Zone Diet

The Zone diet was created by Barry Sears, PhD. He promotes a 40-30-30 diet plan. That is 40% carbohydrates, 30% fat, and 30% protein. He gets very scientific about how to come up with the personal 40-30-30 that each individual person will need. Then, he explains that all the foods we eat are in "blocks." Once you figure out your unique combination of blocks, you eat those blocks at each meal. Snacks are half of the meal blocks.

Quite frankly, it's completely overwhelming! You are bound to lose weight on the Zone diet because half of your life is spent trying to figure out the blocks you can have!

In the years since this plan came out, some have simplified the Zone calculation. A small amount of protein at every meal (approximately the size of your palm or one small chicken breast) and at every snack (one in the late afternoon, one in the late evening) "Favorable" carbohydrates twice the size of the protein portion - these include most vegetables and lentils, beans, whole grains, and most fruits. A smaller amount of carbohydrates if you have chosen "unfavorable" ones - these include brown rice, pasta, papaya, mango, banana, dry breakfast cereal, bread, bagel, tortilla, carrots, and all fruit juices.

However, Sears is very rigid in having the correct amounts, so if you do the simplified version, you are not really in "The Zone". Some people have experienced success with this plan and seem to enjoy the rigidity of it. But if you are not a "details" person, you will more than likely quit this plan.

Researchers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, recently put The Zone on their acceptable list of diets. I have no idea why. Fact is, if you take a close look at what you can eat in a day, you will clearly see the reason you are losing weight. It's not that you are in "The Zone" - it's because the calorie count is low.

In a nutshell, entering the "Zone" entails a significant reduction in calories for most people and this calorie reduction is the cause of any weight loss, not the 40:30:30 nutrient split.

If you want to live like a normal person and eat with a family or friends, this diet will be very difficult and expensive, not to mention all the books you must buy to figure out the blocks and the recipe books that are properly "blocked."

Zone Diet - Claims
Well rounded food plan.
Steady weight loss if followed exactly.
Simplify your food choices with bars, shakes and boxed meals. Your body will be in "The Zone" all the time.
You don't have to exercise to lose weight.
Protects you from heart disease and other ailments.
Zone Diet - Drawbacks
Too scientific to be very friendly.
Expensive if you purchase the 'simplified' pre-packaged foods.
You can't feed your family the same thing, because they have different calculations.
Time consuming because you must eat 6 times each day.
Zone Diet - Summary
Not very friendly. Who has time to figure out their blocks and once you figure out what a block is, then you have to count them out and find recipes that have the foods in the right blocks.
But that's just our view. If you want strict structure in your diet, then by all means Enter the Zone!