Hi everyone, Well, I've been on the zone for 2.5 weeks now and I've somehow managed to eat more treats that I normally do. Probably because it's birthday season in my family and my brother is a gourmet baker responsible for making the b-day cakes! :? Anyhow, my question is, how often am I allowed to screw up on this program? I mean, I try to zone in my treats when I can, but sometimes I just screw up. For instance, today I visited my parents who took me for "coffee" (I don't actually like coffee, so I usually get water) and a doughnut, and well, I ate the doughnut. :oops: In the last couple weeks screwups like this seem to happen a couple times a week (in a usual week in non-birthday season I'd say I splurge two or three times... e.g. a cookie or two, a doughnut, a few chocolate chips). Am I ruining my diet? Is this never going to work now? The birthdays are all over now, so there will be no more cake in my life, but what about the 2-3 treats a week? Ugh, I am so frustrated! I feel like a disaster. It's bad enough that I feel like I eat all of the time suddenly (I prefer not eating to eating!!), but now I'm worried I'm really screwing up. I also occasionally forget to eat a meal or a snack, but for the most part I'm getting them all in there (I have a scale so I'm really precise about everything). Other than being alert, I haven't lost a pound... is that because of all the screwups? Should I cut them out entirely? I know that they say you can have a little, but maybe I'm having too much, or maybe I shouldn't have any.... For you guys who have had success how long did it take and how often do you "screw up"? Confused... :? Thanks!

Check this link out....just replace "soda" with "cake/doughnuts" in the article... right from the Dr! http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages...rspage.jsp (Note: this was the current "ask dr sears" page at the time of this post. The title of the question is "Transitioning to Zone lifesytle") Sounds like you just need to get to the Zone to break those cravings/can't resist moments

Hi There.... I've been zoning a bit over a year now and I've lost 93 pounds to date and 12" off my pants size. :lol: Your "screwing up" is absolutely what's screwing you up! There certainly have been those weekends where I've not been as dilligent at zoning as I should be....especially when I consider how crappy I feel when I eat badly. I can tell you thast on those weeks, I will gain a couple of pounds (water weight) and it takes the better part of 4 days to dump that weight again once I eat correctly. If you are screwing up as you call it on a regular basis, you will retain fluids and fat and circumvent all the good you are doing the rest of the time...it's all a matter of causing your insulin to go out of control. Certainly I have a piece of cake, pie, cheesecake once in a while. Knowing how it affects me however, I don't do it numerous times a week....it makes no sense. I do have ice cream most nights mixed with TVP for my protein and I find no adverse effects whatsoever from this. This doesn't mean that it will work for everyone because you might be more prone to carb cravings than I am. You need to decide if you really want to look, feel and be healthy. While the zone is forgiving because you can simply zone your next meal to get back on track....you can't allow yourself to do this continuosly.

Thanks for your responses! My biggest struggle is the fact I don't like eating (was anorexic for a few years), so I end up forcing myself to eat on the Zone which makes me upset. On the occasion when I feel like eating a treat, I've been bad and just ate it. :oops: Anyhow, I'm going to be much more careful now... if nothing else I need to balance the occasional treat with protein. I've been trying to lose 15lbs (or a few % off my bodyfat) for my wedding this August for a year and a half now and I haven't had any success... maybe if I can stop screwing up so much, I might make this work. I really do want this! Thanks again... (I'm so happy I found this chat board, btw!)