Crossfit Norwest, Raw strength and conditioning and Barefoot Evolution Discussion Forum

[Sue]

The pre and post shake should actually be a snack. So you have to include some kind of fat as well. Each snack (one block) should be the 7 gr protein, 9 gr carbs and 1.5 fats( should be 3gr however most protein also has fat included so its generally reduced to 1.5). Its the fat in a snack that stops you getting hungry between your snacks/brekky/lunch/dinner etc. If you go training early in the morning and have pre and post training snacks (should be within 1/2 hr of training each way, try not to add to Pukie) then you would not have brekky till around 10 or 11 as the 2 snacks at training time should keep you going. As long as there is no longer than 5 hours gap between any food be it snack or meal you should stay in the zone. If you have breakfast later then you wont get hungry in the afternoon or run out of blocks. If you have 21 blocks and use two of them pre and post training then thats 19. Then mid morning, afternoon and night snacks is 3 off, then that leaves 16. If you have brekky, lunch and dinner thats 5+ blocks for each meal. You may be better off having more frequent meals/snacks and divide blocks more evenly, so your main day snacks (not training ones) be 2 blocks. Making slightly larger snacks your main meals will be a little smaller however the larger snack will fill you up more. Its important to keep correct ratios in blocks to keep hormone levels even. 180 gr of chicken would make a 6.6 block meal so you must have correct vegs / carbs, etc for 6 block meal. The Zone book is a wealth of information, extremely interesting and well worth purchasing.

[adrian]

Thanks Sue - I've been trying to get my blocks sorted out a bit better the last few days and found that I was seriously underestimating my carb blocks. I've dropped my blocks down to about 18 - I'll look at the lean mass calculator online again - I actually got "mastering the zone" from the library today where he talks about customising the blocks, dropping or adding depending on how you feel. I'm trying to get my baseline diet (no extra fat or anything) working for a few weeks before I start doing that though.

Hows it been working for you so far?

[Sue]

Adrian a good starter book is Enter the Zone, I think Mastering the zone is when you understand the zone so you can then fiddle it a little. From memory though it also has great recipes at the back? There is no strict centre line, you can play a little either way but still have to basically stay within the ratio 1:1 protein:carbs where carbs is the 9gr and protein 7gr. For me I think about what I eat and am aware of how much. I may not eat correct block quantities per meal (3 blocks) but do eat reasonably correct ratios. Even though one of the zone snacks (in the book) can be part of a snickers bar (fat and carbs) I dont fancy eating a can of tuna and snickers bar together. Whats good to find out is the fruit options, I always thought a banana was pretty much a complete food but its one of the not so good carbs as it appparently raises sugar levels too quickly same with rockmelon. I havent had a headache in about 8 weeks (due to low blood sugar) since I have been trying the zone diet so thats a plus. I also havent been as tired. Doesnt stop you getting sick though as im off work till next week with sore throat and aches and pains. ggrrrrrrrrr

[adrian]

I read a fair bit of Enter the Zone about 3 mths ago - then thought that it wasn't enough food for me. So ditched it and tried to do my own style based on what I've read from other CrossFit people. Mostly I've tried to go low - carb. Now I'm trying to get the hormonal balance that the Zone is supposed to give you.

18 blocks is a LOT of food when you have all the veges, but its certainly heaps less meat than I'm used to - thing is I still seem to get hungry. Two things I cant do yet though is drop my caffiene via tea, and stop eating egg yolks! I just feel bad throwing away all that food!

What do you think the activity level of us at CFNW would be?