The ZONE diet is a completely new way of eating for me. So instead of nice little paragraphs, I’m going to use bullet points. I should state a few things that were interesting to me, first though. There are some Big Time Athletes who follow the ZONE…people whom I respect like Christian Vande Velde, Dean Karnazes, Lisa Bentley and many more triathletes, hockey players and golfers.
Nothing is off limits- just “best” choice and “poor” choices. Bread, rice and pasta are all there on the lists of grains- except you get 1/5 of a cup of rice for one carbohydrate block. Or 1/4 cup of pasta for one carb block……versus 1/2 an apple or 1/4 hummus or 1/4 cup of sweet potato. As for the fat, it’s simply eating the good fats in small quantities- avocado, olives, nuts, olive oil, almond butter all foods that are my favorites!
It means eating a 3 block breakfast before work. That translates to 3 slices of turkey bacon, 1/2 cup eggs cooked with 1 pepper, onions and spinach, a sprinkle of cheese, and 3 Tablespoons of Avocado and a half an apple!! That is a lot of FOOD, people.
- My fridge is completely FULL of cut vegetables, bags of grapes and tomatoes and lunches made.
- Supposedly, I should be able to go 4-6 hours on one meal. And, plan to have 2 snacks at some point during the day.
- Each meal (3) and snack (1-2) requires that number of blocks of protein, carbohydrates and fat. It’s based on the number of grams in each one. For example, 2 egg whites is one block, 1 cup of raspberries and 1 Macademia Nut could be a one block snack.
- It means that I need a really cool digital scale and a measuring cup!
- The meals are completely reasonable and normal! Ex. 1 corn tortilla to make a quesadilla with salsa, jalapeno’s, and an orange.
I’m already liking this plan of eating. In comparison to Weight Watchers (which I did years ago), it’s about planning your food! Not something I’ve done in the past.
You can read more about the ZONE diet here. How am I going to keep it all straight?!?!? I have a list of all the foods and their block quantities that I carry around everywhere!
Questions, comments, concerns?! Let it rip here. Today was a no sugar day and I’m still alive!
(This is not a paid endorsement!)
4 responses so far ↓
1 Runeatrepeat // Feb 2, 2010 at 1:38 pm
You’re stronger than me, I don’t know if I’d survive a no sugar day! Keep up the good work
2 Hidalgofoods // Feb 2, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Your new set of foods are really amazing. Eating only healthy food is a big help to keep you fit and sexy.
3 FitMom // Feb 2, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Gotta order me some of those chia seeds one of these days!
.-= FitMom´s last blog ..What Does it Mean to be on the ZONE? =-.
4 Marek // Feb 6, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Coming off sugar can be a very harrowing experience for many of my clients… sugar cravings, dizziness, headaches, etc. But it does get easy when you see it through! (Although many will need to kill of fungal infections first to do this).
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