ZONER's CHALLENGE

one of CFJAX's very own living & walking testimonial on the Zone Diet, Tracy Caywood, has started a nutrition challenge for those of you interested in investing in your health & performance. the challenge is also a support group for those of you seeking info, guidance, camaraderie and motivation on the Zone. if you've played with this Zone in the past, but couldn't stick with it, or didn't find the results you needed, you will want to become part of this group.

the Zoner's Challenge is a group page that you can join on the social networking website, Facebook. if you do not have a Facebook profile, you can create one for free by using an active email account. once logged into the site, click on this link for more information and/or to join the group.

this group is open to everyone at CFJAX, our local community of CrossFitters at CrossFit East, and everyone else who desires to live a longer, fitter & healthier lifestyle.

the Zoner's Challenge is a 30-day challenge that will commence on August 1, 2010. you will be held accountable by reporting your daily block prescription as well as posting what you ate and how much of it you ate, each and every single day of the challenge. the cool thing about the group page is that it allows you to read other's daily food intake, meals & recipes.

WHAT IS THE ZONE DIET?

It’s a way of life that controls gene expression and hormonal balance to give you the longer and better life to which we all aspire.

The Zone diet is primarily concerned with controlling your hormones. Hormonal balance affects all important components of your wellness: body composition, energy utilization, blood chemistry, and much more. Food is a drug. This may seem shocking, but think about the definition of a drug. Loosely, ingesting drugs causes physiological changes in your body. Ingesting food has the same effect. It can bring about positive or negative changes in your body. Would you take 17 Tylenol capsules for a headache? Would you consume expired, low-quality medicine? Of course not. Then why should we expect different results when we feed our bodies 17 times our necessary food intake, and comprise our diet of low-quality processed garbage with no nutritional value? You see the results of this lifestyle in America today.

Any diet that excessively 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. The Zone Diet is 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 human 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. (thanks to Christina Barnett @ CrossFit Impulse for the write-up)