The Zone is simply striving to keep your body in a hormonal balance. This is done primarily by controlling your blood sugar and insulin levels. There are lots of other hormones that should be kept in check with food also, but getting into that here would be too much. If you really want to engross yourself in the world of proper nutrition, buy
Enter the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears (creator of the Zone diet). He also has two websites:
www.DrSears.com and
www.ZoneDiet.com/.
The Zone diet is NOT a low carb, high protein diet as a lot of ignorant people advocate. It is a
moderate, sensible diet. Moderate amounts of good carbs, and adequate levels of good proteins and fats.
There are a few things to remember when in the "Zone":
1) 40-30-30. 40% of calories from carbs, 30% from protein, 30% from fat. Everytime you put something in your mouth, strive to ALWAYS have this balance. Never eat carbs without protein and fat, and vice versa. An apple is great as a snack, but you've got to eat a little protein & fat with it!
2) It DOES matter what types of carbs, proteins, and fats you eat. Lean meats, (poly)unsaturated fats, and low glycemic index carbs (stop eating anything made from flour or rice, start eating tons and tons of vegetables and fruits. If you do it right you will have hard time eating everything on your plate.)
3) The total number of calories you should eat depends on your muscle mass and activity level. There is a calculator on Dr. Sear's website
HERE. Use it to calculate your % body fat (which is quite accurate) from your measurements, and enter your activity level. It will give you the recommended grams of protein, and you can calculate the carbs and fats from there.
4) Dr. Sears divides your meals into "blocks" 1 block = 7 g protein, 9 g carbs, 3g fat. Divide your protein requirement by 7 and that gives you the number of blocks one should eat in a day. That is approximately 40% carbs , 30% protein, and 30% fat. A block is just a unit of measure he made up to make things easier to remember in your head. The most important number is the grams of protein. Try not to over or under eat your recommended amount of protein. Too much and it's just a waste and is converted to body fat. Too little and you don't have enough to support your lean muscle mass.
5) Divide your food into 5-6 meals per day. Try to eat within 1 hour of waking, and have a light 1 block snack just before bed.
6) Drink lots of water.
7) There are Zone and Balance bars that are 40-30-30, and they are lifesavers. I eat them for breakfast and snacks. Some South Beach bars are also 40-30-30. They are usually 2 blocks (14 g protein) each.
Really, just buy the book, or read the websites. Actually, I would recommend both. There is a lot more information than I can mention in one post. This diet is not the easiest to follow if you aren't mathematically inclined. It requires a lot of discipline, at least initially until you get the hang of it and can eyeball your serving sizes. But, if you like details, you will LOVE this diet, because the books and the website will answer every question you could possibly have. If you read you will be very confident in your choices, and you'll know the consequences of anything you put in your mouth.
I should also mention that lately Dr. Sears is highly advocating high quality fish oil (he manufactures his own because the health store varieties were not concentrated enough nor high enough quality). As he furthers his research, he's realized that eating in the Zone controls "silent inflammation", which is a precursor to disease. By controlling the inflammation, you are keeping your body in optimum health.
Bla bla bla, just read the books.
haha
