Hello,

I did the zone a long time ago, had success with it. For some reason I got off it, I eventually gained a lot of weight, dropped about 100lbs(not using the zone) and i stalled out, I have like 60lbs more to go. Been at this plateau for a while now maybe 6 months? I thought back to when i was most successful with weight loss, it brought me back to the zone. I took the NASM CPT(National Academy Of Sports medicine Certified Personal Trainer), i am also majoring in biochemistry, plus my 100lbs weight loss has made me very knowledgeable.

I just have a few questions.

1. I remember reading a long time ago about "if your thinking is focused but you're hungry add a bit more x(don't remember if it was carbs, protein, fat) if you're unfocused and hungry do x, if you're not hungry but unfocused do x.

2. My LBM(lean body mass) is about 210lbs. Common rule of thumb is to eat 1g per pound of LBM... the zone puts me kind of low around 180g of protein I believe, kind of concerns me, I don't want to lose muscle mass.

3. My goal is to get very lean around 8% bodyfat some day. My concern is I might stall out and never reach it. My solution would be to lower my calories a bit, but this will also lower my protein more... so any recommendations?

4. I just need some meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner

5. What is the largest zone block database??

Thanks

Hi Antonio,

To break the plateau, first calculate your Zone protein requirement. If you have greater than ideal body fat and are already eating Zone balanced meals with that amount of protein each day, and you’re taking Omega Rx and Zone Polyphenols (they will help lower inflammation which will enable you to lose stored fat) and are at a plateau, the next step would be to switch all your carbohydrate to favorable vegetables. That should jump start fat loss in less than one week's time. If it doesn't then try dropping 1 carbohydrate block from each meal.
1. If you have unfocused hunger 4 hours after Zone balanced meals drop 1 block of carbohydrate from meals. If you have focused hunger (feel great, but have significant hunger) 4 hours after Zone balanced meals drop 1 block of carbohydrate from meals.

2. The Zone protein calculation provides adequate protein daily to maintain current muscle mass at your current activity level. If you’re body building you could try increasing that by a block or two daily, as long as it doesn’t cause you to stall out with the fat loss. If you’re a professional athlete heavily training for many hours each day then 1 gram of protein per pound of LBM is appropriate. If you’re eating 1 g protein per pound of LBM and you’re not heavily training for hours daily then you’re putting stress on your body to process the extra protein, and it is being converted to body fat and stored in your fat cells (this could be why you’ve hit a plateau).

3. Follow the Zone diet eating mostly vegetables for you carbohydrate choices. Take Omega RX and zone polyphenols. Eliminate AA and Omega 6 form you diet as much as possible. Drink plenty of water. Get sufficient sleep.

4. There are tons of meal ideas on this website and in Zone books.

5. There is a book available, but I don’t now of a database containing Zone blocks at this time, other than the downloadable pdf of the Zone Food Block Guide. http://www.zonediet.com/portals/0/r..._guide.pdf

Hi Sue - I think you meant to write

If you have focused hunger (feel great, but have significant hunger) 4 hours after Zone balanced meals ADD 1 block of carbohydrate TO meals.

Yes, Larry thatvis exactly what I meant to write. Thanks for catching that!

[quote]
Posted By Sue on 29 Jun 2012 01:36 PM
Hi Antonio,

To break the plateau, first calculate your Zone protein requirement. If you have greater than ideal body fat and are already eating Zone balanced meals with that amount of protein each day, and you’re taking Omega Rx and Zone Polyphenols (they will help lower inflammation which will enable you to lose stored fat) and are at a plateau, the next step would be to switch all your carbohydrate to favorable vegetables. That should jump start fat loss in less than one week's time. If it doesn't then try dropping 1 carbohydrate block from each meal.
1. If you have unfocused hunger 4 hours after Zone balanced meals drop 1 block of carbohydrate from meals. If you have focused hunger (feel great, but have significant hunger) 4 hours after Zone balanced meals drop 1 block of carbohydrate from meals.

2. The Zone protein calculation provides adequate protein daily to maintain current muscle mass at your current activity level. If you’re body building you could try increasing that by a block or two daily, as long as it doesn’t cause you to stall out with the fat loss. If you’re a professional athlete heavily training for many hours each day then 1 gram of protein per pound of LBM is appropriate. If you’re eating 1 g protein per pound of LBM and you’re not heavily training for hours daily then you’re putting stress on your body to process the extra protein, and it is being converted to body fat and stored in your fat cells (this could be why you’ve hit a plateau).

3. Follow the Zone diet eating mostly vegetables for you carbohydrate choices. Take Omega RX and zone polyphenols. Eliminate AA and Omega 6 form you diet as much as possible. Drink plenty of water. Get sufficient sleep.

4. There are tons of meal ideas on this website and in Zone books.

5. There is a book available, but I don’t now of a database containing Zone blocks at this time, other than the downloadable pdf of the Zone Food Block Guide. http://www.zonediet.com/portals/0/r..._guide.pdf

[/quote]

Thanks Sue and Larry, I found the 4hour hunger test. Here's the link, if anyone in the future needs it(someone who might come across this post asking the same question). http://www.drsears.com/portals/6/Do...lchart.pdf

Sue i saw you write on another topic about tracking bodyfat and LBM if you do lose a bit of muscle mass increase your diet by a few blocks. That's what I am going to do.I do track my bodyfat% inches, weight, LBM. Right now I am just going by how i feel and using the 4hr hunger test. If I am hungry I'll modify it as recommended, if that doesn't work then I'll add another full block to my meal.

I remember reading in one of the books
"Q: Do calories matters?"
"A: They do and they don't."

I understand what Dr.Sears means now. You might consume low calories, but if you feel great, performance doesn't suffer, and you have good emotional well being, it makes no difference how low your calories are.

Thanks Larry and Sue

I can't edit my reply, I also wanted to add that when you consume a lot of protein it prevents fat oxidation, it doesn't convert to glucose as we once thought.
For every gram of protein consumed .48g of glucose is created, but amino acids(protein) doesn't get converted to glucose. Glucose doesn't get converted in to fat
That's called De Novo lipogenesis (DNL) It's mostly dominant in animals, humans do have the pathway but it's really not efficient in humans. The reason why too
many carbs prevent people from losing body fat is because the insulin prevents the release of fat as energy.[1] We are starting to discover we have much greater glyocgen
storage than what we believed.(i guess i didn't save this study was going to reference it). Simply put what is being discovered, the more carbs you eat, the more carbs you burn(prevents fat oxidation) the more preotein you eat the more amino acids you burn(prevents fat oxidation). Now here's the kicker, that doesn't work with fat. If fat is high in the diet then DNL kicks in. Converts carbs to fat.


1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10365981
2.