Above: (Top) Our Memorial Day class poses for a post-WOD pictures! Great job today gang!! Thank you for starting my Memorial Day with a bang! (Bottom) My “3-block” Zone breakfast! This is my typical breakfast… (3 blocks of protein) 2 egg whites and 1 whole egg plus 1 ounce of cheese… (3 blocks of carbs) 1 cup steamed broccoli, 1 cup strawberries, 2/3 cup blueberries… (3 blocks of fat – not pictured) a handful of unsalted dry roasted almonds. Oh and I can’t forget to add my black starbucks coffee! So… if you thought “diet” meant “hunger”, not on the Zone it doesn’t! What are you waiting for?? Get your body on the ZONE! Yummmm!

The Zone Diet by Dr. Barry Sears, is the only measurably, observably, and repeatedly successful approach to moderating your insulin production by moderating your carbohydrate intake. The bottom line, if you take in too much carbohydrates, you have hyper-insulinimia, which is too high insulin levels. Hyper-insulinimia is BAD! Chronic hyper-insulinimia is BAD! Therefore, avoiding hyper-insulinimia will make a dramatic difference in your health, fitness, and appearance.

According to the official Zone Diet website, “the Zone Diet is about balancing your hormones within a specific range…” When you balance your hormones, health and performance come naturally.

The Zone Diet Explained (http://www.zonediet.com/)

Diet is not a dirty word. It comes from the Greek root meaning “way of life”. This is what the Zone Diet is. It’s a way of life to help control gene expression to give you the longer and better life we all aspire to.

The Zone Diet gives you the power to turn some genes on and turn other genes off. As a result, you feel your energy soar, watch your waistline shrink, and say goodbye to hunger. In the Zone you are now taking wellness into your own hands.

Any diet that uses the word high or low to describe it is hormonally unsustainable. The only diet that can maintain hormonal balance for a lifetime must use the word moderate to describe it. That’s what the Zone Diet is.

It’s moderate in:
• Low-fat protein
• Low glycemic-load carbs(mostly fruits and vegetables)
• Heart-healthy monounsaturated fats

The Zone Diet is about balancing your hormones within a specific range to control hunger on fewer calories while still getting the proper nutrients your body needs for long-term health. The Zone Diet can best be described as a moderate-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, moderate fat diet that has approximately one gram of fat for every two grams of protein and three grams of carbohydrates (the Zone 1-2-3 Method™). These ratios represent the newest dietary recommendations from the Joslin Diabetes Research Center at Harvard Medical School for the treatment of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
With the right balance of protein, carbohydrates and fats, you can control three major hormones generated by the diet – insulin, glucagon and eicosanoids.

Insulin – A storage hormone. Excess insulin makes you fat and keeps you fat. It also accelerates silent inflammation
Glucagon – A mobilization hormone that tells the body to release stored carbohydrates at a steady rate, leading to stabilized blood sugar levels. This is key for optimal mental and physical performance.
Eicosanoids – These are the hormones that ultimately control silent inflammation. They are also master hormones that indirectly orchestrate a vast array of other hormonal systems in your body.

Really awesome Zone sources:
http://www.zonediet.com/
Zone Block Calculator – RARE CrossFit
The Zone: Quick Start Guide
CrossFit Journal: Meal Plan – really great source for block breakdowns

Books:
“Mastering the Zone” by Barry Sears, Ph.D.
“A Week in the Zone” by Barry Sears, Ph.D.
“Zone Perfect Meals in Minutes” by Barry Sears, Ph.D.

Today’s Workout:
Pre-WOD…
Tabata Squats

For 20 secs do as many reps of Air Squats as you can – then rest 10 secs.
Repeat this 7 more times for a total of 8 intervals, 4 minutes total exercise.
**The score is the least number of reps for any of the 8 intervals.

REST, then…

“Heavy Helen”
3 rounds for time, of:
400 M Run
21 KB Swings (70/53#s)
12 Pull-ups (Chest to Bar)