Rating: 
Summary: The only diet plan I've ever enjoyed! Fabulous!
Review: This book has changed my life! For the first time in my life I am losing weight, exploding with energy and eating five meals a day! The plan is wonderfully flexible, allowing me to pick foods I love to eat and to eat in restaraunts and at social events with grace and ease. I also am finally liberated from excess carbohydrate cravings. I lost ten pounds in my first month on the plan and have so much energy that I went from a couch potato to spending a minimum of 15 hours a week working out! I feel like a brand new person and if I stay wiwth this plan I will look like a brand new person in a couple of years! Buy ten copies of this book! You'll want to give copies to friends!
Rating: 
Summary: I'm new to the Zone, but I intend to stay!
Review: The book is well organized and a relatively easy read. Regarding the program, I was initially skeptical but figured it was worth a try. In less than two weeks I have seen enough of a change that I intend to stick with it long term. I expect to refer to the book regularly for alignment of meals, should I begin to falter. So far the hardest part has been retraining myself to eat so frequently. The concepts are sound, and appear to be working for me. It's not a diet, really. But rather a different way of thinking of food...permanently.
Rating:
Summary: Good Diet, Bad Science
Review: I have tried the diet and it works. Why it works is anybody's guess. It's a shame that the American public requires pseudo-scientific "proof" for everything instead of relying on good, old observational common sense. Just because Sears uses this weakness to sell his books doesn't mean the diet doesn't work. After all, condemining an idea by condeming the man who has the idea is an error in rational thinking. The zone diet is a diet of moderation. Because it's moderate, following the diet will do you no harm (assuming you're already healthy) and will probably do you good. It will work best for people who are fat due to poor eating habits and will probably show no results for people who are lean and have good eating habits. Most people fall somewhere between fat and lean and occasionaly go on sugar/fat binges so most people will show moderate results. In my case, after the initial results, I added two things. A combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise once a week and one or two glasses of wine with the evening meal seven days a week. Both of these changes enhanced the effect of the zone diet as expected. If you are overweight and are seriously interested in slimming down, I encourage you to try the diet. It worked for me. Maybe it will work for you as well.
Rating:
Summary: An easy-to-follow eating plan that actually works!
Review: In his second book about The Zone Diet, Barry Sears emphasizes what we know from personal experience -- that eating bread, pasta, bagels and other grains makes us fat, and that our carbohydrates should come primarily from fruits and vegetables. He explains why eating the correct ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat is the secret to controlling insulin levels and thus, bodyfat. Unlike others who tell us that we already eat enough protein or that everyone should eat 'X' grams of protein a day, Sears tells us how to compute our own daily protein requirements based on our individual lean body mass and activity level. This highly readable, convincing book provides sample menus and easy ways to follow the eating plan. The Zone Diet allows us to eat all that delicious fruit and even moderate amounts of peanuts, macademia nuts and other fats!
Rating:
Summary: Master your eating by mastering the Zone.
Review: Eating has long been a bugaboo for me. I love to eat and it has seemed like I am constantly craving more food. I am not seriously overweight, mind you; but I've been carrying those 10 or so standard extra pounds around my middle for quite a while. But middle age is coming fast and I have known for a long time that something is going to have to change in my eating habits or I will be in big trouble (literally). I have also been noticing a general lack of energy and a lot of headaches lately and this was beginning to concern me.
Well the "Zone" diet by Dr. Barry Sears has literally transformed my entire perspective on food. Sears, a Ph.D. in biochemistry, challenges our society's conventual wisdom that the way to lose weight is to cut out virtually all fat and eat a high carbohydrate and low protein diet. His research has shown that this kind of diet causes enormous peaks and valleys in our insulin production which actually tells our bodies to store more fat while leaving us craving more and more carbohy
Rating:
Summary: Great way to change eating habits.
Review: Mastering the Zone is a great book. It teaches you how to change your eating habits, improve your health, increase your energy and feel better about yourself. It provides a simple guideline on how to mix foods that provide a balanced meal of protein, carbohydrates and fat by using blocks (as described by the author) instead of calories or fat grams. It includes great recipes and suggestions on how to choose the right foods when eating out. I highly recommend it. It works!! After following The Zone, I feel better than I have ever felt before. I have more energy, I have lost weight easily, I crave fruits and vegetables instead of cookies and cake and I feel wonderful!!!
Rating:
Summary: TREMENDOUS AND VALUABLE INFORMATION!
Review: THE ZONE AND THE BOOKS THAT FOLLOWED ARE TREMENDOUSLY HELPFUL. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM TO ANMYONE THAT WANTS TO BE HEALTHY AND FULL OF ENERGY. I AM LIVING THE WAY THE BOOK RECOMMENDS AND I HAVE VITALITY AND VIGOR. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE HEALTHY WAY OF LIVING AND EATING ... READ THIS BOOK AND INCORPORATE IT'S SUGGESTIONS INTO YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE. DRUGS AND DRS ARE NOT THE WAY TO ACHEIVING GOOD HEALTH, EXERCISE AND EATING IN THE ZONE ARE
Rating:
Summary: The key to optimal physical & mental performance & fat loss
Review: According to Dr. Barry Sears, fat does not make you fat but insulin does. Therefore, control the production of insulin by eating equal blocs of protein, carbohydrates and fat at each meal. Don't be scared to eat monounsaturated fats in small quantities because they actually slow down the rate of absorbtion of carbohydrates into the bloodstream which reduces the amount of insulin produced which eliminates excess body fat.. Compelling medical facts, tips and recipes included. If you want to lose excess body fat while maintaining peak physical and mental performance then Master the Zone
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting
Review: I have been doing a lot of on-line researching and reading of these reviews regarding the Zone "diet" plan. I have only spent a couple weeks in and out of the Zone (I love pasta, so I'm getting the rest of it out of the house so I can do a real "sample" after it and the temptation is gone). But during the day, at work and school, I've never felt better. It's at night I crash after eating my pasta and very little protien.I don't know how much of the cravings for food at that point is psychological, which the Zone books never mention. They say that you control your hormones, you control your cravings. It's not as simple as that...there are lots of people who are body dismorphic and eat for reasons other than their brain pinging them because they're hungry. Perhaps I'll make my millions writing a follow-up book, but I digress... However, after reading every review for "Enter the Zone" (which I believe is just the same as "Mastering the Zone", the latter of which I did buy, which I believe has more practical advice on how to make things work than the theory in "Enter...") I am fairly convinced that all but two of the negative reviews are from people who either didn't read the book, didn't get what was written, or they were simply stating that they didn't want to live this way. Two reviews make me wonder. One speaks to the shoddiness of his research reporting -- which I agree upon, but maybe it's glossed because the reading public can't handle reading that boring stuff. The other is about the Zone being a low-calorie diet and that being the only reason you lose weight on it, makes me wonder. It wasn't the "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" review...sure, a calorie is a calorie, but insulin, different macronutrients and so forth are not the same, so I disagree with that reviewer. But the idea that this only works as a low-calorie diet...I'm not sure....I am eating more bulk with not a lot less calories than I was before. So I'm still willing to give it a shot. Basically, this is a nutritional plan for a lifelong change that includes food in moderation. I also don't see in the Zone books that they are so facist that they don't recognize that "stuff happens" and people will get off the Zone with some meals, but you can always go back with the next. Unfortunately people are too often "all or nothing" fanatics who don't realize that we aren't perfect machines and sometimes our psyche requires something our body doesn't. They look at the Zone and think that if you're not fanatical, it won't happen at all. After thinking about it, the Zone is really rather stress-free and forgiving...it's really how much discipline to be conscious about your food and activity that should be watched out for. You mess up, you can always be conscious the next meal. And with time comes the habit, in my opinion. I will remain skeptical, but that's me. I can't be otherwise until I've given it a shot. I used to be 350# grossly obese, and after a year of getting more active and eating in moderation before, I came down to 225#. I still have oversized love handles, and I want to tighten that up and lose the rest of the pounds, but the last year or so has been stressful and I have only been hovering and gained a couple pounds back. So we'll see if the Zone leaves me with more energy I had before and convinces ME to be more conscious of my food choice. I would recommend, finally, not to buy more than one of the books (probably "Mastering") as they all appear to be saying the same thing. It's just not money conscious. Or if you do, buy them used. Barry Sears has turned into a marketing empire, and I think the message gets lost somewhere in there. Most of the information is on his website, as well, so buy one book and just look at the website.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs a professional narrator!
Review: I bought Mastering the Zone and never read Entering the Zone. I found it completely easy to read and user friendly. I read it one Friday night and applied it the next day. It's super simple. It explains blocks and in the back of the book, shows the quantity you can have of certain foods per block. It's even talks about adjusting the diet to meet your personal requirements. Here's my sample menu. This is for 13 blocks of protein: Breakfast:
Smoothie
1 c. yogurt
1 c. milk
1 c. strawberries
1 c. raspberries
2 envelopes of splenda
1 oz low fat cheese
12 almonds or 24 peanuts Lunch:
4 oz Chicken
4 c. salad
1 T. ranch
3 c. mushrooms
1/2 c. grapes
1/2 c. pineapple Snack
1oz cheese
1/2 apple
3 olives Dinner
5oz fish
2 c. green beans
2 c. salad
1 T. ranch
1/2 apple
1 c. strawberries Snack:
1oz beef
1/2 c. grapes
3 almonds Not too shabby, huh? The above is only 1600 calories, which is what my hubby is on. I'm on 9 blocks, which is 1000 calories and still TONS of food, since I have a lot to lose and want to do it quicker. If you want to feel GREAT, eat great and look great, I highly recommend this book and this diet as your lifetime way of eating.
|
