First let me state that in no way am I implying that this is anyway related to this diet this is just a question. I started dialing in the zone some time last week after reading for months on the crossfit web site and constant mentions of zone diet. Checked the forums, got the book, and calculated the blocks. Started great really loved the not hungry/not bogged down feeling. Great energy that lasted all day. Not doing the 3:00 pm drag like I always fight through. Good mental clarity and sharpness. Any ways I really felt good and was loving the diet first time I can remeber ever looking forward to eating veggies (carnivor). Early yesterday morning I had a wierd sensation come over me and last all day. I woke up and did the normal breakfast zone friendly but high on processed carbs (changing that). Felt good in the early morning (start work at 6 am). Then notice I felt wierd in my head. Almost a medicine head type symptom. Had taken several over the counter fat pills (just throwing that in not saying its the pills). I felt a moderate feeling of dizzyness and like my eyes wanted to cross (wierd I know). Felt good right after meals then feeling would return. Anyways woke up this morning feeling like my old self. If the feeling was still there or worse was going to doctor today but feel good. My main question is did you have any feelings moving towards the zone from your previous eating habits? Any wierd days or feelings. Anyone experience something like this?

I have never experienced a feeling like that at all from eating in the Zone. If you are looking for an answer, I would put my money on the pills, not on the food, although the highly processed carbs could have contributed. But, most likely it was the pills.

Might not hurt to check with the doctor, even if the symptoms are gone. Espcially if it scared you to some degree, I think a doctor could make a better decision on whether it was related to the pills, or if there is something else going on.

BADD, unfavorable carbs do that to me, and some medications do that to me. You should always check with your doctor when in doubt about symptoms.

I enquired about the light-headedness and dizziness as well several weeks ago in this forum. It really bothered me for the first few weeks of following the zone and I found it worrying as I would feel as though I was close to passing out...and sometimes I was teaching a lesson (I teach secondary school) when the sensations came over me. I felt like I couldn't control my eyes too so the cross-eyed feeling you tell of makes sense to me. It has subsided now and I can only assume that it was part of some de-tox or something that my body was going through in its adjustment from a carb-based diet to one evenly divided between protein and carb with FAR fewer carbs than I was used to eating in a day. I don't know if this helps at all but it was good for me to hear of someone else who had experienced something similar to what I have.

Heidi, glad to hear you're feeling better now!

It strikes me odd that this could all be related to unfavorable carbs, especially with newbies. If that is the case, then why would this reaction have never occurred in the pre-zone days, when all kinds of unfavorable carbs were consumed? Just an observation.

My thought was that it has been a reaction to the ABSENCE of unfavourable carbs. It seems to me that my body had been so used to carbs (and very low protein diet) that when they were taken away THAT was what caused the light-headedness/dizziness, etc. I'm no doctor or scientist so this is purely my own conclusion based on my own experience. I DO, however, feel more stabilized now, although Christmas took its toll a bit. I am getting back into what I now consider to be my 'normal' zone eating routine but have not experienced any of the side-effects I felt in August and September when I first started the zone way of life. I wonder if anyone else out there has experienced this 'symptom' in the early days of zone eating?

Heidi, that would make more sense to me. Sue was indicating in her post that this feeling for her was related to TOO MANY unfavorable carbs.

LOL! I guess if I were walking aroud cross-eyed after eating unfavorable carbs, I would be more inclined to eat favorably, too!

Heidi, another secnario, it could also have also been to too little fat in the previous meal(s). New Zoners often add only the monounsaturated fat blocks, forgetting to add the "missing fat". This would also cause the symptoms you felt, even when ony eating favorable carb. There are other possible scenarios also.

So, if a slight miscalculation in blocks could cause your eyes to cross, then why are there not more unzoned people walking the streets with crossed eyes and dizziness?!?

I can understand how someone under an extreme situation could have this reaction, but generally when we are talking about people zoning and having this reaction, it seems odd to me that it would be due to the food, as zoners are generally fairly close to the balance, and certainly not out in the extreme.

To BADD and Heidi,

The descriptions of the "weird feelings" in your head, feeling crosseyed, light headed and dizzy are all some of the of the many possible hypoglycemic symptoms that fall into the category Dr. Sears describes as feeling "unfocused". In addition, I have first hand experience with those specific feeling. They happen to me the exact symptoms I have as a reaction to eating too much carb for my needs.

Heidi, as I mentioned to BADD in this thread a couple days ago, consult your doctor about unusual symptoms when you feel it's necessary.

Excellent point, Sue. I think I had also mentioned checking with the doctor in my first response.

If these indeed are severe signs of hypoglycemia, they are definitely NOT normal responses (the cross-eyed-ness is the one that really gets me thinking). Hypoglycemia can happen to most people at some time, but normally people don't suffer such a severe reaction, and this is a bit concerning to me, it should be looked into further (hence, all of my questions to assess the issue).

I agree that it's probably part of the detox factor!

I feel alot better now and more focused. I really enjoy this eating style and for the first time look forward to veggies. I atributed it with a detox of sorts myself. That really freaked me out how much it was alike. I only had that one feeling that one day. I was really killing alot of food (super crappy food, high sugar, high gly, high sat fat and lots of alcohol). No real water lots of cokes. Glad to be on the zone now.

Excellent progress BADD! I'm glad you're feeling better. Thanks for letting us know.

Excellent progress BADD! I'm glad you're feeling better. Thanks for letting us know.

Excellent progress BADD! I'm glad you're feeling better. Thanks for letting us know.