martin
Dear Heather: My friend just started "The Zone Diet". Is it something that I should consider if I'm trying to lose a few pounds or is it just a waste of time? Thank you - Lisa
Dear Lisa -
The Zone Diet consists of eating a breakdown of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fats. Right off the bat the diet is a little low in carbohydrates for an athlete. I usually recommend a diet that consists of 50-55% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 20% fat. If your carbs are too low you may experience low energy or decreased endurace - which is never a good thing for an athlete. Another hang up I have with The Zone Diet is that it's hard to make sure EVERY meal and snack fits the 40/30/30 profile. Imagine having to calculate the exact ratio of carbs, protein, and fat for every single thing you put in your mouth. The creators of the zone make it easy for you by having "Zone Meals" delivered to your house - but unless you want to shell out $30-$40 a day I recommend losing weight the old-fashioned way. Cut 500 calories from your current intake, step up your workouts and you should expect to lose about 1lb/wk.
We look forward to hearing from you again!
Heather Campanile, RD / Sports Nutritionist
Comments Closed
Dear Heather:
Is it okay to eat something after dinner? I keep reading that you shouldn't eat after 8 o'clock, but I don't get home from practice until 7:30 so it's almost impossible to avoid eating later the evening. Please let me know if what I'm reading is true! Tim
Dear Tim: 
I get this question a lot because most people have a hard time not eating at night thanks to their busy schedules (school, practice, SAT courses etc.....) The truth is it's not how late you eat, it's WHAT and HOW MUCH you eat that matters. As long as you don't exceed your calories for the day eating later in the evening is not a big deal. The problem most people run into is they tend to "snack" at night even after they've eaten a full day's worth of food. They're not really snacking because they're hungry - they just do it out of habit while watching TV, surfing the net or talking on the phone. This type of eating should be avoided, but if you are legitimately hungry, don't deprive yourself just because it's after 8pm!
It's great to hear from you!
Heather Campanile, RD
About two months ago, Martin Rooney approached me with a challenge. I had to help Brazilian Jiu Jitsui fighter Daniel Gracie drop 30 pounds and at least 8% body fat before his November fight. Daniel was pretty lean to begin with (see before picture below) - but he definitely had some room for improvement. I created a detailed meal plan for Daniel which told him exactly what he had to eat to shed the 30 pounds of fat in about 7 weeks.
Pictured is Daniel in September afer his last fight - weighing in at 230.8 pounds.
I'm proud to say that thanks to Daniel's hard work and dedication he reached his goal of 203.5 pounds and under 10% body fat. See for yourself!
Posted by Heather Campanile, RD / Sports Nutritionist
Dear Heather:
I was looking at a food package the other day and it said “Trans Fat Free”. Can you please explain what trans fats are and what other foods have them. Thank you - Terry
Dear Terry:
Trans fatty acids (trans fat) are an EXTREMELY unhealthy type of fat that is formed when manufacturers hydrogenate vegetable oils to give their products flavor stability or increase the shelf life. The most common foods that contain trans fat are: baked goods, doughnuts, cookies, pastries, crackers, and fried foods. Unfortunately studies show that no level of trans fat is safe (even 2 grams may be harmful!) so health professionals are recommending that you completely omit them from your diet. 
It may not be easy to remove trans fat from your diet , but it’s worth it because even small levels of trans fat have been shown to increase LDL (“bad cholesterol”) and decrease HDL (“good cholesterol”). For this reason, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring that all manufacturers include trans fat on food labels effective January 2006. Food companies have been forced to adjust the recipes of some popular snack foods (Oreos, Fritos, Triscuits, etc…) to remove the trans fat.
How much Trans Fat is in your diet? See for yourself!
- Microwave Popcorn = 2.2 gm
- French Fries (fast food) = 0.7 – 3.6 gm
- Doughnut = 0.3 – 3.8 gm
- Pound Cake = 4.3 gm
- Vanilla Wafers = 1.3 gm
- Tortilla Chips = 1.2 gm
- Margarine = 1.8 – 3.5 gm
- Vegetable Shortening = 1.4 – 4.2 gm
The great thing is that most of these foods can be manufactured without trans fat so look for the trans fat-free version they next time you visit the grocery store!
We look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Heather Campanile, RD
Heather,
I saw you at my wrestling club today and you said that I have 7-8 body fat percentage. So how many pounds can i lost maximum without losing muscle mass? Bobby
Dear Bobby -
Typically athletes start compromising performance below 5% which is why the NJSIAA recommends athletes don't go below 6%. Contrary to what you might think, having an extremely low body fat (below 6%) doesn't mean you're only losing muscle mass, it means you don't have enough fat on your body essential for good health. If you're body fat is too low you run the risk of illness, infection and chronic fatigue - all things which will dramatically decrease performance.
If you want to determine how many pounds of fat you can lose without dropping your body fat too low - do the math.
Example: 135 lb Male 8% Body Fat
An athlete who is 135 lb will drop 1% body fat for every 1.35 lb lost - so if his goal was to be 6% body fat, he should lose no more than 2.7 lb.
Thanks for writing in!
Heather Campanile, RD