ISSUE TWENTY-ONE - Issue 21 - Meal Plans - Blocks

Sep 27, 2026

May 2004 issue twenty-one focuses on optimizing physical performance through a diet aligned with Barry Sears’ “Zone Diet.” It explains the core recommendation to prioritize meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, limited fruit, controlled starch, and no sugar. The text argues that CrossFit athletes benefit when they follow Zone parameters “strictly,” and introduces meal plans and a block chart to simplify balanced meals. It emphasizes weighing and measuring portions for the first week, then selecting foods by protein, carbohydrate, and fat block requirements based on body type.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Meal Plans

Blocks

Sample Day and Daily Block Requirements

Block Chart by Food Type

May 2004 | ISSUE TWENTY-ONE
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May 2004 | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | | | | | |
Meal Plans
Our recommendation to “eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar” is adequate to the task of preventing the scourges of diet-induced disease, but more accurate and precise prescription is necessary to optimize physical performance.
Finely tuned, a good diet will increase energy, sense of well being and acumen, while simultaneously flensing fat and packing on muscle. When properly composed the right diet can nudge every important quantifiable marker for health in the right direction.
Diet is critical to optimizing human function and our clinical experience leads us to believe that Barry Sears’“Zone Diet” closely models optimal nutrition.
CrossFit’s best performers are Zone eaters. When our second tier athletes commit to “strict” adherence to the Zone parameters they generally become top tier performers quickly. It seems that the Zone diet accelerates and amplifies the effects of the CrossFit regimen. | | | | | Unfortunately, the full benefit of the Zone diet is largely limited to those who have at least at first weighed and measured their food.
For a decade we’ve experimented with sizing and portioning strategies that avoid scales, and measuring cups and spoons only to conclude that natural variances in caloric intake and macronutrient composition without measurement are greater than the resolution required to turn good performance to great. Life would be much easier for us were this not so!
The “meal plans” and “block chart” below have been our most expedient approach for eliciting the Zone’s best offering in athletes.
Void of theoretical or technical content this portal to sound nutrition still requires some basic arithmetic and weighing and measuring portions for the first week.
Too many athletes after supposedly reading “Enter the Zone” still ask, “So what do I eat for dinner?” They get meal plans and block charts. We can make the Zone more complicated or simpler but not more effective.
We encourage everyone to weigh and measure portions for one week because it is supremely worth the effort, not because it is fun. If you choose to “guestimate”
continued page ... 10 | Meal Plans “Blocks” A block is a unit of measure used to simplify the process of making balanced meals. 7 grams of protein = 1block of protein 9 grams of carbohydrate = 1 block of carbohydrate 1.5 grams of fat = 1 block of fat (There is an assumption that there isabout 1.5 grams of fat in each block of protein, so the total amount of fat needed per 1 block meal is 3 grams.) When a meal is composed of equal blocks of protein, carbohydrate, and fat, it is 40 % carbohydrate, 30 % protein and 30% fat. Pages 3 and 4 list common foods, their macronutrient category (protein, carbohydrate or fat), along with a conversion of measurements to blocks. This “block chart” is a convenient tool for making balanced meals. Simply choose 1 item from the protein list, 1 item from the carbohydrate list, and 1 item from the fat list to compose a 1 block meal. Or choose 2 items from each column to compose a 2 block meal, etc. Here is a sample 4 block meal: 4 oz. chicken breast 1 artichoke 1 cup of steamed vegetables w/ 24 crushed peanuts 1 sliced apple This meals contains 28 grams of protein, 36 grams of carbohydrate, and 12 grams of fat. It is simpler, though, to think of it as 4 blocks of protein, 4 blocks of carbohydrate, and 4 blocks of fat. | Sample Day Block requirements for small (“4 block”) male | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Protein
Carbohydrate
Fat | Breakfast 4
4
4 | Lunch
4
4
4 | Snack
2
2
2 | Dinner
4
4
4 | Snack
2
4
4 | Choose which body type best fits you to determine your block requirement. Breakfast Lunch Snack Dinner Snack Total daily blocks Body type

FAQs

What is the main diet recommendation in this issue?

The issue recommends eating meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar, then using more precise prescriptions to optimize performance.

How does the “block” system work?

A block is a unit that standardizes balanced meals: 7 grams of protein, 9 grams of carbohydrate, and 1.5 grams of fat per block. Meals are built by choosing foods from protein, carbohydrate, and fat lists to match the desired number of blocks.

Why does the issue encourage weighing and measuring for one week?

The text argues that the full benefit of the Zone diet is largely limited to those who weigh and measure food at least initially, because natural variances make “guestimates” less effective. Measuring for the first week is framed as worth the effort.

Sep 27, 2026

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