General Diet Plans and Questions - Has Anyone Tried The Zone Diet?

HI EVERYONE!:) I AM NEW HERE AND I AM IN NEED OF LOTS OF FRIENDS AND SUPPORT AND ADVICE <IS THAT AKSING TO MUCH:^: > HEHE I JUST CANT SEEM TO DO IT ON MY OWN..I EXCERCISE ONE NHGT AND GET ALL PUMPED UP FOR THIS AND THE NESXT DAY ITS LIKE ALL MY ENERGY JSUT DISAPEARS AND I GIVE UP :(
I WATCHED A TV SHOW THE OTHER NIGHT AND IT TALKED ABOUT THE THE ZONE DIET AND THE NEXT DAY I WENT TO THE BOOK STORE AND SAT THERE READING THE BOOK AND IT SOUNDED REALLY GOOD..BUT BEFORE I INVEST IN THE BOOK I WANTED SOME FEED BACK..I AM REALLY DEPRESSED AND I JUST CANNT STAND IT NO MORE...I HOPE TO HEAR FROM SOME NEW FRIENDS SOON :) THANK YOU .

I came here looking for others who have been on the zone diet. I'm starting week 2 of being on the diet.

I started it last week. So far I'm amazed at the side effects! Not in weight loss as much as in how I feel.

I feel alert during the day - I don't feel a surge of energy at 9 am then a crash of energy at 11 am. I feel alert consistently through the day.

I have clarity and energy when I wake up - I used to wake up tired and groggy. Now when I wake up, I'm awake. Also, I sleep well throughout the night - no tossing and turning.

According to the book, initially you will lose a lot of water weight, after which you will lose weight consistently at about 1 lb/week. My scale says that I'm down 8 lbs from the start, so I believe that 7 lbs were water.

I felt the way that you do about the book. I bought 'A Week In The Zone', instead of the expensive "Mastering the Zone'. You can find it at Barnes and Noble for $7.00. This is all that you need. It gives you a summary about the biology, teaches you how to eat, and gives you information about almost every food you can imagine. You can get EVERYTHING ELSE that you need from zoneperfect.com. Recipes, Scientific Studies etc,

If you go to http://www.zoneperfect.com/Site/content/masterthezone.asp there is a 66 lesson tutorial which give you ALL of the biology, ideology, how to eat right in a bind when you're out, etc. I read the entire thing, and it had everything in the 'A Week...' book plus more.

The book explains that, as a culture, we're addicted to carbos, and once we start eating right we'll experience the hunger pangs of breaking the carbo addiction. For about 3 or 4 days I was hungry between all meals. Now I barely notice the time going by.

If you eat the proper foods, the meals are HUGE! Mostly veggies. You can eat almost anything, but bad foods get MUCH SMALLER portions.

The only tough thing about the zone is the calculations. I bought a calculator just for the kitchen and I have an electronic scale to measure the food.

I TOTALLY think that the tediousness of weighing and measuring food portions is worth it, though, if I can get back to a healthy weight. I already feel great!

The zone diet isn't a diet, but an education on how and what to eat and its effects on your body. Once you learn and follow it, the results should be everlasting. I wish I could give a testimonial, but I just started myself. I'm sure that you'll find it's worth much more than the $7, though.

HI SFW GLAD TO HEAR FORM YOU :) AFTER READING YOUR REPLY TO MINE IT REALLY GOT ME GOING..I WOULD LOVE TO CHAT MORE..SO PLEASE CONTINUE AND MAYBE WE CAN CHAT ALSO ..KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK..HATE TO RUN BUT IM GOIN TO GO TO THE WEB SITE YOU TALKED ABOUT YEEEE HAAA :)

hey boo boo, I'm glad I could help!

I've really been amazed at all the changes in the way I feel!

If you can master the zone 'blocks', you'll be doing ok.

Another thing that I've been doing is tracking all of my meals and excercise at Fitday.com. This is one of the most amazing resources I've ever seen in my life. You can put in your meals and it will tell you the calories, the protein/fat/carbo ratio, the vitamins and minerals, etc. You can put in your excercise and it will tell you your calories burned from the excercise versus the amount you burn per day just from being alive. It's amazing.

Today starts my third week in the zone. Over the past two weeks I've lost 7 lbs and 4% body fat.

I hope to see you around and see your story, too! I'd really like this to be a place where we can all share our experiences and spur each other on.

Today starts my fourth week in the zone. In the past 3 weeks I've lost 10.2 lbs and 2.3% body fat.

My clothes fit better now. About 2 months ago I had a meeting and my belt was a little big, so I had to put a new notch in it. I wore it again on Sunday, and realized that it was big again! I'm going to wait a while before putting in a new notch, though.

My meals have all been zone meals, even when dining out. I went to Red Lobster the other night, skipped the Cheddar Bay Biscuits and appetizers, ate my salad with about 1-2 teaspoons of vinaigrette dressing, had the small salmon with all veggies, and when I came back home and totalled it all, I was very close to the zone. I've been able to do the same at Boston Market. I get the Oriental Grilled Chicken, throw away the noodles, use about 2-3 tsp of dressing and I'm close to the zone. Even at a family party, my spouse and I built a double burger with one bun, put a slice of cheese and some lettuce and tomato on it, cut it in half so that we had 1/2 bun, but 2 halves of a burger. Then we had some grapes and strawberries. I totalled it up when I came home and it was all close to the zone. The zone doesn't need to be perfect, just close, and you can eat in the zone anywhere at any time!

I'm averaging 1200 - 1500 calories a day and I excercise 30 minutes a day. I've been doing yoga almost every night.

This week I stepped up my excercise regimen. I went from jogging 15 minutes and walking 15 minutes to jogging for 20 minutes and walking for 10 minutes. I hope to eventually jog for 30 minutes, and then I'll work on increasing my speed. I'd eventually like to be at a point where I can run 3 miles in 30 minutes.

I got some encouraging feedback today! I've been taking my front and side pictures every Monday, then I compare my shape now to my shape over the past weeks, and you can DEFINITELY see how my belly has shrunk.

I did yoga every night this week except Saturday night. The changes in me over the past month have just been incredible!

Before I started this regimen, I was tired all of the time. It was very difficult to get out of bed because my back hurt. Every time I got up, I felt like my back was going to snap in two. I was always hungry. It was tough to get out and do things because I didn't feel motivated or energized. In addition, I've been a chronic insomniac and restless sleeper for over 20 years.

• The Zone:
Changing my eating habits has been a little tough, simply because I've always eaten what I wanted, when I wanted. I started The Zone, and now I try to eat the best foods for me. I have to eat only at my designated meal times, and I have to eat the right sized proportions of protein, carbs and fat for each meal and stop when eating when the food is finished, but the side effects have been so incredible and so fast that I never want to go back again!

The Zone teaches you that you can eat anything, but that some things are better for you than others. If you eat something bad for you, chances are that you can only eat a little bit to fill up your meal requirement for protein, carbs and fat. If you eat something good for you, you usually can eat a ton of it before meeting your protein, carbs and fat requirement. For me (a 3 Block Person) it means I can have a tuna fish sandwich (1/2 can of tuna, 1 teaspoon of mayo, and 1-1/2 pieces of bread) or I can have a gigantic salad (a large mixing bowl full) with fruits, veggies, 1 tsp to 2 tbl of salad dressing, depending on the dressing, or some nuts, and 3/4 cup of cottage cheese or a chicken breast. In other words, I can have a gigantic, healthy meal, or a small unhealthy one (bread and mayo being the sandwich culprits), and both are ok. If I choose the unhealthy meal, I'll still lose weight, be focused, have energy, burn the calories I eat - I just wont get all the health benefits of the healthy meal and my portion of food will be much smaller. If I'm really hungry, I can have a large, healthy meal.

I've been losing fat and weight and my clothes fit better. After the first week of junk food withdrawals, now I'm rarely hungry between meals. I'm focused during the day. I don't feel drained. I don't have a surge of energy at 9 am, then a crash at 11 am, then get tired at 1 pm - I'm focused and alert all day. I go to sleep at night when I go to bed (it used to take hours, now it takes minutes) and I sleep through the night, only getting up occassionally to use the restroom (and then I fall right back to sleep). I find that I'm full now not because of the amount of food I eat, but that I'm eating the right food in the right proportions. Instead of needing mashed potatoes, or a plate of pasta, or bread rolls, etc. to fill me, now I fill up on much less food. I can be equally full with a gigantic salad and some grilled chicken as I can be with a sandwich, or a taco and a side salad - although most of my meals are large, delicious salads with some protein and either dressing or nuts. I've come up with zone variations of my favorite salads: taco, greek, bistro, strawberry-kiwi and oriental chicken.

• Excercise:
I can't even believe the progress that I've made and how my body has adapted. I've never been athletic or developed any athletic routine, but my daily walking-jogging has been great. When I started out, walking slowly, I never thought that I'd be able to pick up the pace, or even do it again the next day. My body has been very resilient. When I stepped up from merely walking for 30 minutes to jogging for 5 minutes-walking for 25 minutes, I thought I was going to die! I didn't think I'd be able to finish the other 25 minutes of excercise. I did it once, and I was exhausted. The second time I was tired. The third time, I knew I could do it. The fourth time, I was used to it. Now when I step up my jogs for longer times, it's very tough the first time, a little tough the second time, by the third time my body is used to it and I can feel my heart and breaths for hours afterwards! I'm sure that it's having a great effect on my heart because I don't feel tired living daily life now, and my blood pressure is great.

• Yoga:
This has just been amazing. I'm only doing beginning yoga, but my back pain is gone! I had trouble walking, my legs would hurt when I'd be in bed. I felt like I was going to double over when I got out of bed. I never thought that my back would be free from pain. EVER. I used to hang upside down from gravity boots for my back, but it was so difficult and dangerous getting my body inverted on the bar. Then I would roll around on a soccer ball and use my weight to align my back, and that works really well, but my muscles would often be sore the next day. Now that I've been doing yoga for about a month, my lower back pain is gone. In the morning I can get up without any pain. My muscles have become flexible to the point that when I do have back pain, I can usually do a couple of quick yoga poses and it's back in place and the pain is gone. Sometimes I still need to roll on my soccer ball, but instead of every day, I do it every couple of days. I suspect that once my lower back/groin are flexible that I will be able to align myself strictly with yoga poses.

I'm really happy with how this diet and the other things in my life have changed how I feel. It's amazing! I just really hope that I can keep it up, because the real challenge is making it your daily life forever.

I just finished month 1 of being on the zone and the results have been amazing!

In the past four weeks I've lost 12.8 lbs and 3.9% body fat!

Clothes that have been tight for years are falling off me now, and I can wear clothes that I previously didn't wear because they were a little tight and uncomfortable.

My regimen this month has been: eating zone foods at home, when I'm out I estimate my zone portions so that I'm close to the zone even when I'm dining out, daily excercise, and daily yoga (for back and stress relief more than excercise).

My son was in town from Thurs. to Sun., and it was a whirlwind, so I only got to excercise once those days and I didn't do yoga at all. I see the consequences already - I lost 2 lbs this week, which is good, but my average for the 2 weeks before was about 2.5. Those 3 days without excercise cost me half a pound.

But it's no big deal. We had a wonderful time and it was totally worth it. I'll make it up sometime in my life!

I just completed week five in the zone and am just amazed at the changes in my body in this short period of time!

When I started I was at 218.8 lb., 28.9% Body Fat.
Now I'm at 203.6 lbs., 25.1% Body Fat

In five weeks I've lost 15.2 lbs and 3.8% body fat.

I never knew that I didn't know how to eat. I always thought, juice is natural, so it must be good for me, and pasta has no fat, so that must be good for me, and 100% whole wheat bread has nutrients, so it must be good for me, and potatoes, carrots, bananas, etc. are all natural, so they must be good for me, and you can't get any more natural than being a vegetarian, so it must be good for me.

I'd been eating low-to-no fat, no red meat, as close to nature as possible for years. I gave up sodas years ago. No drinks but milk (skim), juice, herbal teas, an ocassional cappuccino indulgence, or water ever touched my lips. I could not understand how I could be obese, when everything I ate was 'right'.

I am so thankful to Dr. Sears so much for culminating the evidence in The Zone to teach me how to eat.

What's amazing is that we, as a society - even obese people, don't usually overeat in volume. My meals were normal sized meals, even smaller than my zone meals. A typical meal would consist of a sandwich, maybe a half sandwich-half soup, or a bowl of pasta with fat free cheese, or some fish, corn and mashed potatoes.

The real problem was that, for my height (5'10''), any more than 1.5 pieces of bread was all the carbos my body required for the meal. Any more than that would be converted to fat. Any more than a 3/4 cup of pasta would be all the carbs I required for a meal, any more would turn to fat. 8 oz of juice was all the carbs my body required for a meal, anything else would turn to fat. But I'd have pasta (carbos), cheese (carbos), maybe a breadstick (carbos), juice (carbos), etc.

You see, very small portions of certain 'natural' foods can be much more than our body needs. The excess, in turn, becomes fat. Juices contain so much sugar (carbohydrates) in such a small volume, that you can easily overeat carbos in a meal by drinking more than a glass. How many times have you had juice (carbos) with a piece of toast (carbos) or an english muffin (carbos). Certain fruits (a whole banana, for instance) contain all the carbos we need in one meal, yet we put a whole banana (carbos) in a bowl of cereal (carbos).

Certain things, such as bread and pasta, have so much carbos stuffed in such a small space that it's nearly impossible NOT to overeat them, and these are part of our daily staple. We sprinkle some fat free cheese on it (compare fat free cheese carbos with regular cheese carbos sometime - guess what, they replace the fat with more carbos) and, we have carbos, upon carbos, upon carbos.

Add to this that, many times, we don't eat enough protein with our carbos (protein helps counteract the effects of the carbos on the body), or fat (fat tells your body that it's full), and we have bodies that are a complete mess.

Now, the size of my meals is normally larger than my meals were before but, since most of my carbos are low density (less carbos in a small space) - as opposed to high density carbos as breads, pastas, juices and certain fruits, and because my carbos, protein and fat are balanced in every meal, my energy level has changed, my body is shaping up, people are noticing, and I'm feeling great!

I'm so saddened by the millions of obese people out there who really, truly have tried sincerely, and given up, by following what the media has told them is the right food to eat. I've been one of them for a while, and this was sincerely my last attempt to do it, once and for all, do or die, because I desperately felt that I was dying inside. It was do this, or give up. I felt no motivation to get out of bed in the morning. My back was in agony every morning. If this didn't work, I'd deal with my body aches and pains, eat what I wanted, and give up hope on being healthy and lean ever again.

But now, five weeks later, I can't remember a time when I felt so energetic, able to get around, able to jump out of bed, and able to sleep!

I can't remember a time when I wasn't starving at lunch or dinner time. Now I have to remind myself to eat, because my hunger pangs are so few and far between.

And I've never been able to jog more than for a couple of minutes in my whole life. Yesterday I stepped up my excercise to 25 minutes of jogging, then slowing down to 5 minutes walking. Soon I'll be jogging for half an hour, and I'll be able to increase my speed.

In short, this has really changed my life and I hope that it encourages some of you to give it 'one more try' and live and love your lives!

Wow you are doing great...I am doing the low carb plan. It is working for me. Good luck to you. ~Rachel~

sfwasabi,

You seem to be doing great on the Zone...I have just starting reading through one of Sears' books and he seems to put a lot of importance on taking fish oil that's been molecularly distilled. Are you taking fish oil or any other supps and what brand?

Keep up the good work and keep us posted on your progress!

Take care,
NJCyster

RE: Fish Oils... Yes, I've been taking them every day since I started. I take five 1000 mg tablets a day. Since that is a bit, I take 2 at breakfast, 2 at lunch and 1 at dinner.

I take Sundown (available in Publix supermarkets, and many other places) because they are owned by Rexall, who (at least they say they do) have strict testing standards to ensure that all of their products work and get disseminated into the body. FYI... MANY supplements are 'too tough' to be broken down, and thus go straight out of you without ever being absorbed, so it's good to research the ones that you take.

I know that many supplements don't get absorbed from my brother who is an extemely health conscious, vegetarian doctor, and I know about Rexall's quality standards from family members who sell their products.

According to Dr. Sears, pharmaceutical grade fish oil is what everyone should be using, but his fish oil costs $50/bottle, whereas Sundown costs about $9/bottle and I go through about about half a bottle a month. That would be very pricey to do with Dr. Sears' fish oil.

Wow, what a week!

The middle of the week before last my left knee and right ankle each had a little sprain. It happened, get this, doing yoga!

The funny thing is that they didn't hurt when I'd walk, or when I'd jog, but only when I'd lift my knee up high (which I rarely do).

Not wanting to stop my stamina, I continued jogging, hoping that every day it would get better. And it didn't seem to get any worse, it just didn't get better. Finally on Monday I decided to take the week off and try to let it heal.

They feel much better now. I think I'm going to try jogging again tonight to see if they hurt in the morning. If they do, then I'll take another week off.

Then on Friday I got notice from my partner that he's splitting the business, which means that I get to start my life all over again with a brand new business. It was stressful, overwhelming, painful - but now I'm really excited about it. I have a friend working on an identity package for me for the business and I have a ton of ideas to hit the ground with.

So, I was unable to excercise or do yoga last week, but I was strict with my zone diet and I was able to break 200 lbs for the first time in about 6 years or so! And that, about 2 weeks before my goal!

Right now I've been weighing in around 197-199 for the past couple of days. I just can't believe all the changes in my energy and my body!

sfwasabi,

Congats on meeting your goal earlier than anticipated! Hope your sprains are on the mend! You have inspired me to look through my Zone book again. I don't know why but I am finding reading it a bit confusing, with the blocks concept and all!

Sears really seems adamant about the fish oil being phamaceutical grade and molecularly distilled though! I looked on the web site and wow it is pricey. I guess I'll have to keep investigating that one.

Be well,
NJCyster

Hey NJCyster,

Thanks for the encouragement. I did jog Monday and a couple of hours later my knee was in excruciating pain all over again, so I guess it's more down time for me. I was encouraged that I was still able to do a 25 minute jog/5 minute walk, so my week off didn't hurt my stamina.

It's funny that you mention not understanding the blocks, because I didn't understand them from Dr. Sears' explanation, and almost gave up on the block method entirely because of it.

Then I stumbled upon zoneperfect.com, which has a 66 lesson tutorial called 'Mastering The Zone'. It has everything in my 'A Week in the Zone' book, plus it explains the science and goes into more detail. It even seemed a little more friendly to me.

It wasn't until I read their block tutorial that I understood the block method. Now it's the only method I use, unless I'm eating out and have to eyeball it.

Here's how I do it at home. I weigh or measure all of my foods. My recipe book has a list of just about everything that you can imagine and their blocks, and whatever it doesn't have I write in.

I have the same breakfast every day, because it's easy that way. For lunch I have 5 salads that I really like. I make one a day. I put the recipes in my recipe book, so I just have to prep - now that I've done all the math. You have to do the math the first time, but if you write it down you don't have to do it again. If I'm busy at night, I usually have a frozen dinner that comes close to the zone, and I add to it whatever is needed. Otherwise I cook a zone dinner. Usually my dinners are on the fly, so I do have to spend some time doing math and measuring - but most of the time I do the prepared thing for dinner. So usually my only time consuming meal is lunch, unless I cook dinner too. I don't fret if my percentages don't come out perfect - I just try to be close.

It's very helpful to have things that are small that you can use to round out things. For instance, I have Steel Cut Oatmeal, which I use A LOT to sprinkle on things to make up the remaining carbs. I have a lot of different nuts, salad dressings that I make myself, or plain olive oil that I can add to things to make up reminaing fat, and protein powder can be sprinkled on things to make up the remaining protein.

I have a book in my car with restaurant meals and their blocks so I know what to order when I eat out. I'll also look up nutritional info online for the restaurants I don't have and decide what I'm going to eat before I get there. I take little baggies with me if I need to add any extra carbs, protein or fat. I put my recipes in this book to help me make up my grocery list, and I have a list of frozen food dinners and their blocks so I can buy some convenience meals that are easily converted to zone meals.

The lessons are at: http://www.zoneperfect.com/site/content/MasterTheZone.asp?offset=60

The block lesson is at: http://www.zoneperfect.com/Site/content/masterthezone_Detail.asp?id=862

Re: the strictness of things. I'm a very strict kind of person, but I take everything with a grain of salt, too. It seems to me that our grandparents drank real cows and goats milk, real butter and cheese, and lived for quite longer than the generations since - probably without taking as much fish oil as I am, eating as healthily, or excercising as often.

Just as I'm not going to die if I eat something unhealthy, I'm sure that the 'grade' of fish oil that I take probably wont harm me. If I don't get enough Omega 3, oh well. I'm sure I'm getting a bit. I usually have salmon a couple of times a week.

I would need sufficient evidence that the Sundown Fish Oil doesn't work and the Sears Fish Oil does, and that the benefits are worth spending the extra $90/month on a supplement before I'd really worry about it. Dr. Sears is a scientist AND salesman, so he has a reason for selling his fish oil. I'll wait for his paper to be published about the need for fish oil to be medicinal grade in order to be beneficial before I'll fret about it!

I take Vitamin E, Baby Aspirin, two multivitamins, Fish Oil, Calcium and Magnesium every day, and I'm feeling pretty good. My grandparents lived into their 80's and I never saw them eat a healthy meal or excercise once in my time with them!

This was a tough week!

My diet was fine. On Monday I tried jogging again and I was able to keep up my stamina, but my knee was in excruciating pain, so I stopped for the week. I'm going to try again this Monday and see if it's healed yet. It hasn't hurt in days, but it wasn't hurting on Monday, either.

Since I couldn't do my daily excercise, I tried to be more strict with my diet. Today I've been weighing in the 196's, with 25% fat. I started off at 218.8 on February 5, 2003 and 47 days later I'm at 196. That's almost 23 lbs in less that two months! Not too bad.

My whole life feels different now. I feel stronger, more energetic, more lively and more confident and to boot my old business is coming to a close, so I'm about to start a whole new life with a new business!

I'm scared and excited at the same time, but I'll be totally in control and I wouldn't have it any other way!

sfwasabi,

Thanks for the interesting links! The Zone really seems to be working for you. I'm curious, what do you eat for breakfast? I'm not doing the plan yet, but do you find you get hungry on the Zone?

Thanks,
NJCyster

NJ,

Here is an excerpt from my journal of my fourth day on the zone.

&quot;This is day 4 in 'The Zone', at least as close as I can be to it, since I'm still learning how to change my dietary habits. I'm definitely feeling the effects. I'm DEFINITELY hungrier, all the time - in fact, but my mind is more clear and focused. I feel better and more energetic, but I'm also feeling more depressed because my work is being neglected because my life is out or order. I think that my hunger is due to my carbohydrate addiction - and also because we have so many foods that we have to consume before they go bad that I haven't been able to eat completely zone healthy foods yet. I expect that when I can eat zone healthy meals (tons of low density carbohydrates) that my hunger between meals will diminish.&quot;

For about a week, I was starving every day. The first week your body is breaking its addiction to carbohydrates and adjusting to your change in diet. You really have to incorporate your diet into your life, and it's time consuming learning to measure out your portions doing the block method, but it has an amazing affect on your body once you get used to it.

An excerpt from Day 10

&quot;I am SO loving 'The Zone' so far. It's tough measuring and preparing eveything, but I wasn't hungry all day, and I didn't have to eat until I 'felt' full - I just ate my portion and the fullness would come later. I don't get hungry between meals. I've never felt so alert and I've never woken up without being tired before. My sleep has never been so solid. I'm sound asleep around 12 am every night. I used to fight until 2 and 3, but this change of habits has really helped me be tired at night and get a good night's sleep.&quot;

Now, I'm rarely hungry. I usually don't get hungry unless I just happen to be away from home at meal time. When I'm home, I have to remind myself to eat, and I get full really quickly. My breakfast is relatively small in volume, and it feels challenging to get through it all. In fact, my journal doesn't even mention the word 'hungry' past day 16 in the zone, so I guess it hasn't even crossed my mind in a while.

Here's my breakfast:

I take Multivitamins, Vitamin E, and Fish Oil, not because my diet is deficient, but because when I check my nutrients for the month on Fitday.com I am usually well over 100% on everything, except a few trace nutrients, so I use a supplement for these few nutrients.

3/4 cup 4% milkfat cottage cheese (3 P)

9 Cashews (3 F)

1 misc. carb. (1 C) This depends on what I need to eat before it goes bad. It is usually fruit and I usually put it on my cottage cheese.

1 block steel cut oatmeal (Available in health food stores.) (1/3 cup) (1 C). I boil 2 cups of water, put it in a thermos, add 1 cup of oatmeal, shake it and let it sit overnight. In the morning I pour it out into a 1/3 cup measuring cup. Then I put each portion in sandwich bags and freeze them for the week.

1/2 Apple (1 C) I cut it up and put it in my oatmeal. I use an apple corer, because it cuts them up in slices quickly and removes the core.

Since I freeze the oatmeal and make more the night it runs out, I don't have to cook it in the morning. Everything else either needs to just be measured and added, or cut and added, so I can put this together relatively quickly.

I hope this helps.

Well, my life has completely turned upside down lately...

I just finished a project that I'd been working on for months and found out that my partner wants to split the company in such a way that I cannot possibly accept, which means I have to start a new company all over again, and taxes are due.

So, I haven't had any time for anything the past two weeks. I've excercised about twice, but most of the time has been spent trying to rebuild my life over again, wrap up some things in my old life, now I'm doing taxes, and after that I'll have to start my life all over again starting a new company.

I'm still strong on the diet. In a little over two months, approx. 2 months and a week, I've lost close to 30 lbs. I've still lost a couple of lbs a week over the past two weeks, even though I haven't excercised much. My stamina is up, too. I moved a friend in the morning and came home to do yardwork all day until evening one day and didn't even get tired.

I suspect that for the next week or so I'll be doing taxes morning to night, so I doubt that I'll be able to get my excercise in, but I plan to come back full force after that.

In 15 lbs. I'll go from overweight to the top of the healthy weight!

Hey sfwasabi,

Give yourself some credit....even if you're not exercising, you're staying on plan! That's can be a tough enough challenge in and of itself! And even though it sounds like you're under some pressure, you're not engaging in emotional eating. I think that's fantastic.

I love the whole idea of gaining some stamina. I have 2 little ones who can really knock me out!

Good luck with the tax stuff and exercise when you can for the moment, even something as simple as taking a flight of stairs vs. escalator or an extra walk counts!

Best,
NJC

sfwasabi,

Looking forward to a Zone update/progress report from you!

NJC

Wow! My life has been in a complete upheaval lately.

I did my company books for about two weeks, then ended up taking the whole thing to an accountant to do my taxes. It was my first time ever not doing them myself. It was difficult to turn over, but I felt so relieved. I found a really nice accountant who did them and handled the dissolving of my old business and the incorporating of my new one, and didn't even charge that much. In fact, I'm showing money due back, which has not happened in about 10 years!

For the past couple of weeks I've been working on the website for the new company and on figuring out the company itself.

Because of the mess, I wasn't excercising or doing yoga - probably for a whole month, but I stuck strong to the zone diet.

Since the beginning of February (a little over 3 months), I've lost 40 lbs. I'm about 3 lbs away from being at the top of the 'healthy weight' chart for my height. Just think, when I started, I was well into the 'obese' part of the chart.

Another thing that is encouraging is that I have a collection of about 16 testimonials from people on the zone diet, telling about their successes. Whenever I want a pump-me-up, I read the testimonials from people who have lost more weight than I have. So, out of these 16, there are about 4-5 who have lost more weight than I!

Yesterday I jogged for 25 minutes, and walked for 5. It was tougher than before, since I hadn't done it in about a month, but I got through. Immediately afterwards I mowed the back half of the lawn, and in the evening I did yoga. Today I did my jogging and am about to do my yoga.

I'm convinced that, dietetically, this is the way to be in control of your body. My hunger is under control. My weight is getting under control. I have more energy and my sleep is more restful.

After being very strict on the zone for a couple of months, I've become less of a 'perfectionist' about it. I don't want to be a slave to food - I want it to serve me. So I zone everything, but I'm more liberal with it now.

For instance, it was my mother in law's birthday last weekend, so I had half a piece of cake, a little bit of ice cream, and barbequed chicken as my meal. An awkward combination, but I didn't gain weight. It allowed me to indulge A LITTLE, while still being in control. Today for lunch I had some tuna with mayo and a glass of hot chocolate. Over the weekend we went to a restaurant and I guestimated my portions.

Now, this isn't my daily regimen, but it allows for me to feel like I can eat anything, but still be responsible and stay in control of my body.

I finally broke 175!!!

For my height, I finally move from 'overweight' to the top of the 'healthy weight' chart.

Boy, this was a tough month. I've been at a plateau for a month where my weight would fluctuate between 176 to 179, but never went down. It makes you wonder what you're doing wrong, if your diet is working for you, etc., but I didn't really change my eating habits.

Finally it broke 2 days ago and I've had consistent loss for 2 days. I was at 174 this morning.

That's 45 lbs and 11% body fat lost in a little over 3 months!

I broke 170 today!

That makes 50 lbs lost in 5 months!

You are doing great!! I love the way you keep adding updates. Do you know any place that people on the Zone get together and chat? Looks like here you are the only one, is there any other place to go for Zoners?

Congratulations.

this web site has a message board for zone plan
www.ivillage.com might check it out. i go to several and i like and enjoy. Your doing so good on the plan. i hear its a good one. LaDean good luck

i know.

it would be cool if more people joined in, but some people look here to see my progress and learn about the zone, so i keep posting.

it's quite funny that, for as few posts in here, there are a ton of views!

i looked at that forum in ivillage and could handle it for about 2 minutes before scrapping it. it's not very practical to have to click on every message individually to follow a discussion. it makes much more sense to have each post in sequence, like here, so you can follow the discussion.

Hello :-)

Well, reading your entries today has just convinced me to give the zone a try. I have the 2 books someone gave me a few years back, which I never read. Today, I tied to peruse the first one and just didn't have the time or energy to figure out yet another diet plan. I decided to check on our trusty 3fc's message board to see if it was working for anyone and low and behold there you were!!!

Great job! I enjoyed reading about your journey and have just checked out several of those websites you gave links to. I just printed the 7 day meal plan from the zoneperfect website and the shopping list and am gonna give it a try starting tomorrow.

I am desparate for something to work, yet tired of trying every weightloss concept out there. I have osteoarthritis in my hands and what caught my attention today were his claims that following the zone would not only diminish inflammation from arthritis, but might allow someone to give up anti-inflammatories altogether. That woud be awesome and certainly a big sell for me!!! My hands ache now, actually.

Thanks again for all of your documentaion of how it worked for you. I am very afraid of the hunger, I have to tell ya. When I get really hungry, I start to feel sick to my stomach and begin to panic. I don't know if the plan will work for me...but I am gonna give it a shot.

You keep up the good work and the posts! You are doing great!

Debbie

Hi! This is my first post here and so far I love this forum! I thought I'd chime in here about the Zone. My husband and I started the Zone back in February. I was at 216 and he was at 210. Since the Zone we've both reduced by 40 lbs each and have enjoyed it immensely. Our energy increased the first week and we haven't had to suffer through starving ourselves.

We had never "dieted" before, but both knew that we needed to do something about ourselves. There was a news story about the Zone on Fox that piqued our interest. After some research, we decided it would be the best route for us, because as I said before, I'm not a person who likes to starve. If you're interested in the Zone I'd suggest that you read, "A Week in The Zone" first to really get a good idea of what it's all about. So far, I've given away 7 copies of it to my friends. Barnes and Noble loves me!

The only thing we do differently in our house with the Zone is that we eat a little more fat than it recommends. (But, usually in healthy forms such as almonds, peanuts or other sources of monounsaturated fats). The fats help you when you are feeling the need to snack and don't want to raise your insulin levels.

I recommend the Zone to anyone who asks. My husband has people coming up to him all the time for advice and he just directs them to me. Several of the people who started after me are now more experts about it than I am. I just found a way of eating that works for me. And that's just what the Zone is--a way of eating and not a diet. It's just a different way of looking at food.

Sorry for the long post. I'm grateful for this board and to have found some fellow Zoner's. Those of you who are interested--give it a good try, you'll find that it's a great way of life! :)

Wow! I take a break from posting and some new friends have joined in!

I'd really like to inspire anyone who has thought about The Zone to go ahead and try it. It's not a diet, but a lifestyle change, and if you can train yourself to eat this way it will completely change your life.

About a month and a half or so ago I dropped to the top of the 'healthy weight' for my height. I punched in my measurements at some site online and it told me that I was at NO RISK for any illnesses related to obesity. My cholestrol came back at 165 and my lower blood pressure the other day was at 65. My blood pressure and cholestrol have always been fine, but this seemed pretty low to me.

I've been on a plateau for about a month or so. I think that this happens when your body doesn't want to lose weight and feels comfortable where it is. The plateau broke this week and I dropped about 3-4 lbs.

So far, I've lost about 55 lbs on the zone diet since the beginning of February this year (6 months). Everyone who has seen me is completely taken aback and has started dieting. Everyone I know is now in some sort of diet and has lost a bit of weight - people that have been obese for a long time. It's funny and encouraging!

My wife started the week after me and she has lost 50 lbs (in 6 months) strictly on The Zone, with no excercise.

The first week was tough, breaking the carbo addictions and being hungry all the time, but if you can be STRICT STRICT STRICT for the first week, and follow The Zone after that, you will rarely be hungry.

As a matter of fact, if you eat Zone favorable foods strictly, you will probably feel sick from how much food you have to eat! I have to 'resort' to fruits, because you have to eat so many vegetables to reach your required carbs that it really is too much!

The other day I had a bag of broccoli and a bag of cauliflower AND a side salad to make up my carbs. This meal was about four inches high on a 12 inch round plate!

About sacrifices... I make my meals zone meals, but about once a month I allow myself to indulge in some temptation that I've loved in the past, just so I can enjoy it and not feel that I'm forbidden anything. I always make it a zone meal, though. This month my wife and I split a small blizzard and a small chicken breast each for our indulgence one dinner. We even lost weight the next day!

And you just can't beat how much better you will feel with increased energy and stamina!

It's funny. People say I look completely different. That I look so much younger now. When I look in my closet I see shirts and mentally I say to myself 'That one was too tight. So was that one.' and then I'll put one on and be drowning in it.

In my mind, I still see a much bigger me, and people that I meet today can't even believe it when I say I used to be 50 lbs heavier at the beginning of the year.

I love it! And I'm so thankful for the changes The Zone has brought to my life. I feel alive again and both my wife and I have renewed happiness and energy!

I tried the zone diet, and was very unsatisfied. I need more "bulk" in my meals than one of those little bars. LOL I dont really eat much salads so that was probably my problem. This fish oil capsules made me very sick and gave me the burps. It was like burping up Long John Silvers. LOL (sorry, that was gross, lol)

I broke 160 today! That's 60 lbs lost in 6-1/2 months!

I've been feeling a little weak willed lately. I think it's because I feel that there is so much going on in my life that I don't feel I'm in control of everything. I'm a very controlled person and can't operate well in chaos, and so much is going on that I can't possibly take control of my life right now.

I don't know if it's a distraction mechanism from the things I have to do, or an old habit, but I found myself getting hungry at night and turning to eating, or simply eating because I was bored.

To curb this, I noticed that 1 serving of Metamucil equals 1 Carb, so I've been eating 2 Carbs of food, and 1 Carb as Metamucil, and I don't feel hungry much anymore.

I don't think that you can get more bulk in your meals than on the Zone diet - if you eat zone favorable foods, then the meals are gigantic.

Have you ever tried making a Zone salad? Or a Zone dinner? The amount of food is a lot!

As with anything, you take what works for you and forget what doesn't. Fish capsules aren't PART of the diet, just a suggested supplement. I don't take any supplements at all. No vitamins or anything.

The zone doesn't recommend any type of 'bar'. I assume that you're talking about the ZonePerfect bars - You are supposed to take 1/2 of those as a snack, not use it as a meal. Your body can't get the nutrients that it needs from a snack bar.

What I do a lot is eat fruits instead of vegetables. That way I don't have to eat so much. For instance, I will eat 1-1/2 apples as my carbs for a meal, or 1-1/2 oranges, rather than a giant salad.

I'm so glad to read you don't take it. I have bought it and been trying it but I hate burping it. Yuck Yuck Yuck! I have to admit I didn't read much of the book, just enough to figure out how the blocks work and what is legal and how to build meals. I have found that zoneperfect website very helpful for getting recipes.
With some variation in the plan, like getting off plan some on weekends...this is day 20 for me and I have to tell you, it is working! You are right, sometimes I make those big zone salads and can't finish them! I feel stuffed after a meal now. After a legal meal! ;) That's a big wow! So many diets I have tried before, I caved b/c of getting too hungry. I think I have decided this is the plan for me. This plan has really evened me out.

I gave into a little binging episode this afternoon...the first time since beginning this plan. I was so dissapointed in myself. Reading your post made sense tho. SOme things are going on right now in my life too that I don't feel I have much control over and I have more chaos than usual in my life just recently...as well as some extra anxiety over a potential new dating relationship and I caved. I stopped mid-binge tho, with disgust and went to write in my journal, which helped me get back on track. I gave myself a pep talk and know that I can have a fresh start right now. So, I am feeling better about things.

Have a good evening all! :smug:

Initially, I took fish oil that I bought from Wal Mart (Nature made I think--or something like that!). And the burps were terrible! Then I ordered some of the pharmaceutical grade from Iherb.com (Natural Factor's--much cheaper than Dr. Sears). The finer grade greatly reduced the amount of fish burps afterward. I finally figured out that if I took it before I ate, I never had any problem at all. However, I don't take them any more because I was having a problem with bleeding at the dentist After some research I discovered that you're supposed to cease taking it 2 weeks before any medical procedure--I guess it's a blood thinner of sorts. Since I practically live at my dentist these days I've stopped taking it all together. And you know what? I haven't noticed a difference in how I feel or function. Someday I'll start taking them again for the benefits it gives against cardiovascular problems---but only when I don't have someone drilling in my mouth every month or so!

As for the bulk of meals--I've found that I can't possible put away that many favorable veggies at a meal. So, I too, eat alot of fruit. Thankfully, we live in California so fruit is cheap and plentiful! As for the Zone Perfect bars my husband and I love them for snacks or when he has to run out the door super early in the morning and I don't have time to cook for him.

Holli's Human--don't get to down on yourself about binging. Remember, you're only 4-6 hours away from being back in the zone. I've found that if I'm munchy, and I'm not schedule to have a snack I'll have it anyway--even if it is ice cream! (with protien on the side of course!) Since the Zone is a lifestyle, I'm just learning to rethink how I eat food. Balancing it out--even when I'm "cheating". So far it's worked for me--I've lost 43 lbs since Feb. and haven't felt deprived yet!

I too get tempted to binge. I'm feeling one of those temptations right now.

I'm so used to eating when I'm bored, or to distract me from something unpleasant I don't want to be doing.

So I figured that I would come out here and see what was going on instead.

One of the things that I love about the Zone is the freedom!

That there is no diet.

You eat what you want.

You eat what you like.

You just have to eat it in the right proportions.

Doesn't that sound great!

You get to eat WHATEVER you want, you just can't pig out!!!

So many diets lay out a plan for you. And you have to be a machine to this plan. And you know that one day it will all end, you will have lost some weight, maybe, but you won't be doing it for the rest of your life.

The Zone lets you eat what you love for the rest of your life! All you have to watch is your proportions.

That's some of the best news I've ever heard. I can deal with that for the rest of my life.

Let's talk a little about cheating. The Zone is about eating what you love, in the right portions.

In its most strict sense, it's about eating only healthy food.

But we learn that the body doesn't differentiate between what kind of carb you are eating, or what kind of protein, or what kind of fat.

But we also learn that the composition of the foods that we eat does have an effect on our body, in the way that certain foods assist in this, that or the other.

I get cravings, whether it's for a McDonalds cheeseburger, or Barbequed Ribs, or Ice Cream or Chocolate - lately, in particular, for Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream.

I looked on the box at the store, and generally Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream has 3 Mini Blocks of Carbs in 1/2 cup, and a WHOLE LOTTA FAT.

Once a month I allow myself to have what I want. I just make it a Zone meal.

So, this month, for 1 dinner, I will probably split a cup (1/2 cup each) of Ben and Jerry's with my wife and have some chicken wings, or turkey slices, for my protein. I won't add any fat.

SOMETIMES I wake up the next morning with a little increase in weight after one of these indulgences, usually less than 1 lb, but usually I have NO increase in weight - I just ate some bad food.

The funny thing is, afterwards, I feel free!

I don't feel like a prisoner. I had my little indulgence. My craving is usually gone, and I'm strong enough to go on because I know that there isn't one thing that I love to eat that is forbidden to me, unlike other diets.

And greatest of all, the difference in my life, my weight, my appearance, my strength and stamina, my family and friends all make me want to go on living this way forever!

Wow! Very encouraging reading on here! I do feel better about the binge, and ya know..it wasn't a typical old kinda binge on chips, chocolate and donuts...it was too many almonds, a homemade chili releno and some sugar babies(sugar or carb probably which was probably hormonal). Weird combo I know...it was what was available. I had bought the sugar babies earlier that morning, thinking I could satisfy a craving with 3 or 4 (they are not my usual source of a sweet tooth fix, but I figured not as harmful as some choices like m&m's). Well, as the day went from bad to worse over some work related issues and it was sooooooo very hot here, baking hot; and several other frustrations reared their ugly heads, as well as some anxiety over a (maybe) date this weekend.....I got into the sugar babies on the way home and came in and was craving mexican...I had ground sirloin already cooked up for something else, and some green pepper and cheese and popped in micro and stood at the kitchen counter and ate it as it came out of the microwave. I munched on smoked almonds as I waited the 5 min's for it to come out of the microwave. I stopped mid-mexican bowl stuffing and went to journal.

So, looking back, it was not horrible compared to the way I used to do. It just was off plan and too much fat.

Today has been good and I am OP again and am happy about that. Thanks for sharing with me and letting me pour my frustration out. It helps to hear the afore mentioned thoughts on binging too!

debbie:s:

Oh yeah, and I meant to tell ya HBMom, 43 lbs since Feb is awesome! WAY TO GO! I hope I can be so lucky!

Hello everyone, I just started Zoning on Monday and am happy to find a board like this. All of you are very encouraging.

I started dieting January 2, 2003 and I’ve lost 20 lbs so far, watching my food intake and exercising. But the weight loss has slowed down and of course I haven’t been as good as I was in the beginning. (I seem to stay on track in the Fall more so than the Summer…lol) I exercise 6 days a week and believe I would have gained some back, if I hadn’t kept that part of my plan up.

So I’m ready again, to get motivate about losing. The Zone seems to be very doable but I'm still a work in progress. I wish I would have started Zoning in January but it seemed like another knockoff of the Atkins diet, from what I was hearing. But once I started reading about the Zone, it’s nothing like Atkins. (This girl needs her carbs!) But better late than never…

I would like to lose another 60 lbs which will bring me to my goal of 140 lbs.

Keep up the good work everyone! And keep your posts coming! I need them to stay on track!

what a horrible week it was!

this has to have been the worst week i've had since i started.

i got very discouraged because i bounced up 5 lbs, and sorta gave up because i've been trying really hard. i binged just about every night last week, usually on ham or cheese, but many times with extra servings of cheerios - one night until i got sick.

it was totally emotional and psychological. i think made myself hungry mentally, because i was bored and restless, not because i was really hungry.

so, i've been bouncing between 160 and 165 lbs. i started off at 220 lbs close to 7 months ago.

i did my first clothes shopping this weekend. it was REALLY cool. i was very surprised. I was a 42-44" waist in February. I was a 32" waist this weekend. that's 10-12" lost in close to 7 months. i haven't been a 32 in about 10 years.

large shirts don't fit me anymore. i have to go with a medium.

i was determined that i wasn't going to blow a whole bunch of money on clothes until my weight settles, and i know that i still have more to lose, but i have 2 appointments next week with a client, so i need to walk in with clothes that fit.

i think i'm over my problem. i feel more renewed today. i've eaten exactly what i'm supposed to. i started a strength training workout and i jogged for 30 minutes. it was my first time jogging in 5 months.

that was tough - what a mind game!

i did it!

but my brain kept nagging me: you haven't done this in months, you're not fit, you're not in shape, it's ok to rest, you're not strong enough to do it, etc., but i stuck with it and got through.

i have a client who is a 60 yr old man. he jogs 9 minute miles, 6 miles a day. he runs marathons all over the world. he tells me that even for him, when you are training for a marathon, you have to build up your strength for the race as if it were your first time. you jog 2 miles a day for a week, then 4 the next week, then 8 the next week, then 10 the next week, until you do the 20 miles.

if you assimilate into your current routine (ie, if you start at 6 miles), it throws your body off. you HAVE to start with 2 miles.

and once you get into the race, and you hit the wall, it's all about IGNORING your mind, which is telling you to stop, rest, slow down, it's ok to give up, etc.

and this is what happens to a running fanatic!

it is truly wonderful when we, mere mortals trying to make changes in our lives, overcome our mind and stick with something that is good for us.

i sure hope that i can keep up an excercise routine for the rest of my life. i've never liked it in the past, and i may not like it in the future, but i feel so good when i do it and drained, lifeless, anemic, lethargic, lifeless, depressed and unmotivated when i don't. and i've been feeling all of that lately.

be praying for me!

anyway, i wanted to share my struggles here so that others know that we all go through the same stuff.

the good news is that i've been on the zone diet for almost seven months; i've lost almost 60 lbs; i've lost about 12" from my waist; i've lost about 15% body fat; my life is completely turned around, i feel good about myself, and everyone who knew me before is amazed!

i'm dressing up again, looking good again, and new people i meet can't even believe it when i tell them about the previous shape I was in!

I just starting eating in the Zone last Monday, and am loving it so far! And this from a girl who thought nothing of eating no protein and tons of fat/carbs on a daily basis! I feel healthy, energized, and am really not hungry. I just read all the posts in this forum...thank you all for sharing your stories...very inspiring for a newbie like myself.

congratulations and welcome!

last week was a great week and this week was more of the same.

i jogged 6 days last week, and every day so far this week.

it was my wife and my 7th wedding anniversary.

we went out for the weekend, for the first time in years.

we went off the diet for the weekend and pigged out!

she has lost 50 lbs in the past 7 months and i have lost 60 lbs in the past 7 months. for me, that's about TEN INCHES off my waist.

we went shopping the WHOLE WEEKEND and each bought a ton of clothes. it was so much fun!

we gained some weight from our escapade, but we lost it within a couple of days. i'm leaner today than i was before we went away.

people wont believe me when i tell them that i'm 32. they think i'm 25!

i saw one of my clients' wives today, and she kept looking at me as if she knew me, but completely did not recognize me.

it feels SO GOOD to have all that weight off and be more flexible and more mobile and more energetic!

good luck!

Hi, I have been on the Zone since Jan 3rd and have lost 49 pounds. I also have hit a plateau this past month and can't seem to shake it. I have about 10 to 14 more pounds to go. I do cardio and 2 pound weights too and still see the inches coming off. But, the pounds have stopped. I would appreciate if anyone has had this problem on the Zone and what did you do to start losing again?

This is from http://www.zonehome.com/zluklist.htm

This is a testimonial page from a Zone site. There are some negative posts on it, but I go there for inspiration sometimes.

Here is a post that might help you:


Name: Kristin
City: Tempe, AZ
Date: 4/12/03
Time: 1:24:13 PM
Weight Loss: 142 lbs

Experience
In June 2001 I embarked on my life changing (saving) program. I had my 1st physical and my doctor insisted that I go on high blood pressure medication and told me I was ripe for diabetes and heart disease. My self esteem was in the toilet and was having trouble doing the things I love to do (hiking, camping, fishing ect.) After watching my mother loose 50 lbs and telling me she was never hungery I decided what did I have to loose except at least 100 lbs. I was 35, 5'9" tall and weighed 295 lbs. For people who know women's sizes in clothes I was wearing sizes 28-30 which is a 3X & 4X depending on the cut of the clothes. I got a zone book, emptied my kitchen of all non-zone friendly foods and joined a woman's gym. I started out eating 14 blocks a day only to include mostly good carbs. I increased my water intake to at least 64 oz a day. The first month I lost 15 lbs and for the next 4 months I lost 10lbs a month. My excersise routine consisted of 20 min stretching and ab work 20 min arobic (on the recumbent bike) and 40 min of weight training 3 days a week. After 13 months I had lost 100 lbs. This is when I hit a plateu. I modified my program to 12 blocks a day and increased my excersize schedule to every other day and switched to the eliptical trainer 25 minutes a work out. This modification worked and now 23 months after starting my program I have lost 142 lbs and am wearing a size 8. I feel like a new person. I can fly comfortably, wear almost anything I like and can do almost any physical activity I choose. My doctor has proclaimed me healthy. I also must stress that I had a support system for my program. My husband also got in the zone and cooks for me the nights that I work out. I send my mother weekly reports on my progress and we discuss any problems or tips. She also funds a reward system that motivates me. I am still getting used to my new body. When I see my reflection I still have a hard time believing it is really me. The biggest change I have noticed is how people treat me. I have become somewhat of a celebrity at the gym (they have my before and after pictures posted) and people are always asking how I did it. I tell how I did it and they always have an excuse. They say I can't give up bread, don't like vegetables or don't have time to work out that much. I say to myself then fine stay fat. What I did wasn't easy but it can be done. A few things I say to myself to stay motivated are just do it, only you can change you and nothing tastes as good as feeling thin feels. I hope this information helps people and remember the zone diet isn't a diet at all but a lifestyle change.

I guess I know what I must do. I need to exercise more or vary it a bit. I have been doing the same thing--Leslie Sansone 2 and 3 mile tapes and that's it. I also have been having several cups of coffee in the morning with a powdered creamer---and that is a big NO NO> I think it is catching up with me so I tried vanilla soy milk in my cup this morning. Not too bad, just have to get used to the taste. The powdered creamer had trans fats in it and who needs that! I work 3 days of 12 hour shifts so it's hard to exercise on those days unless I get up at 3:30am to do it. But, I'm not giving up! :sumo:

wow - i'm flying!!!

it's been a tough week for my diet. i've been overeating. i gained 3 lbs a couple of days ago.

i've been jogging 6 days a week and i've lost the 3 lbs already. i'm at 163 lb and 13% body fat, which is really good for 5'10'', but i still have a spare tire that noone can see unless i'm in a bathing suit.

i really want to get that off. when i was 150 lbs ten years ago, i had a spare tire, but i looked better. i think i look best around 135-140, but i'm having a heck of a time getting out of the 160's. i've been camping around here for about a month already.

i realized that i can jog at 5 mph. this is awesome news! i stepped up my excercise just now and i still feel it! today is my first day at 5 mph.

i first realized this when i was at a hotel excercise room with a broken treadmill. it wouldn't work smoothly at speeds less than 5 mph, so that's what i jogged at, and i did really well.

when i tried it at home, it exhausted me, but i decided to try again tonight and i made it!

i hope you all out there are doing great!

i just broke 160!!!

this has been a really good week.

i've been on a plateau for about a month, bouncing between 163 and 168, getting depressed and binging on turkey ham and cheese sticks.

i think it was just a metabolism thing. my old jogging at 4.5 mph for 1/2 hr wasn't challenging my body anymore.

so i stepped it up to 5 mph for 1/2 hour. it's a little tougher, but i'm able to do it.

and i dropped 6 lbs this week, just like that!

i've also had nervous, boredom cravings. where i WANT to eat, but there's no real reason for me to, other than to psychologically PROVE that i CAN.

so i changed it up a little bit. i'm eating 1 block every 2 hours, from 7 am to 5 pm., and having a 3 block dinner. this is 1 block less per day than i used to eat, but i'm thinking that, because of my plateau, maybe my body needs 1 block less since i'm 60 lbs lighter.

eating so many little meals throughout the day keeps me from overeating, it also keeps me consistently full. by eating so much, i don't really have time to have boredom cravings, because by the time i crave food, it's only moments before i'm having another 1 block meal.

anyway, whether that's true or not, it worked, and i've 60 lbs and 15% body fat since the beginning of February, so i will contine to do what works!

Hi sfwasabi!

What are your 5 one block snacks consisting of??? So, you are only eating 8 blocks a day?? Great on your breaking the plateau!

no, i'm eating 10 blocks a day, instead of the 11 recommended for my height.

i skipped the extra snack because i'm really tiny underneath. 15 years ago i weighed 125 lbs. 7 months ago i weighed 220 lbs. i'd been obese for close to 10 years.

i eat a 1 block snack at 7,9,11,1,3,5 (the odd hours). if i miss a time, i have a 2 block snack at the next time.

at 7 i have a 3 block dinner and around 9 i have another 1 block snack.

i started this because i felt that waiting until meal times was actually making me more conscious of NOT being able to eat BETWEEN meals, which made me watch the clock more and make me feel more like binging. invevitably, this led me to pigging out on turkey or cheese sticks (protein, not carbs) a couple of times.

by eating so frequently (you would think that this would drive you nuts) i'm eating all the time, so it's not even on my mind. often i'll forget and have to eat two blocks at the next meal time.

this also serves as a great reminder, because 1 block will literally only last me for 2 hours. i feel like i need to refuel just at the right times, then i have all the energy i need for the next 2 hours.

my 1 block snacks depend on what's available.

it is usually 1/4 cup cottage cheese for the protein and fat and 1/2 apple for the carbs.

here are my typical 1 block proteins: 1/4 cup cottage cheese, or 2 pieces of sliced or 1 cheese stick (i'm laying off these, though, because of the fat).

my typical 1 block carbs are: 1/2 orange, 1/2 apple or 1 teaspoon metamucil, depending on the time of day (you shouldn't have more than 3 tsp/day). i take metamucil up to 3 times a day to make me feel full, and 1 tsp is 1 block of carbs.

i've noticed that, outside of fish, all of my protein sources are still fatty, even if they say 'low fat', so i've only been adding fat if i eat fish. this is almost always 18 peanuts for a 3 block meal, or 2 tablespoons of wishbone berry vinaigrette (for a 3 block meal) if i'm having a salad with a meal.

if a snack needs fat, then i eat six peanuts as my block of fat.

i've actually lost all the weight that i NEED to. everyone around me thinks i'm skinny, but when i take off my shirt i have a spare tire. i started off on the OBESE portion of the chart 7 months ago and now i'm at the NORMAL WEIGHT portion.

all the charts say that i'm healthy for my size. my blood pressure is BELOW normal. my cholestrol is 160. i had a door to door salesman ask me the other day to speak to my parents! it has taken about 7 years from my face.

Congratulations sfwasabi for breaking your plateau! As I've said before, your progress is so inspiring. I've been in the Zone for 3 weeks and have lost 6 pounds. I've only been able to exercise a couple of times due to various nasty viruses the kids brought home and shared with me, so I am looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow and continuing my weight loss! Keep us posted!!!!

thanks!

congratulations to you, too. it's SO HARD to change your habits.

the bible says that it's easier for a leopard to change its spots than for a man to change.

it's truly remarkable to be able to make changes that last for life!

today has been a really good week. i did my 1/2 hr jog at 5 mph every day so far this week. I had about 2 night-time binges and I paid for them the next day by skipping breakfast - so i didn't gain any weight.

upping my excercise has really been amazing! when you excercise and step up your metabolism, then your body burns more fat all day because it iw working harder.

i've been working out with no weights (just my body weight). i just want to get strong and tone. muscle burns fat, so the more muscle you can build, the more fat you will lose.

here is a link to the workout i've been doing: http://exercise.about.com/library/blnoweightworkout.htm?terms=no+weight+workout

i've been about 157 and 12.5% body fat for the past two weeks. it's been great!

good luck and keep up the good work!

this was a tough week - but a good one.

i spent the entire week at seminars, meeting people and networking - trying to generate some business.

i jogged 4 days instead of 6 and worked out 2 days instead of 3 and boy did i feel it today! it was tough both excercising and getting through my jog, let me tell ya!

because of the hectic schedule, i didn't get a chance to eat well last week, but i think i'm ok. i probably gained a couple of pounds, so i have to be especially good this week.

I have a very good friend who found out she was insulin resistance. anyway she has tried the zone several times in her life but it never lasted. once the weight started to come off she seemed to have a hard time following it.

anyway I checked into maybe doing it myself and I found based on the book that it really is a low calorie diet. what it addresses or supposed to address is the severe hunger dieters suffer from when they eat less than they need whatever amount that is.

it is supposed to avoid the insulin spikes and insulin is said to be a fat storer hormone while glycagon is a fat burner hormone and is released when the blood sugar remains steady without the spikes.

But I find based on other things I have since learned is that this is trying to treat the symptom of obesity not the actual cause.

EVERY diet tries to deal with the symptom of obesity (changing your behavior to make you lose weight) and not the cause (the reason why you are overweight).

To this end, every diet is flawed, since every diet deals with changing your habits, and not with changing your psychology and emotions.

We overeat for many reasons: we're accustomed to, it makes us feel good, we take comfort in food, we love the taste and texture in our mouths, we love feeling full, etc.

If you are looking for a diet that will deal with the symptom of obesity, you are going to be searching for a long time. Only YOU can change your mind towards the habits that make you overweight. Diet buddies such as you will find here, and the support of family and friends, help a lot!!!

As for the Zone being just another low calorie diet - NOTHING CAN BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!

The Zone works not because you are restricting calories, but because you are eating protein, carbs and fats in the right proportions, so that you are not creating and storing fat.

If you look at it superficially, you can say "Oh, you're losing weight because you are only eating 1500 calories, or because you are only eating 1900 calories".

But not all calories have the same effect on your body. If you eat 1500 calories as Carbs, YOU WILL GAIN WEIGHT EVEN EATING A LOW AMOUNT OF CALORIES!!!

The Zone is not about low cal, it's about a high volume of healthy food in proportions that control your insulin levels, keeping you from gaining additional fat and helping you to lose the fat that you have. If you follow the Zone as it's meant to be followed, you will feel full all the time, even if you are eating less calories than you are accustomed to.

The difference that makes the difference is results:

In February 2003 my wife and I were OBESE - I was at 30% body fat, she was at 50% body fat. By 7 months later, I had lost over 60 lbs and was at a healthy weight (about 12-15% body fat). My wife is still overweight, but she has lost almost 60 lbs to date.

We lost it because we followed the Zone diet. My wife followed no excercise, but I started excercising regularly.

I actually had to GAIN weight a couple of weeks ago, because I had lost so much weight and so much body fat in such a short time that there was a LOT of extra skin around my belly. I decided to binge a little and fill it up some, so that it can shrink more slowly as my stomach gets tighter from my excercises.

We still follow the Zone. My wife is still losing weight. I'm more in maintenance mode. I'm excercising and letting my body get more fit and tone and let my skin shrink naturally.

So, if you are looking for a reason why it wont work, then it will never work, because your mind is already convinced that it wont work, but I know that it works because it has completely transformed and changed our lives, and that in less than one year.

I am thinking about starting The Zone next week....would love your thoughts on what books to buy by Dr. Sears that would help me through this process. I am better at reading a book then trying to figure stuff out on the internet....so any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'd recommend starting with "A Week in the Zone". It's a small, inexpensive paperback. It will tell you everything you need to get started on the Zone. Good luck!

Hey everybody - I'm back!

I wanted to share a little something and, hopefully, we'll start contributing again and sharing our progress.

When I was in college, I was heavily involved in a christian religious movement that taught that the Bible was the word of God and was all that you needed to have a relationship with your creator now and forever.

They taught that if it wasn't in the Bible, it wasn't meant in your life, but they also taught that you needed to obey your leaders and respect their authority - which meant that leaders in the group could tell you right from wrong - even if it wasn't in the Bible. This led to abuse and confusion, since a leader could give his opinion and you were expected to abide by it (or you would be disobeying God). Furthermore, they taught that problems should be shared upwards, not downwards, like soldiers to stone-faced military commanders, so if you were having a spiritual problem, you were expected to tell him, but he wouldn't share any weaknesses with you.

After a couple of years I felt that **** was better than living this way, and I left the organization. I have a hard enough time dealing with my problems and feeling that I'm ok and not alone. When the people that are supposed to help you are perfect and have no problems it is very difficult to feel good about yourself, even when you are making progress.

It is many years later, and it took me a long time to realize that the structure of that church was wrong, but I'm more content with my relationship with God than I have ever been. I'm a part of a beautiful congregation and, ever since those previous experiences, I share my problems because, even though they are embarrasing, they can encourage others going through the same thing because they know someone who has been there and overcome.

Oh, and that christian organization, which reached worldwide proportions, had a worldwide crumbling. Now some churches maitain membership while others don't and they've been trying to find their feet for years. It only goes to show that we are called to follow Christ. When man gets in the way of Christ, and puts himself in the position of having people rely on his leadership instead of Christ, people become co-dependant and Christ gets lost in the mess.

SO with that being said, I wanted to share about my life as of late, and my struggles.

I started the Zone diet February 2003. By October 2003 I had lost 60 lbs and went from being obese, to overweight, to a healthy weight for the first time in a decade.

But afterwards I became more lax on the diet. I still followed a Zone-like diet, but didn't watch myself as much. I would eat when I felt like it and justified that as long as I was eating protein and carbs at the same time it would be fine and I stopped exercising.

Then I went on a more Atkins induction kind of diet, with mostly protein. I would eat protein and carbs at the same time, but if I got hungry outside of mealtimes I would eat protein only, and I would eat as much protein as I wanted.

Then I started drinking cafe mochas (small) in the morning to give me a boost along with a hot dog or cold cuts. Then white chocolate mochas (small) along with a hot dog or cold cuts. Then white chocolate mochas with caramel sauce on top (small) along with a hot dog or cold cuts. Then I would get them large along with a hot dog or cold cuts. Then I would get them several times a day. Then we would go to pizza buffets and I'd eat whatever I wanted. Then we'd go to all you can eat buffets and I would load up on a plate of meat and some carrot cake and chocolate cake.

In the end, I felt totally out of control. I no longer had control over my cravings. I knew that I had gained some weight, but hadn't looked at a scale for about 6 months because I was afraid of what I would see and my meals were usually a white chocoloate cafe mocha with caramel sauce for carbs, and ham and cheese for protein - usually a couple of times a day.

It is scary knowing that you had it and you lost it. And knowing that you kicked an addiction and are right back addicted again. It seems even more helpless the second time around.

Then I read an article about how Robin Quivers (of the Howard Stern show-Not that I endorse the show, as it goes against my beliefs, but I used to listen to it a long time ago.) lost 70 lbs using the Master Cleanse. Now Robin was quite obese and trained as a nurse, so she knows about health and physiology, so I read into it.

I decided that I needed to detox and get rid of my addictions and get back on track, so I started the Master Cleanse 8 days ago. Master Cleanse flushes your body of all sorts of ailments and, since it is a liquid drink with the vitamins and minerals your body needs, it goes into the bloodstream without needing digestion, so you body can use the energy that it would have put into digesting food into healing your body. They say that 65% of your body's energy goes into digestion, so if you don't digest, your body can use that 65% to heal itself.

I have to say I feel really good. I feel clean. I've had no cravings, at all, for anything. No hunger at all. I've really learned a lot from it. It amazes me that an 8 oz drink can fill me for 2 hours. I'm wrapping it up in 2 days and will start STRICT on the Zone again on Sunday. I feel TOTALLY in control of my cravings.

One thing I do have to say, though. I am SO SICK of sweets that I can't imagine having them any time soon. I'm a chocolate addict, a cake addict, a Ben and Jerry's and Dairy Queen addict, but I can't imagine eating ANYTHING sweet right now. All I can think about is a nice, juicy steak. Let's hope my sugar addiction is gone!

I weighed myself today. The total damage: I gained 2.5 lbs. from last year. Thank goodness!

sfwasabi - Are you still lurking around the board? Are you still in the zone?