So, how does this all translate into zoning for you? Well, the narrow range of insulin activity means you must be as close to the center of the zone as possible or even eat at the .8 or .9 level for a while (ratio of P/C). Furthermore, you may need to take an EPA supplement to potentate the hormonal reaction as well. Also, be sure that if you eat a high glycymic index carbo you add a low one at the same meal to keep the average GI a little lower. This will keep your insulin levels in better control. Drink lots of water and eat loads of high fiber foods.
If you are still having trouble getting results, try grazing throughout the day. That is, eat 6 to 8 smaller meals instead of the 3 meals and 2 snacks. This will smooth out the food portions and smooth out the insulin reactions even more.
Good luck, David
Otherwise, Kombucha give you health benefits from the antibiotics developed from the fungus and other enzymes. The benefits are controversal, of course, but I dont think many people have died from drinkng it and most people do well with it. It give me a stomach ache but I am still willing to try it again. I have a baby sleeping in my fridge right now.
Cheers, David
I've been on the diet for about 7 weeks. It's working great. My waist
went from 35.5 to 31 and my weight from 155 to 143. And I've got way
more endurance when I work out plus I don't get drowsy during the day.
Right now my % body fat is around 11 or 12% ( I don't have a scale at
home so I don't have the exact %). I figure I'lll stop myself from
loosing any more in a week or two but I don't know how much fat i should
add to my diet.
I eat about 12 blacks a day. Do I double my fat intake?
Thanks in advance.
You and I are in an elite group, those who are maintaining in the zone. Russel Swan has been in maintenance for a long time, if you have trouble, let me know and I’ll give you his address if you don’t know it already. The point is this. Zoning is quite new. Not many have been zoning for more than a year so long term effectiveness is unknown. We are the pilot program.
To start, double your fat blocks at each meal and see if that stabilizes you. Personally, I intend to add a few extra blocks of food and less fat just to try it. If I begin to drift up in weight, I will scale back. Also I intend to monitor my cholesterol and triglycerides each year to make sure they don’t go back up.
Increasing fat will not hurt the zone effect on hormones. Increasing total blocks may also provide a means to increase your muscle mass as long as you don't go over 5 blocks in a single meal, when insulin will be effected. (elevated).
Be sure to keep me posted on your progress, I would like to keep my pages updated as you move into this exciting area of body health!
Yours, David
ps. the following are snips from the zone list server letters over the past few months searched on “maintenance”. They are helpful to me and I hope they make sense to you. (snip)
As far as permanent weight loss, I'm sure you know the statistics - only 5% of people are able to lose weight on a diet and keep it off for 2 years. There's no data about that on the Zone as the book came out in June 95, so it will be another 2 years until anybody knows. As Darcy pointed out, this is a low calorie diet, and the body adjusts to low calorie diets by altering the metabolism, so anyone who spends time on it and then goes off will probably have a large rebound and overshoot. On the plus side, the relatively high fat and protein seem to not depress the metabolism as much as would be expected by just the calories. Also, once you get started you'll probably like the diet enough that you'll want to stay on it forever. I know I can't imagine going back to my old eating habits. The maintenance phase is the same as the weight loss diet except you put more olive oil on your salad, you eat more nuts, and you get guacamole with lunch.
Good luck!
-Russ
(snip)
Hello, the way that the ZONE book reads (but think that this position has been modified somewhat), maintenance calories are done by eating double fat blocks. Yeah, I know, you'll are telling me that that double fat block is not really a double fat block, but a partial protein block, too. However, if your readjust your ratios with "real" double fat blocks, the dietary fat ratio jumps to about 43%, and if the athlete is more active, this percentage would increase. As the fat increases, the carb percentage decreases. (snip)
Generally, the rule seems to be when you've started the diet and you want to stop losing weight you slowly increase the fat until your weight holds steady. Making your blocks 9/7/4 is probably a good place to start. I think most of the people on maintenance here are 4-5 gm fat/block. If you're still losing at 4 gm/block, up it some more until its steady.
Peanuts are legumes, not nuts, and they are a little atherogenic (promoting atherosclerosis). They can raise your cholesterol. Better sources are almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, olives, and avocadoes. Guacomole works well.
-Russ (snip)
current maintenance program:
P C F
grams 100 133 90
calories 400 532 810 = 1742 total
% of total calories 23 31 46
(snip)
The Zone as written is a weight loss diet. Sears briefly in the final chapter (Life Extension) mentions that for weight maintenance, use the basic zone plan, but add enough monounsaturated fat so that weight loss stops. It will still be lower than the calories you ate before, but you'll be using the food more efficiently. So, start out with the Zone calculated # of blocks, but make a fat block 4 grams or 5 grams. You'll have to experiment a little to find out what works for you.
The plan as written is a weight loss diet. Don't cut the fat! If you
don't eat enough fat, you won't lose weight. The general modifications to
the Zone are:
for maintenance, eat more fat.
for weight gain, eat more fat and more food.
(snip)
3) Does it increase your body fat percentage ?
Probably would if you eat too much. I believe that the amount of carbs is roughly 0.4g/Kg of weight (I can't remember the exact number, but it isn't very high) along with some (10-30g) of protein.
Insulin is known to be a storage hormone. This is old news. The diet works because with fewer carbs to burn, the body begins to burn fat more for energy. The ratio of food controls insulin production and so allows fat burning to occur.
This is contrary to the 70% carbo recommended diet which is an excessive carb diet. This causes the body to favor burning carbos (it has so much to use, and prefers to burn carbs anyway) so it needs to burns less dietary fat for energy. The excess fat gets deposited in the fat cells.
Stimulated insulin production compounds this problem by restricting fat mobilization. At the same time it wrecks havoc on other bodily systems; thickening the muscles in artery walls and causing the kidneys to retain salt (both contributing to hypertension). Stimulating cholesterol synthesis completes the picture of heart disease.
Then there is the whole subject of eicosanoids. Excess insulin promotes the production of the PGE2 series of hormones with cause inflammation, pain, thrombosis and restricted airways among other actions in the body. Controlling insulin can have the reverse effect.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but I have been studying this alot lately and am getting ready to update my web information so this was good practice!
Cheers, David
1) I calculated around 9 blocks a day, which is not a whole heck of a lot of calories for a very active person (I put .7 as my activity factor - I run ~15 miles a week and am increasing that). This is less than 1000 calories! I'm very concerned about any diet that recommends less than 1000 calories a day for an active person! For any person - I've always been told "Don't eat less than 1000 calories a day). What do you think about this?
2) How does one calculate blocks for things like pizza, etc... that are combinations of things?
3) I truly love potatoes and can't imagine giving them up. How do I work potatoes into the Zone?
Thanks for your help!
Kalpana
Don’t calculate calories. Like you noticed, you will become alarmed. There is an enormous amount of stored fat on even the skinniest person so you will not die of lack of energy, in fact you will begin to find in incredible increase in your stamina and energy level when you zone.
Pizza has high glycymic index bread on the bottom, high fat cheese on top with a little protein with it. Figure on 3-4 blocks of Carbos per slice, 4 blocks of fat at least and maybe 1 block of protein in the cheese. I simply add no fat cheese slice on top of each pizza slice I eat and avoid the crust. Usually I order an antipasto salad or dinner salad first before the pizza comes and this fills me up some and adds the fiber I want. Then I usually don’t eat more than one slice. Save room for a glass of vino!
Potatoes are fine, just eat them the same way as the pizza; add protein enough to zone them. 3 Blocks per potato. (I eat a half now along with my salmon and salad).
You can eat anything you want to. Just think of how you want to spend your carbohydrate allowance. “Do I want this dollop of pasta, or do I want this huge salad or this mound of sauteed vegetables? .... Duhh!”
Keep on Zoning!
Cheers, David
If you are gaining fat, you are eating too much fat. Try adding in more non-meat protein sources like tofu and less dairy and meats. Use some protein powder for a while too. These do not have that 1.5grams of hidden fat in them. If you eat dairy and meat, re-calculate your diet with the hidden 1.5gms in mind. You are just eating too much fat (assuming that your carbos are on target!)
Re-calculate your block requirements to be sure you are just eating too much food. If you feel that you need extra food to feel good about the diet, then you need to increase your exercise to compensate. Pick up your level anyway.
Try these suggestions and let me know if they don't work and we'll figure out what to do next. It will work unless you are very insulin resistant and I know a trick for that too.
Keep the faith!!
David
Lets say you plop broccoli in boiling water for 1 minute. It gets very warm, almost hot. Not much cooking has taken place. Warm broccoli is calorically identical to cold broccoli.
Now cook it until it's soft. A few things happen that are logical and obvious. It's branches wilt and you now can get more mass inside a cup measure than when cold. (I told you it was logical).
Secondly (and chemically) the fibrous, cellulose mesh has been degraded during cooking. This makes the normally indigestible cellulose more digestible and so you now have carb that is more bio-available than when it is uncooked.
So that’s all I know about it but it really does increase in calories.
Cheers, David
Craig
My only thought on this is that zoning can lower cholesterol levels. Sex hormones are manufactured from cholesterol so alterations in cholesterol levels could alter sex hormone levels. If you are taking any cholesterol limiting measures other that the zone effect, I might suggest that you re-evaluate those at this time. Certainly tell your doctor about this if you do.
Keep me posted on this interesting development!
Yours, David
The zone diet as it stands is a fat loss diet. If you are not in it for fat loss, you must tinker with the ratios until you are stable. Sears suggests upping the fat one block at a time until fat loss stops. I suggest also going up 1 or 2 on total daily blocks as well (as long as you don't go over 5 blocks at a meal). He also speaks of increasing protein by a few grams daily to allow for increase in muscle mass. The important thing is to stay inside the .6-1.0 P/C ratio Zone to control insulin spiking and promote favorable hormone control.
So first lets address the bodybuilder issue. Please know that I am not a bodybuilder so what I tell you is not backed up with personal experience. I will suggest a few names you could contact and ask for direct advice. I also strongly suggest that you join the zone Listserver and pose your questions to the group. There are some very bright minds there who can help you.
Eating a block of food before the workout and one afterwards will replenish the glycogen depletion which may solve your problem. These snacks are above your usual daily block totals.
Darcy Semeniuk at dsemeniuk@novatel.ca eats one hour before his workouts a meal that is roughly 60/35/5 and about 200-300 cals. Then within 20 minutes after the workout eat the same ratio meal but with a higher GI carb, like juice. Also increase your activity level to 1.2 rather than just increasing the fat component.
Another idea of his is to have a high carb meal day (70/15/15) once every 3 to 4 days. This will also boost your glycogen levels.
Try each of these concepts and see if they help. And check the URL for Jerry Connelly's "The Training Room":
http://home.earthlink.net/~connsys/
his eMail is connsys@earthlink.net
Now, about your nagging hunger:
I assume that you are tending to avoid high GI carbs. If you are still hungry, you simply must eat more food. Just be sure it is zone balanced. It is very possible that your activity level is too low as stated above due to your workouts and perhaps other exercise. Plus, if you are a large person (from fat or muscle ) you need more food than the charts indicate since you are carrying around extra tonnage that is not considered “average” as the charts are designed for.
Also you may want to take a look at your workouts themselves. Tom (BatComputr at BatComputer@aol.com) has alot of good research on frequency of training that you might want to request from him.
How about your lack of fat loss? You said you have tried eating up to four times the fat blocks at each meal. I am not sure why instead of simply eating more zone balanced food. Fat loss is a result of fat balance. Assuming that your fat metabolism is normal, you need a certain number of fat grams daily to service your nerves, brain and hormone synthesis. If you eat more than the daily amount needed, you will not lose body fat. If you eat even 2 grams less than needed, your body fat will be drawn upon to the tune of 2 grams daily, hence slow body fat loss.
The Zone may not do everything you want it to do since your are one of those elite athletes who are pushing their personal envelope. But I believe that this diet plan is a good starting point to find the method to meet your special needs and create a healthy body at the same time.
Good luck, and please report your results later.
Yours, David
Thanks for all your info
Meg
Hope you can stay with it until then.
Yours, David.
What do I do on the Zone diet when I get down to my ideal (15% body fat) weight (which is just a few pounds away)? I gather from Dr. Sears' book that
I'm supposed to add just fat to my diet rather than additional balanced blocks so that I don't keep burning away more body fat. But HOW MUCH fat am I supposed to add on top of the 11 blocks of fat (balanced with protein and carbohydrate blocks) that I currently take in? (I've been keeping the ratio of grams fat to grams carbohydrate pretty close to 1/3 so far...)
Also, Dr. Sears mentions that one should eat a snack right before and right after an exercise session. Do these snacks count toward the total daily number of blocks (11) that I have calculated as needing from the tables in his book (which incorporate activity levels already)? Or are these exercise snacks EXTRA blocks to be ingested on exercise days only? And are BOTH snacks (i.e., pre- and post-exercise) necessary if my exercise session is not long before or after a meal?
Yes, do not count these extra blocks because your body needs the calories to refuel the spent glycogen of your muscles and liver. Also the extra protein is used at that time to build and repair muscles. Extra growth hormone is produced after exercise that facilitates this.
Cheers, David
My calculations work out to 53 gms of protein per day, that's less than 8 blocks over the whole day. I divided it to 2 blocks per meal, with 1 block snacks inbetween. I just can't see eating only two blocks for dinner! Is this possible? Can I skip the morning snack and add it to dinner?
Dear Foxymom, Well, first of all, please eat more food. Dr. Sears says never eat less than 8 blocks of food per day. Your body sees this as starvation and will shut down fat burning.
You see, you are very small so you are a little outside the normals. That is why the calculations gave you such an unrealistic number. You could try re-calculating your protein requirements, do your fat calculations using a couple of different methods.
Re-think your activity level. Usually folks under-estimate their activity level and find they are not getting enough food.
Listen to your body. Eat if you are hungry, keep track of your food and if you are maintaining the weight you want, not gaining yet feel full and able to go 4 to 5 hours between meals, THAT is the number of blocks you need to eat.
I would suggest that you tinker a little too. You can increase the carb-protein amount of food and leave your fat at the same level. That may give you more food total without over-eating fat and gaining fat. I know this is unorthodox zoning but these are averages and nothing is set in stone. It is just very important that the C:P ratio is as close to 7:9 as possible to maximize the zone effect. (actually, everyone is different and you may have your max point at say 7:10 or 6:9).
Also, the zone book lists two oatmeal meals, etc. They add bacon and fruit to the meal, but that goes over the block totals for me. Is 2/3 cup of oatmeal (with milk and protein powder) all I can eat?
How do I tell if I'm sedentary or do light exercise? I work at home, and go up and down stairs all the time, run errands, etc., but don't do formal exercise yet. If I walk on a treadmill 3 times per week, is that light or the next level?
Yes, up your activity level, listen to your body. If it is hungry, feed it. This is a non-deprivational diet based on body needs.
Cheers, David
How do you feel? Are you hungry all the time? If so, than you must increase your blocks until you are not. If you do and you stop losing fat than you will have to cut back again until you start losing again.
Now be honest, do you really have excess fat to lose? Aren't you near your goal now? This diet is really designed to maximize your health, fat loss is a by-product, not the end goal.
CrP has been shown in some studies to shift the fat percentages to less fat and more lean body mass. It has some effect on fat metabolism at the cellular level. Some zoners take CrP every day. Even a small amount is eonugh for the effect and is probably non-toxic. The best supplements are CrP, EPA and GLA for the zone.
Cheers, David
Thanks
kevin
I have been a O-V vegetarian for years and always checked in the bowl in the morning to see if I was eating enough fiber. Is it a clunky sinker or a fluffy floater? I still do this and if they start to become sticky and less bulky, I remember to eat more vegetables, salads and fruits.
Colon cancer may also be caused by things other than low fiber. It just may end up that a zonefully healthy diet may be one of the answers to such problems and more than make up for a tendency to lower fiber diets.
But once again, this is not a low fiber diet. You should be able to get more than enough fiber from vegetables. And one other thought, it is not the non-soluable fiber that is the problem, and so you can always supplement your diet with stool bulking fiber like that in Metamuscil since it is not digested or effect insulin.
Yours, David
It sounds like you would like to try it again since you are writing to me. When you do, try eating everytime you feel hunger but keep track of your number of blocks/grams at each meal and be sure they are zoneful. If your weight stays stable then you then know the exact amount of food you need. Everyone is different and has different needs. You then can drop the blocks down 1 or 2 and begin to see fat loss. (if that is what you want).
Exercise. Eat one EXTRA block before and one after. Make the after block a high glycymic carb like juice. That should take care of your energy level at exercise unless you are really pouring it on. Remember, Zone is a weight loss diet and good for normal activities. People who zone with high physical output usually complain that they hit the wall. These folks need to tinker alot with the diet to make it work for them. Just try to stay as close as you can to the 7:9 ratio. If you zone and do high output, you are in a small, elite crowd. I can help you get in touch with more zoners like yourself who are experimenting.
Yours, David.
I wonder how you are doing right now. Everyday, every 4 hours is a new oportunity to experience the Zone feeling. Some folks feel it strongly and others don't. Sometimes I fell GREAT and other days I am down but I know that I feel BETTER than I used to, and I sometimes look at other sallow faced people and I cry inside.
OK, so you feel a little hunger. Try to remember the deep cravings you had before the Zone. Yeah, I pigged out on pretzels this afternoon but I know that tomarrow is another zone and I'll be there. I feel hunger now and then and sometimes I'm glad that I do because I know that that means that I'm pushing things a little. I weighed in one lb less this morning but it's been 2 months since I saw fat loss.
If you are constantly feeling sleepy in the afternoons then your lunch is out of balance. Pick up your protein a little and see if that helps. Each person has a unique center of the zone. Maybe yours is at .7 or .66487 Or try a smaller lunch and a sooner snack to smooth out the insulin response. Also, you said that you used to eat a LOT of food, I suspect that this was non-zonefull type food and your body is used to responding to all those carbs. Your body and pancreas has a memory and will respond for a while at the same level as before. Also remember that your cells are expecting the same insulin stimulus as before and have not fully recovered yet. Give yourself a little more time, friend.
You did not mention if you are losing fat. If you ARE and you are feeling mild hunger...hey, great, keep it up until goal. If you are hungry and NOT losing fat, this is the worst of all possible worlds and you may need to actually EAT MORE FOOD! You may be starving yourself and have alerted your body to save itself by going into fat saving mode. Re-calculate your block requirments or just up things one or two blocks. Dr. Eades' Protein Power diet may be an option for you to get your insulin back in line, then you can Zone.
That brings up a small point. How much hunger is BAD and how much is an OK reminder that you are eating ON THE EDGE. Zoning puts your fuel in line with your needs and occasionally your needs may outstrip the fuel and "boing", you hit the wall. Zoning is an art and all art forms are impure.
Stay with it, give yourself at least 2 months. Also you may be experienceing the release of aracodonic acid from stored fat. Some of these unpleasent side effects will subside over time and you will get used to a new body that is more in touch with it's food supply and not overwhelmed with insulin stimulation.
Keep the faith,
David
See Ya
Joe
As you noticed, I am not a medical doctor or medical research scientist. I know there are many people who do not believe in chiropractic and I've made a lot of mistakes in my life but I've also done some good things too. I think that promoting this diet is one of those good things and the web gives me an avenue to reach more people than I can locally. I really believe that low carb eating is healthy and will reduce illness in our country and that is why I am doing this.
One of the things I believe about this diet is that you don't have to be a medical researcher to help other people change their eating habits. I have seen it happen many times, someone gets excited about it and becomes a diet "expert" after zoning for a month or so. Personally I don't think that makes the advice any less valuable. However, there are some extremely bright folks responding to the zone Listserver questions and Dr. Sears has an 800 number if you want to get more technical information.
Once again, you are right about me not being a biomedical researcher but I never thought I was misleading people by putting myself out as the all knowing expert on diets. I will look over the pages and see where I have put across that image. You are the first and only person in 9 months who has had a negative thing to say.
Yours, David
Thanks for responding to my mail
Joe
Right now my weight is at 138, 5'2", exercise 3-4 times a week for 30 min. My food intake for meals and snacks are: 2.5, 1.25, 2.5, 1.25, and 2.5. I did start out with 3, 3, 3. I lost weight for about 4 weeks, then stopped. So, I recalculated and cut my intake to 2.5 at each meal.
One of my problems is I start my day at about 5:00 am. I eat breakfast at work at about 6:30, snack at 9:30, lunch at 11:30, snack at 2:30, and dinner at 5:30. Sometimes I have to eat a snack before I go to bed at 10:00 pm. Most of the time I can hardly wait to eat a snack or a meal because I'm so hungry.
I would appreciate any help you can give.
Thanks,
Joan
I assume then that you sometimes don't even eat a snack at all after dinner. This is just too long to go. Sears considers sleep time as a period of low metabolic activity so you can go 8 hours before needing to re-fuel but others don't think as he does and say that sometime during the night your body shifts into secreting liver glycogen for it's needs.
Break-fast is just that, breaking the fast and re-filling the liver. I bet you never fully catch up until part way through the day. And the days you exercise compound the empty problem. More on that later.
I suggest that you eat more snacks at night. Maybe even thoughout the day. You can reduce each snack to 1 block and then be able to add 2 extra snacks at night after dinner and before bed. If you get hungry at all during the day, simply eat a snack. Don't ever let your glucose drop too far. You may find that you can eat a lot more food if you follow your body's dictates and not the clock's.
When you exercise, eat an EXTRA zone snack afterwards using a high glycymic index carb like juice to re-fill your glycogen stores in your muscles. Don't worry about that extra block, it will disappear into your muscles storage.
I think this will help your mental focus, usually this is due to a lack of liver glycogen which is designed to be burned by the brain when blood glucose is low.
Hope this helps some.
Yours truly, David
I lost 10 pounds in the first 2 1/2 months but now I am stuck at 152 lbs. I haven't lost any inches or weight in about a month! I try to walk about 35-45 minutes about 5 days/week. Sometimes I ride a stationery bike instead. I've had two back surgeries so I keep weight lifting to a minimum. (Richard Simmons Toning Tape) I am on hormone replacement therapy as I also had a full hysterectomy two years ago.
What's happening? I know that I am no where near my ideal lean body mass. Is there anything I can do to speed up the weight/fat loss process? Although I'm pleased with the diet, I would love to see more results.
By the way, I don't eat any red meat at all. The only real changes that I made when starting this way of eating, was to add more protein (mostly in the way of soy protein and low-fat dairy products).
Thanks for listening. Esther
I think that correcting for the pill's effect is possible but may be difficult. You may have to be extreemly accurate in your zone ratios and you will have to tinker with the C:P ratio until you find the most effective ratio for you.
You should not eat less, however, stay with what your body % calculates to be, it is just a matter of proper ratios to correct for the pill's effect. I am afraid that even the zone won't be powerful enough to make up for the dampening effect of the drugs.
There are a few other ideas. These are not to be considered a prescription from me, only information as to what other people have tryed. They have added EPA and GLA to their diet and tryed chromium and vanadyl and carnitine as well. I don't know the dosages or if they are in any combination or taken singly, you should contact your doctor or other sources.
If you are not losing fat, you may be eating some hidden sources that has snuck into your diet. Take a hard look at your fat amounts. I know Sears minimizes fat but there are some very informed zoners who speak of fat gain/loss as a simple dietary fat balance. The C:P ratio allows fat to be burned or inhibits it, but the amount of dietary fat is the key to losing stored fat, it must be below your body's daily need but not too far below to trigger the fat saving mechanism. A fine tune.
Listen carefully to your body. If you are the least bit hungry during the day, modify your eating schedule to stop it. Hunger means your body is about to shut down and save fat (thinks it's bing starved) so avoid that feeling as much as possible. You may need to eat more frequent, smaller snacks/meals to smooth things out more.
Here are some exerpts from the zone list re. pills. Also, if you read the PDR you will see the side effects of BC Pills to be all of the evils that the Zone corrects: depressed HDL, thromboembolisms, elevated insulin, elevated bloodpressure. This may mean that BCPills are antagonistic to zone effect.
Good luck and let me know if you break through this wall.
Yours, David.
(snip)
Someone asked about birth control pills and the zone. I think that may be
why my body is refusing to part with the fat in my opinion, however, I'm
hesitant to stop taking them since the whole reason I gained this stubborn
8 pounds was because of two stress fractures in my pelvic bones from
running too much, really early menopausal type symptons (I'm only 34) and
no estrogen supplements. Needless to say, I'm afraid that I may need the
estrogen for better bone support, etc. Anyone know if there's something I
can do other than what I"m doing.
(snip)
Geoffrey M. wrote:
All,
My wife just recently read in Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, that birth control pills create insulin problems that will prevent anyone who is trying a diet to limit insulin release (ie the Zone, Dr. Atkin's plan, Protein Power, etc.) to fail.
Sounds like another good reason not to take them. Many women do experience weight gain while on them; this could be part of the equation.
PJR
(snip) I've been zoning since December. In June my Dr. put be back on the pill. Not scientific evidence, but I haven't noticed any difference. I was worried that I would have the initial weight gain associated with the pill, but I didn't even have that, which I HAVE had in the past.
Maybe, the lack of symptoms are related to me being in the Zone ?
Keep Zoning... (snip)
I have been on and off birth control pills for several years, mostly to help with my endometriosis. I have never gained weight on them, in fact, I have probably lost at times because they sometimes make me nauseated. I haven't felt like they have affected being in the Zone at all.
I have known very few women who have actually gained weight on them. Some have found them helpful at minimizing cramping and other symptoms.
My two cents! Jennifer
(snip)
The main problem with juices are that they are usually very high glycymic index carbs. In other words, the body responds as if you are drinking the same number of grams of sugar water. Very insulin reactive. Zone is trying to smooth out insulin spikes so if you are a high responder, you may get a little let down from juice.
On the other hand, breakfast is a time when your liver glycogen stores are depleated from not eating for 8 hours or so. High glycymic carbs will go directly into the liver and may not effect your blood level much. The proof is in how you feel. If it works ok for you, do it.
David
A friend of mine actually found copies ofCorinne Netzer's book of food counts (suggested in "Enter the Zone")
This brings up a question that I have not found on any FAQ.
What are the boundaries or deciding factors or percentages that determine that a food which containg protein, and carbo and or fat is more one than the other. For example: peanut butter: 8g prot, 6g carb and 18g fat in 2 tbsp. ( I know that this is not a zone amount for consumption) In the zone plan, we call peanut butter a fat. what determines this? When I look at the food count book, I get confused.
In the case of counting say a mc donald's filet o'fish, I assume that the whole count is the correct count. I am most concerned about whole food breakdowns.
thank you Please copy answer to me as well as to faq page.
Donna
Breathe Deeply and Extend CHI
Some other foods such as beans and other high fiber items that contain carbs and protein together, find the carb portion most easily digested while their protein component is "wrapped up" in the indigestible fiber and is not as bio-available. Hence, a carbohydrate source.
Cottage cheese is a mixed source too, however it is LOW in fiber. My guess is that each component is therefore equally available. Hence, a mixed source. (No one said that this way of eating is simple. I think of it as "The Thinking Person's Diet".)
I can not speak for Dr. Sears but what I have heard through the grapevine is that he is recently thinking of foods in a "singular sense", that is, what ever the primary ingredient is in a food, he will discount the others and consider it to be a singular source of only that macro nutrient. So, I guess cottage cheese would be considered a protein source only using his logic.
As I said above, I do not think that way for such mixed, low fiber foods so we differ. I assume that he is approaching these foods in this way in an attempt to simplify a confusing situation. The net result of using the "singular source" approach is to end up eating MORE FOOD in total (since you are not counting ALL grams) BUT I bet that the ratios end up very close to the same anyway since each macro nutrient is being discounted approximately the same over the course of a meal.
This approach may work fine for most people but some who are very insulin resistant may find that when they first start the diet they do not have enough "slop factor" to accommodate this method and must calculate closer to their personal center of the Zone to control their insulin output better. I believe that after a few months of careful Zoning, the person's cells are sufficiently recovered from insulin burn out and are beginning to respond more normally. At this time they could adopt the "singular source" approach and be more successful.
I hope this helps some.
Yours from the Zone, David
The protein sources are typically from milk/egg, soy, whey and rice protein, usually hydrolyzed. So you have lots to choose from depending upon your allergies and personal preferences. (Milk or egg or soy allergies or non-L-O vegetarianism). Me? I swing both ways so any protein is OK and my milk allergies are under control if I just avoid straight on large glasses of milk. I can take a dab here and there in cooking or coffee and tea with no adverse effects- but that's me, some folks have to be real careful.
The sugars in my mixes were sort of hard to recognize although maltodextrin was one and of course, fructose. Maltodextrin has a very high GI, 100+, so if you are sensitive to sugars you may want to avoid this. Fructose is a lower GI sugar and as long as you are not eating alot of it you should be Al right.
Mixing PP with juice should be reserved for those times when you are body building and need to carbo load or replenish glycogen after a workout. Your body description suggests that you may be desiring to build muscle mass so this may be a good way for you to go but if you are using PP to simply argument your diet use water and ice cubes only and eat other foods for the carb and fat.
One other thought, try them all. See how you feel after drinking them. Mix them together, add other things to the drink. I am now premixing my PP so my morning time is easier. I mix 2 scoops of sweeter PP with 2 scoops of high protein (yuckier tasting). Then I add a t or so of instant chocolate pudding mix to help thicken the drink. Now all I need to do in the morning is scoop out one heaping scoop per person and add water and ice cubes in the blender. I usually add a large dollop of cottage cheese as a suspension agent and for a slight tart flavor. I have calculated this out to be 4 Blocks of P and 1 block C so that leaves me with a carb/fat deficit of 3 which I can get from any source I want that morning: oatmeal, toast, fruit, etc.
Sounds like you have alot of genetic predispositions going for you. Sometimes it doesn't do good to "push the river". Zone is probably more of a health diet for you but to tell you the truth, as long as your blood panels look good, eating the standard diet in moderation may be OK for you.
One last thing and this is a little wierd. Since doing the zone-diet, I have been having a lot of cramping in my muscles. Often, when I wake up in the morning, my calf will get a cramp in it. I feel like my circulation isn't as good as it was. I used to eat a lot of bananas and I think that was supplying me with potassium which I heard prevents muscle cramps. Now that I eat no bananas, could that be why I am getting leg cramps? Any suggestions. I don't take supplements and would rather get what I need from food if possible.”
OK, foods that are high in potassium. Cantaloupe, orange, avocado. Also raw spinach, cabbage, and celery are high in potassium. You said you didn't take supplements but do you salt your food? If so, you can use Morton's "Lite Salt" which is half potassium, not a bad way to get some more of the good stuff. BTW, what's so wrong with supplements? Do you really think they are so bad for you? I'm I missing something? Please set me straight on this.
Good luck James, Keep the faith! David
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