Zoned Out

These zoners found their max dead lifts as their benchmark workout yesterday.

Amy warms up for her max lift.

Workout:
1-1-1-1-1-1-1 dead lift

Row 1000 meters for time

Find your 1 rep deadlift max and then row 1000 meters for time.

Right now as I sit here typing, my house smells like a bakery. I love to bake and one of the hardest things for me on the zone is not being able to make all the sweets I love. Thankfully, however, there are a few recipes out there that are zoned just for us! Because I had vanilla protein powder instead of chocolate, I made the blueberry muffin variation listed at the end of this recipe. I've never tried the chocolate cherry one, so let me know how it turns out if you try it. As for the blueberry ones, I will bring them into the gym today and you all can try them out or take them home for a snack. Each one is a one block zone perfect snack. They are a little flat and small for a muffin, but, at least it's zone!

I'll list this recipe today and return to the meal plan tomorrow. Enjoy!

Chocolate Cherry Muffins
Grind old fashioned oats in the blender or shop for oat flour in natural foods stores. Make a double batch if you want extra portions for the freezer.
From “Zone Meals in Seconds”
Prep: 20 minutes Yield: 4 (4 block) servings
Cooking: 20 to 24 minutes

Ingredients:
Dry:
1 1/3 cups oat flour
4 (1 ounce) scoops chocolate flavored whey protein (amount providing 84 grams protein), scant 1 cup
2 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin or apple pie spice
1 tablespoon non-aluminum baking powder
1 tablespoon grated orange rind (optional)

Wet:
4 whole eggs or 8 egg whites
Two tablespoons and two teaspoons fructose powder or syrup
2/3 cup applesauce
5 1/3 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup frozen pitted sweet cherries, coarsely chopped

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 12 muffin tins with non-stick spray and set aside. Sift dry ingredients into 1 1/2 quart mixing bowl, adding orange rind if desired. Stir; set aside. Combine all wet ingredients in blender except the cherries. Cover and process until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides. Or, whisk in mixing bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir until evenly mixed, scraping bottom of bowl to incorporate flour and remove lumps. Do not over-mix. Gently fold in cherries. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups, evenly distributing it. Bake in preheated oven until firm to the touch, golden on top and around the edges, and a tooth pick inserted into the center comes out clean, about for 20 to 24 minutes. Allow to cool, then run a knife around edges to release muffins. Cover and refrigerate. Use within one week or freeze.
Variations
Divide batter between 16 muffin tins, filling any empty tins with water. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until muffins test done. Each muffin will contain 1 protein, 1 carb, and 1 fat block—perfect for snacks.

Use plain or vanilla whey protein powder instead of chocolate and substitute 1 cup fresh or 1 1/3 cup frozen blueberries for the cherries.

Comments

[Angel]

those muffins look delicious, mallee! and the "trevor" is 300, 400, 500, 600. wow. rabdo anyone? =) i'm going to go eat some breakfast and try to wrap my brain around doing that many pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups, and squats...even as a team effort. cheers!

[Craig]

All of our Zoners at Diablo CrossFit really appreciate your menus! Thank you for work on this.

Cheers.

Craig
Diablo CrossFit

[Angel]

i forgot to write what i was having for breakfast. i guess i was distracted with thoughts of a million and twelve reps on memorial day. *smile*

3 block breakfast:
1 whole egg - 1p, 1f
1 egg white - 1 p
1 oz. new zealand cheddar - 1p
1/3 tsp. butter - 1f
1 tbs avocado - 1f
1 cup grapes - 2c
1/2 tbsp. fresh honeycomb - 1c

i make the egg, egg white, and cheese into a little omelette using the butter for flavor and to keep it from sticking to the pan. it's very tasty. keep up the good work everyone!

[Scott A.]

Where did you get 1 egg being a fat and a protein Angel? Pretty much everything I've read has a whole egg being 1 protein and 2 egg whites being 1 protein. I also checked back on the posted meals from Mallee and she seems to count it as 1 protein too unless I'm counting wrong. Still looks like a good breakfast though.

[danielle]

I do that with my egg yokes as well Scott. The yoke has 5g fat (with my 3.5/block measurment ~ 1 block f).
My 2 block breakfast is
2 egg whites 1 p
1 whole egg 1 p
cooked in spray olice oil
1/3 c. steel cut oatmeal heated 1c
1.2 c. strawberries 1/2 c
1/6 bananna (mashed into the oatmeal to make it sweet) 1/2 c
a little half and half or milk on the oatmeal. 1f

[Scott A.]

I can see why you would do that given the fat content of a whole egg. It's just one of those weird things about the zone. Depending on whose list you follow (or if you calculate it yourself) you are slightly different in how much you are really eating. In the grand scheme of things a couple extra or less probably isn't going to matter that much.

I'm just glad I'm being as strict as I am. I did strict zone for 2 weeks a couple months back and have been zone friendly since. I'm hoping to keep it going for the full 6 weeks to put me in the best possible shape for the games.

[Mallee]

FATS! I miss them! Remember that the goal right now is to find what works best for our own bodies and use that as a starting point. After you see what happens at that place, adjust as needed. Whether you are using 1.5 or 3 g for your fat block, just be as consistent as you can so you know how to change things later. Personally, I aim for 1.5g of added fat, because I know that it is usually balanced up to 3g in things that aren't called "fats" on the zone food list, like eggs. I usually error on the high side, so now I'm trying the lower side. That's also why I am trying to eat mostly veggies, fruits and low fat meat products for this initial period; it leaves less room for error. If you were going to be perfect about the measurements, you could pick a menu and eat the exact same thing every day! But, we don't need to get that crazy with it. Just pick a method that allows you the quality of life you are willing to maintain (don't set impossible goals, or you will break!) and stick to it and we will see what happens. I think you guys are all doing outstanding and am very happy with the enthusiasm and support! Keep the comments coming!

Craig, Glad to help with the food ideas.

[Gloria Jean]

So pretty much EVERYTHING seems to have notable fat content except celery and sprouts! I'm no scientist, and definitely not a Zone expert but it seems to me that given the fact that even fruits (ex: pineapple, mango, etc.) have a fat content that it would be more logical to go with the 1.5 allowance rather than the 3 if for no other reason than to make up for oversight in counting hidden fats. Granted there is a huge difference between pineapple fat and cooking oil fat but still, I plan to go with the 1.5g allowance.

Secondly, I'm feeling pretty damned fantastic! I have had none of the groggy, foggy, grumpies that a lot of people seem to be experiencing. Can someone explain that to me? I mean, why are super fit, super lean people like Heather and Angel feeling crappier than I am at probably 10-15 pounds overweight, can't do pullups and probably running 10 or 11 min miles if I finish a mile at all? It's kind of confusing.

[Heather]

Gloria... maybe I just complain more ;)

Really though, all of my life I have not done well mentally with restricting food. When I was in kindergarten I used to come home from school and kick the refrigerator with a pout. My Mom would feed me and I'd be ok. My mood and feeling of strength fall quickly with an increase in hunger. I have, however, had experiences with backpacking and fasting where I have 'moved' through the different stages of hunger and really payed attention to my body's response. In most of those experiences, day five became the magic day when I felt better, lighter, more energetic, etc. I think it comes down to different people responding in different ways. I'm looking forward to tomorrow in hopes that I finally reach the zone. Although I fell out of zone eating this morning with work events and didn't eat until 4 hours after I woke up... then proceeded to eat 8 blocks in the span of 4 hours (not all at once, of course). Stress and hunger are not a good mix :) I'm back on though, with my coffee (finally) and a full belly.

Still no sugar since Sunday... yey!

[DebS]

Gloria, you describe pretty much how I felt the first two days. Then it all went by the wayside yesterday. So from what people have shared here, the point at which you hit the wall varies among us all. I do feel much better today and seem to be on a more even keel. I just wish going on the Zone came with a personal assistant to plan my meals, do the shopping and bring me my food at the appropriate time. The zone would be a piece of cake (ohhh...sorry the pun!) then.

For you zone pros, here's a question: I was over at Nob Hill this morning picking up stuff for work to have on hand and I saw the southbeach frozen meals. They are quite surprisingly about 3 blocks of protein but low in carbs as they mostly have just a vegetable with the meat. Would these be good lunch fare with adding a piece of fruit or some other carb to get the ratio's 40/30/30?

PS - If you haven't gotten to CFSC yet, hurry! Those muffins are pretty good and just one block! Thanks Mallee for sharing them with us. You can bake for me anytime :)

[danielle]

I am like you gloria, I feel the "good effects right away" I am hungry and a little light headed and on edge but I also feel more energised, enthusiasitc, and happy. So far so good with my performance as well.
I am just guessing but Heather and Angel both have lower body fat persentages than you and I maybe (hypotisis?) we are better able to live on our stored fat because we have more, so we feel better now that our body is eating it away? As for heather and Angel they have less to go on now? Just a thought.
I think you make a good point, I try to make each block of my meals have 3.5g fat...where ever it comes from.
Hollis stated it best the other day, and Mallee today.
We want the leanest protine sources possible so we can add high quality fats. If the meat has higher fat then add less fat.
For example...Yestarday at trader joes I went to buy steak
The difference between regular top serloin and tenderloin filet was 4g fat per 20g meat vs. 16 g fat per 20g of meat, the tenderloin being the lower fat option. That is the type of stuff we want to be looking at on the nutrition facts labels.
The fat really is n important part to watch, I did the zone without watching it and easily consumed twice as many calories as I was perscribed.
I am no really trying to stick to 35g fat/day no matter if they are already in my protine or added by me later.

[danielle]

I think south beach is pretty close deb, bring one of the meals in to the gym, sounds like you could add fruit and be right in there.
d

[DebS]

Will do Danielle.

Since we're talking so much about fat...here's an article I came across.
"When Fat Is Good For You"
http://www.imakenews.com/autowestcjd/e_article001060970.cfm?x=bcGDjHW,b8kWhDTN

I'm now happily enjoying avo on my sandwich as a condiment....yummy!