Hi everyone,

I've been zoning on and off since the 90s' when the first Sears book came out. I've always believed the Zone to be the best way of eating, for general health and personal wellbeing.

After a break, a long break actually (due to life changes), I've been zoning again; this time, as a part of an "elimination diet" to detect food intolerances. This basically means cutting out dairy, grains, refined sugar and alcohol. I've been keeping a diary of everything I eat, and of how I feel.

Now, when I first began to record my meals and snacks in detail, I was not counting blocks, just eating how I felt (the elimination felt a challenge great enough), and writing it all down. After a week or so of composing my meals from vegetables, berries, lean protein, avocados, almonds, seeds... I started to feel AMAZING. Energy, not tired at all. And here is the puzzling thing: All my meals, when I worked out the zone blocks afterwards, turned out to be more or less 3P, 1.5-2C, 6F! In total, I'd been eating 13-14 block days (I am moderately active, 5ft6" woman, approaching 40).

My question is: With such a dramatic addition (doubling) of fat, and sometimes going up to proportions of 3.5P, 1.5C, 7F per meal, am I still likely to be in the Zone and reap the associated benefits?

I know fat does not effect insulin, and I'm likely quite carb sensitive, but I'm slightly worried about the 40+ per cent of calories coming from fat.

I'd be interested to hear what you think.

Thanks so much!
:cool:
Ilona

PS.

I'm also taking ultra clean fish oil supplements daily, amounting to 1.8g EPA and 1.6g DHA. I'm planning to add some steel cut oats to my week also, once I get a change to visit a health food store.
I've lost 2 kilos in 2 weeks (most of which I think is water weight loss).

PS 2. Sorry for the information raining in drops : ) I should have probably also posted this in 'Health', apologies.

Just wanted to add to the first message that during the earlier periods of Zoning (12-13 blocks with fairly even 3-3-3 rations), I often felt hungry, even with tweaking to 3P, 2C, 4F.

This time, the satiety doubling the fats seems to bring (= still a hypothesis) feels amazing. Or, perhaps it is the "all good carbs" which evens things out?
Would you perhaps recommend trying 3P, 1.5-2C, 4-5F -- or would doubling the fats still be OK? (I *love* avocado and make my "milk" from almonds, working the crumbs into desserts!)

Thanks again,
Ilona

Hi Ilona,

Doubling fats is fine as long as you are not gaining fat. Judge your Zone progress by changes body fat using the Body Fat Calculator on this site. You increased satiety would be due to the better carbohydrate choices and also to the increased monounsaturated fat. Both together allow for lower insulin levels. Dietary fat eaten together with carbohydrate slows the entry of the carbohydrate into the blood stream.

Here are some additional suggestions on things I picked up on in your posts here.

1. Use the Body Fat Calculator to determine you protein /block requirement.

2. Try to avoid seeds. Seeds are rich in omega 6 fat, which increases production of Arachidonic acid (AA). AA increases inflammation levels. The Zone is all about reducing cellular inflammation.

3. Don’t go lower than 2 C blocks. 3.5 P /1.5 C is a high protein diet, not the Zone. With those proportions you will probably induce ketosis, an abnormal metabolic state. You don’t want to go there. It creates a whole slew of negative impacts on the body.

Keep listening to your body, and keep up the good work!

Ilona,

I think you have found your Zone. I wouldn't worry about having those 6 blocks of fat when you are cutting the carbs back as you are. Basically, the difference in calories is not much at all. And, I believe that this IS your Zone because of how you are feeling, and it is interesting that you feel so much better than you did when you had everything all balanced.

Just goes to show that we are all individuals, and the Zone Diet is meant for individuals, and is "tweakable".

Thank you kindly for your replies, Cranberrycat and Sue!

To answer you both:

Sue, regarding the Body Fat Calculator: I base my daily intake on the BFC (13 blocks), as well as on the current daily calorie recommendation for active women wanting to lose weight permanently. This is a minimum of 1400-1500 calories per day, not 1200 as commonly indicated as a typical dieting day allowance. I will keep checking my BMI/fat even more regularly now, too, after incorporating more exercise into my routine soon. This is likely to bring along some new tweaking. I'm aware that to build more muscle mass and thus to burn more fat, the protein amount and balance throughout the day are especially important, and adequate carbs will give me added staying power. Here's where Zone's also great.

I'm also aware that the minimum amount of carbs to eat per day is around 100 grams, to avoid ketosis (yuk). I'm currently experimenting how this is best done with my individually tweaked carb/protein ratio. When strictly eliminating all grains and sugar, meal planning then focuses on adding touches of sweet potato, chick peas, grapes and so on, to build adequate amounts of good carbs into the day... Otherwise, eating the amounts of greens required will not allow any breaks between meals at all! : D

On that note, a post in the Health section (John on 13 Feb 12) about cruciferous vegetables, fruits and berries was really interesting too; I've got hypothyroid in the family, and have had some scares before when including great amounts of broccoli, cauliflower and sweeter foods such as strawberries into my diet. All this information needs to be factored into the daily "gourmet", too. I've been making almond milk every day, then eating the crumbs (totalling 50 grams per day), and the notion that almonds too meddle with thyroid function is a tad scary. Will investigate further.

Seed wise, I mainly use toasted sesame seeds as a condiment, and a little goes a long way in terms of flavour. I'll keep an eye on the daily intake, to make sure the amounts will stay minimum.

Cranberrycat, yes, I feel really good and have an intuitive sense that I'm close to my good balance now. So, very happy about that. Keeping the protein and carbs adequate according to what I've said above, I too feel that I can rejoice in extra avocado if that works for me! It is such a revelation, but I don't think I'd been able to twig onto this without years of being aware of the basic Zone principles. (It also really annoys me when various sites classify Zone as a "fad", or a "high protein" or "low carb" diet, when it indeed is the best, most balanced way of eating and health I've come to know in my virtual health research trips.)

Thank you again to you both for your encouragement and wise words, I will keep reading the posts in these forums, and post an update or two when things progress.

Cheers
Ilona

PS (again).

Just on a philosophical note, it is interesting that an "elimination" diet has actually turned out to be such an "inclusion" diet; a way of eating which I'll be very content to include into my life on long term basis. Who would have known giving up bread is this easy??
Sorry if I repeat myself (and I do remember the occasional very strong cravings for hot toast or plate of pasta when I was zoning previously, and symphatise from all of my heart with everyone who currently does.)
I'm just so happy and genuinely surprised that I stumbled on this ratio, as I would have never in the past thought to add so much fat when consciously looking for the balance. Yay for happy accidents! : )

PS 2 (one for the road!).

Sorry, BFC has given me 11 blocks, not 13. 11 is what I typically now eat in a day. I typed 13 by accident while thinking some unrelated calorie issues.

Glad to have been able to help!