Ok how did you do?  Hopefully you obtained your weight, height ( in inches), wrist circumference and activity level. After that you entered your information into the body fat calculator and figured out your protein requirements unique to you.

I will use myself as an example so you can see the progression. Lets get started, the fist thing I did was take my measurements. I weighed in at 167lbs, my wrist circumference is 7’’, my waist circumference is 34’’ my height is 67’’ my activity level is active. Again here’s the link () , let’s plug in my numbers:
http://www.zonediet.com/Tools/Calculators/tabid/159/Default.aspx
 Body Fat %: 16
  Body Fat Weight (lbs): 26
  Lean Body Mass (lbs): 139
  Daily Protein Requirement (g): 111
 # of Blocks of Protein: 16
  # of Blocks of Carbohydrate: 16
  # of Blocks of Fat: 16

So what does this all mean? Simply put, with my current actively level and body fat, for me to optimize performance, lean out (lose fat, gain muscle) and  I need 111grams of protein a day. to make this simple, the Zone takes your protein requirements and puts them into blocks. These blocks of protein will then be spread out through the day. Not everyone will have the same protein requirements, so each diet will look a little different. Because I require 16 blocks of protein I will also need 16 blocks of carbohydrates and 16 blocks of fat.

Again, a block is just a unit of measure used to help you make balanced meals. Instead of always calculating how many grams of protein and carbs there are in each food you eat, the zone gives you lists of foods that will give you the correct amount of blocks. If you like numbers, here is the break down of how it works.

7 grams of protein = 1block of protein
9 grams of carbohydrate = 1 block of carbohydrate
1.5 grams of fat = 1 block of fat

This “block chart” is a just a  tool
for making balanced meals. just
choose 1 item from the protein list, 1
item from the carbohydrate list, and 1
item from the fat list to compose a 1
block meal. Or choose 2 items from
each column to compose a 2 block
meal, etc.



Here is a sample 4 block meal:

Tuna salad
4 oz. canned tuna   (4 blocks of protein)
large mixed green salad( 3cups of lettuce, 1/2 green pepper, 1 tomato)  (1 block of carbohydrate
1/2 cup of black beans ( 2 blocks of carbohydrate)
1/4 cup of hummus   (1 block of carbohydrate)
1 teaspoon olive oil   (3 blocks of fat)
1 tbsp of avocado    ( 1 block of fat)
balsamic vinegar to taste ( free food)


As you can see this is an easy meal to prepare and gives me 4 blocks of all macronutrients. Once you figure out your block  requirement all you have to do is spread your meals out through the day and pick the appropriate amount to eat at each meal.

Most guys average about 16 blocks a day. A typical day will look like this:

Breakfast 7am        Snack 10am            Lunch 1pm

4 block protein        1 block protein        4 block protein
4 block carbohydrate    1 block carbohydrate    4 block carbohydrate
4 block fat            1 block fat            4 block fat

Snack 4pm            Dinner 7pm             Bedtime snack 10pm
1 block protein        4 block protein        2 block protein
1 block carbohydrate    4 block carbohydrate    2 block carbohydrate
1 block fat            4 block fat            2 block fat


That is not a bad amount of food, you never feel to hungry because you are eating every 3-5 hours. Try experimenting with different meal times and different foods, the possibilities are endless. Below I will give a Zone food guide. Use this reference to build your own meals. If you absolutely hate the idea of building your own meal I also will include block meals  that are already calculated for your requirements.

Each food in the following list = 1block. most meals will be between 3-4 blocks of protein  , carbohydrate and fat per meal (each protein block contains 7 grams of protein and each carbohydrate contains 9 grams of carbohydrate.)

 Unfortunately I could not upload the food chart I designed for you.
The rest of this blog, zone food guide and some sample meals can be found on the link below.


http://www.scribd.com/doc/44615457/The-Zone-Diethttp://www.scribd.com/doc/44615457/The-Zone-Diet