (only 1.5 hour after taking a 2 block ZoneFast snack), I went ahead and had 2 blocks of regular food then 6 blocks at dinner, bringing my day's total up to 18 total, and I slept better, felt normal at night and woke up today without any heart palpitations etc.
I went ahead and called the ZoneLabs Wellness support and spoke to Dave, who advised me for the time being until I'm feeling very normal, eating more blocks, while eating them Zoned, would be a sensible thing to support my adrenal recovery. Bear in mind I'm not looking to lose a pound the rest of the month and if I gain five, I'm not concerned about that either because I know once I'm feeling normal again and get back into the gym, whatever little fat is left or gained will get burned off within weeks. SO for now, I'm going to eat smaller more frequent zoned meals and hopefully that does the trick |
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Before in April at 245
Now at 208 and looking 10 years younger
I love the Zone! |
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cranberrycat
Senior Member
Posts:9137
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| 14 Dec 2010 01:08 PM |
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Steven,
In your first post, you were talking about dropping to 11-13 blocks. To be quite honest, I think that is too low for you.
Even if you adapt a sedentary lifestyle, you have enough muscle mass that needs to be fed, and I highly doubt that you will truly be sedentary--I picture you still being active, even if you are not working out. Probably out there taking baby on a power stroll, etc.
An adult male typically requires a minimum of 14 blocks. Because you have more muscle mass, I would think that you probably need 16 blocks (as I write this, I am not aware of what your stats are). Just using some common sense. Were you getting the symptoms on 16-18 blocks?
I think Dave is a good resource (assuming it was Dave Shreck), and his advice is good, too. Maybe start back at where you were, and then you could work it down some, rather than taking the abrupt leap.
I have another thought on it, but let me know how many blocks you were eating when you started having the symptoms.
FYI, I am not at maintenance yet.
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Cranberrycat
We don't own the earth; we borrow it from our children.
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Steven
Basic Member
Posts:282
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| 14 Dec 2010 04:38 PM |
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I apologize, I'd mistakenly thought you had reached your goals. I guess for each of us, we're sometimes close, sometimes needing to sharpen up. Personally, I'm relaxing on my goals for now because I don't want to burnout. It's been a very long 6 months and I've thought for some time that i need to somehow normalize. I'd been on a breakneck pace for a long time but now i'm trying to hang onto my loses as much as I can through the holiday season. After a business trip to Germany in January, I'll revisit my goals and see if I can get closer to 180 or even lower, as I'd hoped until I started feeling unwell the last week. I was attempting to eat 16 blocks per day, 4 blocks a meal for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner, with 4 hours between Breakfast and Lunch, 4 hours until midday snack around 4pm of 2 blocks, then 2 hours later a 4-5 block dinner, with 2 blocks before bed. That's actually 17 blocks. What happened I found though is that if I break up my meals and have some extra snacks with lighter meals, I'm feeling much better all day. So far today, I've had 4 for breakfast, 2 mid morning, 4 at lunch and 2 midday snack. i'll have 4 at dinner and 2 before bed. That's 18 total, which if it works for me and I keep the weight off, then I'll be happy in maintenance mode. I couldn't stand the exhaustion it brought me to drop back under 18 blocks a day.
If experiencing pregnancy taught me anything this year, it's that there are very few hard and fast rules in life, especially wit health. The Zone is a range afterall, and for some it works great to eat as lightly as they do, and it did for me in the beginning when I had 30+% Body fat, but now that I'm leaner, it's draining and unrealistic for me to eat so lean. I'll retool if I find that i'm gaining weight but so long as I've been eating zone all day every day, it's never really been much problems for me gaining at least. I may not lose, but I can have 20 blocks a day and never gained weight; if anything I found that I was gaining muscle as losing fat in that mode and enjoyed it for about 2 months. I'm more intouch with my health now and will continue to adjust and improve as I continue this journey. |
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Before in April at 245
Now at 208 and looking 10 years younger
I love the Zone! |
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cranberrycat
Senior Member
Posts:9137
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| 14 Dec 2010 05:44 PM |
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I think you hit it right on the head, being in tune with your body. It is apparent that you were probably not getting what you needed from the decrease in blocks.
I was also thinking in terms of your tolerance to the Zonefast 1-2-3 products, in that when you were more active, you were more carb tolerant, but with less activity, perhaps you are more carb sensitive (hence the fogginess that you were experiencing). From my own experience, I tend to be more carb tolerant with increased activity. |
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Cranberrycat
We don't own the earth; we borrow it from our children.
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Steven
Basic Member
Posts:282
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| 17 Dec 2010 04:27 PM |
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In the interest of posting what's working now that i've made it to the end of the week, this is how I've been able to stay focused and not hungry while keeping the weight steady:
Breakfast: 3.5 Blocks
Midday Snack: 2 Blocks
Lunch: 2.5 Blocks
Afternoon Snack: 2 Blocks
Dinner: 4 Blocks
Bedtime: 2 Blocks
Total is 16 Blocks which I've been able to really hold at my weight and stay focused. Next week, I may try smaller bedtime snack to get to 15blocks to see if I can drop a pound for Xmas
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Before in April at 245
Now at 208 and looking 10 years younger
I love the Zone! |
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cranberrycat
Senior Member
Posts:9137
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| 17 Dec 2010 05:06 PM |
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If you really feel that you need to drop another block, I think that the bedtime snack is probably a logical time to do it.
I didn't go back to read your other posts, but maybe some of the trouble was that you made such an abrupt change, and that you needed to ease more into it. Just reflecting, I know that it holds true for me.
Let us know how it is going! |
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Cranberrycat
We don't own the earth; we borrow it from our children.
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