the "ZONE"

[Danustouch]

Has anyone ever heard of/tried the Zone Diet?

It's a high protein, low carb diet Desighned by Barry Sears PH.D.

The recipes in the book are great.

Anyway..its' all about eating smart, not emotionally or hormonally..but being really balanced.

It breaks up the carbs and proteins, and fats, into blocks.

My hubby swears it works, but unfortunately, it's pretty complicated. You can't really play around with the recipes too much, because everything is so calculated as far as carb blocks, protein blocks, etc. So...though many of the recipes in the book, call for Mushrooms, I can't STAND mushrooms. If I have to substitute something that I DO like, I have to find out how much of that equals their amount of mushrooms in the recipe. And then, you have to wonder if it will change the taste of the recipe. It seems to make logical, rational sense, but it's just toooo complicated.

Does anyone know of any similar diets/cookbooks? Hubby and I both want to start eating very healthy...but the recipes in this book are just so limiting. The ones i've tried are delicious..and most of them look delicious (minus the mushrooms)...but..it's all too confusing.

[StormCloud]

I haven't done the Zone, but I've been doing Protein Power since January. Actually, I started the first two weeks with Atkins. Both are low carb diets - a bit lower carb than the Zone, which is more of a balanced diet. I've done great - lost 35 pounds so far. After all my reading, I'm convinced a low carb diet is a good thing.

Lots of people don't like it though - you get blasted by the diet gods that it's very unhealthy (now does this sound familiar :) ).

PP rules in a nutshell: Eat your minimum requirement of protein so you don't lose muscle (you can calc it or find amt in a table in the book); keep your carbs around 20-40g a day; get your carbs from veggies. Basically, avoid flour, sugar, processed foods, potatoes....

[Myst]

Welcome to MW StormCloud and excellent post. Thanks for sharing!

That makes perfect sense to me, especially the carbs part. Even the complex carbs get broken up to sugar and can then be stored later on, so you want to keep them low. Not nonexistent, of course, but low. Another reason for cutting the processed stuff is because it's easier for your body to work with the simple veggies etc. And of course some people make the mistake of dropping their protein as well - bad idea, you need at least a certain amount of protein to keep your muscles going. Your body will try to get energy from your muscles before it tries to get it from your fat! So keep the protein happening.

[michellef]

I haven't done the Zone diet but I did try low carb eating for a while. I found it really hard at first to cut out bread, pasta and rice as I tend to live off the last two. I did it for about 6 weeks, but to be honest found no difference. My boyfriend lost a bit in that time though.

If you are going to do something like that be warned if you do it with your husband. Apparently for some reason it takes longer for women to see the weight loss. It could be really infuriating to hear my boyfriend tell me that he'd lost x amount of weight when I was eating the same & seeing no difference!

Good luck

Michelle

[Oridian]

I've heard of the Zone though never tried it. It sounds liek it is a much healthier diet than the Atkins, high fat and protien diet. Cutting out the empty (simple) carbs like sugars and the highly processed breads is a grat idea. But carbs are very important to the bodies proper metabolic function. They are the fuel that stokes the fire of the bodies metabolism. Cut them out too much and body will have to burn more fats and protien,which can be good at first. But it doesn't take long before some of the byproducts, particularly from utilizing protien for energy can be a problem.

[Shy Hawk]

It works best when you have a small amount of weight to lose. You will plateu after about 20-30 lbs at most...then losing weight is ultra hard. For those of us who have a long way to go.
And, FYI folks....if you are not used to a high protein diet, it will constipate you SUPER QUICK. Like you wanted to know.
Apparently it is also very hard on the kidneys...and can cause bladder problems. I wouldn't advise it. I've done Atkins, Zone, and Heller and Heller (for the carb addict).
I was unaddicted to carbs, finally detoxed, as they would say....for some reason I got ahold of a potato, and there went my diet. I was binging on friggin mashed potatoes and noodles. I felt like a junkie. This diet does weird things to your body.
I wouldn't recommend it.