kimberly,

Yes, 1/2 cup of blueberries is usually 1 carbohydrate block. As John mentioned, if your product label has different info, you can go by the label. Keep in mind it's very important for carbohydrate sensitive individuals not to go overboard with fruit.

I've taken supplements for as long as I can remember, well before I began eating the Zone Diet 15 years ago. My doctors have worked with me to design my supplementation program to meet my specific needs (the trick is finding a doctor with an expansive knowledge base in preventative and dietary interventions). I liberally drinking green tea for a long time, for the polyphenol it contains that promotes fat burning, but I prefer taking a supplement for it. I take Dr. Sears Zone Weight Loss Support.

http://www.zonediet.com/Shop/Supple...cific.aspx

I don't eat a lot of veggies. So, what veggies do you suggest I eat a lot of that won't carb me out? If I eat more of them, will I stay in the Zone longer? I thought I have tried eating more veggies with my zone meals and I was still hungry but I have to try again and pay attention.

Hi kimberly,

If you'd like to post a menu of your meals and snacks for a typical day, I'll be happy to take a look and make suggestions specifically with your carb sensitivity in mind.

The best veggies for the Zone are things like mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, artichoke hearts, peppers, spinach and other greens.

Thanks Sue, I was trying to use the superfoods everyday for every meal but it just isn't working. So, I have to go back and kind of start over again using the superfoods two times a day.

I will try to post a typical day once I figure out what I am going to eat Thanks for the help. It would be great especially since you are also carb sensitive.

You're welcome kimberly. I'll be happy to help! :-)

In the meantime my tip is to keep a food diary, noting how you feel 4 hours after each meal. It'll a big help when it comes to adjusting for your needs. Even if you're not sure quite what to adjust yet, once you figure it out, you can go back into the food diary and tweak those past meals that didn't quite work for you. You'll end up with lots of meals to choose from that work well for you, and no more guessing. The diary will also tip you off to which carbs work better for you than others. No two people are exactly alike, so it won't be the same foods for everyone. Some of the favorable carbohydrate foods I really have to keep to a minimum are lentils, grapes, oranges and tangerines (both worst of all these foods), kiwi, applesauce and certain varieties of apples.

In general it will be better for you to eliminate unfavorable carbohydrate foods, eat most or all of your carbohydrate from favorable vegetables, and treat fruit and legumes more as condiments. If you treat fruit (even favorable fruit) and legumes (hummus, black beans, lentils, etc.) more like unfavorable carbohydrate foods, you'll be well on your way to staying in the Zone.

Kimberly,

I just had a nice long post for you, but lost it! Frustrating--I think the website updates are affecting posting ability, or maybe this thread is just getting too large.

In any case, will try this again...

I know that your veggie "likes" are limited, so feel free to post the veggies that you are willing to eat, and then we can work with it. Basically, if you follow the food guide, then choose the veggies that are "low density".

I hear you about getting hungry on veggie meals, and this happens to me, as well. If I eat a meal that is all-veggie, I am so stuffed I can barely move, but then I am hungry in 3 hours. So, I end up mixing densities. I will do a very low density veggie, and mix it up with some legumes, and then up the fat block to 5-6 blocks. I would start out with maybe 1.5 blocks of the veggie, and 1/2 block of the legumes, and see how that works.

If you still want to work it out with the zone breads, Dr. Sears had emailed me specific instructions on how to work them in, which I didn't include in my post earlier when I posted about what he had told me. To summarize, he said to start with one product per day for 2 weeks, then after that period to increase it to 2 products. If you want me to forward the entire email to you, I would be happy to do that:
cranberrycat@hotmail.com

Green beans are a great veggie, where you do not have to consume large amounts for 1 block, like 10 cups of lettuce = 1 block. 1 cup green beans = 1 block. 1/4 cup black beans = 1 block.

Thanks, I will email you for that info.

The veggies I will eat:
yellow squash, mushrooms, broccoli,celery, green beans, zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes, red, yellow, or orange peppers. With my schedule, I like to be able to eat them raw whenever possible but I find these very boring alone without something on them or to dip them in.

I love Hummus but I am always hungry after I eat it. I am going to treat beans, hummus and fruit like condiments and see what happens.

It amazes me how many cups we need to consume to get to three blocks! Three cups of green beans for a 3 blk meal is a lot of green beans. I have to admit, when I do eat them I don't eat the three cups. I will eat the right amount of everything else but the veggies. I eat a lot when I do include the veggies but don't measure to be sure they are exactly what they should be.

Kimberly, with your carb sensitivity, can I suggest tweaking it a bit? I think it would help you immensely with regard to the "veggie volume" issue, and also with the carb sensitivity...

Per meal:
3 blocks protein, 2 blocks carb, 5-6 blocks fat

When we carb-sensitive people are unable to tolerate a balance of 3-3-3, switching it to 3-2-5 usually makes a huge difference wtih regard to your hunger control. How about giving that a try for now, and see if it helps? Let me know!

kimberly,

" I eat a lot when I do include the veggies but don't measure to be sure they are exactly what they should be."

That's fine.

Once you have that info on how you feel 4 hours after your meals (whether or not your'e hungery and whether or not it is focused or unfocused hunger), you'll be able to decide on the correct adjsutment. If you decide to go ahead and immediately drop to 2 carbohydrate blocks in a 3 block meal, as suggested to you in the previous person's posting, I would suggest keeping fat at 3 blocks, and not increasing it now (one major adjustment at a time; you may not even need to increase fat).

That is what I am going to do. I was doing that somewhat on suggestions from this board but I will try it for all meals. I use almonds a lot for my fat so I will eat 15-18 of them for the 5-6 blocks. What do you think about adding extra fat when I eat a superfood? Thanks!

I have a question about Turkey Bacon. Three strips is one block. Do people really eat 9 or more pieces when adding this as their fat?

I am going to try Sue's and Cran's suggestions on different days and see what works best for me. I will report back.

Yes, I think that the additional fat to my superzone meals did help me out a lot.

Re: turkey bacon, when I eat it, I generally have it with eggs. So, I don't eat 9 strips alone. Also, I use the "99% fat free" bacon, so not a lot of fat to count there, I use it as a protein.

kimberly,

I wouldn't recommend going beyond the fat amounts given in the ZoneFast plan for now. The plan already contains additional fat when you follow the directions. You could possibly end up preventing the loss of stored body fat. Barry Sears recommends to eat as little as you need, within Zone guidelines, in order to keep you in the Zone.

Turkey bacon is eaten as a protein for the Zone, not added as a fat.


Keep us updated, and good luck!

I also am hungry shortly after eating hummus. I do find that a condiment size unfavorable carb helps vs just all veggies. However, spaghetti squash for some reason holds me longer. Don't know why. Since you like yellow squash, have you tried it? It is very versatile. i make a whole one on the weekend, shred it, and it keeps for various meals all week. Have you tried roasting green beans tossed in a little olive oil on some parchment paper? Add a little sea salt and they are a real treat!

I don't think I have tried spaghetti squash but I will. I need veggies that can be cooked on a Sunday and last for a good part of the week. I also need veggies that I can eat raw during the week. The green beans sound good. My husband does all the cooking, so I will have him spice them up for me! Thanks!

Kimberly,

Just going back to the zone 123 foods, I just wanted to chime in again to say that there is NOT additional fat built into these foods. Each item is a balanced 2 block meal/snack, no added fat.

The sample meal plan is just a suggestion, not a definitive way of eating. Some of those meals have added fat, but not all of them, and they certainly don't follow the same suggestions as per the "grocery additions" document, as far as adding in veggies, etc.

On the other hand, if you follow the traditional zone, you can easily make the 3-2-5 adjustment without being at risk of adding too much fat. In caloric terms, there is no difference. Dropping one block of carb is 36 calories, and adding 2-3 additional blocks of fat is 40 calories. I know we don't count calories here, but this example is helpful to illustrate that additional fat is not your enemy. Most carb sensitive people do much better in the Zone with a bit less carb and a bit more fat.

And, speaking of spaghetti squash, someone else started a thread under the "cooking tips" topic with spaghetti squash recipes. Feel free to browse over there!
http://www.zonediet.com/Community/F...fault.aspx

Sue, do you mean that there is additional fat built in when I add their suggestions? I am asking because I thought the superfoods were equal to 2 blocks of each.

kimberly,

"Sue, do you mean that there is additional fat built in when I add their suggestions? I am asking because I thought the superfoods were equal to 2 blocks of each."

Yes, I do. Yes, there is additional fat built in when you add their suggestions. Most all of those foods in the condiment list in the plan literature are fats, containing around 2-3 blocks of fat each. When you follow the plan instructions you will usually be adding these condiments to your 3 meals each day. You shouldn't need to add more than that. You're right, the baked goods and pastas already contain all the fat you need in a 1-2-3 balance. Try not to think of blocks when putting together meals with them. It's not necessary.

I still think that the program is confusing. If you follow the sample meal plan, that is one thing, but if you follow the instructions on the "grocery additions", then one plan contradicts the other.

after reading through all this I don't think I want to try superzone foods. I used to be hypoglycemic, and now i'm diabetic. I am absolutely carb sensitive and pretty sure this wouldn't work for me. Has anyone tried other brands of low carb breads with any success? I've been looking at www.locarbu.com at the zero net carb breads, but not sure what to think. Would be nice to be able to make a sandwich without worrying about carbs.

Hi Debra,

I'm extremely carbohydrate sensitive and have tired lots of low carbohydrate breads, all with no luck (crashing badly) unless I took only a bite in and entire meal. In my pre-Zone days I experienced scary and debilitating blood sugar problems on a daily basis. The SuperZone foods work very well for me. BTW, they are made for use by diabetics. They are they way to go for people who want to be able to eat a sandwich without having to worry about the carbohydrates in the bread spiking their blood sugar. The lower carbohydrate content of SuperZonefoods is not the only reason they work so well. They are actually baked in a different way (called "Molecular Baking") that prevents them from spiking blood sugar. In another thread in this forum, Zone Tech Support explained how it works in more detail.

Debra, as you probably have been reading all of us react differently to the superfoods. I would just place a small order and try them to see if they work for you. You might not react well eating them at every meal but they may work eating them for some meals. I think it is worth the try. I am still fine tuning the superfoods into my daily meals/snacks.

Debra, I don't want to try to dissuade you either way in your decision, but I would suggest calling zone labs to discuss your concerns. You should tell them that you are leary of ordering the foods, and the reasons why.

No promises, but they may go out on a limb and offer a free sample, so you can see for yourself.

New Stuff:
I got my second shipment yesterday, perfect timing as I was getting ready for an overnight trip to a convention. Normally, for the "luncheon" part of the day's seminar, they serve deli meats and breads. I figured I could bring 2 slices of bread and use that for my sandwich instead of what they had to offer.

And, so that is exactly what I did. I ended up with 2 slices of turkey, a slice of tomato, lettuce, and some mustard for a sandwich. I also had some raw veggies on the side.

I did not get hungry, but I have developed that "sickly" ill feeling in the pit of my tummy again.

As I recall, the first day of the last food trial, I had that reaction, but it subsided after the first day...so I will not quit yet. However, I am following Barry's advice and only having one product per day for one week, and the rest of the meals as traditional zone meals.