I've been following zone since may. I lost about 20 pounds. The holidays were tough but I did pretty good. I do notice that whenever I add a bad carb no matter how small a serving I feel that I trigger cravings. Then I get into a bad cycle of a cheat at least once per day. Anyone else have this issue?

Yup, happens to me. So, I usually have to just stick to the program!

My downfall is usually FATS!
I am up 2 pounds from my ideal from over the holidays!
BUT, at least maintaining the 65 lbs down from when I started nearly 8 years ago.
My wife purchased a (Sam's club size) of mixed nuts (with no peanuts at least),
for the holidays.
I have forced myself to now very limited portions.
And I have stopped buying peanut butter, 6 months ago, even raw, natural, organic.
Since, peanuts are not good anyway.

I don't feel that fats necessarily throw me OOZ, but I would agree that sometimes we zoners give ourselves permission to overdo the fat, as it does not have a direct effect on our insulin levels. So, I am with you there in that I struggle with nuts, especially when it is a large can of them!

Peanut butter is still a staple in our house, but I have to be careful to keep the spoon out of the jar! I prefer the taste of peanut butter over other nut butters and at least the family gets the true natural peanut butter instead of the commercial brands that have the bad fats in them.

Why peanuts are not good? I have a spoonful of peanut butter for breakfast - I though Dr Sears recommends it as a good fat source

A couple of the of the reasons people prefer not to eat a lot of peanut butter are the afflatoxins they contain and the lectins they contin, which some people are sensitive to.

Bottom line re too much fat taking people out of the Zone, too many calories will prevent being able to stayhy in the Zone, whether they are calories from fat, protein or carbohydrate.

I really don't have a problem sticking with the plan on meals. Just snacks. I recently got a vitamix. I made my own version of ice cream with whole milk, vanilla and agave. I know I can't have it often but I assume the agave is better than sugar although I've seen some say it is considered an unfav carb.

Post your homemade "ice cream" recipe.
Folks can choose to use whatever and however much sweetener to use.

ICE CREAM for 3-4 people:
(using the vitamix)
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs agave
3 cups ice

turn on machine quickly to variable 10, then high. Tamp down ice until you see four mounds. (maybe you can do this recipe in an ice cream maker as well)

good luck!

woops!! that is tablespoon of vanilla.

Here is another recipe for a dessert favorite of mine that I tried to "zonify"
Coconut custard pudding:
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup milk ( i use 2%)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp coconut
dash nutmeg
1/2 cup plain unsweetened coconut shred (whole foods sells by bulk with no sugar ect)
1 tbs agave

In bowl, whisk eggs. In saucepan heat milk to just simmering. Whisk into egg mixture and add remaining ingredients. Pour in to 5 custard cups. Place cups in baking dish. Add about 1 inch of hot water to baking dish. Bake uncovered at 350 for about 30 min or until knife comes out clean. Store in frig. YUMMMM NOTE: you can remove coconut for plain vanilla custard.

it is so hard to find unsweetened coconut! Thanks for the tip on where to find it!

Try Tropical Traditions - good coconut products.

Hi all, Just thought I'd give an update because I've been so frustrated and I have a feeling there are others out there doing what I did. i have spent my whole life thinking I need major calorie restriction and tiny amounts of food to loose weight. I started zone about a year ago with 2 months of food delivery (locally cooked zone specialists) because I felt I needed a total change from what I was doing. Anyway, I lost 22 pounds in about 6 months, which was a major success for me. As I mentioned above I gained weight back. I am now up to 9 lbs gained back. SO mad at myself because I have not eaten pasta, bread ect for months. So last night I pulled out my zone books and told my husband I have to get serious tomorrow and "back on the diet". He said, you barely eat anything now - how are you going to eat less???

So this morning, books, scales and measuring cups in hand I put together my "go-to" breakfast. Low fat yogurt, fresh fruit and almonds. Two things happened. FIrst, when I measured out the yogurt and fruit, I realized I was shorting myself by HALF! My plate had double the amount of food. Second, when I looked at the protein in my yogurt, I realized I was 10 g short for my meal. SO I added in a chicken sausage. My plate was now overflowing to at least 60% more than what I eat. No wonder I was starving after 2-3 hours. I realize now that I am so conditioned to putting my teeny portions together that it is absolutely necessary for me to measure all the time.

Oh and by the way, I thought I could skip the fish oil. But I'm thinking that was a mistake too. So, I started that this morning. I will update in a few weeks but I thought it was important to post this. I can't be alone in this crazy thinking.

Thanks Jennifer. This is great information for everyone! Glad you pulled out the Zone book, measuring cups and fish oil. No wonder you were hungry. Keep us updated.

Good job Jennifer!

I know there are some people who are able to just eyeball things, but I often have to do the very same thing as you... measure it all out to be sure I am getting the correct portion size. Otherwise, my portions start changing (sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger).

After 8 years I still mostly weigh and measure.
<GRIN>

My two cents...after 17 years I don't. Didn't to start with and lost100 pounds. Then tried block counting for a while and found it unnecessary, even with my high level of carbohydrate sensitivity. :)