Hello everyone,
I just got back on the Zone after 10 years about a month ago to save money and lose weight. It's going pretty well. I feel pretty good and I've lost 10 pounds so I'm already half way to my weight goal of 140lbs.! I was hoping to get some feed back on my meal plan for fine tuning.
First though, here are my stats:
male
5'7"
LBM approx. 117 lbs.
activity level between active and very active (85% of LBM)
14 or 15 food blocks per day depending on how I feel


I used one of those BMI calculation machines outside of the GNC store to get my LBM. I think it misread my gross body weight at the time by 7 or 8 pounds too little because i was holding onto the electrode bars when it started weighing and i didn't have another dollar. :( I figure it should still be close enough though, right?
As for my activity level, I place it right in between, because I get more than 5 hours of exercise but not necessarily 10 hours of "vigorous exercise" every week. I get around on a bike and make a 10 mile round trip to school 4 days a week. I also do various errands that tack on another 3 to 5 miles every day regardless of school. On a school day, I hussle it in the morning to be on time and make the trip in 25 to 35 minutes, it's a good workout. On the way back home and when running errands I take a more leisurely unhurried pace.

Here is my basic daily meal plan:
Breakfast- 4 blocks:
1 heaping scoop of Isopure protein powder (30ish grams protein)
1 apple
2 ounces orangejuice mixed with water and liquid vitamins (1 block)
1 peach or nectarine or 1 block or red grapes or strawberries
12 almonds (4 fat blocks)
1/2 to 1 full cup coffee with a little half and half
Lunch- 4 Blocks:
1 can solid white albacore tuna (30g protein)
1 can generic green beans (14g carbs)
1 apple or orange
1 peach or nectarine or block of red grapes
12 almonds (4 fat blocks)
1 16 ounce Diet Coke
Snack- 1 or 2 blocks:
1/2 or 1 whole Zone Perfect bar
Dinner- 4 blocks:
4 ounces ground turkey patty 85% lean (3 blocks protein)
1 cup of skim milk or 1/4 scoop Isopure protein powder with extra fruit (about 1 full block)
1 can generic green beans (14g carbs)
2 blocks of the above mentioned fruits
6 almonds (2 fat blocks)
Snack- 1 Block:
1/2 Zone perfect bar

So far it's working out pretty well. I don't have the extreme amount of energy I had last time but I'm on an even keel and I am losing weight at a quick pace.I had to fine tune lunch and dinner a little by adding another carb block because the green beans don't make two full blocks and the tuna is slightly more than 4 blocks, so i was ending up really hungry in the afternoons and late evenings.
My only concerns are the caffeine and the zone bars. I remember the book recommending no caffeine at all. I've cut down quite a bit but still can't completely let go of my coffee and diet soda.
The zone bars are tasty but I wonder if a hard boiled whole egg and a peach might be just as good or better. Yes, there is the aricodonic acid to contend with in the egg, but there is a lot of sugar in those bars, they cost a pretty penny and they aren't that well balanced. Also, they aren't as filling as an egg and a piece of fruit.
My apologies for the long post, but I just wanted to give you all the information I could. What do you think? All comments are welcome!


Thanks!