The Zone ? [typical breakfast] [breakfast lunch]
Does anyone know what comprises the Zone diet? I would like to know what a typical breakfast, lunch, dinner u0026 Would Be Like . What Foods to avoid you? Or do you avoid?
Thanks
Reply:AuntJudy,
It really IS too complicated. People I've known who pull it off at each meal tend to use the SAME MEAL plan day in and day out…like a Chinese water torture.
I was able to get my daily TOTALS to USUALLY work out (for the little time I did it) but that was by adjusting my LAST snack of the day which of course could be all fat, all protein, or all carb or any combo…often then I couldn't work the damn fat percentage to below 30%…that was the hardest for a meat and cheese lover like me.
For every meal it would have been totally impossible for me.
Reply:The big complaint I have heard about the Zone is that it is too complicated to maintain the proportions called for at every meal.
Reply:Oh Lord…lololololololol!
I'd make perhaps the UGLIEST drag queen on the planet:D:D:D!
Reply:I like SouthBeach simply cause I don't have to count anything at all. I hate counting!
Reply:As I recall, as a fairly active man, 6'2 and 220#, my caloric goal was something under 1400 calories…Gosh, that's a Buchenwald diet.
Totally off topic, but all this time, Zip, I thought you were a really tall woman.
All plans that limit carbs and talk about protein requirements seem to get grouped in with Atkins because it would take too damned long to explain them to the general public; the motto of mass media seems to be keep it simple and don't confuse them with too much information. The Zone is nothing if not confusing.
Reply:I think ZONE is a very nice mix of nutrients: 40% carbs, 30,30. (I guess they ASSUME no alcohol or we'd have a FOURTH percentage.)
I aimed loosely for the total to match at the end of the day, but in my estimation the goal of EACH MEAL making the cut was ridiculously difficult. The rationale for WHY the ZONE BALANCE caused weight loss escaped me (and I think, the authors) entirely.
The ZONE, for some reason, is sometimes spoken of in the same terms as Atkins…for the life of me, I can't imaginee why…there are very few similarities.
LISA,
As Nat said get a book from the library, but CAUTION: don't get one of the early editions because the methods of determining your total food are just NUTS. The start with a certain need for protein (low) based on a calculation which takes several things into account and then the BALANCE is used to determine totals…
Sightly questionalble methodology, BUT THEN THE RESULTS: always preposterously low food amounts. As I recall, as a fairly active man, 6'2 and 220#, my caloric goal was something under 1400 calories…Gosh, that's a Buchenwald diet.
Later editions corrected some of this but the recommendations are for a VERY low calorie diet and, of course, low calorie diets cause weight loss (originally first written in Cuneiform on a stone tablet:D.)
Again,
It's a much healthier balance of food than Atkins and many diets that concentrate more on percentages than totals. If you tweak it right it can work for you.
Reply:I read some stuff on their website (they also got recipes on there). well the recipes are useful i guess but allll the rules and counting pfffffffft was up with those blocks and all?
Reply:Just about everything worked to some degree. You've heard that not every diet is for everyone, right? Well it turns out that not even the right diet for YOU is right for you all the time. I've eaten a la Protein Power, a la Body-for-life, a la BodyRx, a la T-Dawg, a la CKD, a la NHE, a la ad nauseum
When something stops working (and it inveriably does as your body adapts) I change it up; from low carb to low fat, from moderate cardio to high intensity, from AM workouts to afternoon workouts, and I always zigzag my calories (3 lower days, 1 high day). It's all part of my big (but getting smaller) science experiement and it has been ongoing for 3 years now.
I've actually lost closer to 100 lbs, I've put on quite a bit of lean muscle lifting weights and eating like a body builder.
I just started treatment for hypothyroidism which sidelined me for most of the summer but I began working out again last week and I finally feel like I have some energy. My newest (and perhaps the best) plan is one I started up in June, Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto – it's like a fat loss bible, it gets a big thumbs up from me.
Cheers 
Reply:I read the first one, sick, and yes, it was complicated – but that's Dr. Sears for you
I did not 'do' it per se, but I've applied a bit of what I read to my own diet. I found his plan short on protein for someone very active.
I have not 'done' Atkins but I have read the two latest version of it and spent a few years on forums like this one devoted to such plans (low carb). I'm a fan of restricting carbs, it worked for me in so many respects where low fat / low calorie never did (lowered my blood pressure, got rid of my PMS, took care of my insomnia, and then there was the issue of 80 lbs I didn't really want anymore).
My LC plan of preference, if I had to choose one, is Protein Power, by the Drs. Eades – it's no where near as complicated as the Zone, but it goes into the science behind what LC is at it's heart (more so than Atkins did originally, although the most recent version has a lot more science in it). Atkins works for many because there is little counting required, except for the carbs; Protein Power requires you figure out your Minimum Daily Protein Requirement and it focusses on balancing all your meals according to your physical needs (you do have to do some equations the first time out, but they provide all the necessary worksheets and explain everything in plain language).
The most important thing, IMHO, when you choose a plan to follow like these (the Zone, Atkins, PP, CAD, etc) is that you read the full program and understand that those last few chapters (Maintenance) are as important as the first ones, if not more so. They only work if you make them a lifestyle choice, but they do work.
Cheers,
Nat
Thanks, Nat.
May I ask what worked for you? And how long did it take to get rid of the 80 pounds?
Reply:Nat,
I read the Zone and could not understand it — and I'm an intelligent person. Did you find it hard to figure out at first? Did you lose a lot of weight by following it? (It's embarrassing to admit, but I felt as though I was reading another language — and it was a language I didn't know!)
Have you ever done Atkins, and if so, how would you compare it to the Zone?
I read the first one, sick, and yes, it was complicated – but that's Dr. Sears for you I did not 'do' it per se, but I've applied a bit of what I read to my own diet. I found his plan short on protein for someone very active.
I have not 'done' Atkins but I have read the two latest version of it and spent a few years on forums like this one devoted to such plans (low carb). I'm a fan of restricting carbs, it worked for me in so many respects where low fat / low calorie never did (lowered my blood pressure, got rid of my PMS, took care of my insomnia, and then there was the issue of 80 lbs I didn't really want anymore).
My LC plan of preference, if I had to choose one, is Protein Power, by the Drs. Eades – it's no where near as complicated as the Zone, but it goes into the science behind what LC is at it's heart (more so than Atkins did originally, although the most recent version has a lot more science in it). Atkins works for many because there is little counting required, except for the carbs; Protein Power requires you figure out your Minimum Daily Protein Requirement and it focusses on balancing all your meals according to your physical needs (you do have to do some equations the first time out, but they provide all the necessary worksheets and explain everything in plain language).
The most important thing, IMHO, when you choose a plan to follow like these (the Zone, Atkins, PP, CAD, etc) is that you read the full program and understand that those last few chapters (Maintenance) are as important as the first ones, if not more so. They only work if you make them a lifestyle choice, but they do work.
Cheers,
Nat
Reply:Your best bet would be to pick up a copy of one of the books from your local library – that way you can read the book w/o buying it and decide if it's the plan for you. I would not try to 'do a plan' like the Zone w/o reading the book first. A typical meal for me would not be a typical meal for you – it is based on weight, activity level, etc. There are calculations that you must do to figure out how much you eat a) per day and then b) per meal.
Nat
Nat,
I read the Zone and could not understand it — and I'm an intelligent person. Did you find it hard to figure out at first? Did you lose a lot of weight by following it? (It's embarrassing to admit, but I felt as though I was reading another language — and it was a language I didn't know!)
Have you ever done Atkins, and if so, how would you compare it to the Zone?
Reply:Your best bet would be to pick up a copy of one of the books from your local library – that way you can read the book w/o buying it and decide if it's the plan for you. I would not try to 'do a plan' like the Zone w/o reading the book first. A typical meal for me would not be a typical meal for you – it is based on weight, activity level, etc. There are calculations that you must do to figure out how much you eat a) per day and then b) per meal.
Nat
