Several people expressed interest yesterday in more ideas of what to eat on the Zone Diet. Here are a few resources:
- CrossFit Santa Cruz Central hosts a great blog called “Eat This!” on which they post Zone meals and snacks daily. They’re not always perfectly Paleo (for those trying to head that way), but this is one of the best resources I’ve seen for easy new ideas.
- Many of you have already seen this, but it’s still worth mentioning CrossFit Journal 21. In addition to a great explanation of the Zone diet, this has some pretty easy ideas. After over a year and a half on the Zone, a few of these ideas are still the basis for about half of my daily meals and snacks. Click on the link on the right to download the full PDF article.
- No one is perfect and it’s always better to compromise than fall off the wagon completely. Mark’s Daily Apple has a handful of ideas on what you can eat at fast food restaurants that will be reasonably healthy. In addition to these, one of my standbys is the Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco from Taco Bell – each one is about 2 blocks, plus a dose of extra fat. A McDonald’s Egg McMuffin without one of the muffins is about two blocks, as is a McChicken with half a bun and no mayo.
- Also in the compromise department are nutrition bars. Once again, they’re not ideal, but nobody’s perfect and these are very convenient in a pinch. Many varieties of Balance bars are close to Zone ratios. The Met-Rx Carb Control varieties are also close and don’t have sugar (they use sugar substitutes instead, which may not be much better). Unfortunately, most snack bars have a fair bit of sugar and if you’re trying to go Paleo, I’ve never seen one that would qualify. Like I said though, far better to compromise than start reaching for the Ritz Bits.
Another great set of resources are the people you workout with every day. If you need some ideas, ask around. If you have some ideas, post them in comments.
October 25, 2008 WOD
squat technique
3 rounds:
800m run
20x squat
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Uggh. More squats.
Just what the (form) doctor ordered
Re: food ideas…
I make a huge salad (lettuce, broccoli slaw, carrots, cucumbers, celery, olives, etc) on a Sunday eve and then bag up all leftovers in 1-Quart ziplock bags, squeezing all air out when I zip them. Now I’ve got a salad a day for quick grab lunch.
I also grille/roast extra meat when it’s my turn to cook. Same as salad. I portion out 5oz of whatever meat into tin foil (after it cools) and refrigerate it for quick grab lunches all week.
It makes eating healthy and keeping proportions correct while at work easier.
Must have been a ” I love squatting week. ” I saw mainsite was the CFT and wondered what you guys did today.
I like keeping a lot of hard boiled eggs ready to eat or throwing a tritip in an oven and slicing it up for strips of meat to snack on over a few days. I also just drink a tall glass of milk for snack around the house or pick up a quart if I’m wandering about.
Breakfast – two egg omelet on a slice of toast. (2 blocks) Or instead of toast, I’ll use black beans cooked with sauteed onions and peppers and taco seasoning (usually leftover from our black bean burritos). Toss some sliced avocado on top to add some more fat.
For lunch, we buy prewashed, precut lettuce (it’s convenient and quick). I’ll grill up some marinated chicken breasts and dice them up. In the mornings before work, I’ll dump some of the lettuce, some chicken, some form of bean (garbanzo, black, or kidney), some dried cranberries, some chicken, some walnuts, and some feta cheese. I’ll make a quick dressing with some olive oil and vinegar and take that in a separate container. Lunch time rolls around and I power down my salad.
For a quick dinner we slice up some bell peppers, onions, broccoli, carrots, garlic, ginger, and some tofu (or chicken) to make a quick stir-fry. We experiment with various sauces, but one of the tastiest is some peanut butter with soy sauce, and maybe some red chili flakes. No need for rice or noodles; its tasty the way it is.
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