MostlyGeek

Third time is the charm the saying goes right? Well the first and second attempt at figuring out how much I need to eat had a few errors in the calculations. Mostly because I didn’t quite understand how to calculate Zone blocks.

Calculating My Zone Block Requirements

From my last body scan I have 137lbs of lean mass. My activity level is 0.7, which going to Crossfit 3 to 4 times a week equates to. So my protein requirements are: 137 * 0.7 = 96g/day. There are 7g of protein in one block so 96/7 = 13.7 blocks. My Zone block requirements is 14 blocks a day.

This is what the math looks like: Lean Body Mass * Activity Level / 7 = Block Requirements. 137lbs * 0.7 / 7 = 14 blocks.

Okay that was pretty simple. Now it is time to tweak based on my goal to gain weight. Following Kelly’s advice on bulking up:

Your calculations are right according to the zone, but I agree with Paul that for what you want to do you want to up the protein and the calories by the way of increasing the fat blocks. Typically elite crossfiters who follow the zone will zone protein and carbs at the regular ratios and then use a 3xs fat multiple. Fat contains a substanital amount of calories, so by increasing your fat blocks you will be upping the calories as well.

As far as the protein goes, since you want to bulk up, I would go at least 1gram per lb of lean body mass. (Yes this may mean additional “blocks” of protein beyond what was prescribed (however I would not boost carb blocks).

To give you an idea, my lean muscle mass is 110lbs and I typically eat about 115g of protein a day and even when I’m cutting weight my calories range from 1600-2200/day(about 50% from fat).

Following that advice this is what my intake will look like.

• Carbs = 14 blocks / day maximum (based on zone proportions)
• Protein = 20 blocks / day minimum (1g of protein / pound of lean body mass, 137/7 = 20)
• Fat = 42 blocks / day minimum (triple 14 blocks)

Daily Breakdown

Okay so now that I know how much I need to eat let’s see what a typical breakfast would look like to meet those nutritional requirements. This is usually the tricky part of creating meals that meet those requirements that are also convenient to make.

1. Two eggs (2 protein blocks)
2. 2oz ham (2 protein blocks)
3. 1oz cheese (1 protein blocks)
4. bell pepper + red onion mix (~ 1 carb block)
5. 0.5 cup salsa (1 carb block)
6. 1 pear (2 carb blocks)
7. 3 tsp oil oil (3 fat blocks)
8. 9 almonds (4 fat blocks)
9. 9 cashews (3 fat blocks)
10. 6 peanuts (1 fat block)

Wow! No wonder it is easier to throw a hotpocket into the microwave or have a bowl of cereal. Plus I’ve only looked at breakfast, there’s still two snacks and two more meals to worry about. What I need is a system of reducing the complexity.

Breaking down the complexity

Analyzing and looking at the breakfast again it can be reduced down to:

1. Two egg omelet with ham and cheese. Served with a generous helping of salsa.
2. One pear
3. Two snack sized servings of nuts.

The trick is to do all the measuring and separation before hand.  This is the plan:

• Prepare the bell pepper and onion mix in the food processor. Just use a few tablespoons and mix it into the eggs for flavour. I’m not concerned with not eating enough carbs for the day.
• Chop and separate the ham into 2oz zip lock bags. Make at least 5 bags, put them in a tupperwear container. When low, restock the bags.
• Buy nuts in bulk.  Separate into 5 fat block serving and keep in ziplock bags. Make lots. Do it once every few weeks since these keep for a long time.
• The fruit component, a pear, an apple, an orange, whatever. Buy enough fruit for the week. Switch it up every week or so to prevent fruit boredom.

By batching all the preparation work into a single day making breakfast is only a matter of combining the ingredients.

That’s enough for today. Next post I’ll look at creating some lunch and dinner recipes.