42 Ways to Skin the Zone

For those of you interested I've recently decided to try this "method" of zoning which was created by crossfit nutrition guru Robb Wolf (robbwolf.com). Although Robb is a big paleo advocate he created a way to "paleo-ize" the zone diet by cutting out the carbs and ramping up the fat. Just as an example... I'm on a 16 block zone diet, but with this you keep the p-16, cut the c-8 (in half) and increase f-40. You are replacing 3 blocks of fat for every carb block dropped.

The goal of this diet it is pretty much for vanity purposes. I am most likely going to see a drop in performance due to the calorie restriction combined with the severe carb restriction. For now, I'm ok with that because ultimately I've got a goal to reach. What I'm doing now, is going to test this for 30 days and post my results under this thread daily so that not only can I hold my self accountable but you all can see how this little experiment works out. After reading plenty of Robbs' writings and familiarizing myself with his methodology on this way of zoning, I said screw it. So.... Here I go...


Day 1: Monday 11/23 (this will be my typical daily diet) I rarely change what I eat...


Meal 1: 4 Large Egg whites, 1 whole organic egg, 1/2 tbls spoon olive (overflowing), 1 whole banana

Meal 2: 6 Cups Romaine lettuce, 4oz turkey breast, 9 almonds, 2 tbls spoons of canola oil base italian dressing

Meal 3: 4oz Red Oyser Roast beef, 1 apple, personalized fitness mix (approx. 10 blocks of fat)

Meal 4 POST WOD: Proteien Shake: 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1.25 scoops EAS whey protein, approx 10 f blocks of personalized fitness mix.


Diddy Kong was my WOD for today, tough met-con wod as rx'd 8:02


Feeling a bit hungry tonight it's around 11 pm right now. I'm expecting to feel this way with the restriction of calories and carbs. Hopefully that will subside fast, if not avoiding a crash will be extremely difficult.

Day 2: Tuesday 11/25

Meal 1: 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1.5 tablespoons olive oil and 1 apple

Meal 2: 4 oz Roast beast, 1 apple, approx 10 blocks of personalized fitness mix

Meal 3: 4 oz Turkey breast, 1 apple, 30 almonds

Meal 4 POST WOD: 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, approx. 10 blocks of personalized fitness mix



WOD was a bitch today, feeling some slight mood changes, quite possibly from the calorie restriction and the serious drop in carbs. We'll see what happens over the next few days.

Day 3 11/26:


Meal 1: 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, 2 tbl spoons of olive oil, 1 slice fat free cheese, 1 banana

Meal 2: 6 cups romaine lettuce, 4 oz turkey breast, 2 tbl spoons canola oil based salad dressing

Meal 3: 4 oz lean ground beef, 1 apple, 30 almonds

Meal 4 Post WOD: 28 gr whey protein, 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 60 peanuts.



Feeling good, noticing recovery isn't as fast with cut back in carbs but over all feeling no change. Tomorrow's hurdle number 1.... Thanksgiving.

Day 4 11/26: Thanksgiving



Meal 1: 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 6 cups romaine lettue, 4 oz turkey breast, 2 tbl spoons canola oil based dressing


Meal 3: 4 oz thanksgiving turkey, 1 apple, 60 peanuts, 2 pickle slices


Meal 4: 4 oz thanksgiving turkey, 1 apple, approx. 10 blocks of my personal fitness mix




Felt good today, body didn't care too much for the 4th meal being actual food. Feeling pretty good since I didn't fall victim to the candied yams, blueberry muffins, soda or any of the other shit I like to cheat on. Still have a long way to go but taking it one day at a time.

thanks chuck this is very helpful. Do you suggest i continue to take in more fat? Ive been not monitoring it lately and have been eating a lot. I feel a little more sluggish when i eat that much, should i lay it off?

Day 5 11/27:


Meal 1: 1 whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 4 oz turkey breast, 6 cups Romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola based dressing, 9 almonds (can't remember if i've been writing that, but i've been eating them the whole time with the meal)


Meal 3: 4 oz Roast Beef, 1 apple, approx. 10 blocks of fitness mix


Meal 4: 1.25 scoops EAS whey protein, 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, approx 10 blocks of fitness mix.


Felt great today, WOD felt great as well. Things are looking up. Although GD Canadians kept driving threw my line with McDonalds today and it was torturous, I made it threw again with no cheats. I think I'm growing an alter ego that slips in words to my brain every so often, because I was about ready to rob a 5 yr old of her french fries today.


Zach you have to give a good week or two to let your body adjust to what's going on. Be sure to monitor your carb levels, if you're getting to many fruits in, the fructose may cause that feeling. Also, I'm hoping this is a given but if you're eating breads or dairy while upping your fats, thats not going to help. It's very important to remember that you're body's adjusting to not running on carbs anymore and it's starting to run on dietary and body fat, while this happens you're going to feel sluggish, moody (to the point where you get snippy with people for no reason), a drop in performance etc. etc. etc. Give yourself a good couple weeks to get over that.

I hope I answered you in depth enough to understand. Also, while doing the paleo be sure to eat when you're hungry don't eat just to get meals in. If you're forcing yourself to eat and your body doesn't want the food, you're bound to feel sluggish because you're taking in too much. You may want to try and get higley's attention with this one, he has much more experience with the paleo diet compared to myself.

Day 6 11/28:



Meal 1: 4 oz turkey breast, 1 banana, 7 blocks fitness mix.

Meal 2: 6 cups romaine lettuce, 4 oz turkey breast, 2 tbl spoons canola oil based dressing, 9 almonds

Meal 3: 4 oz turkey breast, 1 apple, approx 10 blocks of fitness mix

Meal 4 post WOD: 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 28 g EAS whey protein, 60 peanuts

Feeling a little sluggish after work but that's due to the busy work days, or so I think. We will see how this lasts into next week.

Day 7 11/29:


Meal 1: whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1 slice fat free cheese, banana


Meal 2: 6 cups romaine lettuce, 4 oz turkey breast, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds


Meal 3 CHEAT MEAL: 10 wings and some cheese fries.



Tried not to over do it with the eating since I had a cheat meal. I was fully ready to go at it for the 7th day straight with no cheats, but met a few fellow crossfitters out after work and fell trap to the smell of the deliciousness. Back on the horse tomorrow and right back at it. This was a fairly calculated cheat and I'm not worried about stressing about it, I actually feel some what mentally relieved except for the fact that I want to devour lots of shitty foods right now. Anyways, the goal is to eat clean for the next 12 days I believe it is. Yes for those of you who know that's my b-day and there's just no way I'll be able to control myself that day.

thanks chuck, ya i've been pretty bitchy lately. Im also trying to drop the amount of fruit i eat and replace it with either veggies or nuts and peanut/almond butter. Its tough though, sucking out grains sucked, and now decreasing my fruit sucks bad too. What is there to look forward to anymore? not eating. Thanks agian chuck

Day 8 Monday 11/30:


Meal 1: Whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1oz fat free cheese, 1 banana, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil


Meal 2: 4oz Turkey Breast, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds


Meal 3: 4oz roast beef, 1 apple, approx 10 blocks fitness mix


Meal 4 POST WOD: 4 oz roast beef, 1 apple, approx 10 blocks fitness mix.

Day 9 12/1:

Meal 1: whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1oz fat free cheese, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 4oz turkey breast, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 3: 4oz hamburger, 1 apple, 30 almonds


Meal 4 POST WOD: 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1.25 scoops whey protein, approx 10 blocks of Fit Mix.





Happy Birthday Kristen... You're the first this month of the new 30 yr olds. See ya soon.

Day 10 12/2:


Meal 1: Whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1oz fat free cheese, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: Chicken Breast, salad, steemed broccoli, approx 10 blocks of fitness mix


Meal 3: 4oz turkey breast, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 4 POST WOD: 1 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1.25 scoops EAS whey protein, approx 10 blocks of fitness mix

Keep up the hard work on the meal plans. Its paying off brother.

Next cheat meal... Cold Stone!

Day 11: Thursday 12/3


Meal 1: Whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1oz fat free cheese, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 4oz turkey breast, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds


Meal 3: 4oz. roast beef, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 4 POST WOD: 4oz roast beef, 1 apple, approx 10 blocks of fitness mix




Yes I had roast beef twice from wegmans today and I loved every fucking second of it. That stuff is like my treat!


Thanks again for the support Hubie. It's much appreciated brother!

Day 12: 12/4


Meal 1: whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1oz fat free cheese, 1 banana

Meal 2: 4oz turkey, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds

Meal 3: 4oz roast beef, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 4: 10 oz steak, 1 cup broccoli, some side salad and fitness mix

Day 13: 12/5


Meal 1: whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1oz fat free cheese, 1 banana


Meal 2: 4oz turkey, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds


Meal 3: 4oz chicken, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 4: chicken breast, broccoli, side salad, fitness mix (thank tristing for that meal because I was dying to cheat)



Meal 5, and yessssss it was a cheat meal. I had some Pizza. Tasted amazing, felt guilty as hell, but the day and where I happened to be were just a recipe for disaster. Surprisingly I didn't feel to bad afterwards and today although I'm mad for giving in, I don't feel to bad. We'll see what the rest of the day brings. Had to update friday and yesterday today because I've been a bit busy.

Day 14: 12/6


Meal 1: whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1oz fat free cheese, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 3oz hamburger, 1oz fat free cheese, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 3: 4oz turkey, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing


Meal 4: 2oz hamburger, 2oz fat free cheese, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter




That was a rare day for me with all the dairy that I took in. Don't really feel any adverse effects so far today but I still don't like taking in quite that much dairy. I'd like to keep it to that slice of cheese a day, but that's what happens when you aren't prepared and don't have enough chicken in the house.

Day 15: 12/7


Meal 1: whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1oz fat free cheese, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 4oz chicken, 1 tbl spoon almond butter, 1 apple


Meal 3: 4oz chicken, 1 tbl spoon almond butter, 1 apple


Meal 4: 4oz turkey, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds




Half way through my "challenge" which really hasn't been much of a challenge, it's actually been pretty easy. I know what my body fat was right before I started, so I'm interested to see where it's at after the 30 days, depending on how much body fat has been lost compared the previous month i will then decide whether to continue with this or change and try a different method. I tend to get very impatient and need a little bit of feed back to keep myself in check.

A week went by with out me posting anything, busy week. The week went very well until friday.... the weekend i made food fear me. So that's all that's going to be said about that.

Today back on the horse

Day 22 12/14:


Meal 1: 1oz fat free cheese, whole egg, 4 egg whites, 1/2 tbl spoon olive oil, 1 banana


Meal 2: 4oz turkey, 6 cups romaine lettuce, 2 tbl spoons canola oil dressing, 9 almonds


Meal 3: 4oz chicken, 1 apple, 1 tbl spoon almond butter


Meal 4 POST WOD: 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 cup strawberries, 1.25 scoops whey protein, 60 peanuts.