I have had a bit more experience with the Zone now after a couple of years of strict Zoning, and I have found out some interesting things. 1. I originally went by the recommendations for blocks based on the body fat calculator. I was supposed to eat 11 blocks. I weighed 155 and was 15% fat with no regular exercise, but I was building a house at the time, so I decided the informal exercise warranted 12 blocks. Not hard work, but on my feet all day. 2. My weight dropped to 138 and 7% fat after a couple of months, so I added another block to 13. 3. My weight loss stabilized, so I calculated the number of equivalent calories of fat and substituted the fat instead of extra block. 4. My weight increased to 145 and 12% fat. 5. I completed the house, which meant I was in front of the computer a lot, so I added aerobic exercise of 200 calories a day 6 days a week and dropped the extra fat, and added a 100 calorie block because the body fat calculator said 14 blocks was now needed. 6. My weight increased to 150 and 14% fat. I dropped the extra block and my weight started to drop. I am now at 148 and 13% fat. What did I learn from this? 1. If you are in the Zone, blocks or fat are interchangeable calories for weight control. 2. The activity level on the body fat calculator underestimates how many calories are used up in just having an active lifestyle, even without any formal exercise. 3. Staying on a strict Zone plan makes it easy to control your weight and body fat %. If you know what you are eating and the effect on your body fat %, you can easily make adjustments to keep yourself where you want to be.

[color=darkred:5811938929]Hi, I don't quite agree with your conclusions because you haven't taken into acount the 3 lb loss in LBM beween your original and your current body composition. You're practicing "caloric thinking" by not considering the loss of LBM. It's not desirable to lose LBM. It would have been preferable, IMO, if you'd consumed the appropriate amount of protein to sustain your LBM rather than substitute fat.[/color:5811938929]

[quote:7122908eab="Slknorr"][color=darkred:7122908eab]Hi, I don't quite agree with your conclusions because you haven't taken into acount the 3 lb loss in LBM beween your original and your current body composition. You're practicing "caloric thinking" by not considering the loss of LBM. It's not desirable to lose LBM. It would have been preferable, IMO, if you'd consumed the appropriate amount of protein to sustain your LBM rather than substitute fat.[/color:7122908eab][/quote:7122908eab] Sue, The weights and body fat % measurements change by a couple of pounds and 1% from day to day just because of the inherent inaccuracies of how much I have drank, eaten, etc. I am not to fanatical about the measurements except as a longer term trend. My block count has always been higher than the body fat calculator has suggested by one or two blocks to maintain my LBM. I switched to fats because I was two blocks higher than the calculator stated. My LBM does go up and down a bit depending on the type of activity I am engaged in during a few week or month period. I gain muscle mass very quickly if I am doing a particular type of work, then loose it quickly in one area and gain it in another area when switching work. This is the way bodies are meant to work. It takes a lot of food (and work) to maintain muscle mass that is not needed to perform a needed task. It is not optimally healthy to carry the extra nutritional requirements (free radical generation) of "excess" LBM. The modern fad of artificial "tasks" with treadmills etc. to make up for a sedentary lifestyle can insure that the same muscles are maintained at the same level all the time, but this is not the way people behaved 10,000 years ago --the tasks changed with the seasons. The only question I have, is what is the optimum tradeoff between enough exercise and LBM vs too much exercise and LBM. I think I know the answer based on the ancient wisdom: Walk a quick mile (or possibly two) in the morning and evening then do 15 minutes of stretching and moderate static contraction of all muscles. "Put your back" into some gardening or try lifting some really big rocks (if you can) every few weeks. --OR-- Translate that into some other workout program if you can't do the above.