I've been a follower of the Zone Diet for some time. Unfortunately due to time restraints and work and whatnot I've been following it on and off for a few years. When I first did it I succeeded in shifting all my extra poundage together with some intense exercising. This left me fat-less and also a bit muscle-less, but I was fit and happy. Unfortunately I let myself go for a time, and then last year I had a knee operation which didn't go too well and so I had twice the workload: Shift the extra poundage and get fit again with a bad knee.

I set myself to it this year, and after a few months saw the benefits of both my diet and exercising. But I seem to have struck a bad spot in my program and now cannot seem to shed the extra pounds I have. I think I'm overdoing the exercises, and this makes me think I'm using my muscles to create the much needed ATP to carry on going instead of the fat reserves. I'm working out 3 to 4 times a week, but I'm in the gym 2 to 3 hours. I normally do a weights session followed by an hour - hour-and-a-half walking fast on the treadmill to burn fat. Once a week I do BodyPump and then another hour - hour-and-a-half on the treadmill.

My block intake should be 14 if I do moderate exercise, and 16 if intense (everyday). Every once in a while I increase the fat intake 2x, but these are in the form of peanuts or walnuts or almonds (I don't take any ZoneDiet products because I don't have the economy for it).

If anyone can give me any pointers or advice as to what I might be doing wrong, please do so. I'm starting to think this ain't working for me :o

Hi Diego. Sorry to hear about your knee. After looking at your program here are some suggestions:

1) What type of resistance training are you doing? If possible please outline your routine and your goals in doing it. It would make it a lot easier to give helpful suggestions.

2) You are doing wwwwaaaaaayyyy to much fast walking on the treadmill. Go to HIIT traing instead. If you can't run (I am assuming you can't due to your knee) go to the elyptical; way less knee stress (by the way if you hear 'experts' say the elyptical is useless don't listen; it is an amazing piece of equipment).

3) Split your days so you are not doing weights and cardio. on the same day (if possible). Get in, get out, and let your body recover. By staying the gym as long as you are are are glycogen depleting and damaging muscle tissue way to much. A workout should not take more than an hour, absolute maximum.

4) Try increasing your food blocks. If for a while you find that isn't working, go back to your original block amaount (maybe a bit more) and drop some carbs and increase your EFA's. Doing this has helped me continue to burn fat doing the Zone.

5) If you enjoy walking, keep it for the outside. It is beautiful this time of year. Enjoy it. Do it in your spare time. However when it comes to exercise, remember more is not always better (actually when it comes to training it usually never is).

6) If possible post a typical daily eating plan so we can see your food choices. That will help greatly in determining things.

Hope this helps Diego. I am off to the gym; squat and deadlift day (ugh).

Take care.

Hi George,
Thanks a ton for the advice. I had a passing suspicion I was over-doing it but couldn't really confirm it because I don't know anyone else who follows the ZoneDiet (Sacrilege!!!)

I'll try and answer you point by point:

1) Resistance training: I was running (I managed to get my knee to running status a few months ago but as that does not help much with fat burning I dropped it and decided to walk instead) but now I only have the once a week BodyPump session to get my heart pumping. I was doing it 2-3 times a week but I was burning way too much muscle so decided to drop it and do weights instead.

Basically I'll do a 5 minute warm-up followed by either a full body workout following a very old but highly effective bodybuilding program (Reg Parker's 5x5 routine) or I'll select 2 or 3 muscle groups and give them a good beating, then spend the fabled hour - hour-and-a-half on the treadmill walking fast.
Once a week I do an hour of BodyPump, pushing my limits, and then the treadmill routine.

2) HIIT: I've just looked it up and will give it a try. Sounds interesting. I'd always thought this was just for increasing resistance faster than the running X amount of miles a day faster each day... Any suggestions in this area?

3) I think I can fit in a training session every day (mon to Fri). Can I do Weights-Cardio-Weights-Cardio-Weights? This'll give me a day in between to rest the muscle group, and if I do legs on Friday I got two days to recover.

4) I'll try to increase my blocks to 18. EFA's are only Omega 3 and 6 no? I've taken a look and can only find EFA in Walnuts. Aren't peanuts or Macadamia nuts suitable?

5) Walking for the outside... My wife is going to love you <img src='desktopmodules/ntforums/images/emoticons/tongue.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='Tongue' align='absmiddle'>

6) OK, food intake...Let's see if I can get everything right:

Breakfast:
2 slices wholegrain bread with low fat cheese and chicken/turkey breast ham + 1 cup of skimmed milk + 24/30 peanuts OR small fruit salad + cup of skimmed milk + 24/30 peanuts.

Lunch: chicken breast fillet + lettuce/tomato/onion salad with a drop of olive oil and vinegar.

Snack: 1 low fat yogurt + 3/6 almonds (will increase this to make it 2 blocks) OR 80gr tinned tuna (approx.) + 100 gr fruit (approx.) + 3/6 almonds

Dinner: Fish (Salmon/Haddock/Tuna) + lettuce/tomato/onion salad with drop of olive oil and vinegar.

"Midnight" Snack: 1 low fat Yogurt + 3/6 almonds.

This is basically it. I try to stick to the better option foods as long as I don't grow too tired of them, but I'm being as strict as possible.

Hope this helps and thanks again for your time and advice <img src='desktopmodules/ntforums/images/emoticons/smile.gif' height='20' width='20' border='0' title='Smile' align='absmiddle'>

Diego

Diego, the Zone recommends to avoid omega 6 fats, with the exception of organic toasted sesame oil. The Zone recommendation is to add primarily monounsaturated fats to your meals, and to supplement daily with an ultra-refined fish oil concentrate.

He is so cute Sue....

Thanks Chris Gotta love that hair sticking straight up!

Hi Sue,
Thx for the clarification. But what I need to know are the sources I can get Omega 3 from, preferably from nuts, as I really don't have the cash to be buying the supplements.

I'm still not sure that I'm getting everything right. I have this sinking sensation that if not for the amount of exercise I'm doing I wouldn't be losing the extra luggage (little as it might be).

Thx again,


Diego

You're welcome Diego!

Plant omega 3's (found in walnuts, flax seed, etc.) are short chain omega 3 and will not substitute well for the long chain Omega 3's you get from supplemental fish oil. You can read more detailed info about this in THE SOY ZONE.

It might help you to reread your Zone book. There's a lot fo info and you may be missing some little thing which could make a big difference in results. I recommend reading TOXIC FAT if you haven/t already read it. When they read a Zone book for a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) time, even long time Zoners are sometimes surprised to find things they missed.

2 to 3 hours in the gym? That will burn out the most dedicated person! Try weight training with large, compound movements done at high intensity for shorter periods and get plenty of rest.

It's like getting over the high carb idea. Once you realize bicep curls and the pec. deck machine are your enemy, wasting your time and doing nothing for your fitness, you'll be better off. Learn the proper technique for deadlifts, presses, and squats and you will be well on your way. You'll need to be a little careful with the knee, but you can squat safely. Remember, below parallel is the only way to squat. See the following quote from Mark Rippetoe, the greatest (imho) strength and conditioning coach ever.

"The only time LSD (long slow distance) is necessary is if your going to compete in a sport that requires it. It is far inferior to CrossFit-type metcon for producing an increase in VO2 max, it interferes with power and strength production, it can be quite catabolic and immune-suppressive in high doses, it destroys muscle mass, and the people that do it usually wear silly clothes."

I'll qualify my response by admitting I am a dedicated Crossfitter. Six months of Crossfit and four months of the Zone and I have gone from 35% BF to 15%. I'm more ripped, stronger, and faster than I was playing high school football and wrestling (I'm 39 now). The Crossfit site is free and has TONS of excellent videos for learning exercise technique. Good Luck. I'll end with another Mark Rippetoe quote:

"…we have not spent the last 65 million or so years finely honing our physiology to watch Oprah. Like it or not, we are the product of a very long process of adaptation to a harsh physical existence, and the past couple centuries of comparative ease and plenty are not enough time to change our genome. We humans are at our best when our existence mirrors, or at least simulates, the one we are still genetically adapted to live. And that is the purpose of exercise."

Hey Sue,
Seems I'll have to save a few pennies to get the Omega RX supplement... I'm eating way too many nuts (I feel like I've de-evolved back into a monkey of sorts) so it might not be a bad idea to ingest something more liquid.
Thx again for your advice, I'll be sure to re-read the two books on the Zone I have and look for some others.

Diego

Hey Dennis:
Seems I've learned two new things about fitness in this thread alone: HIIT and now CrossFitting.
I'm also 39, was an athletics sprinter in my youth and then took up Tennis when I stopped being the fastest. I only took up going to the gym as an easy escape for doing exercise when I didn't have a tennis partner, or someone to play Basketball or go running with, etc. You can imagine how it is. Anyway, I'm not a muscle freak weight trainer, but I like to push my limits and it's always good to look fit, not necessarily to others but to oneself, especially if we've been doing sports since we could stagger along by ourselves.
I'll have to look into Crossfiting and see whether it fits into my schedule. If it were up to me I'd be doing sports all day long, but alas! it isn't possible.
And no, despite spending 2 to 3 hours a session in the gym, I never felt burnt out. Quite the contrary, I always left feeling I could have done extra, even if I was dragging my feet all the way to the shower.

Thx again for your advice.

Diego

Do Crossfit and you wont feel like spending 2-3 hrs in the gym. I did a 15min workout today that had me on the ground afterwards. If you have 3 hrs to spend on going to the gym Crossfit will definitely fit into your schedule!

I'm thinking I may have to get the omega-RX stuff o after reading this post.

adrian

Well, I've been looking into Crossfit and while it definitely seems to be "ma thang" unfortunately my gym is in no way shape or form even remotely close to being Crossfit friendly. The only time it is not bursting with people is between 2.30 to 4.30 pm, which means I'd have to change my schedule. And the times I go it is so full of people I wouldn't be able to jump around from one exercise to another as required. Not only this, but it is a small gym in a small mediterranean town of the Spanish coast, and I doudt many people have heard or even know anything about Crossfitting. They'd all think I'd gone mad... Nevertheless I'm gonna try to fit at least some of the exercises into my daily routine, if not in the gym then at home, even though here I always seem to get less mileage for my buck ... odd.

Anyway, thx again for the eye opener with regards to HIIT and Crossfitting. And I thought I was up-to-date by doing BodyPump...

Hey Diego,
I'm new to the Zone, but I have to tell you about the Eliptical trainer machine. I used to run until my knee started hurting. I then went to walking. One day, all the treadmils were either taken or broken, so I tried the Eliptical (Precor). I've never gone back to the treadmill. It is way easier on the knees and a heck of a workout!
Best wishes on your efforts.
Robin

Hey Robin:
Thx for the tip, but I'm not doing any cardio atm - except for the day after I miss a zone meal, and then I do an uphill HIIT - so not using treadmills or elliptical. In the next few weeks, when I plateau on Starting Strength, I'll either move on to the intermediate SS program or directly onto CrossFit. I'm taking it nice and easy, learning the proper technique for the movements I'm gonna be using in CF, and adapting the Zone Diet to my energy requirements. But if I ever have need of a treadmill I'll give the elliptical a try. Think I tried it a couple times a few years ago but never got the hang of it or something.

Diego