Hey all,

I'm still a newbie to this forum--tho I've lurked around quite a bit--but have been loosely zoning for much of the past several years.

So, I've figured out that I'm carb-sensitive, and I've started to drop a block of carb from each meal, and focus on low-density carbs. Previously, I was not able to stay satiated for more than two hours, often much less, but now, with the right mix of things, I can go four hours before the hunger sets in. But I don't think I've been able to go much longer than that.

So, this is an improvement, but I'm wondering if I should be aiming for a longer period of satiety, and if so, any advice about how i might do that would be appreciated.

Here's what I've been consuming:

My best meal is 3 blocks of whatever favorable protein, 1 block (2 cups chopped) raw zuccini, 1/4 cup chickpeas, olive oil and vinegar as dressing, plus some almonds or a spoonful of almond butter, or more depending on fat in protein.

I've also had it with 2 blocks zuke, no chickpeas, and had the same four hour results.

I'm using this meal as a "control" while making small tweaks, so i'm eating it often, cuz it keeps me more in the zone than anything else I've tried so far.

I drink plenty of water, a little more than 1 ounce for every 2 pounds I weigh, and I think I get enough fat, trying to err on the side of too much.

So, what do you all think? Is four hours enough? Do I just have a metabolism that simply might not ever make it past four hours, or are there any tweaks you'd recomend? I'm so glad this resource is here, and so looking forward to any wisdom you all might have.

Thanks in advance!

P.S. I'm going to try the zuke cooked tomorrow, curious to see if that makes a difference in either direction.

Hi Courtney,

Yes, 4 hours is fine. As you said, you may not get past that. Congrats on successfully tweaking your balance! Looks like you're doing everything right. Try to increase your water intake a bit. The current Zone recommendation is one ounce for each pound you weigh. Keep up the good work!


____________________________________________

sue
Consultant of Zone Labs
Certified Zone Affiliate

Lost 100 lbs 15 yrs ago, off BP meds, thanks to the Zone diet and Zone fish oil. ZoneFast 1-2-3 is the best!

View my Zone Fast 1-2-3 meal photos here:
http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/...3%20Meals/

View my classic Zone meal photos here:
http://s531.photobucket.com/albums/...4/?start=0

Thanks Sue!

It's been quite a journey finding this balance. At first, I actually thought I was experiencing focused hunger (I guess I was so used to feeling unfocused that I didn't recognize it as such maybe?) so tried adding a carb to meals, and had instant hypo symptoms + hunger right away + icky bloat. Obviously that was not the right direction for me!

I'm so amazed at how small amounts of food can have such a large impact on my body--1/4 cup extra chickpeas can cause a hypo episode. Take away a 1/4 cup, and my body feels so good, and stays satiated twice as long...

I feel like I'm finally beginning to understand how my particular body/metabolism works, and what it needs for fuel, so I'm pretty grateful to the zone/dr. sears for "cracking" that code.

Also, thanks for the tip about the water. I'll be trying that starting today. And thanks for being such a great resource!

You're welcome! I agree about the power of food. The knowledge you gain with the Zone is awesome, isn't it? :-)

Courtney,
Welcome to the forums!

I am similar to you, being carb sensitive, and having tweaked things to the point that I have achieved 4-ish hours of satiety, but I generally don't go much longer than that.

And, I also recognize the importance of fat, to the point that if I make an error and short my fat for the meal, I can definitely tell a difference in terms of my satiety.

I struggled in the beginning with regard to focused/unfocused hunger, too. It really was difficult, because I feel that the only time I ever have unfocused hunger is when I eat too much of an unfavorable carb. Favorable carbs do not give me unfocused hunger, just plain ol' early hunger. In addition, the unfavorable carbs may not cause early hunger at all, but I may end up in an unfocused state for some time after the meal (kind of like what happens after thanksgiving when everyone is stuffed and falls asleep during the football game).

In any case, I finally decided to treat this as a carb sensitivity because, after trial and error, the drop-a-carb and add-the-fat was the one thing that helped me to gain control of the satiety. It was still a mystery to me, why I could not go longer than 4 hours, but I emailed my concern to Zone Labs, who forwarded to Dave Shreck (works closely with Barry Sears), and he said that was perfectly normal.

Thanks for the welcome Cranberry,

That's an interesting point, early hunger vs unfocused hunger...my experience may be quite similar. The thing that is really amusing to me now is that I just thought I had a sweet tooth, but really I was just hypo-ing out all over the place. Wen I balance myself out, I don't crave sweets at all.

I'm still really enjoying what I'm discovering about my body/metabolism through this process. I now interpret a sweets craving in a whole different way. It doesn't mean "must have cookie" anymore, it means "really need to eat some balanced food, and probably drink some water".

Good observation on your part!

I still struggle to identify focused vs. unfocused hunger. It really all depends on the situation. If I am busy at work, I tend to feel that perhaps my "unfocused" state is stimulated by the "busy-ness" and that I don't really think of it as unfocused. On the other hand, if I were sitting around at home, perhaps it could be more of an unfocused situation. But after years of this, I have it pretty much figured out, and if I am eating in the Zone, I experience much less of those situations.