A Week in the Zone

Rating:
Summary: Never felt better
Review: I have been on the zone for three weeks,I have lost 8 lbs. and I feel great.I started on this diet because my sugar was to high,194. Now I have been 117, 119. My Doctor is not going to belive this. When I started the diet he said ,yes try it.I can not wait to go see him on the 11th,to see what he is going to say.I feel very good,I have alot of energy,and My pants fit me much better,I am going to stay on this diet until July for a family reunion. This is the way everybody should eat.

Rating:
Summary: A Week in the Zone
Review: I have been in the Zone for 1 week now. It was difficult at first but the rewards after one week are worth it. Dr. Sears eating concept makes sense, however, some of the information needs more explanation so I am planning on looking into the original book "The Zone" to fill in the holes. This book was very easy to read and understand and well worth the invesment. I have also bought 2 more books, one to send to my mother and one to send to my brother and sister-in-law so they can enjoy the rewards of a healthier lifestyle.

Rating:
Summary: Lost 11 pounds in a month on the Zone without starving!
Review: In brief: the Zone diet works. Please note:

1) This is *not* a crash diet.

2) This is *not* a starvation diet.

3) You get to eat *normal* food. On the down side, you *do* have to give up certain dishes (pasta, rice, and breads, for example)... but on the other hand you get to eat plenty of chicken, beef, turkey, cheese, eggs, bacon, tuna, salmon, cod, as well as plenty of vegetables and fruits. (And for you veggies out there, you can do the Zone diet, too. Just substitute soy protein for the meats and fishes, and take your vitamins, and you're in the club!)

4) The Zone diet is easy to follow. Sears' book is filled with sample recipes for meals, but really, you don't need to follow them. Just flip to the end of the book where he lists all the recommended Zone foods and combine them to make up your own recipes.

Here's how the diet works. There are three categories of foods that you need to eat at every meal: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats (all listed in the back of the book). If you're a man, pick 4 choices (called "blocks") from each category. If you're a woman, pick 3 choices (or "blocks") from each category. Then combine them anyway you choose.

Example: guys, for breakfast, three strips of turkey bacon equals 1 protein block. One egg also equals 1 protein block. So have two eggs for breakfast with three strips of turkey bacon and that's 3 blocks right there. Now add one ounce of low fat cheese (1 protein block) and you've met your protein requirement for that meal.

Now add an apple (2 carbo blocks) and an orange (2 carbo blocks) to your bacon and eggs breakfast and you've met your carbo requirement for that meal.

For fats, just add a 1 1/3 teaspoon of sesame oil to your eggs while you're cooking them, and now you've got 4 fat blocks.

And that's it. You're in the Zone!

You can prepare all your meals that way. Don't feel you have to follow Sears' recipes to the letter and end up scouring your supermarket for obscure items like cilantro, dried tarragon, and shallots (say what?). So long as you only eat what's in the food lists and don't eat the *bad* foods, you'll do fine.

5) Be sure to drink plenty of water. This is crucial for the diet to succeed. If you need a break from tap water (or Evian, for that matter), you can have decaf. Just don't add more than a teaspoon of sugar to your decaf, or better yet use a substitute. Sugars are the one of the *bad* carbo blocks that you need to keep to a minimum.

Also, though it doesn't say so in the book, you are allowed to *occasionally* have a diet drink like Coke or Pepsi so long as it's sugar *and* caffeine free. (I got this last part from Sears' web site, in case you're wondering.)

So while decaf and the occasional diet drink are OK, you should still make sure that most of your liquid intake comes from water. And lots of it.

5) Once you're on the diet, there *will* be a few times each day where you're feeling a little hungry. But a little hungry is one thing and famished is something else... and I've said, on the Zone diet, you don't walk around feeling like you're starving.

For me, the rumble-in-my-tummy feeling usually kicks in about an hour before each meal. If lunch is at 12:00 P.M., my stomach will start grumbling around 11:00 A.M. Late afternoon, my stomach will start grumbling again, but the Zone diet allows me one late afternoon snack each day, so that tides me over till dinnertime. Then, before bedtime, my stomach grumbles one last time, but since the diet also allows me one light bedtime snack (say, a small piece of fruit and a slice of cheese), that tides me over until the next morning.

But for the most part, I don't walk around feeling hungry. In fact, after my first few days on the diet I already lost my cravings for fatty foods like potato chips and pretzels. So since I don't miss what I can't eat, that's what keeps me "in the Zone".

Bottom line: the Zone diet is highly recommended to anyone interested in losing a few pounds without going stark-raving nuts. At the same time, it's balanced enough that you can remain on it painlessly even after you've reached your "ideal weight". How many other diets can claim that? I plan to stay on it until I've lost at least another ten pounds. After that, who knows?

Rating:
Summary: I lost 10 pounds in 5 weeks and was never hungry
Review: Excellent, down-to-earth book with all the how-to's a busy person needs to get started right away. I saw a friend who had lost an enormous amount of weight and asked her how she did it. She said the Zone Diet, so I went out the next day to the book store and bought this book. I selected it because it has interesting menus for an entire week of meals AND a shopping list. After buying the book, I went right to the grocery store and bought the foods in the shopping list. I have been on the diet now for six weeks and intend to stay on it until I lose another 25 pounds. Also, I have lots of energy and I don't feel deprived. Great simple book!

Rating:
Summary: Abounding energy, that¿s the ticket.
Review: This diet is based on information taken from hardcore Nobel-prize winning research. We have all been in The Zone at one time or another. It is one of those days where you feel full of energy and everything seems to flow right and the challenges, that do come up are easily dealt with because you are feeling in top physical form. This diet is a tool to reach that success on a daily basis.

The Zone introduces us to a diet that is healthy and balanced and certainly no fad. The premise is found in the fact that the body needs a healthy balance of carbohydrates, low fat protein, and monosaturated fat at each meal, and this book puts it in its simplest form to get you started. The author sets it forth in an easy how to manner with grocery lists so you can fill your cupboard with the staples that will be a part of your everyday.

Simply put the biochemistry is based on the fact that the intake and over-consumption of simple carbohydrates lead to surges of insulin in the blood and this in turn makes us sluggish. Over a lifetime it leaves us at risk for conditions such as heart disease and cancer. Low fat protein releases glucagon, which helps to mobilize fat as opposed to insulin, which works to store our excess calories. The result is an increase in weight if the balance is off.

Sears has written six other Zone books that explain things at length, but for the person who wants to jump in quick this was the book I found to be the most helpful. After a week in the Zone I am amazed at how sharp my thinking is and how much energy I have. The most incredible effect is the lack of cravings I have for carbohydrates, that in it self is truly a miracle. Kelsana 7/06/01

Rating:
Summary: Good Info--but lifestyle wasn't for me
Review: In Nov 00 I made the choice to change my life. Since that time I have lost 40# and I have notices tons of other healthy changes. The doctor said that I am healthier now than I have ever been. I checked-out the hardbound version of 'The Zone' and it was full of great information. I ordered a 'Week in the Zone' and found it lacking info that I found in the first book--but it was a good outline of the program. I didn't go on the Zone diet but adapted some of the info to my Low-carb life-style. Since I was planning a life-time of change, I thought the Zone would require too much 'effort' and I would return to my old ways of life, so with my doctor's help we came up with a plan that included some of the Zones ideas. So far I found that I could live with it and it's working out great.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic introduction to the Zone
Review: A friend lent me her copy of "A Week in the Zone," and now, five months later, I have lost 36 pounds and feel great.

I noticed one reviewer mentioned "high cost of the plan," I experienced that also in my first week or so, but once I realized that I did not need to buy lots of exotic foods, my food costs returned to normal.

Please read the book for details, but as I read Sears' writing, essentially, you eat protein (lean meat, fish, soy, etc.) at each meal. That serving should be no bigger than the palm of your hand, and about the same thickness. Also, each meal should include carbohydrates, about twice as much carbos as protein. The carbos should be fruits or vegetables for the most part. Also thrown into each meal is a "smidgen" of fat. And that's it.

Sears also encourages two snacks a day. I seldom feel hungry on this plan and it is simple to follow. What more can you ask.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent "Feel Better" Diet
Review: When I was in college, I followed the 40-30-30 diet (known as the Zone) and got amazing results. With the assistance of excercise, I was able to get toned and lean in no time. The recepies Dr. Sears gives you are easy to prepare and delicious. If you do not enjoy cooking, save your money this is not the book or the diet for you. This truly becomes a lifestyle because it makes you feel and look great!

Rating:
Summary: Just give it a week
Review: With marriage you get a royalty of 15 pounds. I'd say that is what I miss more about my singlehood -my 32-inch waist-.

I wanted something to work rigth-away but at the same time be an all out healthy instrument, something I could live by without obssesing about diets and fads.

Then one day watching TV I learned about the Zone diet. I got interested in how it was backed by solid scientific research, and how it appealed to all sorts of people (both sedentary and athletes alike). It is molded to a real lifestyle -eating at home, business dinners, family luncheons, travel, even fast food.

So I decided to go ligth with the rigth-away "A Week in the Zone" which I recommend. Not only you will hit the floor running but you get rigth away into it. By ligth reading other chapetes, you quite understand how food works on you and how you can take advantage of it. How you can customize it like if you were a pro-diet expert and understand food combinations which get you into the Zone..

So basically, I have not gotten yet to my -15 pound objective, but I am getting there (Today is my 7th. day on the zone). My body is re-shaping, I feel great, I actually eat more, recipes are gourmet-like. The book includes tools like tips at restaurants, supermarket lists, and best of all, this is by no means a crash diet: You actually feel healthy.

I then recommended it to my wife, she is now in her seventh day, and has lost three full pounds of fat. And although it may not sound like much for somebody looking to loose more, it is not in the weigth were you see the difference, but rigth in your appeareance (so you know that when you loose three pounds, you are loosing pure fat, not water, not soil).

In one line this book is: Your induction to a lifelong health-project, Yourself.

I don't know if there is a hardback version, but I recommend the paperback, so you can take it with you whenever you go.

I do highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book, you won't regret it!
Review: Anxious to enter into the Zone, I read this book in less than a day and started the diet immediately. I've had amazing results --in less than a month I lost 3" of my hips and 2" off my waist, am no longer tired and dragging (this coming from someone who was very fond of napping), and feel healthier than ever! Throw away everything you've ever read about dieting, the Zone's principles are a lifestyle change. The book's very easy to read, is straight to the point, and gives you everything you need to know to get started right away. Although it takes some planning and effort for your meals at first, once you are familiar with the Zone basics, it really gets easier to calculate portions.