Hey my fellow zoners! I am starting a 1/2 marathon training and have calculated my blocks to be about 11. After calculating up the cals, this leads to 1200 cals. When I log all my food into MyFitnessPal, it says I should be eating more calories than this because my net cals are low once I add exercise in. I was wondering if anybody else runs into this problem and how you compensate for the cals burned during exercise...do you add your blocks or do you just add an additional snack somewhere in there? Any help would be greatly appreciated!:D:D

Hi Natalia,

The caloric recommendations/requirements you've found on other sites most likely refer to a person who is burning carbohydrate to produce energy. In the Zone you are burning fat to produce energy. One calorie of fat produces more energy than one calorie of carbohydrate. If you follow the Zone diet you will be producing more energy on fewer calories as compared to person who is producing energy from carbohydrate. You also need to take into account that when you follow the Zone Diet 24/7 your body will also be tapping into it's stored body fat to produce energy. Most individuals have enough stored body fat to provide the caloreis needed for multiple marathons. If you've chosen an appropriate activity level for your Zone protein requirement calculation you do not need to consume additional blocks. Have fun training for the 1/2 marathon!

Each athlete and individual will require minor adjustments when tuning in their block requirements for the day. Did you use the Body Fat Calculator located on this site (http://www.zonediet.com/tools/body-...alculator) and did you input your activity level ?

Your activity level for the purpose of calculationg daily protein /block requirements is active, leaning toward very active. I would need to know your measurements to calculate for you.

Eat at least 4 times per day and space meals and snacks at regular intervals wherever possible. Try 4 meals or 3 meals and 2 snacks or 3 meals and 3 snacks or whatever works for you. Just distribute the recommended block requirements among the meals and snacks so that they total your daily requirement. A plan for an 11 block day may look like this: 3 meals of 3 blocks and 2 snacks of 1 block or perhaps a 3.5 block breakfast, a 2 block lunch, a 3.5 block dinner and a 2 block bedtime snack.

Try not to go over or under your recommended daily requirements. However, if your daily requirement seems like more than you can eat then don't push yourself.

Always match your protein, carbohydrate and fat blocks in a 1:1:1 ratio every time you eat. If you plan to eat 2.5 blocks of protein then be sure to have 2.5 blocks of carbohydrates and 2.5 blocks of fat during that same meal. Regarding the fat, however, you can go higher if you need (or want) to. Just don't cut it short. Most important though is that the protein and carbohydrate blocks balance.

Remember, a block of protein is 7 grams, a block of carbohydrates is 9 grams and a block of fat is 3 grams. Balancing is done block to block to block, not gram to gram to gram.

Consume unsaturated fats wherever possible. Avoid saturated fats and hydrogenated oils such as margarine and "fake" cheese. Nuts, olive oil, and avocados are among the best sources of fat and contrary to popular belief, they will do little to your weight.

Foods with a high glycemic index such as grains and potatoes should be eaten sparingly.

Avoid foods that are high in arachidonic acid such as organ meats, red meat and egg yolks. Try more fish, fowl and egg whites instead.

I should also suggest that you get a copy of " Mastering the Zone" In chapter 8 there are specific meal plans for individual who are training.

I also use MFP and I just disregard the calories earned for exercise, unless I have a huge gap and feel like I should be eating something more:)

Thank you all for the replies and advice! I can't wait to see the results after my training is over. I will keep you posted throughout to let you know how everything is going! Have a great weekend and keep on zoning! :)

i also use myfitnesspal. "net calories" has no scientific backing thus far. In terms of weight loss, People have ate lower calories for decades without using net calories.
I am not saying it's right or wrong, just saying there is no scientific evidence to support the theory. Is 11 blocks enough? your body will tell you. If your meals are balanced i the zone, and you're still hungry you're probably not eating enough add some more blocks.

Sometimes if you're eating Zone balanced meals and you're hungry you need more food, but not always. The majority of people I've helped with the Zone diet, that had hunger issues when eating Zone balanced meals, were hungry because they were eating too much carbohydrate for thein needs. Hunger, in those cases is eliminated by eating lass food, precisely a little less carbohydrate.

That's why i said "if you're eating zone balanced meals" if the meal isn't balanced for them they're not in the zone. If you are in the zone and you're hungry then you more than likely need more blocks.
Here is how to adjust your blocks based on hunger.

http://www.drsears.com/portals/6/Do...lchart.pdf

Just wanted to give everyone an update and hopefully help others with similar concerns to mine. When I was eating back the calories I burned; I ended up gaining weight! When I started following the zone. I lost 2 lbs and still had energy for my long runs!

[quote]
Posted By Natalia on 11 Jul 2012 07:07 AM
Just wanted to give everyone an update and hopefully help others with similar concerns to mine. When I was eating back the calories I burned; I ended up gaining weight! When I started following the zone. I lost 2 lbs and still had energy for my long runs!
[/quote]



Great News !!!

Excellent, Natalia!

I have a similar question as to whether I am getting enough calories with the recommended blocks. I am a fitness instructor and have about
18% body fat but feel like I still have some extra fat I could lose. Sometimes I teach multiple classes in a day and according to my heart rate monitor
I burn as many as 1300 calories. My recommended blocks are 13-14 and I'm just concerned I am not getting enough calories. I log in my food on
a website so I am aware of how many calories I am getting. I have tried to follow the zone for my meals over the last 6 years but not so much
with my snacks even though I have eaten healthy - no refined sugar and processed carbs. For the last week I have been following the zone
for every meal and feel great, but just a little concerned over the low calories. Any input would be appreciated! Thanks!

Sounds like you have your body in a great place. It's in the "Zone" as they say :-)

I grabbed some older post i thought were good: One is from Sue (Consultant of Zone Labs ) who is really knownledgable about all things Zone. the other is from Tech support.



Sue wrote:

Hi ,

The caloric recommendations/requirements you've found on other sites most likely refer to a person who is burning carbohydrate to produce energy. In the Zone you are burning fat to produce energy. One calorie of fat produces more energy than one calorie of carbohydrate. If you follow the Zone diet you will be producing more energy on fewer calories as compared to person who is producing energy from carbohydrate. You also need to take into account that when you follow the Zone Diet 24/7 your body will also be tapping into it's stored body fat to produce energy. Most individuals have enough stored body fat to provide the caloreis needed for multiple marathons. If you've chosen an appropriate activity level for your Zone protein requirement calculation you do not need to consume additional blocks. Have fun training for the 1/2 marathon!

sue

Lost 100 lbs 17 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil. ZoneFast 1-2-3 is the best!

Consultant of Zone Labs



From : Tech Support


Each athlete and individual will require minor adjustments when tuning in their block requirements for the day. Did you use the Body Fat Calculator located on this site (http://www.zonediet.com/tools/body-...alculator) and did you input your activity level ?

Your activity level for the purpose of calculationg daily protein /block requirements is active, leaning toward very active. I would need to know your measurements to calculate for you.

Eat at least 4 times per day and space meals and snacks at regular intervals wherever possible. Try 4 meals or 3 meals and 2 snacks or 3 meals and 3 snacks or whatever works for you. Just distribute the recommended block requirements among the meals and snacks so that they total your daily requirement. A plan for an 11 block day may look like this: 3 meals of 3 blocks and 2 snacks of 1 block or perhaps a 3.5 block breakfast, a 2 block lunch, a 3.5 block dinner and a 2 block bedtime snack.

Try not to go over or under your recommended daily requirements. However, if your daily requirement seems like more than you can eat then don't push yourself.

Always match your protein, carbohydrate and fat blocks in a 1:1:1 ratio every time you eat. If you plan to eat 2.5 blocks of protein then be sure to have 2.5 blocks of carbohydrates and 2.5 blocks of fat during that same meal. Regarding the fat, however, you can go higher if you need (or want) to. Just don't cut it short. Most important though is that the protein and carbohydrate blocks balance.

Remember, a block of protein is 7 grams, a block of carbohydrates is 9 grams and a block of fat is 3 grams. Balancing is done block to block to block, not gram to gram to gram.

Consume unsaturated fats wherever possible. Avoid saturated fats and hydrogenated oils such as margarine and "fake" cheese. Nuts, olive oil, and avocados are among the best sources of fat and contrary to popular belief, they will do little to your weight.

Foods with a high glycemic index such as grains and potatoes should be eaten sparingly.

Avoid foods that are high in arachidonic acid such as organ meats, red meat and egg yolks. Try more fish, fowl and egg whites instead. Grass feed red meat are the best of any red meats!

I do Zone with Paleo.
Meaning Zone plus limited dairy and little to no grains, except occasional steel cut oats.
Mark Sisson () actually is in agreement here, with Dr. Sears.
Dr. Sears book Toxic Fat is a good read about burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.
We really do not need very much glucose as source (ATP is actual converted form body uses) for energy.
And the guidelines Mark states are the same as the blocks IAW the Zone calculator on this website.
Mark refers to it as being Fat-Adapted.
You can learn more about it in Toxic Fat.