Today began my fifth week of trying to zone. But for about the past week and a half, I have not been able to control my hunger. So, by definition, I have NOT been in the zone. The first two and about half weeks were awesome. I was hand and eye-ing things. I was able to go at least four hours without getting hungry. And I lost 12 pounds.

The past week and a half, I've been getting hungry at 2.5 hours. Could still think, but hungry. Haven't lost any weight. Strange thing is what changed. I added the zone foods (which will be gone soon anyway) and started measuring and weighing everything.

I've tried adding a carb block to the meal. Didn't really help. I tried subtracting a block. Nope. Tried having a meal of zone foods only, thinking my additions were throwing things off. But even if that was the problem, zone foods aren't a long term option. And it didn't help. I've had meals completely without zone food, or unfavorable carbs, weighing and measuring. No success. Still hungry

I thought that when I was hand/eye-ing I was inadvertantly eating more blocks than I was allotted. So I tried having four block meals. That helped - a little- with the hunger situation. But not enough for me to say that at four hours I was not hungry at all.

I have added more exercise. But I have played with the calculator, and not enough to change my block prescription.

Now I admit, that in the past two weeks, I have had completely ooz meals 3 times. (Not really meals, more like carb binge bedtime snacks) But only because I was frustrated at the end of the day after being hungry.

What I was so excited about at the beginning-not feeling hungry all the time- I am completely unable to replicate.

I could probably deal with getting hungry if I was losing weight, but because I am getting so hungry, I am clearly NOT in the zone. Which I assume explains why I haven't lost any weight.

Hopefully someone can help because my kids have some oreos in the pantry!

BTW- I did print out the food journal and write out everything I ate for two days. But when every meal left me hungry before 4 hours, I couldn't pinpoint any specific problem.

Oh and I am taking an IFOS 5-star fish oil at recommended amounts, and drinking enough water to float a battleship. Stopped counting one day at 13.5 eight oz glasses.


Help!

Hi Rachel,

Try starting over at square one. Reread your Zone book (some missing piece might jump out at you), use the Body Fat Calculator to determine your current protein requirement and go from there keeping a food journal for now. If you still have early hunger and you'd like to post your food journal, I'll be happy to take a look. In a week or two recheck body fat % with the calculator. Keep in mind that if you're now at or close to the ideal body fat % (around 22% for females) you may not lose much more stored fat.

Rachel,

just so I get this straight, your problems started when you STARTED eating the Zone food? The foods are balanced, but to be honest, I was never able to manage on the foods, either. I tried the foods and the suggested meal plan for a month straight and did not lose a single pound, plus did not have good control of my hunger.

Since the foods will be gone soon, it seems to me that you should go back to what was working in the beginning. If you weren't counting blocks, then maybe you could start with that, I feel that it is easier to make adjustments. Also, continue to record in your food journal. If you are worried about overeating, you can also use an online journal (I use "my fitness pal"). Many zoners do not count calories, but I have found that counting calories keeps me from overdoing it. And it is easy for me to do because there is an android app for that!

As far as your activity level goes, I believe that the calculator is a "guideline" and is fairly accurate. However, if you feel that you would do better eating a snack around your workout, then I would suggest going ahead with that.

My bottom line guess on your problem is that you probably went OOZ on the zone foods (as it happened with me), and you are just having difficulty falling back in place. It can take several days to really get in the Zone AFTER eating consecutive zone meals, and so if you did have a few splurges, it might be just enough to kick you back OOZ.

Keep us up to date, and feel free to post some sample meals, if you would like another eyeball looking at them.

and... STAY AWAY FROM THE OREOS! lol

Thanks for your replies Sue and Cranberrycat!

Just to update. The big problem did seem to coincide to when I started with the zone foods. So I quit them for now. I re-read my books.
(I have most of them now I think). I did find some gems that I had missed. (Thanks Sue!)

So, I started eating my protein at the beginning of the meal, instead of 'saving' them after I ate my veggies. I also ate my fat (in the form of almonds) at the beginning too.
Both definately helped with the actual hunger. But I've still struggled with carb/sweets cravings. Unfortunately not just because of Easter (although that didn't help).

So, as of yesterday (after an Easter basket stuffing late night binge) I have eliminated all bread, pasta, grains, real and fake sweeteners, potatoes, etc.
I figure that even though I was not eating much of this stuff (and always 'zoning' it) it was encouraging my cravings.

Now I'm just trying to white knuckle through the remaining cravings to see if getting of these baddies completely will un-crave me in the long run.

Wish me luck!

Rachel, that's excellent. I've read the Zone books numerous times, and I still notice things I never realized. They're loaded with info. It sounds like you're probably on the more sensitive side when it comes to carbohhydrates. You probably wouuld have fared better with Zone foods if you'd eaten a little extra protein with them to bring them more in line with the balance that's better for you. I agree that dropping potatoes, grains, etc. for now will be a big help. A way to keep it simple and stay on track is to take it one meal at a time and not overthink the whole thing. Please keep us updated. Good luck! :D

my 2 cents:

Eliminating the artificial sweeteners may make a huge difference, as well. A recent news report that I had heard is that artificial sweeteners contribute to sweet cravings, so you crave more and more. Its like your body is telling you, "hey, you tricked me, now give me the real thing"

I won't go into the science behind it, but Barry Sears also has talked about how artificial sweeteners stimulate an insulin release when sensed by the tongue, this may also cause the craving.

So did you get rid of the oreos, too? LOL!

Hope this is helpful!

Hi Rachel,
I'm new too, about two months now. For me I'm very carb sensitive so I had two eat less blocks of carbs and add protein and fat blocks.
And I eat 2 block meals about every 2.5 hours. Except dinner I try to eat a 3 block meal.
I don't get hungry eating that way, I don't eat zone foods, just fruits veggies, beans, nuts, meats, egg whites etc. No Grains!
That being said when I eat 2blocks of protein and 2 blocks of fat I only eat 1 ( to maybe 1.5) blocks of carbs.
And the weight loss happens. I track my foods on a App on my iPhone and it appears I eat 34% carb, 35%fat, 31% protein. Dr. Sears mentions a range for the zone
this is the fine tuning that one of the books talks about that I had to figure out.
Also, I eat a few more blocks than calculated but still am losing weight.
So try adding fat and protien not carbs. I know I'm not as experienced as Cat and Sue but this worked for me. Good luck

Thanks for the votes of confidence!

And yes, I did get rid of the oreos. I knew it was a bad idea to even have them in the house, but I have a very potty training resistent 3 (4 in July!!) year old.
And although I swore I wouldn't reward my kids with food, an oreo was the only thing that he would sit on the potty for.
Nonetheless, he is only rewarded now with a cheer, and my daughter can only have ice cream when her grandmother takes her out.
And, the very little bit of Easter candy they got is gone.
Far better for them too.

Also interesting is experiencing something that you already know intellectually is true.
For example, when I don't get enough sleep, the carb/sugar cravings are noticeably worse.

I know I also need to focus more on how I feel, rather than what the scale says.

I love sweets and it's really hard to avoid it. But i realized that you really have to be motivated if you want to lose weight. Since i cant ignore sweets instantly, i just replace my sugar consumption with natural sweeteners. I personally use this weight losing process and it actually works. I lose 15 pounds now.

Rachel, I hate to be jumping in here, but you say you lost 12 pounds in your first two-and-a-half weeks? That would be my first clue that something was drastically wrong -- as I understand it, the maximum fat loss one should experience is 1 to 1.5 pounds per week, which would suggest that you probably shouldn't have lost more than 2.5 to 4 pounds over that period. That would suggest to me that you were losing about 8 or 9 pounds of something other than fat during that time -- possibly some lean body mass, but also water. You may drink a lot of water, but, if you aren't eating enough, you're likely to experience ketosis, and then lose more water than you take in.

And, yes, artificial sweeteners are bad news. As a matter of fact, I'm suspicious of "artificial" anything, whether it be sugar substitutes, fat substitutes, or whatever. It reminds me a bit of the trendy "low-fat" diets of twenty or so years ago. Remember how companies were coming up with "fat free" cakes and cookies, with the premise that, as long as you didn't eat fat, you'd lose weight? I think we all know how that worked. What I like about the Zone is that, although it has guidelines for eating a Zone diet, that diet can consist of a full compliment of "normal" foods. From my experience with other "miracle diets," the people developing them make a discovery like "hey, if we lower the fat content of what a person eats, they lose weight," but then extrapolate it beyond reason, such as saying that, if you cut your fat intake down to 10%, you're guaranteed to lose weight. But, in the actual studies, that only works when eating a balanced diet of real vegetables, fruits, animal protein, and the like. However, that qualification is lost on most people (and not exactly emphasized by the purveyors of these "miracle diets"), so people figure that they can eat junk food, as long as the fat has been artificially subtracted ("Snackwell" cakes and Olestra potato chips, for example), and neglect fruits and vegetables, and lose weight. Needless to say, it doesn't work. Personally, although I can appreciate the convenience that some of the Zone products like energy bars and cookies can provide people, my idea of Zone eating is to use the principles while eating "real" food instead -- and also making sure to emphasize favorable carbs and restrict unfavorable ones, if not eliminate them altogether. Meaning, for example, fruit for dessert and nothing else. Do that rigorously enough, and you won't have hunger cravings; however, from my experience, if you try to "cheat" by having too many unfavorable carbs, even if you're getting your blocks right, those cravings are going to always be there.