If you are looking for a diet that is effective at burning fat and does allows carbs, will improve your health, give greater energy, and increase you state of mental focus, then the zone diet is right for you.
One of the best benefits of following the zone diet is that you will not only lose weight but gain muscle mass as well while on this diet program. The zone diet is really popular among Hollywood stars and professional athletes, some famous stars that have gone on the zone diet are Cindy Crawford, Tom Cruise, Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Aniston and Renee Zellweger. So if these Hollywood hotties can trust the zone diet to get them looking good, you can too.
Based upon Barry Sears’s principle of splitting carbohydrates, proteins and fats on a “40:30:30” ratio, the zone diet leaves people feeling full longer and have more energy than when on other common diet programs.
The diet’s aim is to get people into the “zone”, which is a state of perfect hormone balance with insulin levels balanced and not too low nor too high. There is also effort put into not leaving the body’s glycogen stores too high thus releasing heart healthy natural chemicals that act as anti-inflammatory chemicals. This can all be done by maintaining a “40:30” ratio of carbohydrates to protein. Many of the fats urges to be eaten when on the zone diet are unsaturated fats, Omega-3’s, and Omega-6 fatty acids.
It may seem a bit weird to you that there is a diet that is encouraging you to eat fat when your goal is to lose fat, but eating fat during a meal will leave you feeling full and actually slow down and minimize the sped at which carbs are absorbed into your bloodstream. This decrease in carbs being absorbed into the bloodstream will actually lead to lower stored fat and faster fat burning because of lower overall insulin levels. In the end of the day, the zone is all about balance, protein to maintain muscle mass, carbs to give you energy and keep you in a good mood, monounsaturated fats to fight off hunger, and vegetables to provide you with all the nutrients and vitamins your body needs.
The expected weight loss results from the zone should be around 1½ to 2lbs of body fat a week. This should be in coordination with a good weight loss workout program.
The Zone Diet Explained
You should eat 3 meals and 2 snacks on a daily basis, as this will keep you hormones in check thus keeping you in the Zone. You should drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water daily and it is ok to take diet supplements when on the zone diet.
The allowed calories allowed when going on the zone diet is between 1100-1200 calories for women and 1400-1600 calories for men. Although this amount of calories sounds small, you won’t feel hungry because your blood sugar levels will always be balanced.
Typical Zone Diet Meal
Breakfast
3 egg whites served sunny scrambled
½ cup of low fat yogurt
1 red pepper
1 piece of whole grain toast with 1 spoon of peanut butter
Lunch
1 piece of grilled salmon
3 cups of mixed spring greens
1 pear
1 teaspoon of olive oil mixed with lemon juice for the salad dressing
Snack
1 piece of whole wheat bread with low fat turkey breast
Dinner
1 grilled chicken breast
3 cups cauliflower
½ cup Brussels sprouts
2 teaspoons of olive oil in a salad dressing
Snack
1 banana
1 cup low fat milk
There are plenty of zone diet recipes that are available in zone diet books. These zone diet books are bestsellers and can be found at any local bookstore.
Try out the zone diet, you will have more energy, lose weight, eat tasty diet food and have more mental clarity. This is a diet based upon scientific principles that on top of a fitness fat burning program will give you the weight loss results you want.