About this blog

In other words, the Zone + Crossfit = Optimal Heath!
This blog focuses on nutrition, using the Zone Diet as the basis. However, I often eat Paleo foods in Zone proportions.
I love to investigate anything having to do with food- what we eat and why. And what happens within our bodies, our organs, our brain, when we do? My precious mother struggled with eating disorders. I want to avoid this delimma based on research, common sense, and the natural consequences on my body. The Zone shows me where the balance lies between eating too much and eating too little.
My husband runs a Crossfit gym. Exercise and choosing the right foods have become a mission for ourselves and our children. We don't want to be nerds about it, we just want to be healthy.
I have been asked by several friends what I feed our family, especially our kids. My husband and I follow the Crossfit prescription to nutrition (meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar). If you know me, you know that the sugar part of this equation will be a life long struggle given my love for chocolate! Evan adheres to the stricter version known as the Paleo-Zone diet (and I do on my good days!) which requires the same foods in a ratio of 40% protein, 30% carb, and 30% fat. Children require 50% carbs, 30% fat, and 20% protein. If you're wondering how to figure this out, I do it on a per meal basis and I have a "block" chart from the Zone website.
It seems like a headache at first, but if you're interested, just know that it is not that bad once you practice it for a couple of weeks. All you need is a $10 scale and some determination. It really is quite simple and makes my life easier at the grocery store and when cooking dinner. Most of all, I feel great when I eat well- mentally and physically, and we all know that the physical can affect the mental and visa versa!
Evan and I are hunter/gatherer wanna-be's! This blog will track my journey of health as it should be, and the honest reality of living in a sugar fried culture. When it comes down to it, I get excited to talk about nutrition, but I am definitely not perfect at it! If you have the desire to eat well, but it is often a challenge to overcome the temptations along the way, then you are in the right company!
I hope you leave this blog feeling enlightened and encouraged as you go throughout your day!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

The What and When

7am Breakfast: 2 eggs, a piece of toast with 1/3 tsp.butter, and coffee with 1 tbs. half and half (sometimes I have fruit instead of toast)
10am Brunch: 2 oz. lunch meat with laughing cow cheese (1/2 fat) rolled up in the middle, more coffee and cream or almonds for fat, and a piece of fruit (apple or pear usually)
1pm Lunch: Same as brunch or maybe same as breakfast
4pm: same as brunch
7pm: some sort of meat that I have cooked, like chicken or ground beef or roast, with 2 blocks of veggies with 2/3 tsp. butter

I always overeat on fats, so I have measured the 2/3 tsp of butter every time!
Eating every 3 hours has kept my energy up!
Eating a balanced meal (protein, carbs, fats) keeps me from getting hungry between meals. If I didn't have my protein every time, then I wouldn't be able to make it 3 hours. The indicator that I need to eat is that I start to get tired before I actually feel hungry.
On day 6 now, and I've already lost 4 pounds!
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Thursday, November 11, 2010

Tuesday, November 9th: Starting Back on the Zone

I took a break from the tedious measuring involved with the Zone diet. For the most part, I ate "Zone portions" from what I learned when following the guidlines strictly. But many times, I decided that I didn't care, and so I didn't worry about it so much. Recently, I decided that I'd like to get off the extra pounds that haunt me. Exercise is no longer enough to burn the extra flab that I had hoped would just take care of itself. Don't get me wrong, exercise alone has tightened me up a lot and created more muscle and less fat. But something has recently clicked and I have decided that I want to reach that next step of fitness. I want to see better times and loads in my wods (Crossfit lingo for "workout of the day"). I want to not have to readjust my pants every time I sit down because of a mere 2 or 3 pounds that is comfortable around my mindline. I do not want to be a slave to my sweet tooth. So, I have buckled down and committed. There is no maybe. If it gets hard, I will just have to suffer through it! But I have gone strict for 2 weeks at a time, multiple times. This time, I will be committed for a month. I can't complain about the extra pounds or slower times in wods if I'm not willing to put in the time and really see what diet can do for me. Am I right?! I am reading a great book that encourages us to think about truth. What is true and what is not? It is true that I can be dedicated for a month. And then I hope to go another, and then another. But my goal is a month. If I give in, it is because I choose to give in, it is not that I can't do it. The mind is a tricky thing. I hope to fight this battle of determination vs temptation. Most of all, I have decided that I can do it, I will do it, and that is that! I have a plan, and I'm stickin' to it! (Check back with me and I'll let you know how it's going.) :)
Angela
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