I am very new to the Zone. I am a mom of three and my youngest is about to turn 4. Ever since I became a mom, it seems like my attention turned off myself and onto them and I succumbed to erratic eating and not exercising. I am also a survivor of a traumatic childhood filled with abuse, so depression is something I learned to live with at a very young age. I finally feel like I can turn my attention back to my physical body as I have spent several years addressing my inner self and emotions. I've never crossed over the healthy weight limits for my body type and height but I've never really pushed myself physically to become strong and to shed what just doesn't belong.

That being said, after reading Mastering the Zone, I decided that I need to take control of my eating and exercise. I really resonate with everything Dr. Sears talks about in his books and here on the website. . Now I have the ambition and the means. I know that my erratic eating habits are extremely unhealthy and contribute to worsening my depression, especially in the gray, snowy winter months.
I started the Zone on Sunday by printing out the food blocks guide and laminating it and putting it in a notebook with my food journal. The first two days I felt really crappy. Spacey and dizzy. Yesterday was a hard day emotionally but I felt more stable. I was also starting to not feel hungry at the four hour need-to-refuel time.

Now, here is my question:
I started Jillian Michaels "biggest winner" workouts at the end of last week (weight training and then cardio on the days I don't do weights). I have dropped three pounds and one inch from my waist since I took my weight and measurements on Sunday... This is too quick, right? I was aiming for about a pound a week and ultimately would love to shed 15 lbs. Should I be adding more carbs or protein blocks? Or fat?
I'm at 11 blocks/day according to the calculator.

FYI before starting Jillian Michaels, I was running 3 -4 days a week and lifting weights at the gym 2-3 days a week. So I don't feel that my change in workouts is much different than what I was already doing.

THANKS for any input!!!

Hi Monique,

Your weight loss over the past couple of days is most likely due to the loss of retained fluid as you lower insulin into the level of the Zone (fluid retained due to your previous way of eating). After the first week or two you should settle in to a 1 to 1.5 pound weight loss per week. After a couple weeks of Zone eating take your measurements again and enter your info into the Body Fat Calculator on this site to recalculate your LBM and daily protein recommendation. Because retained fluid can skew the initial calculations, it's recommended to use your 2 week LBM result as a baseline. Good luck!

Thanks so much!

I'm happy to help. :)

You'll probably feel much better soon. It can take a little time to ajust. Since yesterday was getting better I wouldn't change anything yet. Keep us updated.

Don't hesitate to take this as an opportunity to get your whole family eating better. I have three kids, too, and when I started the Zone I eased everyone into Zone eating. I changed the type of fats I ate and they did too, because I did most of the grocery shopping and I cooked dinner. I stopped buying breakfast cereal, which meant no one at our house has access to breakfast cereal. You get the picture. Now my grandchildren are benefitting from those changes we all made when I began eating in the Zone. Having grown up with Zone friendly meals and snacks, my daughter, their mom, just naturally stocks her kitchen full of anti-inflammatory foods, lean proteins and monounsaturated fats. It's great!