ZONEd In. Day 7.

Feeling good!

Breakfast: eggs, banana, coffee with MCT oil

Snack: Gluten free toast with butter, turkey

Lunch: chicken breast with avocado, kimchee, rice

Snack: apple, coffee with gelatin, pecans

Dinner: chicken wings, salad, rice

Exercise:

5:30 am: crossfit

ZONEd In. Day 6.

I could not be more excited for my upcoming race. My diet is spot on and doing wonders for my training. I'm strong, and I'm eating enough to support my strength. If you ever feel like you have to deprive yourself or eat less than 1800 calories per day to lose extra fat, get some help! And if you think you're in starvation mode and totally screwed up your metabolism.... you're probably wrong. Your metabolism can be wonky, but if you're training right and eating right, you'll reach your goals.

Breakfast: eggs with cheese in butter, mini blueberry muffin, apple

Snack: Arbonne protein shake with PB and banana

Lunch: rotisserie chicken with garden salad and balsamic

Snack: greek yogurt, baby carrots, pecans

Dinner: chicken thighs, mixed veggies

Exercise:

4:30 8 x 200m sprints, deadlifts and burpees

ZONEd In. Day 5.

My goal for this 30 day challenge is to enhance my performance when it comes to running. I really want to beast this marathon and show my husband how working harder is better than 100 mile weeks when it comes to training. So far, I have really proven myself right. I did a 10 mile run last night that felt like butter. No cramps, no hard breathing... just easy, fun running. I'm really excited about the race next weekend. So, here's to a weekend of easing up on the diet and not paying attention to blocks, then back at it Monday!

Breakfast: eggs with cheese, strawberries, watermelon, coffee with MCT oil

Snack: turkey, apple, pecans

Lunch: chicken, cheesy potatoes, grilled romaine

Snack: coffee with almond milk and pecans, turkey

Dinner: rice noodle, sausage and veggie stir fry

Exercise:

10 mile run

ZONEd In. Day 4.

So far, I've lost 3.5 pounds. My goal isn't to lose weight, but to enhance my performance, especially when it comes to my marathon next weekend. I'm not skin and bone not am I hungry, so I'm not too worried about the weight coming off.

Breakfast: eggs in butter with cheese, watermelon, coffee w/ MCT oil

Snack: Arbonne protein with banana, coffee, and PB

Lunch: Burger with cheese, watermelon, and walnuts

Dinner: Steak, red potatoes w/cheese, and grilled romaine with Caesar dressing

Exercise: 

Death. aka, 5:30 am crossfit

ZONEd In. Day 3.

I'm really feeling the benefits of the Zone beginning today. My running was back on unlike it has been for the past few weeks of just stuffing my face with 4000-5000 calories of whatever was in front of me at the moment. I'm still sticking with the medium-frame female block chart, and was not hungry today. So, I'll keep with it for a bit.

Breakfast: Eggs with cheese in butter, mini blueberry muffin, watermelon

Snack: Arbonne protein with MCT oil and peppermint oil and coffee

Lunch: Burger with cheese and mushrooms and peppers

Snack: coffee with MCT oil and apple and turkey

Dinner: Tuna tataki and salmon roll

Exercise:

7:30 PM 5 x 1K repeats at 6:40 pace

ZONEd In. Day 2.

More excuses I come across often for not losing the weight is that they either have PCOS, Hypothyroidism, Chronic Fatigue, IBS, Anxiety, and/or Joint Inflammation. First of all, I have PCOS and Hypothyroid.... key there is balanced nutrition and a healthy exercise regimen. For the others, exercise and good nutrition will treat (maybe not totally cure) those conditions!

If you want to look up the zone blocks for yourself, check out https://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/cfjissue21_May04.pdf

Basically, you can look at your t-shirt size, and figure out what you are. Small shirt size on a female? Small female block chart. However, I am marathon training and breastfeeding, so I am going with medium.... and will probably up it to large female (even though I'm a size 0/2 almost 5'3) because no matter how much fat I add it's not keeping my stomach from feeling like it's going to implode.

Also, for supplements, I'm taking a prenatal, Vitamin D/Calcium/Magnesium, probiotics, and DHA.

Breakfast: eggs, banana, strawberries, bacon
Snack: Arbonne chocolate protein, spinach, almond milk, peanut butter
Lunch: rotisserie chicken, watermelon, kimchee
Snack: coffee with gelatin and MCT oil, mini blueberry muffin
Dinner: burger salad, peppers and mushrooms, sweet potato fries

Exercise:
3:00 PM Family bike ride
4:30 PM crossfit

ZONEd In

I am constantly trying to think of ways to get through to people about nutrition and how big of a role it has in EVERYTHING. I often have clients who will work out, but won't stick to a clean diet. Why put in all that hard work only to totally negate it with a bad diet? Why continue with a bad diet if you get sick often, or aren't thriving?

A thought occurred to me this morning, as I was driving home from my 5:30 crossfit class. I don't know anyone who wouldn't wake up and show up every morning to their job, if the only job they could ever have was at 5:30 AM. Well, you only get one body. Why not show up to whatever it is you would commit every time? Why let your own body down?

I get it. I have 3 kids, and don't use daycare. My husband deploys for half the year. I teach spin classes and am a personal trainer. I am finishing up my M.S. I don't hire anyone to do anything for me. I'm busy! However, I know that if I slip up on my nutrition, I'm only surviving, not thriving. And, there's no way I can train effectively on a bad diet. I also want to set a good example for my friends, family, and most importantly, my kids.

I've always been a fan of the zone diet, but I'm so precise with my macros that I never actually tried the simplicity of the Zone. At my crossfit certification workshop, I was challenged to stick with the Zone diet for an entire month before I knock the blocks. Now that my nursling 8 month old is eating more solid foods, I feel comfortable drastically switching up my diet without counting my macros on myfitnesspal. To hold myself accountable and for you to see how the zone works, I'm going to update this daily with what I ate and my training for the day. I'm eating 11 daily blocks. If I'm hungrier, I'll add extra fats.

Day 1:

Breakfast: eggs in butter, strawberries, banana, coffee with coconut oil
Snack: Arbonne protein shake with spinach and almond milk and PB
Lunch: Ribs and brussel sprouts
Snack: Pastrami, banana with peanut butter
Dinner: Smoked chicken, sauteed veggies, and bacon wrapped pepper

Not pictured: turkey and banana with peanut butter snack... mad rush out the door!

Workouts: 5:30 am: crossfit   8:15 am: run with the kids   4:30 pm: spin class