There are a lot of you on this site that have done some amazing things with the Zone diet! I'm sure i'm speaking for everyone on here when i say that your expirience with the Zone really inspires us. I know that it's easy to feel a little apprehensive about sharing your personal stories on the forum because you might feel like people may think you are 'bragging' or 'showing off'. I want you to know that i personally LOVE hearing your stories and use them to motivate myself when i need a reminder as to why i am doing this and why i should never give up!!!

I know some of you have kindly shared your stories under different topics..but i wanted to start a thread where i can collect your stories so that i know exactly where i can go to read up on your success (and all your progress in the future too!!!)whenever i feel like i need a kick in the butt!

For the majority of ppl..it's extremely challenging to eat healthy and workout. For those of you that have been disciplined and rewarded...you should be sooo proud of yourselves and your accomplishments! and you are allowed to talk about it ..and talk about it..and talk about it some more!!! you've earned it!! you worked HARD to get to where you are!!! exremely hard! So please post 'Your Zone Story' here!

And if there really are people out there that honestly think that it sounds like 'bragging'...just DON'T READ THIS! :tongue:

The following is from a thread I started 10-04-07. For the entire thread follow this link there are a couple updates. http://www.zonediet.com/RESOURCES/F...fault.aspx


Hi, I just wanted to stop in and say hi and share my results with everyone. I've been following the Zone to varying degrees since the 1st week of April. I did not keep a journal or anything so my data will be based off memory.

My wife & I have been married 10 plus years and have 2 small children 3yrs & 1-1/2yrs. We have let our selves go physically especially the last few years. We tried the Zone 4 or 5 years ago and lost 20 lbs in a couple months but we didn't stick to it. We went out bought a bathroom scale & bought a couple of the Zone books. Meals in Minutes and A Week in the Zone I think were the 1st ones. I weighed in at 268.6 lbs that freaked me out. I served in the US Marine Corps 13 years ago. Holy cow did I let my self go.

The 1st few weeks I cheated a breakfast or lunch every couple days. Never on the same day did I have consecutive bad meals. I was in the process of changing jobs and I was taunted with Lunches and snacks as I was parting on very good terms from my previous company.

By the end of April I had already lost 10 lbs. I started only allowing 1 bad breakfast & 1 bad lunch per week. I did have hashbrowns with breakfast a few times but I never had fries with a burger. By this time I was finding it easier to drink the perscribed amount of water. In the beginning this was very hard for me. I was use to drinking zero water & 3-4 sodas a day. Mixed some diet Coke and some Mountain Dew. Once I started in April I cut all regular soda out and only had 1 diet coke per day.

By the middle of June, 9-10 weeks in the "Zone", I had lost 40 lbs. I continued as I had been doing since it was working for me. I felt great, more energy than ever, less aches & pains than ever before in general I was feeling wonderful.

For the next month or so I think I was pretty much stable. Not losing anything but still felt good. We decided to start adding some additional exercise. We started walking a couple miles at least 3-4 times per week. This paid off and I started to shed a few more lbs. Within a month I think I had lost another 10lbs for a total somewhere around 50lbs. By this point I cut out the bad breakfast from time to time and was only having 1 bad lunch per week.

After a month of the walking I stabilized again and could only manage to lose a pound or two for a few weeks. I have since cut my breakfast to a 3 block meal I only have a bad lunch once every couple weeks. I am now at a total of 60lbs lost since entering the zone. The walking has continued but it has been harder lately to find the time to get more than 2 times per week but we are up to 3-4 miles.

I am now wearing a size 34 waist down from a 40. As stated above I feel great. I need to go have my blood work done again. A year ago I was border line for needing medication for BP & Cholesterol. Not sure wear the numbers are now but my bet is they are much better.

My goal is to get back to my Marine Corps weight which was around 186. I've set small attainable goals along the way and have met or exceeded everyone of those. My original plan was to meet my target in a year. With the Holidays coming around the corner I expect a plateau of sorts but I feel I am on track to meet my target on time.

My next achievable goal is to break 200 by the 2nd week of November. Then maintain that weight through the Holidays with some cheating along the way and then I have Jan, Feb & Mar to hit my target.

I know the Zone will now be a part of my life. I have never considered it a diet but instead a lifestyle change. Of course my diet has changed I don't ever remember eating this many vegetables but I also didn't know I could cook them so many different ways.

If you have made it this far thank you for reading and I hope this will help some one else who may be starting out and needs a little encouragement of how well the zones works to improve your life. Not only do I feel better, I have more energy to spend time playing with the kids, our love life has improved and our general health has been phenomenal.

Thanks again for reading,

Happy Zoning,

Matt

Here is another post I started 4-2-08. This is one year after starting the Zone and 80 lbs lost.

http://www.zonediet.com/RESOURCES/F...fault.aspx

Well, just over 2 months in the gym and I have had some great results. I workout 5-6 times a week at the gym with some additional walking 1-3 times per week. My workouts are usually 15-20 minutes of weight training and 40-45 minutes of cardio. I mix it up a little by doing my weights in between 2 cardio sessions or start with weights then do nothing but cardio for the rest of the hour. I am in the gym at 5am Monday through Friday. I squeeze in an evening or weekend workout once in a while.

My cardio increase has been tremendous. I have more than doubled my distance in the same amount of time on the Stepper & on the Arc machine. On the stepper I am averaging 120 plus steps per minute.

On the weights I have been doing sets of 20 reps, increase weight, 15 reps, increase weight, 12 reps, increase weight and 10 reps. My starting weight on various machines was some where between 60 lbs and 100 lbs depending on the machine. My new starting weight is 90 lbs to 120 lbs or more. Some of the machines increase by 15 lbs and some by 10 so it varies but my increases have been at least 2 weights higher and in some cases 3 weights higher which is some where between 20 and 45 pounds.

After exactly 2 months I had cut 2 inches from my waist & 1 inch from my chest. I lost a total of 8 lbs. The BF calculator wasn't working when I checked but I know my bf is now below 20%, I can't remember what is was. I have the measurements written down and can calculate when it is back up.

Also I increased by blocks from 14-15 blocks to 17 blocks.


From the same thread.

I am happy to share but sometimes it is hard to put into words without sounding like I'm bragging.

I really don't think I have reached the full potential of the Zone yet. This week is one year of eating in the Zone for my wife & I. We have not started the FO yet. I will be ordering some tonight or tomorrow. I was going to wait until I had been working out consistently for 6 months but I've recently changed my mind.

I do have some issues with my knees from previous injuries and know any anti-inflamation will help. I do not currently take any kind of meds for it but I do have some discomfort and certain movements can cause a greater discomfort.

As I've stated before, for me it was best to try and master one aspect at a time.

The base of the Zone Pyramid is the food. I think we have that down pretty well but there is always some room for improvement.

I skipped #2 on the pyramid, Omega 3s.

Number 3, polyphenols come naturally from the 10-12 or more servings of fruits and vegetables we eat everyday, I have not added the seahealth plus as of yet.

Fitness, #4, we started slowly with walking as our primary excerise for the first 10 months but now a more regimented routine has been in place for 2 months and will continue. Once our goals have been reached we may substitute some of the gym workouts with things like bike riding our hiking or maybe a family martial arts class.

#5 I'm not too sure about yet. No disrespect intended but Dr. Sears is pushing a lot of different products that support this part of the pyramid.

The last item that I think is missing is Relaxation. Some form of meditation or something that one can use to catch some relaxing time and de-stress. I try this a little already. My most relaxing time is a trip to the Chiroprator. About 10-15 minutes of massage and 10 minutes of EMS. Currently I do a trip to the Chiro a minimum of once a month and some times 2-3 times in a month. Depends mostly on my stress level how often I go.

Enough for now thanks for reading.

Happy zoning to all.

Matt

Great Story Matt. You are a motivation for me. I've been in the zone just over two weeks and have gone from 253 to 243. It's been a long time since I've weighed 200 but thats what I'm shooting for. I'm amazed that I have no cravings and like you I've eaten more veggies than I can imagine but I'm finding myself enjoying them. They were always a after thought. Keep up the great work !

Kiss