I hijacked the blog for this post! haha! - Kara

Did any of you fall off the wagon this weekend?  I actually had a decent weekend-  I cheated Friday evening when I made homemade chocolate chip cookies for the kids in my house (it was worth every point deduction for those 2 cookies), so were the few scoops of cheese dip on Saturday night with my cold beer(s) oops... pizza on Sunday at Mellow Mushroom.

So it's Monday.... day 15 of  our challenge.  Monday is a hard day.  Back into routine.  Back into an early Crossfit, back to work, back to school.  Back to hungry!!!  But like many of you, I think okay back on the wagon...with the my zone diet. But I am so hungry.  On the days I stay diligent, my stomach wakes me up in the middle of the night...hungry.  I wake up in the morning...hungry.  I ate dinner at 6:15 and its 8:15 and guess what? i am hungry.  I have a whole knew appreciation for fasting, a whole new appreciation for those starving homeless children in Uganda that our church supports :), and i have a whole new appreciation for those people that diet and have to watch everything you eat.  You are amazing. This is the first time in my adult life that i have "dieted".   I have been a healthy eater for years (literally since college after gaining 25 pounds my freshman year and therefore, finding my passion for running)..but I didn't "diet"..I exercised and made healthy food choices.   And I loved it.  I still love it.

So now I am full circle.  My love for exercise has turned me into a zone dieter... I am dieting to be fitter and to have better performance at running and CrossFit...  odd...  But I am hungry.  And my performance is still off - I feel weak.  When is this new burst of fat burning energy going to kick in so that I can finally have a decent WOD again?  My clothes are definitely fitting me much looser (proof that zone is working or maybe it is just because I am literally just starving myself :) )but I am ready to see some results in my performance!

Longstreet and Waffle House

Put down the frying pans and head over to either of these places for Breakfast. You can easily follow the Zone at Waffle House or Longstreet. Bring your scale with you, who cares- I would make sure to look a little sweaty and be wearing a jogging suit just so people down think you are too crazy, just saying.

Longstreet has a buffet style breakfast which rocks. You can get eggs, grilled chicken, all types of fruit (Grapes, Strwberries, Melon..etc.). Don't forget you can do unfavorable carbs if you need too - it's not against the rules. 1/4 cup of grits is 1 block. It's funny, I can stay within my Block range at Longstreet no problem but I still feel guilty as hell after eating there...what's that about?

Clay Crocker

Any weight loss?

My wife is getting a little frustrated because she hasn't lost any weight yet. We did a little cheating this weekend but me more so than her. I have currently lost around 6 lbs, sorry ladies I know it's not fair but it's just easier for guys. Looking to hear back from anybody but especially the ladies. Some of you really didn't have very much to lose and are doing this for an increased performance standpoint but post what you can. Just comment to this article or start a new post. No one has posted anything yet besides me. Login with the username: zonechallenge@gmail.com and password:wodkilla.

Let's start talking! I'm proud of everyone but at the same time wondering how many people are secretly plotting my demise for getting all of this started.

Clay Crocker.

Chicken Parmesan - Sorry No pics

Well I would have done a bunch of pictures and provided detailed instructions but my kids were running around like drunken dwarfs last night so this one got thrown together without my camera handy.

Basically I did the same thing with the chicken to start with that I did for the Marsala recipe only I banged the tenderloins out flat with a meat hammer. Be sure and tear off a big piece of Saran Wrap and fold it up several times to make yourself a Shield to put over your chicken before you go all gansta on it with the hammer, this will save you picking the smashed chicken parts off the cabinets after the beatdown!

So brown the very lightly flour (or almond flour) dusted chicken in a little oil/butter in a non-stick pan. When that is browned set it aside, it doesn't have to be completely done cause its going in the oven. Then measure out the appropriate amount of marinara or spaghetti sauce (just Ragu) it's 1 block per half a cup. Put a little sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish, lay in your chicken and pour the rest of the sauce over the top of it. Use however much grated Mozzarella your diet blocks can stand, just a dash of Parm cheese for flavor and bake that thing till the cheese is golden brown.

Pretty fast and super good eatin'. You can do a lot with Ragu in a hurry and it's a good carb. We ate some english peas, a salad, and a cutie orange and we were good to go.


Clay

The 3 point meal made easy!

I know I'm driving you all nuts with this Paleokit thing but I mean it's just so damn perfect. You don't have to cook it, weigh it, measure it, keep it cold....It's the "Forever Lazy" of healthy eating! Best of all they taste good too. There are a few different flavors and my favorite is the Original. It takes a while to get used to all the different flavors of Srawberries, Cranberries, nuts and Jerky all hitting your mouth at the same time but once you process it it's fine.

Order a few to keep around in case of emergency. The small size is a 2 block meal and the large size is a 4 block. If you are a gal doing 3 blocks eat 3/4 of it for lunch and the rest a few hours later for a snack.

I would not recommend the Coconut version...nasty! Use the link below:

 http://stevesoriginal.com/store

Clay Crocker

Eat Your Greens

For those who like Collard Greens and hate to cook them this is GOLD! Usually you have to get a garbage bag size amount of fresh greens, cut some stems, wash them like 1000 times and cook them forever to get your Collard fix, not to mention all the fat back you throw in there to get them to taste good. Love greens, hate cooking them.

I found these and I am going through about 5 cans a week. They are seasoned perfectly and low on sodium. All you got to do is get them hot, takes about 3 minutes and they are ready to go. You can eat a ton of them too, I think 1 cup is right at a 1 block. This can also be helpful if you are at 2 1/2 blocks and  trying to finish out your meal.

The only thing these greens need is a little pepper sauce and they are good to go.

Clay Crocker

From David "The Baller" Ball

Y'all are my AA group for ZONE (I don't how to post to a blog, Master Yoda). Don't worry David, I'll do it for you!

My name is "state your name"...and I blew it today, falling off the wagon.  Had an earlier than usual WOD so skipped the am snack, had a late pm snack that I almost forgot to take (missing the 5 hour mark), and then the Queen made chicken & rice casserole that I couldn't measure or weigh, and I don't even know what this concoction had in it other than cream of mushroom and mayo and onions. 

Guess I met the protein block, but there's no way to know how many carbs it possessed, but it was way over my limit. 
The extra spoonfuls (damn, it was good)...and, the short glass of vino didn't help matters, did it?

So, how many deductions do I take? 1 or 11, the bottom of the form needs a Tech grad to decipher.  Can I buy vowel for going to one of Carrie's classes? - she's tough!

I'll get back on the wagon Friday.  Thanks for listening, I feel better already - db