Janet (confusing cuz I am Janet also.....!)
Dr. Sears actually suggests a glass of wine and cheese as a nighttime snack! go for it!
good luck, the other Janet

Hi Janet

Feel free to call me Jana...I tried to change my name to this 'nickname' in my profile (to avoid the confusion) but I don't see where I can.

I don't mind a glass (or sometimes even 2!) of wine on the weekends but I don't really want it to be a nightly thing. It's nice that it's part of the Zone so there is no guilt when I have a drink BUT I don't think it was intended by Dr. Sears to be daily.....although I have to admit that the full nights of sleep are nice!!! <img src='desktopmodules/ntforums/images/emoticons/smile.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='Smile' align='absmiddle'>

Jana

Glad you found it sue. It's an eye opening book. I have don't know where you are now in regard to body fat %, but in TOXIC FAT you'll learn details about the of the types of metabolic dysfunction that occur in both overweight and thin individuals, as well as how they can be addressed (improved and can even be eliminated) through hormonal control and inflammation control.

For some more insight, the reason I had mentioned that you might want to consider the fasting insulin test, is that you are putting a great amount of thought and effort into this, without knowing where your insulin level really is, meaning if you are really in the Zone or not, if you are accomplishing what you are attempting to do (BTW, it's typically covered by insurance, is not an strange or unusual test, and is a simple fasting blood draw). A number of individuals I've helped with the Zone have had no hunger, they think they are in the Zone but are experiencing some minor difficulty (such as in your case where you have the varying degrees of morning hunger), and yet when they do the fasting insulin test they find that their fasting insulin levels are above the limits set for the Zone. These people went on to lowering their fasting insulin to excellent levels, and change their Zone results for the better, by changing their overall carb choices, practicing stricter adherence to the Zone diet, and eating the least amount of food needed to maintain their LBM and satiety.


Good luck and please let us know how you like the book!

Hi Jana,

Here's a reply that I just posted to Dee in another forum here. She had a similar question You might find it helpful.



Hi Dee!

Getting tired after dinner can be a sign that you could improve upon your insulin control. Later afternoon and early evening is the time of day it will catch up with some people, and then they begin to feel the symptoms.

Liquid carbs (such as milk) don't work well from some people. The larger surface area of a liquid causes the carbs in it get into the blood stream faster than carbs from solid foods, which depending on your level of carb sensitivity can prevent you from being in the Zone.

Night time hunger could also mean you're not getting enough food during the day.

Here are some things to try.

1. First recalculate your protein requirement to make sure your block amount is appropriate. If you weigh 300 pounds or more, there is an alternative way to calculate your protein requirement. If this applies to you, I’ll be glad to explain in more detail.

2. Keep a food dairy noting specific foods and amounts, timing of meals, and how you feel 4 hours after each meal. Refer to the ZONE SUCCESS JOURNAL tab in QUICK START GUIDE (link at right).

3. Ease up on the amount of fruit you eat in a day and use berried for your fruit.

4. Reduce or eliminate all unfavorable carb from you menu

5. Include more low density veggies for your carb, or go with all low density veggies for carb for a few days and then gradually add a little fruit back into your menu.

6. Make sure you're adding enough monounsaturated fat to your meals and snacks. Here’s how Dr. Sears explains fat blocks (taken from MASTERING THE ZONE, page 292 and 293).

“Why is a fat block only 1.5 grams?
Every block of low-fat protein contains approximately 1.5 grams of “hidden fat”. Therefore, by adding one extra fat block (which is defined as 1.5 grams of fat) for each block of low-fat protein, you are actually consuming 3 grams of fat or two blocks (one internal in the protein and one external) for each protein block. If you are using fat-free protein sources, such as isolated protein powders, then you should be adding two blocks of fat to achieve the same ratio. Obviously, if you are eating higher fat protein choices, you would not be adding any extra fat blocks to your meal. Remember that every time you add additional fat blocks to a meal, they should be composed primarily of monounsaturated fat.”
______


Also Dee, if you'd like to post you meals/menus here I'll be happy to take a look and see if there's anything that could be changed to give you better results.

Thank you so much for the detailed suggestions, Sue.

I had assumed because I felt fine during the day that I was only doing my night-time snack wrong....I see now that I need to pay better attention to my earlier meals and snacks too. I have a feeling its likely too much fruit, and I know I have missed some fat on a few occasions because of having non-fat protein and not adding extra fat blocks to compensate. I'll keep a closer eye on these 2 things and hopefully it will solve my sleeping problem! If not I may take you up on your offer to post some menus/meals...but I'll give it the weekend to try without bothering you.

thanks again for your support and guidance

Jana

Glad to hear my info is helpful Jana!

Snack - string cheese, fruit, almonds 1 block

Dinner - round steak, large salad and cantalope, dressing

Welcome Jana, you will find the help you need here.

Bedtime snack - cottage cheese, raspberries, almonds. 2 blocks

Day block total - 13

Thanks Sue and sue,

I'm going to try to eat as little fruit as possible over the next couple of days and see if that makes a difference. My biggest challenges will be breakfast and the bedtime snack....just doesn't seem right to have all veggies at those times of the day but I'm sure I'll come up with something!

This morning I had a veggie frittata for breakfast with all low-density veggies for all 3 blocks...no fruit. So I guess I have all day to think up an appropriate bedtime snack that doesn't include fruit as well!

thanks again
Jana

You're welcome Jana!

Try things like salsa, hummus , spaghetti sauce, etc. for snacks and for breakfast omelets. Chili makea a great snack and goes well with eggs for breakfast, too. Another Zone classic ishardboiled eggs, yolks discarded.eggs filled with hummus.

Thanks for the suggestions Sue!! I find I have to be careful at bedtime as I often get heartburn while I sleep (much reduced these days thanks to the Zone!) so I LOVE salsa during the day (had it in my egs this morning) but it probably wouldn't work at bedtime. I really like the idea of hardboiled eggs filled with hummus...I think that will be the snack for tonight! When you make the hummus do you just mash the chickpeas and mix in 1 block of LF mayo? or is there another way...sorry I've never made it before

thanks
Jana

I buy it already made. Hummus is typically made with chick peas, oil or tahini, lemon juice, and flavorings. You can probably google it to find recipes.

Ohh...already made sounds easier doesn't it?!! I've got to go out later this afternoon so I'll have a look to see if the grocery store has it. thanks again, Sue! Jana

You're welcome!

My favorite is Joseph's Roasted Red Pepper flavor.

Thought this was going to be about morning hunger, but it isn't ending up that way! New to the forum, hope you don't mind me jumping in late!

Had to read all the way through this one....

BTW, I do like prepared hummus, much better than making it myself!

Now, morning hunger is usually a signal from your bedtime snack. Could also be a clue from dinner, too; but I would really hesitate to claim that it is coming from any other part of your day, otherwise I would think you would be having more problems during the day, too. I was just curious to know if the morning hunger has been cured?

Jaybe - yes, the morning hunger seems to be solved by increasing that snack to two blocks. As you may have noted, between all the other stuff, I was find during the day. I shifted things a bit to make sure I can have a two block snack at night and that seems to have fixed the problem. Sorry that I didn't post a conclusion, wasn't sure people would get that far on this thread. I'm glad you had the perseverance to make it all the way through.

Ha! As a new forum member, I was picking through threads that had interesting topics. I saw this one, and when I read where it went, I guess it really got off track! But, I was interested to hear how it all came out. I am glad that the 2 block bedtime snack worked out.

I sure hope to get to know all of you a bit better.

Jaybe - if you stick around you will get to know several of us that post fairly regularly. I hope you enjoy your time here.

There are some interesting topics. You will find that many threads too get off track at some point. We welcome your input. Look forward to seeing more of you around the forum

Oh, absolutely, things do tend to get off track. I am glad that you did better, though. Seemed to me that it was important to bring that back to the top. If there is one thing that I have learned in the Zone, it is that not everything is black and white. There are several shades of grey in the books. I believe it is up to us to figure out what shade of grey that may be!

Jaybe - I totally agree. We are each individuals and what works for you may not work for me and vice versa. That is what I think is go great about the Zone, that it is a zone, not an exact point.

Glad to hear that your hunger issue has been resolved sue!

I'm doing much better as well, thank you for your advice Sue. I cut out fruit completely for a couple of days and found I was much better during the night, when I added some fruit (2 blocks / day) back in I was still fine through the night BUT when I eat one of those fruit blocks before bed, I wake up hungry during the night.....so I guess it is the way my body digests the fruit itself. I think as long as I avoid fruit in my bedtime snack I'll stay ITZ.

thanks so much for your help with this!

BTW Sue, I couldn't find the hummus that you suggested but did find one called '60 pepper hummus'.....very yummy! Love your new pic

Thank you Jana, sounds like you are doing much better yourself. That's awesome!

Thanks Jana. I like to keep changing it. :-)

You're welcome, and thanks for the update, too!

ok, so I finally got Toxic Fat. I started reading through it. I will post any comments as I proceed. One thing I did notice is that it gives a 28 day menu near the back. I've been getting bored with my meals, so I'm going to follow that to spice things up a bit and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted.

ok, this zone breakfast as written in TF is not a good one for me. I'm 1 1/2 hours out, I have heartburn, which I never get, and I'm hungry. So what this tells me is it was not good for my insulin level. Will tweak this meal in the future. Now for others it may work great, but not with my individual make up. Oh and for those wondering, I ate the 3 block, women's version.