CrossFit Ames Club Zone

SUNDAY - DON'T "TREAT" YOURSELF

Have you ever said or heard somebody else say, "I just did a really hard workout... I'm going to treat myself to something good."?

It takes a lot of exercise to negate the effects of a high carb/high calorie diet. The beauty of following the zone block prescription is that you eat the same amount of blocks each day regardless of whether you worked out or not and regardless of how hard it was that day.

Try to avoid "treating" yourself with food and negating all of the hard work you do in the gym. Follow your block prescription each day as if it were a prescription medication and the fat will keep melting away! No gimmicks... just hard work!

SATURDAY - THE EYEBALL METHOD

"You can formulate a zone-favorable meal just by using your eyeballs. Although not as precise as the macronutrient block method, with time and practice your eyesight can become a pretty good calculator.

Start with the protein, using the palm of your hand as a guide. The amount of protein that can fit into your palm is usually four protein blocks. That's about one chicken breast or 4 ounces of sliced turkey.

The size of the protein on your plate will help you determine the size of your carbohydrate portions. If you're eating favorable carbohydrates, then the size of your carbohydrate portion should be about twice as big as your protein portion. If you're eating unfavorable carbohydrates, make that carbohydrate portion the same size as your protein portion.

If you plan to have some dessert - most desserts are all carbohydrate - simply cut back on the amount of carbohydrates you eat on the plate."

-- Excerpt from THE ZONE by Barry Sears

FRIDAY - HOW MUCH DOES IT MATTER?

"My destiny... My will shall shape the future. Whether I fail or succeed shall be no one's doing but my own. I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze. My choice; my responsibility; win or lose, only I hold the key to my destiny." --Unknown

Where there's a will, there's a way. If it matters enough it will happen. So how much does it really matter? Your results will be the answer to that question.

Make the choice. Stick to the plan. Don't let anything get in your way. Shape your future.

THURSDAY - ENJOY A CHEAT MEAL!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I'm sure we'll all be having a cheat meal or two today :)

Cheat meals are important because it means your diet doesn't have to be all or nothing. Too many people start a diet expecting to stay with it 100% and then mess up on one meal, resulting in tossing the whole plan out the window. With the zone you can have a cheat meal, then get back on track the next meal. There are both psychological and physiological benefits to having a cheat meal.

"No matter how consistently you follow this dietary strategy, you are bound to make mistakes. This is especially true at parties or when traveling. Remember, if you're only out of the Zone for a short period of time, you're only one meal away from reentering. It's like falling off a bike - you just get back up and continue your journey." -- Barry Sears, The Zone

TIPS FOR THE DAY:
1. Eat a Zone breakfast and get off to a good start!
2. Use a small plate.
3. Serve up smaller portion sizes.
4. Even though portion sizes might be higher today, try to maintain a balance of protein, carb and fat.
5. Avoid high calorie beverages.
6. Don't hang out around the food table! This will help you avoid continuous munching.
7. Cut your desserts in half. Allow yourself a "sampling" but limit the portion size.

Add to comments any other tips for the day!!

HAVE A GREAT TURKEY DAY!!

WEDNESDAY - ZONE FRIENDLY CONVENIENCE FOODS

Being in the zone doesn't have to be hard or complex. You don't have to make gourmet meals or buy anything special. Having convenience foods on hand will make life easier and will help you stay in the zone when you're looking for a quick easy meal. Keep your freezer stocked with frozen chicken breast, frozen fish and frozen fruits and veges. You can whip up a great, tasty zone meal in minutes!

Post to comments your ideas for zone friendly convenience foods! Make sure you give the brand and where you buy it!

 

TUESDAY - USE A SMALLER CUP OR BOWL

If anyone is feeling like their little 2 or 3 block meal isn't very big use a smaller cup or bowl! When you use a smaller cup or bowl your portion size looks a lot bigger!

3/4 cup cottage cheese (3 blocks protein) in 2 different sized bowls and 1 cup milk (1 block protein and 1 block carb) in 2 different sized cups...

 

MONDAY - LEARN FROM THE BEST

Rob Wolf is the CrossFit nutrition guru and has a blog that is very informative! Check it out at http://robbwolf.com/

Here's to week 2 of the challenge! Stay strong this week and plan in advance when you're going to have your cheat meals and stick to it!!! I know we can all stay on track even during a holiday week!!!

SUNDAY - MAKE A LIST!

Well, we have 1 week under our belts and I think everyone who is doing this is feeling the benefit already! I know I am!

After Annee's comment about passing up movie theater treats and my temptations of jelly donuts, bagels and walking tacos yesterday I decided I should start making a list of all the bad things I have passed up on and put it on the refrigerator. It will be fun at the end of the 8 week challenge to look back and see what all I might have eaten if it hadn't been for this challenge. If anyone else wants to do it we can bring our lists to the finale party in January and celebrate our accomplishments! 

SATURDAY - 6 PACK

The goal for some of us is to get a well defined 6 pack by Jan 10th and post our picture on this website. So should we do more crunches? I hope we all know by now the answer is a firm "NO"! You do not get a 6-pack by doing more crunches!

We all have a muscle called the Rectus Abdominus, or 6 pack, under our layers of fat. By building up the muscle with CrossFit WODS and trimming away the fat via Zone Dieting you will be able to see your 6-pack. 

There is no such thing as spot reducing so don't even try to "tone" the abs by doing crunches. Pushups, pullups, situps, knee to elbows, overhead squats, heavy breathing from running and jumping rope will all give us a nice washboard if we lean out enough to see it. Keep working hard and staying in the zone and you will have a great 6-pack picture!

Read the Wikipedia link on the Rectus Abdominus!

 

FRIDAY - STOCK THE FRIDGE, EMPTY THE PANTRY!

"Food is perishable. The stuff with long shelf life is all suspect." --www.crossfit.com

Have you ever noticed that there is really nothing but pre-packaged, processed, high glycemic food in the pantry? Pasta, chips, cake mixes, etc. Pretty much anything worth eating is in your refrigerator or freezer... fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, etc are all perishable and are obviously the better choice.

So stock your refrigerator with good perishable foods, not your pantry with crap!