Zone Day 1

Tors: 
Cherie Chan (gorgeous wife of Matt Chan) - thank you for your youtube videos!  They certainly gave me the confidence to give the Zone diet a try!  Day 1 and we've started strong - and wow, it's more food than I thought!  I'm on 12 blocks a day and it's more than enough - now to see how it stands up with a weeks worth or training. Thanks to my mate Jo for the encouragement and the warning that it's all about the prep!

A key fact I found out today - 1 cup of cauliflower is 100g, makes it easy!  

Breakfast (3 Blocks)
Protein Shake (2p) - Hydro Whey (1/2 scoop & water)
1 egg (1p)
1 & 1/2 cup grapes (3c)
12 almonds (3f)

Lunch (3 Blocks)
1 egg  (1p)
1 small can of Tuna (2p)
3 cups lettuce (1c)
1 tomato (1c)
1 small cucumber (1c)
3/4 tsp seeds (3 f)

Snack 1 (2 Blocks)
60g deli meat (2p)
1 apple (2c)
6 cashews (2f)

Dinner (3 Blocks)
Chilli Con Carne with beef mince (recipe below)

Snack 2 (1 Block)
30g ricotta cheese (1p)
1 kiwi fruit (1c)
3 almonds (1f)

Russ: 

Wow! I thought this was going to hard but I feel pretty good...for day 1 anyway. I have not been hungry all day and just had a really filling dinner! I was quite worried that I would be starving after seeing the amounts I would be eating written down on paper. Who would have guessed guys like Matt Chan knew what they were talking about.
Lessons from day 1 - Cauliflower is ideal for Zone and use mince, you get 12g (1/2oz) more! Bring on day 2!

Breakfast (5 Blocks)
Protein shake (3p, 2c, 7f*) - 180nutrition (1 scoop + water)
1 egg (1p)
1 apple (2c)
1 kiwi (1c)
1/2 cup yoghurt (1p, 1c)

Lunch (5 Blocks)
180g tuna (4p)
1 egg (1p)
1 & 1/4 cup corn (5c)
1 & 1/4 tsp seeds (5f)

Snack 1 (2 Blocks)
60g ricotta (2p)
1 small banana (2c)

Dinner (5 Blocks)
Chilli Con Carne with beef mince (recipe below)

Snack 2 (2 Blocks)
1 cup yoghurt (2p, 2c)
1 tsp nut butter (2f)


* I had 7 blocks of fat in breakfast from my protein shake, so I cut out 2 blocks of fat from 1 snack.

Chilli Con Carne (8 Blocks)

• 250g Beef Mince (8p)
• 1 Onion (2p) - diced
• 4 cups cauliflower (2c) - processed
• 2 tins of tomatoes (3c)
• 1 cup zuchinni (1c) - processed
• 8 Tbs avocado (8f)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped or crushed
• 1 tsp chilli / hot smoked paprika

1. The first step is to brown the onions in a casserole pot until they are translucent (approx 5 minutes), add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes
2. Add the beef mince to the onions and garlic and cook until the mince is browned.  Keep stirring and break up the mince so it is evenly distributed.
3. Add the cumin, coriander and chilli to the dish and stir for another minute. 
4. In a food processor, chop the cauliflower and zucchini up finely. 
5. Add the cauliflower and zucchini, along with the tomatoes and 2 cups of water to the pot.  
6. Stir and bring to the boil.  Simmer for at least 10 minutes to ensure the cauliflower and zucchini are cooked and some of the water has evaporated. 
7. Serve with avocado - this is the fat, so we split it 3 Tbs for me, 5 Tbs for Russ.