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Summary: Preferred 'enter the zone' more
Review: I much preferred reading Enter the Zone. Mastering the Zone was okay. Contained much of the same information that I had already read in Dr. Sear's previous book. If you've read Enter the Zone, I wouldn't bother reading this one.
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Summary: A great read, 2 complaints though!!!
Review: Mastering the zone made for a brillinat read. I understand exactly why a person should be eating in the zone. However calculating how much protein a person should be consumming according to their LBM is difficult. I've finally calculated that i should be consumming 9 blocks of protein per day. However, the up to date zone website stipulates that everybody should consumme 11 blocks. So i really dont know which source of information to follow. COULD SOMEONE LET ME KNOW PLEASE???????????? Also, I felt that the book didnt cover enough varieties of food in the food block guide at the back and indeed the measurements that it did give were very vague. I'm attempting to start the zone diet and if the success stories are anything to go by, i should manage to lose the weight that i desperately want to get rid of. IF ONLY I COULD KNOW FOR SURE EXACTLY HOW MANY PROTEIN BLOCKS I SHOULD CONSUMME!!!!!Apart from my 2 complaints, the book is a must buy!!!
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Summary: Enter the Zone is Suffiicent--but not the whole story
Review: If you already have purchased "Enter the Zone", do not spend the extra money on this book. The actual diet is not even covered.
Instead, in this volume, Sears backs up his original premise---a perfect balance of 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates and 30% fat with each meal ensures the bodies balance of the two hormones glucagon and insulin and produces good eicasanoids. He focuses on how to make every meal a Zone perfect meal. He begins with the FDA required "Nutrition Facts" rectangle found on any prepackaged food and explains how you can add the proper component to make your food selection Zone perfect.
While interesting from a computational aspect, I found the whole experience of adding up my fat, carb and protein grams for every meal a little bizarre especially when attempting to do this in a restaurant. I even downloaded the popular Excel-based program Zonepro and loaded it up with my personal food favorites' carb, protein and fat data so that I could come up with my own Zone perfect recipes. This craze was a lot of fun(?) while it lasted, but the bottom line was that I didn't always end up with that euphoric Zone feeling that Sears touts in the book. But then again,I didn't get it when I ate one of Sears' Zoneperfect bars! When I called the Zone help line regarding this, I was told that I was most likely carb sensitive---apparently I had eaten so many carbs in the past, my body would not 'enter the zone' unless I ate only 2 blocks instead of the normal three for females and added an additional fat block. Confusing only because this did not work either. I reached a dieting plateau and I wasn't moving.
Eventually I got less intense-- went back to the 'enter the zone" eyeballing method of balancing my meal but I began to look into other issues in conjunction with balancing the two pancreatic hormones, insulin and glucagon. Certain foods just didn't work for me, no matter how balanced my entire meal was. I tried many things: eliminating carbs totally, adding fiber, going a whole food route and eliminating dairy. But I have not found the answer yet.
I am convinced there is a missing piece somewhere but I just have not figured out what will really work for me specifically. So many people find that the Zone is the answer --I think it is only part of the answer for me.
As far as the book goes, if you want to read more about the Zone's theory and are not interested solely in the diet itself, go to the library and check this out--otherwise stick to Sears' first volume.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: It really is working for me. I love it. The zone bars are DELICOUS and satisfying. In two weeks I have seen results (loss of 6 pounds) this has been of course with exercising daily and drinking lots of water. I had done the latter two without the diet before but did not get similar results.I highly recommend this change in lifestyle to anybody. My cravings are no longer there. I used to crave twizzlers and chocolate late at night...sometimes even pasta!!! But so far it's been almost three weeks and I havn't! TRY IT!
Rating: 
Summary: Better than "Enter the Zone", but old
Review: I find this book more helpful about how to follow the Zone diet than the 1995 book "Enter the Zone" (see my separate review of that book).The tables of food amounts that make up a "Zone block" have not, however, been updated with the new quantities listed in the author's more-recent "The top 100 zone foods".
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Summary: The follow up to Enter The Zone
Review: This book is certainly not for newcommers to the Zone. If you are, you need to read Enter The Zone (ISBN: 0060391502) before that one. Mastering the Zone goes even deeper helping you understand nutritional concepts; therefore, helps you acheiving even better health! Recommended for Zone addicts, like me! :)
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Summary: I've Still Got my Stomach!
Review: I am mastering the zone but I still have my stomach! The book has taught me to put olive oil on almost everything because it says we need to get energy from oil and not starches and sugars. Well, I exercise a lot but my 67 year old stomach still sticks out. Someone please give us a diet in which we can practically starve our fat selves to death without in fact losing vital energy or not living a normal life. --Strephon Kaplan-Williams
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Summary: Aroint !!!
Review: That's what Macbeth exclaimed when the witches approached him ; it is what I tell anyone who has been tempted into throwing away his money and purchase this book. Remember : Keep away from false prophets.
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Summary: Better than Prozac!
Review: As well as the other Zone books by Sears, this one includes the concepts of eating "in the Zone". Which, contrary to uninformed beliefs, is not a "high protein diet" that the Zone is often shoved into alongside the Atkins. In fact, all the Zone is, is achieving a ratio of carbohydrates (including fruits & vegetables), lean proteins & smart fats (like avocado, nuts & oils) in percentages 40/30/30 respectively. Once you get the major concepts of eating in mind, you will no longer need scales to weigh foods because eye-balling portion sizes will come. By adding some exercise, even if it's walking, will prove incredible mental & physical health benefits. I have never felt more energetic & at peace with myself as when I eat in The Zone. It's *not* a diet (you just happen to lose excess pounds). It's a lifestyle.
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Summary: You CAN make it simple and this book will help
Review: This is certainly a program that can be made difficult. Some of the other zone books have recipes that would require you to be a math whiz or an expert chef, and have tedious measuring. This book helps and mostly makes it simple. For me it is life changing. I have ALWAYS had late evening sugary, breaded, fatty junk food cravings like ice cream and chips an all kinds of overpriced sugar-laced worthless garbage foods. (and always in super large abnormal quantities) And for years I usually gave up and just ate anything I wanted. (I'd be willing to wager that most of you reading this knows exactly what I mean to just "give up" when it comes to food) And gained lots of weight. Then I found this book. To me it is like what methadone is to a heroin addict. (for those that don't know, methadone is a drug to take the edge off of the withdraws from heroin without the euphoric high) And for those fellow sugar/carb addicts, you probably know what I mean. If you follow this plan correctly, it REALLY WILL take away those terrible binge cravings. It may take a little patience, and possibly some time (usually one to three days), but it will work. This is not easy unless you make it simple for yourself. Getting started is a bit difficult because it usually requires a change of eating habits, which is not easy, To make it easy for me I had to pick out about 5 or 6 recipes I could EASILY make in a short amount of time. This book has some that I like and they are simple. The zoneperfect site also has some recipes that are easy to make as well. (those are FREE!) For the days that I just don't want to fix anything, I have bought a whole bunch of the zone prepackaged bars and meals and other foods. At first, they were not the best in the world and a bit pricey, but I really wanted this thing to work and after a while I started to like them. The great thing is after about 2 or 3 days I really look forward to the afternoon snack and the zone bars and everything else and it's working great. The energy is amazing. It gets easier and better the longer you follow it. And you can add some other recipes if the others get old. I DO NOT have any more late cravings or afternoon sugar binges. And that is worth almost anything to me. I think it comes down to how bad you want it to work. After I started to read the book, I began to believe what the author was saying because it just made sense. I have tried many other diets, and this program really isn't a diet and isn't extreme like a lot of those other fad diets. This one just seemed right. When I began to visualize craving free evenings and wearing 34 pants again, I just decided to do whatever it takes to MAKE it work for me. The thought of being in a swim suit comfortably outside in a large crowd just really started to overcome all of the barriers. ALL WITHOUT the hunger pangs. Thanks to Dr. Sears, I have gone from 44 pants to 40 and am 100% confident I'll be wearing those old 34 silver tabs that I wore many years ago. (I have them out for motivation) YOU CAN DO IT TOO. AND IT IS GREAT!!!!!
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