Hi Zoners,

I'm just starting my fourth Zone Week. No crazy cravings, not hungry and I've been working out on my elyptical and with DVDs, so I feel pretty good. However, the scale hasn't budged for 9 days. At all - in either direction. (Shouldn't water retention etc. make for at least some variances?) So far total I just lost 2.6 lbs. Also, I have not lost any inches anywhere since I started. How is that possible? I know it says that we gain lean muscle mass, but I just don't think that I pack on the muscle pounds by doing a few sit ups etc.
Other people seem to lose more, even though they seem leaner to start with (I'm 5'2, 141 lbs)

I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

I eat a lot of berries (maybe 2-3 cups) , one apple a day (and I wont buy them anymore once these are gone). But I eat about 4 Blocks of 'Magerquark' a day.( I live in Germany and that seems to be the closest to cottage cheese). Is ist bad to fill lots of blocks with the same item? That just seems to be the biggest bang for the protein buck.

Sorry for being a little down. It's hard to keep up a new diet system, work out and have nothing to show for for NINE days. (How often do you weigh yourselves?)

Anyone with a similar experience?

Thanks for the support!!!
Tessa

Hi Tessa,

It's not unusual to go for 9 days and nog see a change on the scale, especially considering your body is still adjusting to its new way if eating. That said, I'd recommend replacing a lot of the fruit with vegetables. Vegetables will allow you to have better hormonal control and lose weight easier. Try limiting the quark to 1 block a day and your fruit to 1 or 2 blocks of berries a day. Also check your block recommendation using the Body Fat Calcukator on this site (in Tools, above) to check tour daily block requirement. Remember to drink plenty of water. I'll be glad to help if you have questions.

Hi Sue,

thank you so much for responding. Your input is very appreciated. I recalculated my blocks and also rechecked the nutrition info on the quark and realized that my portions had way too much protein. What i though was one block had about 15 grams of protein, so more than 2 blocks. And I did that 4 x a day. So I pulled the emergency break on that. I'm not surprised the scale didn't move.
I'm also substituting cucumber for the apple. So something should happen.

Also, why am I craving bread and cake? It's been fine all these weeks, but today is a different story. I didn't have any bad carbs to trigger this. I thought that this only happens when you have starchy carbs that you want more.

Thank you again!
Tessa

Sounds good, Tessa, though you may want to fork in a variety of veggies, not just cucumbers. That will prevent things from becoming boring and will give you more of a variety of polyphenols.

Hunger and cravings result when the brain does not sense satiety. There are a number if reasons the body will not send satiety signals to the brain. Lack of insulin control us one if them.

Oh, these crazy self correcting smartphones! It's "work in", not " fork in". On the other hand, maybe this phone is smarter than I thought. Technically you would be forking it in, LOL!

The forking made lots of sense to me.... :-) Have a great weekend!
Tessa

Hi Tessa,
I found what you said resonate with me. I started the zone with no exercise just eating via zone block method. I had instant success.
Now i have joined a gym i have had the same experience as you. I am working out, eating right feeling great but no movement on the scales or on the tape measure and i am working out like a demon! However my clothes are getting looser again and i can see the results looking in the mirror. I have had to make an effort to forget the numbers, focus on feeling great and being healthier and the rest will just follow when its ready.

80% of weight loss is from our diet and not from exercise!
Also, though I am not a certified exercise coach, your work-outs could be inefficient.
And when folks talk about muscle being heavier than fat?
Do not believe it. 1 lb Fat = 1 lb Muscle! Though muscle is denser.
So, if clothes are looser, it is because fat is being replaced with muscle,
because muscle is denser, and muscle is in different places than fat.
So scales might not show much of a change.
And increasing muscle, rather, more accurately - replacing fat with muscle increases metabolism.
It takes more energy (resting metabolism) to feed and maintain muscle than fat.
And remember, after a hard (heavy lifting or high intensity Interval) work-out,
your muscles need at least 1 day to recover! Exercise, proper exercise, actually tears down
muscle fibers (Slow Twitch, Fast Twitch, and Super Fast Twitch - depending on the work-out),
and you need recovery time to rebuild muscles stronger - with proper fuel (Zone)!

Louise, if your body fat is still aboveideal, there are a couple of scenarios that could have caused the standstill on the scale since you began "working out like a demon". One, you might be offsetting small amounts of fat loss with increased muscle mass, two, you might not be eating enough. You can use the Body Fat Calculator on this site to check whether your LBM is increasing and to determine how much you should be eating each day to support your current workout plan.

Thanks Sue, i agree i am replacing the fat with muscle. I know its working because i look better. I don't really mind what the scales say as long as i like what i see. as a was saying to ann in another topic we got really off track at christmas, but im trying to get back on track at all meals rather than just when i can. Im only working out like a demon because im enjoying it. It may sound weird but im loving having something in my life other than my business. I get up at 4am and go to the gym, i can cope with difficult people better it just evens my mood so in theory will help my business (im a bit over it). For 4 years i have allowed my life to centre around the shop so im taking some time back for me and exercise is something ive always loved. I know that eventually i will see results on the scales and tape measure.

Hi! I'm all for exercising and I do quite a bit myself. :)

A tip, it's important to exercise smartly in the Zone to prevent increased inflammaton. Increased inflammation will work against your fat loss efforts. Cortisol levels elevate with exercise. After 45 minutes of exercise, cortisol will elevate to a point where they can work against you. Try to keep exercise sessions to 45 min. If longer, have a Zone balanced snack around 45 minutes into the session. It will help. Also make sure your daily protien intake is enough to support your increased workouts (check it with the Body Fat Calculator). Keep us updated, and have fun with the workouts!

Thanks Sue your input is much appreciated as always but now you have me scared! I have increased by daily blocks to 14 as im exercising anything from 1to2hrs a day occasionally more (Sometimes i just keep going and loose track of time). I have always exercised and then eaten i find it hard to exercise after breakfast but i am starting to break my bad habits. Is it ok to eat the protein and fat portion of breakfast and eat my carb blocks after a workout? Sometimes i can only stomach a couple of eggs and some almonds first thing in the morning. I struggle every day with the carb portion. Its so much food to consume after living a life eating when i had time.

Hi Louise,

It won't work. To stay in the Zone you need to eat balanced amounts of P, C and F each time you eat. Protein and fat without carbs will leave you hungry and then the carb later by itself will spike your blood sugar ( the protein and fat both work with the carbs to maintain the stable blood sugar levels that allow your insulin to lower). All you really need prior to exercise first thing in the day is a Zone balanced 1 block snack.

Thanks Sue great point a one block snack pre workout feels so much manageable than a 3 or 4 block breakfast. It feels alot less overwhelming. i have struggled with the breakfast before a workout which means my whole days eating is generally out of whack this may help me to back into the zone. I am mostly in the zone but not combining everything as i would normally.

Louise, let us know how it works for you. :)

Louise, My husband is not a big breakfast person either, but has found a protien shake eaiser to get down in the morning. Protien powder, milk and fruit carb block to make up differance. Some times I make the shake at night to make the morning faster.

Thanks Tracie,
I am going to try the protein shakes again, i had the powder on hand in the beginning for the days i wasn't going to have time to eat(I didn't want to have any more excuses for skipping meals!). I wasn't happy with how i felt after a shake it didn't sit well in my stomach, i might a new brand.

Any suggestions on the best option for a mid workout snack (prefferably liquid) when working out for a couple of hours.

This isn't exactly a liquid option for a mid-workout snack, but here's one of my favorites that I've named "Sue's Brownie Batter Smoothie"
(very thick, requiring a spoon to eat): http://www.zonediet.com/forums/aft/61409

I have a "liquid" idea... how about milk?

Louise, another thought, the fact the shake was a liquid may be the reason you didn't like how you felt after it. Because liquids have a larger surface area than solids, liquid carbohydrates enter the blood stream faster. Due to this, some people can't stay in the Zone with meals or snacks that contain liquified carbohydrates.

Hi All,
Its been interesting and depressing time. According to my doctors visits my blood pressure seems elevated. I try and avoid them but go every 3months for depo injections (Failsafe baby proofing!). Everytime i go my readings get higher and higher ive gone from the 120's/80 to the 140's/90 over the space of a few years. I decided to conduct an experiment. Firstly i stopped eating zoned meals in case it was too much protein (even though i don't think zone is high protein just balanced protein. I am getting sick of protein though i must say) i decided to eat cereal for breakfast for a while instead. On visiting the doctors my blood pressure was still high. I in the meantime i had bought my own blood pressure monitor and took it along. Low and behold it read accurately. My doctors office readings always 10 to 20 points higher than my home readings. Turns out i just have white coat syndrome! So now the experiment continues i will go back onto zoned meals and see if my blood pressure remains in the 112-127 range as it has been. Its been frustrating because i feel better in the zone and while i have continued slow and steady weightloss im feeling the flab and dont have as much energy!. I think i will use shakes some days, but also use eggs, oats and smoothies and see if i can't get it right. Cranberry thanks for the milk idea. Milk i can deal with early in the morning, other proteins and carbs not so much!. It could be a nice easy solution. i had also started breaking my breakfast blocks into pre and post workout 2 block meals to make the amount of food not so overwhelming. Thanks everyone for your ongoing support and ideas it really does help alot. Louise.

Glad I could help out!

Keep us posted!

Louise, sorry you have been having a rough time experimenting. You haven't mentioned fish oil, but it's an important part of the Zone. It's well documented fact that fish oil is a vasodilator ( dilates the blood vessels resulting in lower blood pressure. I've posted a lot here about my experiences with high blood pressure. You should be able to find it easily with a search. Basically I had high blood pressure for many years that was uncontroled with blood pressure meds. My drs had tried many high BP meds in various combinations but my BP was still in the 160s over high 90s, even while on 2 BP meds. The Zone dirt alobe did not help it. Long story short, within 2-3 weeks of starting Omega Rx my dr took me off both high BP meds. My BP has been normal, free of all BP meds ever since. Good luck!

Typo, sorry!

Meant to say... The Zone diet alone did not help it.