Week 2

It's week two on the zone.. I did pretty well last week until the weekend. Friday night was tough because I went out and didn't have dinner until 11 pm. I ended up eating crab dip and tostados.. oh god! Another bad day on Saturday while celebrating a final holiday meal with my family. But, I got back on Saturday afternoon with a good snack and a good steak salad. I spent today cooking and preparing for next week. I have two different snacks ready to grab and go.

Snack 1
Eggs with yolk removed and replaced with hummus
Paprika on top for color and flavor
2 eggs (4 halves in a snack)

Snack 2
Waldorf Salad
a ton of celery
1/4 an apple
half a walnut chopped
1/2 teaspoon lowfat mayo

Then I made Chili and Scrimp scampi (with asparagus instead of pasta for lunch through the week). Hopefully, this will work better for me than last week. That made my head hurt and my hands dry from washing all of those freaking dishes.

Day 3

Tuesday, December 31

This was the first day I felt really hungry on the Zone. I was counting minutes down to the next time I'd be able to eat, and I was in the worst mood! Sorry to all those who ran into me.

Breakfast:
Fruit Smoothie
20 g protein powder
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries (should have had a cup)
3 macadamia nuts
4 ice cubes

Lunch:
Turkey Wrap (One of Leslie's recipes)
Turkey
broccoli
spinach
avocado
1/2 flour tortilla
red onion
(I think this was only a two block meal, which only compounded my hunger)

Snack:
1/4 cup low fat Cottage Cheese
1/2 cup pineapple
3 peanuts

Dinner:
8 meatballs
1/2 cup chickpea & calamari stew
8 pieces of chocolate
2-3 glasses of wine

Happy New Years!

Day 2

Sunday, December 30:

Breakfast:
Yogurt & Fruit- 3 blocks
1 oz lean Canadian bacon
1/2 cup blueberries
1 tbl slivered almonds
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt

Lunch:
Tuna Salad- 3 blocks

3 oz albacore tuna

1/4 cup celery

1 tbl olive oil & vinegar

2 lettuce leaves

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1/2 canteloupe

1/2 cup blueberries

Snack:

1 snack size Zone Bar

1 pear

Dinner:

Flounder w/ Green Beans

vegetable spray

4.5 oz flounder filet

2 tbl yellow onion

sprinkling of Parmesean cheese

ground pepper

lemon juice

1.5 cup green beans

1 tbl slivered almonds

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1 cup pineaple- dessert

Snack:

4 oz red wine

1 oz string cheese

Day 2 is complete and I have not at all planned for the rest of the week. I am wondering how this is going to work for me. I'm used to cooking all my foods for the week on Sunday and then I may cook again on Wednesday or Thursday night depending on how much time I have. The way that the Zone has been going it seems like I have to cook each meal one at a time. I know that it's difficult because I'm following a meal plan from this One Week on the Zone book. It's making it harder than it should be.

I'm still confused about how to create my own Zone meals. How many blocks can I use?? How do I make cookable meals?? Anyone have any advice about how they have created their food?

Tomorrow I will be cheating for dinner and my second snack. I know that I'm supposed to stay strict for my first two weeks, but it is New Years. I just don't have willpower that strong!!

Day 1 on the Zone

Breakfast:
Fruit Salad (3 blocks)
3/4 cup low-fat cottage chees
1 cup fresh pineapple
1/3 cup canned mandarin oranges
3 macadamia nuts crushed

Lunch:
Chef's Salad (3 blocks)
1 cup lettuce & spinach
1/4 cup canned black beans
1/2 cup mushrooms chopped
1/2 cup celery chopped
1 tbl olive oil (think I put in too much)
2 tbl vinegar
1.5 oz deli sliced turkey
1.5 oz deli sliced ham
1 oz swiss cheese

Snack: (1 block)
1 Greens + Bar
1 apple

Dinner:
Ginger Chicken (3 blocks)
1 tsp olive oil
3 oz chicken breast
2 cups broccoli
1.5 cups snowpeas
3/4 cup onions
1 tsp fresh ginger

1/2 cup grapes

Snack: (1 block)
3 macadamia nuts
1 cup of 1% milk

It's incredible how much vegetables I am eating. It's actually difficult to finish my 3 block meals because of the amount of vegetables. I don't know if my first snack was actually on the zone though.. I decided to take my car to the mechanic and got stuck at Whole Foods.. I'm still not familiar with what foods equal one block, so I had to make a guess.. I know that the Greens + Bar is high in good carbs, protein & good fats. It's also an all natural bar, but it has a lot of figs in it, so it may be too sweet to actually work on the Zone. Next time I'll plan for such situations. Maybe having snacks handy to eat if I get into a pinch. Again I repeat one of my favorite mantras.. "A failure to plan is a plan to fail."