I am new to the zone diet and know nothing about the bars and shakes. Are these used as snacks or as a meal?

Hi Michael!

Dr. Sears Zone bars can be eaten for meals or snacks. 1 bar contains 2 fully balanced blocks. 1/2 a bar is a 1 block snack, 1 1/2 bars a 3 block meal, and 2 bars a 4 block meal.

Dr. Sears Zone shakes are usually used for a meal.

Your the best Sue. I was just reading an older post re. this and saw your answer. So you cannot buy these bars and shakes at the store? correct? Why not, I wonder.

Thanks Michael, and yes, correct.

How many blocks are in a shake?

What about Balance Bars?

One Dr. Sears Zone Shake packet makes 3 blocks when mixed with 1 cup of 2% milk, 4 blocks when mixed with 2 cups of 2% milk. You can read more about it here:

http://www.zonediet.com/products/pr...nerShakesV

Hi Michael!

The Zone bars can be purchased at almost any grocery store and some gas stations. The shakes cannot. If you're looking for a meal replacement bar (3 blocks), another good one that is "zoned" out is the Cliff protein builders bar. It has 20g protein, 27g carb, and 8g fat. That one I also get at the grocery store. Woodmans has a great selection if you have one of those near you!

Sarah

re:

"The Zone bars can be purchased at almost any grocery store and some gas stations."

Sorry, but those aren't the Dr. Sears Zone bars made by Zone Labs that we discuss here, and they do not contain the patented nutrition contol that prevents humger for several hours. Barry Sears has no affiliation with the company the makes those bars, and he does not endorse them.

You can read more about peoples experiences with both brands of bars with a search of this site.

I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but I am hungry in less than two hours after drinking a zone shake made with 1% milk. Does anyone have suggestions to make this a better meal replacement option for me? Thanks

Hi Diane,

You're hungry because you're not getting enough fat when you mix a Zone shake packet with 1% milk. Note the directions on the packet, which say to mix with 2% milk, or soy milk (they contain more fat than 1% milk). If you try it mixed in 2% milk and still become significantly hungry in 2 hours, then try eating some almonds with it the next time.

Thank you, Sue. I'll follow your advice.

I had no idea that the Zone bars found in the grocery stores weren't endorced by Dr. Sears. I'm glad to read that here. When I eat those bars I crave more... they are just like candy bars to me. Are the "offical" zone bars less sweet,so not to induce a craving for more?

What other items do you order from Dr. Sears? What are your favorite protein shakes?

Me? My favorite shakes are the chocolate and vanilla, but I eat the strawberry flavor too, for variety. They're also good mixed into plain yogurt too (like a pudding). I use almost all of the Zone food products. The olive oil is the best I've ever tasted, light and with a buttery feel to it. I eat it every day, and I used to hate olive oil! Same goes for Dr. Sears Zone Protein Powder; stirs into things easily and has no offensive taste or texture, and there’s no aftertaste (in other words, none of the offensive things that turned me off to other brands of protein powder). My favorite bars are Sweet and Salty Nut Crunch, Cocoa Crisp, and Chocolate Fudge, but we eat them all. I don't know how the level of sweetness compares to the various bars sold in stores but no, Dr. Sears Zone bars don't cause carvings, and they're delicious!. I don't eat the bars found in stores because when I tried them many years ago (prior to Zone Labs bars) I'd get hungry and shaky (not good!). Funny that you should compare those to candy bars because Dr. Sears has called other bars out there "glorified candy bars"! Here's an interesting article about the difference with Dr. Sears Zone Bars: http://www.zonediet.com/tabid/130/i...ology.aspx

Hi Sue,

Congratulations on your maintenance! I started the Zone today and I was very full with Breakfast Omelette that I followed from the book. I really love the photos of a lot of the recipes you have and I know I can see that I can make them look as appetizing and easy. It's good to know I don't have to make it look like out of the magazine.

When I cook I have to use recipes and follow it with the easiest ingredients that are easy to find at the farmers' markets like Trader Joe's or Sprouts here in Arizona. Thanks for sharing the photos here. I intend to buy another Zone book with more recipes in it but for now I'm using the Anti Inflammation Diet book and want to use the recipes in there for a month so I can make some modifications when needed and be able to know how to measure by "eyeballing" it. The Breakfast Omelette was a lot to eat and I'm going to reduce half of some of the ingredients next time. I also ate a little late.

I have a few chronic "ills" as I would like to call them and hopefully I can lose the medications by continuing using The Zone.

"Dee"

Hi Dee, nice to meet you! Thanks you so much! Have fun as you learn about the Zone. Once I was in the Zone there was no looking back. :-)

Trader Joe's is one of my favorite stores. In fact I have a post in the Cooking Tips Forum here about some of the things I buy there.

A tip, if you cut some of the ingredients in half, but not all, the finished dish won't have the balance of P, C and F needed to keep you in the Zone. If a meal is too filling, a better thing to do would be to eat half of it, then eat the other half a couple hours later, to make sure you get you entire protein requirement. Also, to make certain you stay in the Zone, you'd eat half of everything in the proportionately. It won't work if you simply saved some fruit in the meal for later. You must eat P, C and F in the specified Zone 1-2-3 proportions each time you eat.

I'll be happy to help if you have questions. Good luck!

Cool, it's not the protein that I'm having a problem but the carbohydrates. Correction, I was using the Oriental Vegetable Omelet. I'm on Day 4. Yesterday when I had my Late Night Snack, my blood sugar spiked really high but I used fat-free plain yogurt, added 1 packet of Stevia and the slivered almonds. It was too bland-tasting! Oh on Day 4, I have to change the second snack because I don't drink. So I looked in another area of the website, I'm thinking maybe having 1 oz of yogurt cheese, 1 cup of celery, 2 Tablespoons of hummus and 3 almonds. I wasn't understanding about the Zone blocks but I figured that celery and hummus both being carbohydrates, I just combined them and cut them in half each. You know, PCF! I hope I'm understanding correctly! You think?

And I think I'm going to change my Zone Meal Timing so that it doesn't happen again. I have a hard time keeping awake until 11:00 pm to eat a snack especially when I have to wake up 5:30 am in the morning so I don't get 8 hours of sleep. I'm use to waking up early and going to bed early. I am changing the Snacks and Dinner times; Afternoon Snack 2:30 pm, Dinner 5:00 pm, and Night Snack 9:00 pm. I read somewhere some Newbies also changed their Zone Meal Timings, but couldn't find any Zoners' postings on it.

Thanks,
Dee

Hi Dee,

By switching to fat free yogurt made the snack too low in fat. The fat in the low fat protein source is needed to complete the balance of Zone meals and snacks.

It's not necessary to stay up late to eat your snack. You would typically simply eat it within the hour before bedtime. There are no set times to eat, only time frame rules that should be used; basically try not to go more than 5 hours after a meal to your next meal or snack. Most Zone meals will keep you satisfied and ‘in the Zone’ for about 4 to 6 hours, but that doesn't mean you have to wait 4 hours after a meal to eat again. Eating again in less than 4 hours is fine. That said, you shouldn't eat 2 meals at once. To stay in the Zone, most people should eat no more than a maximum of about 5 blocks at a time.

The following info from Dr. Sears will help you understand more about 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.”

Common fat free proteins eaten on the Zone diet are egg whites, protein powder, fat free dairy products, some deli-style meats, and some soy products.

I get up early, around 5-5:30. I also have to plan my meal timing differently. So, I eat around 6:30, then lunch around 11, snack around 3, then dinner aroud 5-6, snack before bed (whenever that might be). If my dinner is going to be late, then I steal a block from dinner and eat another snack, then a smaller dinner.