Day Forty-Two: Fifth Weigh-In: 27 blocks = 1 lb of Bodyfat

I dialed back the diet last week, in an attempt to arrest massive strength loss and an alarming increase in the amount of muscle lost vs. fat lost. I ate about 17 blocks a day along with a LOT of extra fat and did not pay particularly close attention to what I ate. I think this is pretty close to my maintenance level, as I lost exactly one pound of pure bodyfat with this scheme on a week when I did 1/2 volume. I am guessing my maintenance level is 18 or 19 blocks + 1 or 2x fat.

According to Mastering The Zone, pp 8, my block count would be between 17 and 21 blocks a day depending on my activity level, but I think that my individual metabolism might be slower than this: once I reach my goal weight of 165 lbs at 9% bodyfat (150lbs lean body mass), I will experiment with it, to determine my ultimate maintenance block count.

If you know your lean mass, it is easy to calculate your block count. If you do CrossFit 5 times a week, you would use the following formula: LBMx0.9/7= block count.

Let's get a little geeky here. One Zone block has around 130 calories. What, you say my math is sketchy? Because we know a zone block of protein is 7 grams, a zone block of carb is 9 grams and a zone block of fat is 1.5 grams for a total of 79 calories? Wrong, as this does not count the "hidden calories " in a zone block, for example 1 oz chicken breast, 2 cups broccoli and 1 macadamia nut contains 125 cal, 5 grams of fat 9 grams of carbs and 14 grams of protein! And it does not get any more zone than that!

Anyway: If I lost a pound of bodyfat, that means that there was a caloric deficit of 3500 cal during the last week at a block count of about 17 +1x fat or so. 3500/130 =27 blocks, meaning that for pure maintenance I should eat another 3-4 (27/7) blocks a day or 20-21 blocks a day, or, perhaps 19 blocks +1 or 2x fat. Aha.

Conclusion: 27 blocks = 3500 calories = 1 lb bodyfat

This also should work in order to calculate my block count for the near-term, as I would like to lose 1.5 lbs of bodyfat a week and no muscle for 8 weeks to arrive at my goal of 165 lbs ( I would need to put a few pounds of muscle back on at that point). This is about 15.5 blocks; let's call it 16 and see what happens.

Here is my progress so far.

• July 8 2007: 193.5 lbs, 22% bodyfat, 151 lean
  
• July 17 2007: 190 lbs, 20% bodyfat, 151 lean
• July 30, 2007: 184.5 lbs, 18.5% bodyfat, 150.5 lean
• August 6, 2007: 182.5 lbs 18% bodyfat, 150 lean
• August 13 2007: 180.5 lbs 17.5% bodyfat 149 lean
• August 20 2007 178.5 lbs 16.75% bodyfat 148.6 lean
• August 27, 2007 177.5 lbs 16.25% bodyfat 148.6 lean

6AM 1 cup milk = 1 block

8AM 6 almonds

11AM Tandoori Meats (2 oz) 1 cup cabbage salad, 1/2 cup cooked onions, 9 soy meatballs w a bit of dressing, 1/2 cup Kracky (Kasi) GoLean, 1/2 cup milk = 5.5 blocks

2PM BLUE THUNDER + 15 almonds = 5 blocks

5PM 2 eggs, 3 cups broccoli, 3 soy "meat"balls 1/4 onion, tablespoon oil = 3 blocks + extra fat

9PM 1 small chicken leg, 1.5 cup green bean/succotash mix = 2 blocks

16.5 blocks