The Zone

CrossFit Journal Article 15
CrossFit Journal Article 21
We are going to talk more about this at the Open House and at a following Nutrition seminar, online but we are going to use the Zone Diet on our Nutrition challenge (along with a Paleo Option).
There is a ton of information on the Zone, hospital but I recommend starting with the articles I have linked.  Greg Glassman wrote these in 2003-4, information pills years before I started CrossFit and probably 5 years before anyone really started the Paleo craze.  I followed main site programming and the Zone diet for two years (and well into third year) and turned from a fat guy into a very fit guy.
If Paleo is focused on the quality of food that you eat, the Zone is focused on the quantity and timing of the food you eat.  On the Zone, you may come to think of food as medicine.  Glassman actually mentions Paleo in Article 15.
I will talk about this at length, but to really get the Zone, you must understand “blocks.”  This can be confusing at times.  Blocks are measured units of macro nutrients – Protein, Carbohydrate and Fat.  Glassman and Dr. Sears (who created the Zone) can explain this all much better than I can, so read the articles.  But…I have one piece of advice and it is gospel.  If you start the Zone, you MUST weigh and measure your food.  Get an easy to use scale and measure everything.  Once you figure out how much you are supposed to be eating, you will learn incredible lessons about food dosage.
The other incredible lesson from the Zone comes from balance.  Every time you eat, you put protein, carbs and fat in your mouth.  More on this to come, but research on you own.
If you have followed a Paleo diet, and found yourself feeling depleted or burned out, but you enjoyed eating well, maybe it’s time to give the Zone a try.  Personally, I have gone “hard corps” Paleo twice over the last 2 years, but when I fell off the wagon, I fell hard.  I’m just now thinking about this stuff after the Lurong.
Does the Zone require discipline?  Yes.  Preparation?  Yes.  Is the Zone more sustainable and better suited for the CrossFitter?  I believe so. 
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI1qut_XSMY&w=560&h=315]
Workout of the Day
Strength/Skill
Week 6 of the Cube
Shoulder Press
3 set of 8, 65% of 1RM
Take at least 10 minutes to get warm.  Use sets of 5 early, sets of 3 as you get close to game weight.
Conditioning
100 Pushups
You will perform the pushups on the concrete by the walls of the gym.  Any time you break, or rest for more than 2 seconds, you must lunge walk across the rubber floor to the other side of the concrete, where you can do pushups.
I am going to try this in 10 sets.  It may seem easy early, but if your sets fall to really small number, like 2s and 3s, you may find you are lunging a lot.  Be smart homies!
12 minute cap.