Barry Sears' Zone Diet is designed to maintain your insulin levels within steady limits - "in the zone" - by eating a careful balance of carbohydrate, protein and fat, at each meal and snack.
The Zone Diet is not a high protein diet, rather an adequate protein diet, in which (unlike the Atkins Diet) saturated fats are kept to a minimum.
The Zone Diet recommends moderate quantities of low-fat protein (about 85g for women and about 115g per day for men). It is not a ketogenic diet as it contains enough carbohydrate to avoid the state of ketosis induced by other low-carb diets.
In addition, it strongly recommends fruit and vegetables, which makes it a healthy diet to follow in the longer term. Portion and serving sizes are restricted, with most daily menus containing between 1200-1500 calories.
Food Blocks to Keep You "in the Zone":
The diet divides food into blocks. For example, one block of protein contains 7g of low-fat protein, like lean meat, skinless chicken, fish, egg whites or soy. Each protein block should be balanced with a carbohydrate block containing 9g of complex carbohydrate with vegetables and fruits preferred to bread and other starchy carbs because they are more nutritious and contain more vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber. For better blood sugar control each protein and carbohydrate block must be eaten with a 1.5g block of fat.
All meals and snacks are based on these exact proportions of one protein block + one carbohydrate block + one fat block.
The average woman will consume three blocks of each of these three nutrients at meal times, while a man will have four blocks.
The Zone Diet also encourages two snacks a day to maintain stable blood sugar and avoid hunger.
Dinner Plate Guidelines:
As a rule of thumb, protein should occupy about one-third of the space on your plate, while vegetables should occupy the rest. Fat is usually added in cooking, or as a salad dressing or as nuts or olives sprinkled over the food.
The Zone Diet recommends regular exercise along with several nutritional supplements, like fish oil supplements, vitamin E, vitamin C and magnesium.
Some Zone Diet Recommended Foods:
Foods that are recommended on the Zone Diet, include: - fruits and vegetables (fresh or frozen), oatmeal (whole grain), protein powder (eg soybean isolate), fish, low-fat cottage cheese, soy food, nuts (eg almonds, cashews, macademia, pistachios), extra virgin olive oil, natural sweeteners - fructose or Stevia.
Zone Diet Issues:
The strict proportions of nutrients (carbs, protein, fat) which Sears insists upon at each meal or snack, may reduce diet-compliance. Even so, many dietitians view the Zone Diet as one of the best and healthiest low carb eating plans.
Calorie Count is a useful tool for calorie intake calculation and diet planning. Calories do count and it's also important how efficiently your body burns them. Calorie Count also contains a diet planner with professional advice on food combining, detox, suggested daily calorie intake for men and women, calorie intake from beverages consumed, as well as some useful guidelines for speeding up the metabolism and making the most of it. People make the mistake of thinking they have to make drastic changes to lose weight and get in shape, but the secret is to make small changes and incorporate them into their lives permanently.
