Maybe I'll meet Zod

Whenever I'm in town I work out at CrossFit Toronto. There's no CrossFit facility convenient to where I live, so I jump at the chance and have had really great experiences there. At the end of a recent week there, John, the head trainer, mentioned that he had wanted to bring me an article on The Zone diet. I responded with skepticism; I certainly don't need to lose any weight, and I try to eat well and avoid junk. John quickly sold me with an analogy about putting standard gas in a race car - if you want to perform at your best, you need to have the best fuel. He told me to get the book Mastering the Zone, which seems to be the most-recommended starting point. I found many used copies online for $4 US including shipping (try Amazon Marketplace or AbeBooks.com for used copies). He basically challenged me to try following the diet to the letter for two weeks, and see if I didn't notice a difference.

As a scientist the idea of optimization appeals to me, but, when it comes to diet, I really just have been following "common sense" haphazardly. Having a good set of rules to follow also appeals to me. A lot of athletes and trainers I admire seem to swear by The Zone, so I figured why not give it a try? The book arrived today, so after I've had a chance to read it and plan it out, the experiment will begin.

Incidentally, this was the impetus behind starting this blog. I figured there might be other people out there who are in a similar position as I am: trying out a new diet to improve performance, rather than to lose weight or look better or anything like that. Hopefully, this might prove informative to someone out there. If not, well, at least it provides incentive to keep me on track!