I am trying to choose between various options for how much I exercise, using the calculator.

One option says 3x fitness training / week or sport activity. How many hours is that, and how does gym classes (e.g., punching in the air, or weight-lifting (small weights only) fit in here? Then there's yoga, qigong, dancing hard (zumba if you know about it), etc.

I try to do 5-8 hours of exercise a week, but have had to ease up on that because I'm new at it all and need to go slow to avoid hurting myself. So it's more like 5 hours a week of gym classes, plus yoga at home, plus qigong. And Dragonboat paddling.

But I do intend to build back up to, say, 8 hours of gym classes.

So where do I fit in here, right now (5 hours of classes plus yoga plus qigong) and where I will be (8 hours or more)?

Am I moderate?

Sarah

Just pick one, if you're hungry you can always add more blocks.

Sarah, choose active for what you're doing now.

Thanks!!!

Sarah

The issue I have with "activity" calculators are it's hard to tell. For example if a person does nothing all day(sedentary) but workouts intensely for 1hr, what category do they fall in?
what if a person walk 30min a day but does nothing the rest of the day, how sedentary is this? I would just pick a number and use the 4hr test. http://www.drsears.com/portals/6/Do...lchart.pdf
If you're hungry make the recommended changes. If you make the changes and are still hungry just add another block to that meal.

Hi Antonio,

Thanks for this. I had the same confusion about what category I fall in, so just pick active and see what happens ... if I'm still hungry, but good satiety with meals, it means I need more snacks?

The 4 hours tests work pretty well for me as long as I'm careful about what I eat (and, of course, if I've had enough sleep -- when I don't have enough sleep, the cortisol makes it impossible to stay sated. Grrr!).

Sarah

It's a good point you make here ... It would be nice to have the level of exercise spelled out more concretely so I can picture it and put myself in the right category.

LOL

Sarah

Sarah, The goal of the zone is to eat the minimum amount of calories while producing the best hormonal response possible. So you're full, performing well, and
have good overall well being. A big key here is experimentation, have to be patient. As Dr.Sear's says, food is a form of medicine. You can't take too much or
to little. Just pick a level and see how you feel, if you are doing good, feeling good emotionally and physically. I'd try to lower the blocks a bit. If you don't feel good
when you lower them a bit, then you went to low. So go back to where you were. In science we observe what happens, then make changes. I think this is the best method,
notice the results you get and adjust accordingly. Things to observe, mental focus, satiety(how satisfied you are with a meal), performance, mood. Things with that of that sort.

Today i ate 3 zone bars for breakfast, i was in a rush. I felt better yesterday, when i ate cottage cheese and blue berries. So I now know not to eat the zone bars to replace a full meal.
My snacks yesterday where apples, string cheese, and olives. that didn't fill me up to well, going to adjust the ratios a bit and see how i feel today. My lunch was just a iceburg lettuce some olive oil and some protein, that also didn't work to well, i'll adjust. Dinner was good, Cabbage and chicken, i felt good after that meal so i'll keep it.

Antonio, I noticed that I need bigger volumes meals for lunch and dinner. In blocks it may be te same to have 3 bars but I would not satisfy me. For lunch I tend to do "3 course meal" and for dinner - "2 course meal". Example lunch: 1/3 of a cart of soup (green veggies - 200g (ca 1C block), my favourite is asparagus, peas etc) + 2 blocks of cooked chicken followed by 1 C block of greek salad (bowl of tomato, pepper, lots of cucumber, radishes and green lettuse which I do not count sprinkled with pickled capers and oregano/dried mint) + 1 block of feta cheese + a little bit of olive oil. All that followed by 1 block of berries (strawberry or mixed with raspberries). It is a lot! Keeps me for 5 hours. For dinner: I have 3 blocks worth of meat + 1.5-2 or so blocks of roasted veggies e.g. mixed half of red onion, half of zuccini, mushrooms etc. All followed by 1 block of berries for dessert.

Antonio,

The Zone calculator activity levels are based on the amount of protien the body needs to maintain its current muscle mass. The person still has to eat to support the damage done to the muscles during the intense hour of workout even if they are sedentary for the rest of the day. The repair does not only take place on the day of training, so it is necessary to eat the same amount of protein on a daily basis. A person who takes a casual 30 min walk daily would fall into the light activity category because this type of walking does not contain elements of strength training. In Sarah's case, some of her activities do contain substantial elements of strength training, which gives her the active level. If she was lifting heavy weight daily, even without the other activities she would increase to the very active level.

Thanks for this info, Sue.

I don't lift weights everyday, LOL, but it's helpful to see how this works out down the road ... if I slow down to light activity bez I don't do strength training, then I know to adjust.

What do you consider heavy weights? I started recently, I'm lifting one of those long things, so it's 1 kg per side plus the bar itself which is heavy. So 10 lbs probably, maximum.

Sarah

Bozene I agree volume plays a big role. Today i am going to eat my salad again but add an extra block of carbs. Going to eat some blueberries. Yesterday's breakfast worked well, cottage cheese, blueberries, and olives. Today i ate my snack apples and some string cheese, yesterday i was a bit hungry my thinking was clear, this means to add an extra block of carbs so i did. Worked out very well.

Sarah, that's a big issue in the health and fitness community. Everything is an estimate. Even our food count is an estimate. Before I started the zone, That's why i advocate trial and error. The zone is dependant on how insulin resistant or non insulin resistance a person is. A heavier person can't handle carbs as well as a thinner person. If you exercise a lot insulin will be lower, so you need to eat more.
Weight training is a very tough thing to gauge, if you do 12 reps for example, it might be hard for you and easy for another person, so how much catabolism(tissue break down) took place?
It varies from person to person. The best indicator I believe is determining how you feel. Here is a chart for your block adjustments. It just says if you're hungry within 4hrs, and you have good concentration that means your protein was too high so you add another block of carbs. If it was unfocused then you add an extra block of carbs.

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

Sarah, that's not what would be considered lifting heavy weight.

I didn't specifically answer the questoin, heavy lifting is usually considered 6-12reps to failure. Meaning If you shoot for 6 reps and can't do the last one it's heavy. If you shoot fo 12 reps and can't do the last one it's heave.

You have to consider what your goals are? You want to add some muscle mass, build endurance, or a combination of both?

6-8reps(to failure) is for muscle building
8-12reps(to failure) is a combination of endurance and muscle building
12+ reps is mostly endurance.

Choose active. and do regularly what you have to do. That's it!