Paleo: The Paleolithic Diet stems straight from our ancestors, the cavemen, which survived off the method of hunting and gathering lifestyles. During this time the food supply consisted almost exclusively of lean wild meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seed. These items provided all the nutrients necessary to support the caveman lifestyle and the way that humans are genetically constructed. Therefore, their bodies were able to digest and break down the daily intake of food with extreme efficiency, thus leaving very little disease or obesity problems. Therefore, a diet of lean meat, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds is now considered to represent a Paleolithic Diet.
Therefore, when you are trying to figure out what foods you should be eating, resort to our Paleolithic ancestors. “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar.” ~Gregg Glassman, founder of Crossfit. Eating these foods will provide the largest benefits and minimize numerous risk factors with your health and well being, not to mention that it will optimize your performance.
Notice, there is no mention of eating dairy or grains. NONE! The main reason for this is that our bodies are not well adapted to consuming these products, which in turn makes them potential irritants to your system. As irritants, they place stress on your digestive system and body as a whole. Stress on your body will lead to risks such as obesity, inflammation, allergies, and opposing actions to your immunities. In addition, grains are high glycemic foods, thus having a large effect on your insulin release. Insulin resistance is a culprit in numerous health issues, the largest being obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Therefore, by selecting foods that are Paleolithic in nature, you are minimizing the mentioned risk factors and reducing the insulin release by eating low glycemic foods. This in turn will reduce the amount of stress that is placed on your body, especially your digestive system. With the Paleo Diet, you are not required to weigh or measure your foods. Basically, you are able to eat as much food as you want, within reason. Hence for my analogy that Paleo Diet = what foods to eat (quality).
Zone: The Zone is based on a 40:30:30 ratios for 5-6 meals throughout the day. What that means is that you should be eating 40% of your calories from carbs, 30% from protein and 30% from fat. I know that already some of you are freaking out with these numbers! I can already hear you yelling at the computer screen, “Well how am I supposed to figure that out?” Well, the Zone designates a “Block System” to help you achieve these proportions, even if you are not good with numbers. They did the work and have it all laid out in front of you.
The block system is based upon your lean body mass (LBM) and activity level. The Zone tells you how many grams of each macronutrient (carb, protein, fat) you need. It then turns these grams into a number of blocks. For example:
9 grams of carbs = 1 Carb Block
7 grams of protein = 1 Protein Block
1.5 grams of fat = 1 Fat Block
I know it sounds confusing and honestly, it somewhat is at first. However, once you have your blocks determined, it gets far easier because you only need to look up the food in the reference section and measure or weigh out the correct amount. It’s actually pretty simple once you get into it, but it’s really important that you don’t get all obsessive compulsive about things. A block out of place here and there won’t matter in the long run.
As far as food selection goes, The Zone is less restrictive than Paleo. There is a list of “favorable blocks” and “unfavorable” choices, but you are not restricted from any dairy, legumes, or starchy carbs. However, in all reality, the majority of the foods you eat while Zoning should be Paleo-friendly in the first place. It is not in your best interest to find your blocks based on bread, crappy meats, trans-fats and beer. Despite the fact that Brett has his beer blocks down to a “T”. Simply put, it is a system that is designed to help you keep track of what you eat in a day.
So which to choose? It is worth noting that the Zone and Paleo style diets are very similar. There is nothing wrong with selecting one over the other and seeing how it works for you. In MY opinion, I would suggest that you first make the shift to healthy, clean foods (Paleo). By shifting to clean foods, your body will begin to have the right fuels for weight loss, optimal health and performance. You will be reducing the impurities and toxins that are entering your body. Once your shift to eating clean and healthy foods has been made, you are able to tweak your quantity by measuring and weighing you foods (Zone). Adding the zone for a bit will help with the learning of food portions, how much or little your body needs to operate in a functional means.
Personally: Many of you have experienced my “lectures” on nutrition. I originally began as a hard-core Zoner. However, after awhile, I found myself becoming obsessive with my measurements. (I’d get really hard on myself for grabbing a few extra almonds. So I’d eliminate blocks to make up for it. Really? Seriously now….that is NOT healthy!) So for me, sticking to the Zone plan on a daily basis was way too neurotic, so I ended up switching to Paleo. I personally was a lot happier. I was eating healthy, but I was not worrying about every little ounce and gram. However, that being said, since I had a lot of experience on the Zone, I am well aware of my proportion amounts and to this day, I still try to stick by them. I still weigh and measure some of my foods, but my leash has loosened. SO…… for me a Paleo/Zone combination has been of the most benefit for me. Brett on the other hand thrives on the Zone. If he could carry a scale and measuring cups in his brief case, he would! It is what works for him. So, when it comes to you, what should you do? Simply, try them out and see which method works best for you.
