Zone Meals Time Planning
The very important part of The Zone diet plan is meal time planning. All your meals and snacks should be planned accordingly to your daily activities. Based on your daily waking time, schedule your meals and snacks accordingly throughout the day. Proper meal time planning will enable you to have better control over the utilization of proteins and carbohydrates by your body.
There should be at least 3 Zone meals and 2 Zone snacks a day, which are morning breakfast (within 1 hour after waking), afternoon lunch, mid-afternoon snack, evening dinner and late night snack (within 1 hour before sleeping).
Foods in Your Daily Zone Meals and Snacks
Each meal or snack must have some healthy proteins, and the amount of carbohydrates and fats should be proportionate to the ratio of 4:3:3. Only healthy carbohydrates, for examples fresh vegetables, fruits and whole grains are allowed, all refined carbs and sugar are strictly prohibited. If the meal does not have enough fats, then add in some healthy unsaturated fats such as olive oil, avocado, nuts, fish oil, etc. Besides eating according to the plan, you must also remember to drink plenty of water daily, at least 8 glasses of 8-oz glass.
The Zone Block and Meals Planning
When talking about Zone meals preparation, the Zone block comes into picture. Each Zone block is made up of 1 mini block of carbohydrate (1C=9 g of carbohydrate), 1 mini block of protein (1P=7 g of protein) and 1 mini block of fat (1F=1.5 g of fat). The amount of Zone Block you should consume will be determined by your daily protein requirement.
Zone Diet Body Fat Calculator- Determine Your Daily Protein Requirement
The protein requirement for each individual is different depending on various factors such as height, weight, daily activities, gender, etc. In order to have a more personalized and effective Zone diet plan to fulfill individual’s unique needs, one has to first find out his or her daily protein requirement. This can be easily done by using the Zone Diet Body Fat Calculator by Dr. Sears.
