Hi all,

I've been in/on the zone for a about three weeks. For the whole three weeks, I've had intense starch cravings every night (it's not so bad during the day, just after dinner) and it's driving me nuts. I always feel I didn't get enough food in the evening and I don't know how long I will be able to resist eating something starchy if things stay like this. I am also confused, because more than one of Dr. Sears's books says that the cravings should go away within the first three days. Did anyone else encounter this problem as well? If so, what did you do?

Hmmmmm ...

Not sure what to think.

I suspect that you [ like me ] have not a "sweet tooth" but a "starch tooth" ?

Been following the Zone for many years and as you can suspect am very happy I have.

Was at least 60 pounds overwieght when ran into the Zone and eventually my weight ended up "settling" @ 90 pounds less - the low end of the "normal" range.

I had ALWAYS - since I can ever remember - been a "processed carb" addict, although, of course, I didn't realize it until much, miuch, later in life.

My favorite "processed carb" was, is, and remains : bread - in particluar in the form of pizza.

My favortie part of any pizza - is the CRUST !

To give you an idea of how addicted I was [ still am I suppose ] to bread products, by my teen years one of my favorite, favorite, "snacks" [ if you can call it a snack ] was to eat a WHOE LOAF of semi-stale Italian bread - here's the part: ... makes me cringe when I think about it - having been first dipped in SODA - slice by slice !!!@#!$%@$#

Everybody say "EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW" - it's OK.

I eventually "graduated" to pizza. At least the bread now has something on top of it ! - but, the addiction remains - I just don't do it anymore.

I made the final "graduation" - thank the Lord - to the Zone.

However, my point is, when it comes right down to it, I never lost this addiction. And that's exaclty what it is - addiction. There are many, many, addictions besides the famous ones - and they can be none the lesss, just as difficult to deal with.

The ONLY thing I truly missed, still miss, following the Zone eating plan - is bread.

And when it comes to other starches - there is isn't one I don't/didn't always at least like.

The bottom line is my desire, liking, craving, - whatever you want to call it - for bread never really went away.

Maybe this is what's bothering you.

It's not a "hormonal balance" thing, or a "Zonal balance" thing, or a "nutritional balance" thing - it's a personal addiction to one degree or another.

At the least your affinity for starches is a strong "habit" - it's not "just one of the many foods you eat".

ANY "habit" is hard to break.

I KNOW that I am maintaining my hormonal balance EXACTLY where it is supposed to be - often it has been measured "dead center".

...but offer me a "get out of hormonal jail free" card - and I'd be at Pizza Hut in about 2 seconds downing a large deep dish - by MYSELF. [ Their crust is to die for ]

I would give it some more time and see what happens. AS I've mentioned in other posts, in adopting the Zone eating plan you are "bucking the nutritional trend" big time of the American diet. Your dealing with the changes in your diet AND AT THE SAME TIME the reality you are surrounded by : the endless offerings of "Hormonal Hell" available at the endless everpresent at every street corner and intersection in American of the chain food industry ...

... a lot to deal with.

The important thing is to realize if you stay with the Zone for any length of time is - YOU WILL - fall off here or there for any number of reasons. { I once went on a Boy Scout overnight hike/camping trip without a thought to bringing any food with me. Ended up on Mt Washington with nothing to eat but bacon and pancakes !!!! Do you have any idea how FREAKIN HUNGRY I was by the time they broke out the food !@!!$#@%@#]

Even more important - way more important - is to put it behind you and quietly climb back on.

Each time this happens tell yourself : It was the LAST time.

One day it WILL be - promise.

All you have to do - is keep getting back on.

Click your heels three times and say :

"All I have to do is get back on"

Well put E.Wally. I also have starch and sugar cravings, but they subside after the first few days as Dr. Sears indicates.

But I could not agree more with E.Wally's description of carbohydrates as an addiction. I believe there may even be some scientific evidence to back this up.

Thank you ...

IMHO "processed carbs" IS THE ENEMY - pure and simple.

Take anyone's aweful diet and eliminate processed carbs and you have immediatly taken a huge step forward.

You will also typically lose about as much weight as possible [ while still eating ] in the first 10 days - 2 weeks by doing this.

The magazines at the checkout counters ALWAYS have some prominent banner about the latest wonderfull diet that will "take inches and pounds off" in, coincidentally, about 2 weeks.

Check them out and you will find they ALL have one thing in common :

One way or the other if you follow it you will severly reduce or eliminate all processed carbs.

Per Dr Sears himself for one, we, as a species, do not need carbs of any kind in the first place. They COULD be elimianted and we COULD get along. Not so with fats and protein.

So, when you now have that wonderfull innovation of the food industry - the "ultra processed carb" in about a billion mouth watering forms - it's the last thing you NEED.

Wally

Hi Ursula,

You may be close to the Zone but not always in the Zone. It sounds very much like you need to either adjust carbs or adjust the total amount of blocks in your day. When you're in the Zone, you do not feel like you have to try to resist eating, nor like you need more. Many times you don't even feel like you need to eat when it's meal time. I'm confident that you can resolve your current situation with some adjustments.

I cant' suggest what to change without knowgin more about your current plan. What is your total weight, your height and your LBM? If you exercise, how many hours a week do you spend on aerobic exercise, and how many on strenght training? It would also help if you could post a sample of your typical day of meals and snacks, including specific amounts of spscific foods, and the timing.

I'll be glad to help!

Ursula,
The same thing happened to me... And it was because i wasn't eating enough for my weight, height, and activity level... Once i re calculated everything (with Sue's Help :)) I was able to not have those cravings any more... Try it out and you will see...

Hi all,

First I would like to thank everyone for their answer to my post.

to Sue: Thank you so much for offering to help me.

I've entered my data on the webpage, and it told me, that I should eat 11 blocks a day.

My gym routine is following: I usually hit the gym twice a week (three times would be the aim, but so far, I haven't made it), do a short weight training session of about 20 minutes, then add 15 minutes on the elliptical machine. I have only taken this up two weeks ago, so it's pretty new.

As for what I eat for dinner:

A typical dinner would be that I roast about 150g of chicken breast (that would be about 3.5 ounces I believe) and make a big salad on the side. Maybe 2 cups of lettuce, 1 tomato, 2 small carrots. I also add a side of guacamole (1/2 an avocado).

Or I make an Omelet with 3 eggs, 1 tomato, 1 pepper, some onion and add a few bacon strips on the side. Usually eat an apple and a peach for dessert.

For lunch, my choices are somewhat limited, since I have to eat at the company cafeteria (I work in the middle of nowhere, nothing else in range). I usually try to fill my plate with whatever proteins are available (usually that would be curried chicken salad or sausage salad, or feta cheese) and fill the rest of my place with fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, and lettuce. I can't measure the exact weight, so I try to go by the "hand-eye-method".

Sometimes I eat a yoghurt inbetween. The yoghurts that I buy usually just contain about 1 fat block, 1 carb block, and almost one protein block.

I forgot to add a few things.
I'm 5'1", about 130 pounds.
I eat breakfast at 7.30, lunch around 12, dinner at 6, sometimes a late night snack around 10.
I should also mention that I have dance training once or twice a week (I suppose that would be kind of like a cardio workout)

E. Wally: like you, I often crave bread. It's the hardest when I walk past a bakery in the early morning, and there is the scent of freshly baked bread.....

We crave carbs because they raise the level of the chemical serotonin in our brains..serotonin is natures anitdepressent...any time you get a little over tired or stressed out you will notice that you want to reach for that piece of bread or candybar...Since I am aware that I am very carb sensitive I must stick real close to a balance ratio of C/P/F...Like Sue I have to keep my carb block sometimes a little lower when I am eating a 3 block meal..in other words...3 block protein/2 block carb/3 block fat...sometimes I can do 3/3/3 but it all depends on the type of carbs I eat...Carol

Ursula,

Your meals are way out of balance.

The chicken and salad dinner has over 5 blocks P and about 1 to 1.5 blocks C. 1/2 an avocado would probably be a little extra fat if you're aiming for a 3 block meal, probably not enough for the 5.5 block meal you have there.

Your lunches in the cafeteria also sound like they probably contain too much protein, not enough carb.

The omelet is close to a 3 block meal, but I don't see any mention of fat. There's probably enough fat in the egg yolks and bacon to balance the meal. Keep in mind that it's best for the Zone to eat the egg whites and discard the yolks.

A good place to check block amounts is the Zone Food Block List (in QUICK START in the EATING tab).

Once you adjust the balance of you meals to be closer to the Zoen, the cravings should disappear.

Ursula,

Yes - from what I can see you've some how gotten off the track a bit as far as balancing them goes.

Do I undersand you correctly that you are taking in 5 blocks of C,P,F at every meal ?

I found the hardest part of "adopting" the Zone stratedgy - way back when - was learning the "balancing" thing. It CAN, to the unfamiliar, be a challenge to grasp and incorporate.

Once past this point you will wonder what was so hard - it truly becomes "second nature".

One major reason it does is because you will find that your diet, if you stick with it, will "morph" into things that you eat virtually all the time that are "balanced" or eat things in combination that are balanced without even thinking about it.

If you ask anyone to write down a list of things they eat on a frequent/almost daily/always weekly basis you rarely end up with a list of over 25 items.

About 15 is typical. [ major items like Salmon, peaches, etc. ]

I eat about 20 significant food items weekly.

They are all individually "balanced" or balanced in certain combinations.

We all like to think for some reason that we have this incredibly varied/gourmond cornucopia of foods that we consume but the truth of the matter is far removed from that :

As typical Americans we are always paying lip service to how we are a "nation of individuals" but when it comes down to food - we are quite the opposite.

Is there not a "chain restaruant" on EVERY corner ? That you don't have to "wonder" about what it is that they offer ? So you [ and I and everyone ] can order about the same thing from here to Kalamazoo !

Once counted the number of Cracker Barrel's on I 95 between Boston and Daytona Beach - 33 !

There are people who drive to Florida that eat every one of their meals at a Cracker Barrel.

Over 50% of beer drinkers drink an Anheuser-Busch product, about 30% Miller - wow - talk about "rugged individualists" !

The bottom line is that there are really not that many things you eat on a frequent basis and all we have to do is see what they are and combine them the right way.


Suggestion :

Tell me what basic things you like to eat - such as chicken, fish, meat, salads, etc., etc., and I'll come up with some "balanced" easily assemblable and/or obtainable combinations.

E.Wally