A Week in the Zone

by Deborah Kotz and Barry Sears

Book Overview

A national bestseller for more than three years in hardcover, The Zone has introduced millions of people worldwide to a breakthrough approach to dieting based on Novel Prize-winning scientific... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060741902
• ISBN13: 9780060741907
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A new approach to weight loss

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.

Lost 11 pounds in a month on the Zone without starving!

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

Abounding energy, that?s the ticket.

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

It All Makes Sense Now!

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!

The first how-to Zone book for everyone

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.