So, if you’ve caught on, I began eating Paleo Zone. Very long story short, I’m in the process of trying to figure out why I’m fatigued and not losing inches when, for many months, I’ve been eating very good (Paleo/Primal), I sleep on average 8-9 hours a night and WOD 4-5 times a week.
Worst case scenario is that it’s thyroid – both my mom and sister have thyroid. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to get blood work done to find out if it’s thyroid – or any other ailment that could be causing all this.
For the meantime, for the last week, my coach and I decided that if this isn’t hormonal, then there’s a chance my body has gotten used to what I’ve been eating, therefore, causing me to plateau. He has recommended Paleo Zone as the best outlet to control macro-nutrient portions and get the most nutrients.
This whole week I have been eating 11 block days (amount for medium female), which simply means, 3 block breakfast, 3 block lunch, 1 block snack, 3 block dinner and 1 block snack. Now let me just throw it out there, ONE block of carb (vegetable) is already a lot, but to have to have 3 blocks of vegetable carb is SO MUCH. For example, one whole cucumber is 1 carb block. 4 cups of raw spinach is 1 carb block. 1 cup cherry tomatoes are 1 carb block. Yet, 3 almonds is 1 fat block. And 1 tbsp avocado is 1 fat block. And 3oz of chicken breast is 1 protein block. The numbers behind at times seem kind of crazy to me. I’m used to eating more protein than that in one meal but not THAT many vegetables per meal. But perhaps that was part of my problem? Maybe I wasn’t eating enough period.
Regular Zone diet allows wheat, grains and legumes which can easily fill up the carb blocks. But being on Paleo Zone makes it that much harder because your carbs must come from just vegetables and fruits. Did I mention there is also an “unfavorable” list for vegetables and fruits? Bananas, mangoes, sweet potatoes, pomegranates, dates and papayas are all on the “unfavorable” list, which means they are acceptable but you should have sparingly.
This post turned out far longer than expected! I just wanted to share that very handy graphic for measurements because Zone is all about measuring your portions and especially if you’re eating out, that can be hard.
