Tit for Tat
Ever stare at your plate loaded with fibrous carbs and wonder how in the world you’re going to choke them down? Since 2 cups of broccoli amount to one carb, you may be stuck at the dinner table for quite a while trying to finish 3-4 blocks of them.
Robb Wolf wrote in his article “42 Ways to Skin the Zone” about ways to make the Zone diet work for you. If you are the type who despises chewing on endless amounts of carbs to fill your 20-something block day, you might want to consider substituting a block of carbs for three blocks of fat (yes that’s 1:3). Or, if you’re always hungry, even after eating your meticulously weighed and measured blocks, you may consider subbing some fat for carbs as well (since fat helps to stay the hunger).
Does that mean you can get a ladle out of the drawer and attack the almond butter with reckless abandon? No! Subbing fat requires you to be even more meticulous in measuring, at least in the very beginning. Start by cutting 2-3 blocks for a week or two and see how it affects your performance. Do you have more energy or do you just wake up feeling heavy? Are you bonking after during a WOD? Or are you seeing more definition in your abs? Tweaking your diet requires lots of attention to detail and discipline but it’ll improve your performance greatly once you have it dialed in for your body.
WOD 06.23.09
AMRAP 12 minutes
- 10 Overhead Lunges
- 10 Kettlebell Cleans
Cash Out:
30 each
- Back Extensions
- Deadlifts (50%1RM)
- Romanian Deadlifts (45# bar)
Great post, Ruth! …and wonderful use of imagery – I find myself wanting to take a swipe at my monitor with the apple I’m eating
LOL Al! And don’t think I didn’t make a bee-line for the almond butter after doing the post! I guess I should’ve included my experience with cutting carbs for fat:
In August 08, I went from 11 blocks carbs to 8 and upped my daily fat intake to 20 (yay almond butter). I had most of my PRs and gains in Oct/Nov of that year, and never really felt hungry (yay almond butter).
However, I started to plateau a bit and bonk after that. I also got careless with weighing and measuring and gained fat. No bueno. It was a good experiment and I may one day try it again when almond butter is no longer as addictive as crack for me…But for now, I’m back on the regular 11 blocks.
Anyone else tinkered with their zone blocks?
Yup.
(I originally wrote a longer reply, but figured I’d spare everyone another boring Marcus nutrition post.
)
Since modifying my diet about a month and a half ago to paleo-zone, I’ve been very pleased with the results. Becuase I eat upwards of 20-25 blocks per day it’s very hard for me to eat all those fruits & veggies sometimes. I just don’t think my appetite has adjusted yet, so I’ve been trying to eat more fats (almonds, avocados, olive oil, etc) to ensure I have enough energy for the crazy WODs CFSB comes up with
I wasn’t sure if this was okay to do, so thanks for the informative post Ruth!
This post got me thinking… I wonder how broccoli tastes with almond butter.
Silly rabbit, EVERYTHING tastes good with almond butter!
I probably have a couple of blocks of pizza a day but I always balance it out with a few ice cream blocks. The trick to elite athleticism is a block of doughnuts 30 minutes before waking up and a block of nachos right before bed.
Hey Forrest, just curious as to how you get a block of doughnuts in 30 minutes before you wake up?
…or maybe I don’t want to know.
I cut my carb blocks back and added fat as well. I feel so much better by not taking in so many carbs: more energy, a little lighter on my feet, etc. I highly recommend experimenting. Write it all down, so you can keep track of how you are feeling and your energy levels.