Just in case anyone is thoroughly confused about all this talk of blocks, paleo, zone…let me explain.

In a nutshell:

The “strict” Paleo is basically eating however much you want whenever you want. The only catch is you can only eat “caveman” style food. (meats, vegetables, and nuts) You can eat fruit, but “strict” Paleo doesn’t recommend it because of the sugars.

The Zone on the other hand is all about balancing your protein, carb, and fat intake so that the hormone, insulin, and other complicated things that make your body work can be balanced. The amount a person eats (the blocks*) on the Zone is determined by their body fat, weight, height, activity level and so on. A person can find out how much (how many blocks*) they need to eat a day on the Zone website or they can go to http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/cfjissue21_May04.pdf.

The way the Zone figures out proportions are by what they call Blocks*.

Protein: 7grams = 1block

Carbohydrates: 9grams = 1block

Fats: 1.5grams = 1block

For example, for a 12 block daily meal plan a person would eat a 3 block breakfast, lunch and dinner and have three 1 block snacks a day (usually between each meal). A 3 block meal means you eat 3x the protein, carbs, and fat. According to our block proportions above this means 21grams of protein, 27grams of carbs, and 4.5grams of fat for one 3 block meal.

These blocks can be distributed throughout the day however the person likes, but if the person is new to the Zone they should stick with a basic routine.

On the zone you can “technically” eat whatever you want, but the more unfavorable the food the less you will be able to eat. For example, you can less than a half a cup of spaghetti noodles or a half a spahettie squash.

***This can get overcomplicated really easy and like anything else, when a person starts a new routine they have to adjust, modify, and get used to it. A person could also get really hardcore with these eating plans by monitoring their sugar and salt intake.

Cassie and I are combining the two and are basically doing a Zone plan eating Paleo foods. We are NOT experts or hardcore dieters. All we are trying to do is see how we can change are bodies and health for the better. We have both done the Zone so we wanted to see what would happen if we eliminated all the processed foods, dairy, grains, and bad startches from our diets.

I hope this sheds a little light on the topic and doesn’t further confuse anyone.

~Krista