Hi: Question: I'm a runner who just started the Zone two weeks ago. I'm feeling much more alert mentally (which helps!) but I notice that my muscles feel weak/tapped out a lot. Any idea what could be causing that? Thanks, Jesse.

Dear Jesse, in a previous post you said you are not running fast. If you were running fast, I would have guessed that you burn too many carbs instead of fat, depleting your muscle glycogen. Are you sure you are consuming enough blocks for your activity level? Do you know at which heart rate you are running? When did you start running? Please provide as much details as possible in order to help. Best wishes. Paola

Hi Paola -- thanks for the help. I'm not really sure what I'm doing yet, so I may be making major goofs. I've been running for about 17 years. I'm not quite sure how many blocks I eat; here's a sample day: c. cooked steel cut oats, 2 T protein powder, pat butter, flax cracker c. steamed veggies, 3 oz. turkey, T mayo c. lowfat yogurt 3 oz grilled chicken, c. veggies, T avocado Don't know my heart rate, but I can carry on a conversation while I run.

[color=darkred:af9a743ede]Hi, There could be a number of reasons for the way you're feeling. For starters, the meals you listed aren't really Zone balanced. Take a look at this to see a day's worth of Zone meals: http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages...43ede]

Hi Jesse, I agree with Sue regarding your meals. Further, it seems to me that you are not eating enough if you run every day 6-10 miles. This depends obviously from your LBF. It would be good if you calculated your block requirement on drsears.com. This could be one reason for having tired legs. Probably it doesn't depend from the workouts, since you are used to run, unless you are running faster now or did change your workout routine someway recently. Do you know the time it takes you to run 6 miles? Just to have an idea of your pace. Paola

sorry! Typo: LBM (Lean Body Mass) and not LBF (London Book Fair) :-)))) paola

whoops. How would I balance these meals? And how many blocks am I eating?

Dear Jesse, first of all, calculate the number of blocks you need here: http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages...tcalcu.jsp Once you let us know your block requirement, we may suggest appropriate meals and snacks. Paola

You may need to increase your fat intake as well.

I think I'm supposed to do 11 or 12 blocks/ day -- depends on whether you consider my activity level active or highly active. (I run about 6 miles/day, more or less, but I take one day off per week. I try to lift weights once a week. I also walk to work, which is about a mile each way.) I find it hard to believe that I'm not eating enough fat! I feel like I'm eating too much of it, even though it's good fat. I do find that I overeat on occasion, though, which suggests that I'm not balanced properly. Here's another sample day: 1 c. cooked oats with 2 T protein powder, T peanut butter, and 2 tsp butter 1 can of tuna with T mayo and 2 c. salad (c. lettuce, c. cauliflower/broccoli/peppers) c. lowfat yogurt, handful almonds 3 pc. tuna sashimi with c. lettuce, 2 T avocado, and c. sangria any help balancing this out would be much appreciated! thanks!

[color=darkred:b65d522457]Hi, To put together Zone meals easily, refer to this link and be careful to follow the directions at the beginnig of the page: http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages...22457]

[quote:eaaef682fb="jessegale"]I think I'm supposed to do 11 or 12 blocks/ day -- depends on whether you consider my activity level active or highly active. (I run about 6 miles/day, more or less, but I take one day off per week. I try to lift weights once a week. I also walk to work, which is about a mile each way.) I find it hard to believe that I'm not eating enough fat! I feel like I'm eating too much of it, even though it's good fat. I do find that I overeat on occasion, though, which suggests that I'm not balanced properly. Here's another sample day: 1 c. cooked oats with 2 T protein powder, T peanut butter, and 2 tsp butter 1 can of tuna with T mayo and 2 c. salad (c. lettuce, c. cauliflower/broccoli/peppers) c. lowfat yogurt, handful almonds 3 pc. tuna sashimi with c. lettuce, 2 T avocado, and c. sangria any help balancing this out would be much appreciated! thanks![/quote:eaaef682fb] [color=darkred:eaaef682fb]Hi, These meals are not really balanced, and you're not eating enough blocks. Your oat breakfast contains 3C , to little P and way too much fat. The tuna lunch most likely contains too much P (you didn't specify size of can) and too little C. If your yogurt was plain, the snack may be close to balanced, but with a littlle too much fat. It's hard to make a guess about the dinner bacause I don't know how much tuna you really had, but your carb being mostly from wine (and being Sangria sweetened with fruits), might not keep you in the Zone as long as if the C were mostly from veggies. (BTW, you'd need about 10 cups of lettuce to make one C block). See my other post in this thread about how to easily put together a balanced Zone meal.[/color:eaaef682fb]

I think its difficult to say whether those meals have too much fat. If my math is correct, Breakfast is 16g which is equivalent to triple fat blocks--not unheard of to maintain bodyfat% while running 6-10 miles a day. The block count does look a bit low, however.

Okay. I'll try to measure things out and cut back on nuts. Thanks.

Hi Jesse, Yes, try for at least 10 days to mesure out properly and to be sure to eat at least 11 balanced blocks (but I would try 12 if I where you). If your legs feel still tired, you will need to adjust something and we will be pleased to help. I wouldn't necessarily cut down on fat, since you are burning enough fat during your 6 runs per week. You still didn't mention how much time it takes you to run your 6 miles distance (it's just to be able to guess if your run is aerobic, high aerobic or speed, burning more carbs or more fat). Keep us posted. Paola