Goals....

So I just realized 2 days ago that it really is the end of the year, and I had some goals to complete. I went to the gym yesterday to do exactly that. My first goal was the BW Overhead squat (OHS). My previous PR for the OHS was 160lb. To do a BW OHS I would have to do 185lb. I loaded the bar to 95 to warm up and it was surprisingly difficult. I then loaded 135, it was heavy, than my confidence started to dwindle. I than loaded 155 which I was able to get overhead with a jerk, than attempted the OHS. I had 3 attempts total and all failed. I feel that I can do it, or at least match my old PR.
I then attempted the BW bench press, I have done this one in the past. In fact, during 'Lynne' my first round I was able to do 11 reps. But my goal is to be able to do 10+ reps with comfort. I want my BW to feel light. So I was only able to complete 7 reps. but that was only one attempt and with only one warm up set. So a little more work for that one.
The C&J my BW. I did not attempt this yesterday. I have in the passed already completed this task. In fact one of the WOD was C&J 3-3-3-3-3 I was able to do the last set of 3 at 185. It was difficult but I completed it with relatively good form.
So I call this one a completed goal.
All WOD as RX'ed. I feel that I can do all of them, except WOD's with Pistols, for I cannot do them with out my forward heel staying above parallel. I can do them on a box allowing my heel to dip below the surface of the box. The other WOD is 'Isabel' I have not completed this one yet. I can do a full snatch with 135lb, I just have not done 30 for time yet. So this one is on the agenda.
Now the 5K run in 21 minutes or less. My best run ofthe year was in the 22 minute range. I believe it was 22:45 or just under 23 minutes.
I have decided to compete in races this year. I cannot run fast without someone on my heels or in my sights. I need the competition factor to complete this goal. I look forward to competing.
The Handstand push up 21 reps. I cannot do this one yet. I have trouble with anything where my shoulders are doing most of the work. I need to work on the flexibility and issues I have with my left shoulder. Until this is addressed I think the road to anything overhead will be difficult.
The same goes for the Turkish get up. I will not reach the goal of 100lb TGU until I can hold the weight with my shoulder and also the ability to do a the very least a BW (185lb) OHS.

I am going to have new goals and some of the same for the upcoming year. I will post these here in the next couple of days. I also want to have monthly goals. Short term goals that will help me reach my yearly goals.

To all have a safe and good slide into the New Year.

Saturdays WOD

Complete as many rounds as possible 20 minutes of:
95 pound Thruster, 5 reps
95 pound Hang Powercleans, 7 reps
95 pound Sumo Deadlift High-pull, 10 reps

I did this one back in the summer, and completed 12 rounds. I was very happy then. So this time I only completed 8+ rounds. I was close to finishing the 9th round, but ultimately my grip failed me. Last time I was able to complete all the hang power cleans unbroken but this time I was not so lucky. I blame my lower score and fatigue on poor eating and sleep habits the passed couple of days. I worked Friday night so only had roughly 5 hours of sleep before this WOD and my eating schedule was off, only one meal in me before I worked out. Probably 4 hours before the workout I ate breakfast. As I write this now I realize I should have had a light snack before hand. Oh well I moved well, and felt good after the WOD just wont go down in the record books.

Fridays WOD

"Angie"

For time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Squats

This one is an old favorite of mine. I PR'ed last time at 17:32 which was only 8 seconds faster than my time before that. I think the failure that time was I went all out on the pull ups and completed close to 40 using the butterfly in about a minute or so. I soon fell apart after that. I completed the pull ups in about just under 5 minutes. This time I took a different approach and did a tabata style butterfly kip. I completed the 100 pull ups in 4 minutes even. Now the rest of the WOD went as usual push ups are hard, and the sit ups just eat up a lot of time. Now the squats without the use of a med ball is a whole new ball game, (no pun intended.)
Anyhow I do not use a med ball for my squats anymore and it adds a difficulty to the squats. There is nothing to drop onto now and I have nothing to help me back up with a bounce, its all legs and hips and after suffering through the 100 squats this way, I think that's the way it should be. so Angie as RX'ed 17:13 a new PR.

Pistols

"Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

OR

"Mary"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Handstand Push-ups
10 One legged squats, alternating
15 Pull-ups

Yesterday I did Mary. This WOD is one of the two WOD that I have trouble doing as RX'ed. The problem is the pistols. I can do a 1 legged squat but only from an elevated position so my forward heel wont have to stay above the bottom of my glute upon descent. I have a bit of a flexibility issue with my hamstrings, and my right hip is always an issue. I dont feel that that Mary can be considered "RX" until I can do a proper pistol (one legged squat hip below parallel of knee, while standing on floor).
I did complete 7 rounds and 12 pull ups. I used the butterfly kip and for some reason I have lost my fluidity with the movement. I will need to work on this.....
Looks like I will have plenty of practice with Eva later on today.

Filthy Fifty'

I did the Filthy fifty on Friday,
For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

I only have an 18lb med ball so I did 6 extra wall balls to make up the difference in weight. I was cruising along pretty good for most of the WOD. I need to find a way to get through those burpees. I think it took me over 6 minutes to do them, the first 2 burpees about put me out. I did some exercises unbroken, the double unders I did in about 90 seconds, but those frickin burpees just kill me every time. My time was 27:18 which is slower than my previous time, I blame that on the competition factor and the respiratory infection I am still battling. Anyhow, goal is to get this one under 24 minutes.

Virus....

I just fixed the issue with my computer having a nasty virus. I could not even open files on my desktop. It even affected my 'virus protection' software. How ironic...

Anyhow I did the WOD from 2 days ago yesterday.
Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:
Run 400 meters
15 L-Pull-ups
15 Hip Extensions
I was going for 5 rounds. I felt this was obtainable when I finished the first round in about 3:45. But using a treadmill that has 10 safety features on it will add time to your overall run time. I also still have this unforgiving upper respiratory infection. I ran at a pace on the treadmill of 9.3 miles an hour with an incline of 1.0 and all L pull ups were just that I formed an L with my lower body than did a chin over the bar pull up. I did not kip, and there was no L ups, where the body forms the L as you pull to chin over bar. Well needless to say the L pull ups got me. The hip extensions were easy and fast. Anyhow I finished the WOD with 4 rounds plus the 400m run and 2 L pull ups. Now to prep myself mentally for the 'filthy fifty'.

Sunday Run

Ran a short 10k really it was only 4.5 miles. I ran along the river against the wind on the way out and then it was really nice on the way back. Minus the wet shoes, and patches of ice the run was a good one. My speed was not the greatest but form was pretty good. Focused on POSE and posture. Total time was 40:17, which brings my average mile time to almost 9 minutes which is very slow for me. But weather conditions and the ability to stop 'because it sucks' is always a factor. Anyhow, need a good running partner for these longer runs, I enjoy running and do not mind it but when it comes to speed on anything over a mile I just talk myself into slowing down and enjoying the scenery..... Need to run in a race,

Fridays WOD.

Friday I did "Nasty Girls"

3 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
7 Muscle-ups
135 pound Hang power cleans, 10 reps

I did this one in a total time of 15:48, I think it was slower than last time. The rings I had hanging from an 8' pull up bar which made the transition in the Muscle up easier, but I could only get 1 MU at a time do to the fear of my knees slamming into the concrete below. I did not miss any Mu's but the time between each rep was too long. The Hang power cleans, I made a mistake and I was doing power cleans from the floor, and some yahoo decided he wanted to do some 'power cleans',if that is what he calls them, using the platform and set up I had.
Definite room for improvement, the muscle ups have always been my weakest link.

Snuck out got a WOD in......

Well the baby and wife are still sick, so when the baby to her nap, I snuck out to catch up on the WOD's.
I warmed up on the C&J's and started at 155lb, it felt very heavy. I spent so much time warming up i ran out of time to complete the 7 rounds RX'ed. So I did 1 more C&J at 155lb and it felt great. Wished I could have done more rounds...
But I knew I had just enough time to get through:

"Annie"

50-40-30-20 and10 rep rounds of:
Double-unders
Sit-ups
I still have not gotten my jump rope to the proper size, so double unders suffered. I could not get any of the rounds un-broken. I still managed to get the workout done in 8:33 it is a new PR and I was quite surprised because I missed so many DU's. I just checked logsitall and I did not record my last score. Oh well... 'Nasty Girls' tomorrow. My last time for that WOD was 14:06 so I at least have that time to beat.

Sickness lingers.....

Now the Wife and baby are sick, which kept me from those C&J's I was so looking forward to getting to do today. Hopefully the WOD on the main is compatible with the C&J's tomorrow. Hopefully the wife and kid are no longer sick either....

Sundays WOD done on Tuesday.

Complete as many rounds in twenty minutes as you can of:
15 Pull-ups
15 Ring push-ups
15 Back Extensions
15 GHD Sit-ups

First day back from being sick, not 100% yet but it felt good to break a sweat. Used the 'butterfly kip' for the pull ups and it slowed me down because my new pull up bar is lower than my old my one so my feet drag on the ground, really sucks. the ring push ups, were as RX'ed ring barely off the ground so my knuckles do not touch, and my shoulder hit the ring on every push up. About round 4 I felt my shoulder starting to give in as always.
The GHD sit ups were solid as well. Each rep had one hands fingertips touch the floor alternating every rep. I completed 6 rounds plus the pull ups and 5 ring push ups. I was shooting for 8 rounds (I believe it is possible if i was not sick or I had 5 more minutes) to beat Pat a fellow CrossFitter and inspiration.
Tomorrow I will do the C&J and then follow up with Annie.

Sick and not working out.

Cant wait to get back to working out. Looking forward to doing the WOD's from main website. will post times and load when I do them hopefully tomorrow.

Had to share,

We just need to incorporate this into a weapon system somehow.

Also on a healthier note: Norberto has been talking about a sugar substitute that is better than sugar but has none of the bad properties of sugar, and the nutra sweet's and aspartame products. This is called Stevia, it is just a leaf that is boiled and then dried to form this sugar like substance. You can buy it at Jewel in a box called Truvia for $7.49. It can also be found at Trader Joe's I am not sure of the price or brand name. Place ideas thoughts or other weapons against terrorism into comments.

New T-Shirts

We would like to order more t-shirts soon, and would like to hear what you all are interested in. New slogans, sizes and styles. My wife suggested baseball caps, I would have to look into the cost but is that something people are interested in? Also we have had a request or two for some underarmour style shirts as well. These will drive the cost up a bit I think the last quote given to me was a selling price of $50 a shirt for long sleeve underarmour.

Slogan ideas, here is one that is going around for the ladies, "...if you like my rack wait 'till you see my snatch."

or, "Our girls are not easy"

Please post ideas, requests and quantity/shirt sizes to comments,

News at CrossFit Tri-Cities

First We want congratulate Craig and his wife for bringing a new CrossFitter in to this world. Isabella Jacquelyn Kaufman, weight 7 lb, 1 oz and 19 inches long. she was born october 16th at 815pm
Also a lot of you have been asking about Craig trying out for the greatest reality TV show on cable: 'The Ultimate Fighter' out of 650 fighters who tried out for the show Craig made it into the top 100 for a final interview. He wont know anything until they possibly invite him out for second interview in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. Lets say a prayer for Craig and hope he can go and get the recognition he deserves.

Alley 64 was a good time, and those of you who went with us to watch the UFC on pay per view will definitely agree it was a fun time. I have posted a link to their Myspace page in the networking section of this blog. Also for those of you who know Erin she is the bar manager at Alley 64, and Nick (owner)is her Pseudo Brother-in-law and he will be returning to CF Tri-Cities for some light training.

If anyone is interested
2008 Mid American Weightlifting Championships

Brought to you by WCS/Gattone Sports Performance & Windy City Weightlifting Club

Sat, Nov 1st, 2008 Naperville, IL
847-947-7398

Any other news or ideas please post to comments.

Sgt. shoots then treats home intruder

I like hearing these stories, so i thought I would share. here is the link....



The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Oct 24, 2008 9:18:41 EDT

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Police say an Air Force sergeant shot an intruder at his apartment, then gave the man first aid while waiting for police officers to arrive.

Fayetteville police said Sgt. Jared Johnson came home Thursday afternoon to find two men inside, The Fayetteville Observer reported Friday. Police Sgt. Samuel Oates said Johnson shot one man in the leg.

Neighbor Jamal Triplett said he heard the gunshot and saw Johnson outside tending to the man’s wound while calling 911.

“The guy was just lying on the ground, screaming,” Triplett said.

Oates said the wounded man was identified as Christopher Pittman and was charged with the break-in. Pittman was treated at a hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries.

Oates said a car full of stolen items from a break-in at another apartment complex was left at Johnson’s apartment.

The other man was arrested a few hours later but released after a magistrate ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him.

“He just protected himself,” Triplett said of Johnson. “I’d do the same thing. I’m glad he did it.”

Carb loading.

Most think that eating a plate of pasta and a couple of beers (carb loading) the night before a physical event, i.e. a running race, a cycle race, PT test etc... is the answer to having enough energy to complete these tasks. When we take a look at the typical endurance 'athlete' that likes to carb load before a race, they usually are very skinny almost emaciated and have trouble finishing the race without literally crawling across the finish line.

The body stores carbohydrates in the organs for fuel for that organ to work properly. The body will only store about 1200 calories of carbohydrates for energy. (based on a 150lb male with 10% body fat.) 1200 calories is not a lot when we think about doing an endurance race. Think about, just running for 30 minutes can burn close to 700 calories. Now that leaves only 500 calories for energy after the race to last the rest of the day. Now when we 'carb load' the only thing you are loading is your insulin levels. High insulin levels turns into fat, and then you crave more carbs, and start a viscous cycle. Now look at fat, if this 150lb male has 10% body fat, as I said earlier, then that is about 15 lbs of body fat. We store about 3400 calories in each pound of body fat. So this means he has 15lbsBF x 3400CAL = 51,000 calories to burn for energy. Looking at that equation tells us that Carb loading is not the way to go. So for the person starting out with his/her CrossFit/Zone diet career, just keep eating your 3-5 block meals, and drop the weight until you are at the desired body fat range. When this level is reached then doubling the fat intake for energy is ok.
post thoughts to comments....

Chipotle Zone meals?

I found this on Dr. Sears Zone website I have also been to other "Mexican" restaurants and was able to have a zone friendly meal with a pint of Dos Equis and not eating the chips.


Case in point is the Burrito Bowl with romaine lettuce. You can order a fajita or burrito, and they are served in a bowl with no tortilla.

For the Burrito, say no to the rice and choose black beans. Other ingredients are meat, salsa and cheese. Go easy on the sour cream.

The fajita is just like the burrito but comes with sautéed peppers and onions instead of beans.

Diners needing more carbs can order some salsa. One-half cup of salsa equals a block. Choose fresh tomato, tomatillo-green chili, and tomatillo-red chili. The roasted chili-corn salsa is less favorable.

Also enjoy some guacamole.

There are also Zoneful salads. The salad base is romaine lettuce with a choice of beans, meat, salsa and cheese. Ask for olive oil and vinegar instead of the chipotle-honey vinaigrette. The meat choices include chicken and steak. There is also naturally raised pork seasoned with thyme, bay leaves, juniper berries and black peppers; and shredded beef braised with chipotle adobo, cumin, cloves, garlic and oregano. There’s also a vegetarian salad with guacamole, vegetarian black beans, peppers and onions.

As long as diners stay away from chips and margaritas, they can find a good Zone Meal at Chipotle Mexican Grill.

New Gym Idea...

Mark and I are thinking about starting a new gym, post thoughts to comments please....

Zone protein bars,

The following was found on the comments section at the HQ site. I have not tried it but find it interesting. Especially the almonds in place of flour. Who is going to be first to try this one? I do not know how many bars this makes.

ZONE home made protein bars
-12 eggs
-1 and 1/3 cups of steel cut oats, or large oat flakes
-70 almonds grinded in a coffee grinder... turns it into flour, which you can use in any recipe
-2 crushed bananas
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- one half teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, vanilla extract
- you can add lots of differnt things to this like raisins, or pecans etc.
- mix well
bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes, in well greased cake pan.
they freeze well and are good for snacks at work etc

If someone improves this recipe...and they will... let us know... or if you have any other original zone recipes... this one is an original!
...and dont tell me that eggs are bad for you, bc you are misinformed!... i use farm fresh eggs
Comment #20 - Posted by: barry at September 23, 2008 9:49 PM

Why eat so much oatmeal?

I posted the other day that we need to eat oatmeal 3-5 times a week and was asked why, I have been attempting to write this post for a few days now and want to be accurate, the best way for all of you to learn about this diet is read the book "enter the Zone" There is so much information on just the answer to why we need to eat oatmeal. So I am going to briefly explain it here:

summarized answer; because oatmeal contains trace amounts of gamma-linolenic acid or GLA, it is an essential fatty acid which is a building block of good eicosanoids. "he calls the eicosanoids powerful super hormones. They control other hormones and practically all important functions in the body, e.g. the central nervous system and the immune system. Thus, they are very important for good health and well-being. There are both good and bad eicosanoids, and a good balance between them is achieved by eating food that contains both omega-3 and omega-6."
GLA can be found in many things, the best source is breast milk, with that being said the most easily obtainable is oatmeal. most of us need about 1 to 2 mg per day, and to keep a steady balance we need to be eating cooked(not instant) oatmeal 3-5 times a week.

Oatmeal the way I like it.
1 cup of Old fashioned Quaker oatmeal a little milk to moisten it. cook in microwave for 2:30 minutes and then add 1/2 cup yogurt, 7 grams of vanilla protein powder, and a tablespoon of peanut butter. mix all together and eat after my 2 egg cheese omelet.
That is pretty much my staple breakfast when I am not eating the zone pancakes anyways. I know some of you have some other ideas for breakfast, what are they?

What to eat...

We need to be eating cleaner, lots of meat, vegetables, some fruit, nuts, seeds, some starch and NO sugar.
We should be eating oatmeal 3-5 times a week. Salmon once a week or tuna 3x a week.
Avocados, macadamia nuts and organic peanut butter are excellent sources of monounsaturated fats. We need to eat fat to burn fat. Fat is also the key building block for cell production. Without fat our insulin levels will raise and take us out of the zone. If we are not in the 'Zone' we (most Americans) become ill.

Click here for more interesting reading.

Zone pancakes re-vised.

I have found a better way to make these pancakes. I have had them 3-4 times since last week. I love them now, and they are fairly easy to make. the recipe is the same, but I add vegetables oil.
for the 5 block Zone pancakes here is the new recipe:

4 egg whites (2P)
1 cup of dry Quaker Old Fashioned oatmeal (4C)
14 grams of vanilla whey protein (2P) (Vitamin shop brand)
1/2 cup of Stoneyfield plain organic
whole milk yogurt (Combo 1P,1C)
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil (3fat)
I do not use any maple syrup, I just put a little butter on top and a side of peanut butter. I know that is a lot of fat, probably close to 10 blocks, but fat is converted to energy a lot easier than carbohydrates.

BUYING ZONE FRIENDLY FOOD

I found frozen Taquitos at Trader Joe's yesterday for about $5 for a package of 10. Each is worth a 1 block snack.
Blocks, here is the description of the block right from the CF journal 21:

A block is a unit of measure used to simplify the process of making balanced meals.
7 grams of protein is 1 block of protein.
9 grams of carbohydrates is 1 block of carbs.
1.5 grams of fat is 1 block of fat.

If you find something in the store, and you are curious to how it falls in to the "Zone" use this formula: Protein Divided by Carbohydrates; the answer for a Zone friendly food will fall in the .7 range anything else is not zone friendly.
In order for a zone meal/snack to work the protein and the carbs have to have the same amount of blocks. If you are training hard everyday, Like some of you MMA fighters, than you may double the amount of fat to protein you are taking in for energy. If you are eating correctly than you will use fat as energy and not carbs. We have a lot more fat stored in our bodies that is to be used for energy than we do carbs. For those of you trying to lose weight I would stick to the block plan you started Zoning with and continue until you are at the desired weight.
Next...'The Myth of Carb loading for energy'

The Snack.....

What are you guys eating for your zone snack? Have you found a "bar" that is zone friendly yet? For you going on the adventure race this weekend here is a quick portable snack to pre-pack:
1 Whole wheat tortilla (13g carbs) (1C)
1 Cheese stick (1P)
1 tbsp peanut butter,(5Fat) roll it all up together and you have a quick filling snack. Wash down with water.

Dr. Barry Sears says in his book "Enter the zone" that we should be eating within an hour after waking and 4-5 hours between meals and have snacks 2 hours before and after meals. Also eating a zone favorable snack after dinner (2 hours)or right before you go to bed will allow your pancreas to release the Human Growth Hormone(HGH) to repair and heal your body while you rest.

I have a 2-4 block snack every night of
1/2 cup of frozen blueberries (1C)
1/2 cup StoneyField Whole milk plain yogurt (1C,1P)
tblsp of organic natural Smuckers peanut butter (5 fat)
and 7grams of Vitamin shop vanilla protein (1P)
Mix all together and enjoy.

I have talked with a couple of athletes at our gym that will have milk and either nuts, or peanut butter as a snack. I like it is as well. I am curious to what everyone is eating for their snacks whether it be mid morning, mid-afternoon, or post dinner snack. How many blocks per snack, and how many snacks a day are each of you consuming? post to comments.

History of the Zone at Tri Cities

January 2008 Mark and I were about 2 months away from opening our doors. We had also been doing CrossFit together for about 2 years. At this point we were also very close athletically we could not determine who was "better". He would beat me in a workout by a few seconds, or I would beat him by a few. Our loads were very close as well.

Then Mark went to his CrossFit level 1 Cert at CrossFit GSX in Texas. He of course came home with more knowledge about CrossFit, but he also returned with this idea about this Zone diet. He immediately started following it. I was skeptical, I can eat whatever I want as long as I train hard I wont get fat. I was so ignorant.
Anyhow, a month goes by we are about to open our doors in a couple weeks. Mark had been on the diet for at least a month. Now his WOD times are improving and he is telling me to get on the diet because he feels great. Then I became violently ill with the flu. In fact everyone we trained with became sick in some way at that point. Well except Mark. And his times keep improving.
Now let me jump ahead a few months. Mark was killing me with the WOD, there was no comparison with our times and his loads were increasing as well. He was hands down "better" than me. So now I am sold I start following the zone. Right away I saw body fat shed off. But more important I felt great! in Just a couple weeks I was recovering quicker from my WOD's and just feeling all around better. Plus I was eating MORE!

Since then I feel great, I am seeing results with my WOD times like never before, and my loads are increasing as well. Recovery after a WOD is less as well. instead of being prone for 15-20 minutes I now lay there for about 3 minutes and I feel fine.

Mark and I are huge believers in the Zone diet. I am able to compete against Mark again and more important we are both feeling very healthy and we want everyone to be on the zone too. We are not going to make any money off of you following the zone, in fact no one will make any money of the zone diet. In fact doctors and pharmacies will lose money. Eat better live better...

The link to the Zone journal is on the right hand side of this blog download the PDF from the CrossFit Journal site.

Zone Friendly pancakes.

Original recipe:

* 1/2 cup dry steel cut oats (4C)
* 1/2 cup non-fat cottage cheese (2P)
* 4 egg whites (2P)
* cinnamon to taste (optional)
* nutmeg to taste (optional)
* vanilla to taste (optional)

Mix all ingredients in blender until thick batter. Cook on griddle just like pancakes. Top with sliced almond slivers or add peanut butter to the batter for your fat.

Now I have tweaked the above recipe into the following. (5-6 blocks)*

4 egg whites (2P)
1 cup of dry Quaker Old Fashioned oatmeal (4C)
21 grams of vanilla whey protein (3P) (Vitamin shop brand)
1/2 cup of Stoneyfield plain organic
whole milk yogurt (Combo 1P,1C)

I add a little cinnamon and and stir all the ingredients in a bowl. The last time I blended them together, and after cooking pancakes on the griddle they came out more like cookies. So next time I am stirring and cooking the batter as is.
For the fat I add peanut butter on the side.

A 1/2 cup makes 1 pancake, batter will make 3 decent sized pancakes. They don't taste that bad and I believe would make a great snack as well. Especially if you are on the go!

*Note the 6th block comes in if I add maple syrup (which I do), then I have to have another protein to balance the blocks.


If anyone has any recipes for making Zone friendly pancakes by all means e-mail me or share in comments.

Easy Mexican dinner

I personally love this one.

1 whole wheat tortilla
3.5 oz of chicken or pork
1.5 oz of cheese (cheddar or more traditional chihuahua cheese)
1/2 cup of re-fried black beans
1/2 cup of green salsa
1 avocado.

zone blocks- 5 protein, 5 carbohydrate, and 10 fat.

I double my fat intake for energy. Avocados are an excellent source of monounsaturated fat. 1 tablespoon is 1 block of fat. 1/2 of an avocado is 5 blocks.

I only put some garlic salt on the meat, the green salsa makes up for lack of seasoning. I cook the meat than put the tortilla in the skillet followed by the cheese on top and then the meat. when cheese melts fold tortilla and put on plate. add black beans and cover in green salsa, and avocado.
mmmmmm..... total prep time about 20 minutes.