I've been successful in many things since starting the Zone 10 days ago:

1) I've been in the zone for the entire time without one off-zone indulgence
2) I've learned to cook several different meals via the ZoneFast 1-2-3 program foods
3) I've taken my supplements regularly including 5.6g of FO via 9 caps of Rx
4) I've had light to moderate activity every day with two days of rigorous workouts

I'm interested primarily in getting my Metabolism jumpstarted in a safe way. I've got the caloric intake, zone living & general health all moving in the right direction, but as always happens with my particular genetics, my metabolism slows down to adapt to the caloric intake and the weight loss stops almost as soon as it began. I lost 5 lbs at the start, which I attribute to mainly water weight, glucose & "glut" in my DI track, but so far, since getting to 240, my weight has already gotten stuck. I'm taking 15blocks per day which is right for my size/activity by the calculator on the tools page and thinking that I need to double down on my genetic roadblockers related to my metabolism.

I'm considering the following:

1) Daily supplementation of 400mg of eGCG (Green Tea Concentrate) for Thermogesic
2) Weight lifting for 30 minutes - 3 times a week
3) Interval Cardio 4 days per week - 30-45 minutes per day

I've invested several hundred dollars between the Zone fast food, supplements and FO, and am happy to maintain my commitment for an addition 6 months while my wife is in her 2nd & 3rd trimester and I'm attempting to become zone healthy and "normal" in BF & BMI (currently obese) before my daughter's birth.

Does anyone have additional tips, on what type of work outs or Thermogesic supplements may be good to take?

Hi Steven,

Congrats on your excellent start! Stick with it for a few weeks adn see how it goes. 10 days is a bit soon to be able determine a weight loss plateau. Your body has been going through a lot of adjustments in the past 10 days, and will continue to as it begins to thrive in the Zone. The Zone diet is not like other weight loss plans. You are feeding your body the macronutrients it requires, so you will likely have a different experience than you've had in the past. Adding more exercise will not increase a person's ability to lose stored fat faster. You'll usually lose at a rate of 1 to 1.5 pounds fat per week in the Zone. When you significantly increase exercise, you will also usually need to increase the amount of food you eat daily to assure you remain in the Zone (your protein requirement may increase when you add weight lifting; you can use the Zone calculator in the Tools tab to check your requirement). Not eating enough to meet your needs is a sure way to slow metabolism and encourage the body to hold onto its stored fat instead of release it.

I like the Zone Labs green tea supplement (Weight Loss Support). I've taken it for a long time, not so much for with weight loss in mind, but for the many benefits of the polyphenols in green tea.

Updating progress on my earlier report, I thought I'd share some good news.

This morning at weigh in, I am now 237!!!!! bringing my total to 8lbs in 17 days (at least half was water/glut from prediet dayz) so my weight loss is back on track

Since my earlier post, I stopped by Whole Foods to get the eGCG supplements and have been taking 400mg twice per day since. I've also upped my cardio routine to 45 minutes of consistent interval exertion, and while I wish I had, I didn't really get a chance to lift weights.

My wife also got me a nice Taylor digital scale with memory and 0.2lb-degree of sensitivity which is much nicer because i can track my progress more effortlessly.

It is clear to me at least that the exercise has kicked in to make some difference and the eGCG has been giving me some interesting thermogesic effects but since it's caffine free, it's zone too