“My name is Paulo Prietto.  I am a professional skimboarder.  For the past couple of years, I have paid more attention to my diet with an attempt to understand which foods are healthy and will provide me with ample energy.  In paying more attention to my diet, I did some research and came across the Zone Diet.  The Zone Diet seemed to make the most sense to me.  It was not a crash diet or something that I would forget about after a short time.  What attracted me the most was that it had long-term goals.  It taught me about balance.  Balance is the key to all areas of life, including skimboarding, and I definitely struggled with balance in my diet.

As a professional skimboarder, it is advantageous to be light, limber and fit.  In the off season I train to maintain these athletic elements.  Understanding the Zone has strengthened my training and as a result strengthened my skimboarding performance.  I do a much better job at “staying in the Zone,” as Dr. Sears refers to it, by not overeating carbs.  Carbs were my favorite food, but after eating a balanced zone meal, I realized how much better my body felt.  Not only did I have more energy, but I also noticed more alertness and focus.

I have been using Zone products such as the bars, shakes, fish oil, ribose, and SeaHealth for about three months.  I find these foods and supplements especially beneficial during my competitions.  I recently competed in the first skimboarding event of the season and felt very strong throughout.  All the training and good eating made me feel strong, prepared and confident so that during competition time, I was ready to take on whatever came my way.  This is a vital component to being a professional athlete because those who are confident in themselves are successful.  For me, doing the training and eating the right foods prepared me for the event and made me confident.  In the end, I took first place.  It was such a reassurance to see results from all the hard work.

Whether or not I am competing professionally in skimboarding for many years to come, I know that the Zone Diet has taught me life-long eating habits that help me balance on and off the board.”

Career Highlights:
- Ranked first in United Skim Tour (UST) 2005-2007. Ranked second in UST 2003, 2004, 2008.
- Awarded Breakthrough Performance of the Year 2006 (Skimboarding Poll Awards).
- Featured in numerous skimboarding movies (Bearded, Stranger Things Happen, Soulag Chronicles, Knee Deep in the Hooplah, etc.).
- Featured in numerous magazines (New York Times, Style Magazine, Forever Skim, Skim Mag, Skimboarder Magazine).
- Featured in Jeep commercial 2003.
- Featured on numerous Web sites (Skimonline.com, ForeverSkim.com)