Customer Reviews

A Week in the Zone: A Quick Course in the Healthiest Diet for You

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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.

6) 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?

Finally, Barry Sears has gotten around to writing a "how-to" book on the Zone Diet. All of the previous books were somewhat technical, and aimed at medical professionals or personal trainers.

This book, his first paperback, is written in a clear, concise and easy to understand style. By the end of the first 20 pages, you will have a good idea of what the Zone Diet is about, its benefits and how it works.

Then, the rest of the book gives Sears' simplest yet version of the diet (for example, instead of "40-30-30" the new restatement uses "1-2-3").

The Zone Diet, by the way, is primarily a health diet, although it is also effective for weight loss. The idea is to keep your blood sugar and hormone levels as even as possible, by balancing what you eat in each meal. The result is a number of health benefits, especially in the areas of diabetes (demonstrated by a clinical study) and heart disease (Sears started the research due to the high mortality in his own family tree), but also in other areas like allergies, joint pain, headaches, stomach acid, and many others, all of which are aggravated by our modern unnatural eating habits.

Unlike almost all other eating plans, this diet is based on an investigation of how food affects our bodies' mechanisms, and the result is simply better functioning.

I have wanted to be in "The Zone" for a long time and already own Mastering the Zone (very confusing) and the Daoust's 40-30-30 book. I was still unsure and not 100% clear on how exactly it worked. This book makes it all so very simple! It has a shopping list, which is a huge help, and it's small enough to fit in your purse/bag. It also dispels the myths of high protein diets, and why they just aren't healthy for you. I would highly recommend it! This book ties up all the loose ends!

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

Losing weight used to mean losing calories. Not according to the author. Losing weight now means controlling your hormone levels, mainly your insulin level. According to the author, insulin is responsible for telling the cells to store fat and keep it. The way to reduce insulin levels is by reducing your intake of grains and complex carbs. However, your diet should still be mostly carbs, but the types that do not stimulate insulin release as much such as fruits and vegetables. Carbs are considered anything that grow on the ground. Protein and fat are considered good because the former releases glucagon which tells cells to release stored energy and the latter slow down the absorption of carbs into the bloodstream.

How to lose weight:

-Shop in the peripheries of the supermarket. This is where all the fresh fruits and vegetables and lean protein-rich foods such as fish and chicken are located.

-Eat only monounsaturated and omega-3 fats from`nuts, olive oil, avocados, and fish.

-Fresh frozen produce are usually better than non-frozen ones because the nutrients are kept intact.

-Eat your carbs, proteins, and fats in a 3:2:1 ratio for each meal.

-Eat 5 meals a day to stablize insulin level.

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!

Absolutely an eye opener. I had previously attempted to lose weight solely on the basis of low-fat / low-calories...bought this book 22 days ago, curious about this nutrition program, and am coming up on a 10 pound loss (194-184 lbs.) This surprised me and seemed too much too quickly, but I feel great and am rarely hungry. What has particularly pleased me about the program is my perception that there has been a much greater fat loss than corresponding loss of muscle.

The book is essentially a short version of the larger Zone book. It describes in shorter fashion the biochemistry behind the diet, and contains a number of recipes to get you started. The focus of the book is definitely as an intro to the Zone; you may want to read other complementary sources to gain a fuller picture.

Learning about McCann's slow-cooked Irish oatmeal (with a egg-white omlette and olive oil for breakfast) has alone more than paid back the book's price. I've also faithfully taken a purified fish-oil supplement (Coromega)for these last 22-days and believe that it has played a part as well in the weight loss and feeling of general good health. Additional reading can include the 40/30/30 Phenomenon by Gittleman.

If you have a weight problem, bad eating habits, or feel like the food you eat gives you more problems than it's supposed to, then this is the book for you. I had problems with my weight, very poor acne-prone skin and very low energy levels since I was fourteen. I tried every program and diet I could find, and the most weight I ever lost, without downright starving myself, was about 10 pounds over a period of four to six months. I was always depressed and anxious over dieting, and most diets worked horrors for my immunological system, energy, skin, hair and nails. By following the Zone as explained in this book, although making my own Zone recipes, I have lost eight pounds in two weeks and feel better than ever. I haven't gotten sick, my energy levels are soaring, and I'm eating the foods I like without ever being hungry. The condition of my skin, hair and nails is at an all-time best.
The Zone is a very easy to follow eating plan, (I was used to it by the third day) based on combining different foods in the proportions that add up the amount of proteins, carbohydrates and fat you should consume at each meal. By making use of meal timing it insures proper delivery of the nutrients to your body, and by including a couple of Zone balanced snacks between meals, it minimizes carbohydrate cravings and hunger.
The book is very easy to understand. It thoroughly explains, backed by scientific research, the ways different foods and nutrients impact your body and the reasons why some foods are good for us while some are bad. The eating program it promotes is very easy to follow and it works even if you follow it only 75% of the time. Its results are almost instantaneous, and you start to notice them as soon as the second day. If you want even faster results, you should also include a 30-minute daily workout in your schedule.
Buy this book, get started on the program, and customize it to fit your needs, soon you'll start enjoying a healthier life in a healthier body. Weight loss will be an added benefit and you will thank yourself later.
I also recommend buying the Zone Food Blocks book as a tool, it contains around 12,000 foods converted into Zone balanced proportions, including prepared meals and items from known Fast Food Restaurant menus. As another tool I recommend visiting Dr. Sears' Website at [...].
Buy this book and discover the amazing benefits that a well-balanced eating program can give you.
--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

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.

This is THE diet if you really want to lose weight. If you follow the diet exactly and exercise regularly you will see the weight and inches come off very quickly, especially in the first two weeks. However, the portions are small and not often satisfying. It will teach you how to eat right, especially if you are like me and don't know how to cook dinner without pasta, rice or bread. The book is very easy to follow, the lists of good and bad foods are very helpful, and I liked that he recognizes the difference in metabolisms by suggesting different portions for men and women. I can see why this diet is so popular in Hollywood, you almost need a personal cook to prepare what Dr. Sears recommends for breakfast. There is no way anyone who works 9-5 has the time to prepare some of the suggested breakfasts. I would reccomend this book to anyone, but I would never give anyone the impression that you would enjoy anything about this diet other than losing the weight!