If i am using full fat dairy, should i omit the fat block from that meal or snack? also, can anyone tell me the portion size for 1block of goat cheese. How do I figure out the block ratio from looking at a label? Thanks to anyone that can help me with this.

Yes, if you choose full fat dairy it's fine to omit the monounsaturated fat you would usually add to a meal. It's best to use reduced fat dairy because of the type of fat found in dairy foods.

There are a couple ways to figure out Zone meals from a label. Here are the basics. One balanced block of P, C and F contains 7 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrate (that's total carbohydrate minus total fiber on the label) and 3 grams fat (that's all fat, both the fat occurring in the protein and the added monounsaturated fat).

One block of goat cheese would be the amount which gives you 7 grams of protein (use the label). Most goat cheese is very high in fat.

so do you think it's better to count specific grams of fat etc than to follow the recommended block portions given by sears. There is a significant amount of protein in vegetables, and when I add my foods eaten to fitday, my macronutrient balance is way off the 30/30/40 recommended. One day I ended up with almost 100gm of protein when my daily amt should be 75. I'm having difficulty finding low fat protein that isn't overly processed. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate your quick response on my last question. I really prefer a whole foods diet and hope I can incorporate this diet into that mindset.

The Protein in vegetable/plant sources is NOT counted.
Very little (negligible) is actually bio-available.
Therefore, instead of a complicated formula with little relatively Protein bio-available
from plant/vegetable sources - the protein from these sources, including legumes (beans) -
is essentially zero, so we do not bother to count the Protein from vegetable/plant sources.
the ONE exception is Soy. Soy Protein IS counted.
.
Hope that clarifies, and it certainly makes it simpler.
Though it means you have to manually only count Meat/Dairy/Fish/Soy Protein
in the on-line tools such as FitDay, Spark people, etc. and ignore the Total numbers and the percentage calculations.
Because those programs count all Protein, regardless (or is it irregardless?) of their Bio-Availability.
.
The same is true with the Carbohydrate counts in those tools.
They do not subtract the fiber and give you a proper NET Carb count,
and it, too, throws off the calculations for ZONE purposes.
.
I like the Spark people food tool, though, because it shows the totals, and you can customize it to show the Fiber content.
So, it makes it easy to figure out the Protein and Carb for each meal.snack.

The Zone represents a range of ratios of protein to carbohydrates. It's not necessary to count the grams of protein, carbohydrate or fat though you can if you'd like to. Using Zone At-a-Glance is easier than counting and it works just as well. It's the way I lost 100 pounds. Start with lean protein the size and thickness of your palm, fill the rest of your plate with non-starchy vegetables and a little fruit, and add a dash of monounsaturated fat.

Not all of the protein in vegetables is absorbed in the human digestive tract, therefore the protein in plant foods is not counted for the Zone with the exception of soy.

You'll find many unprocessed sources of low-fat protein listed in the Food Block Guide.

Megan,

Here's the up-to-date Food Block Guide: http://drsears.com/ArticlePreview/t...fault.aspx

thanks for the info guys, it was really helpful in understanding how the food blocks are set up