Zone Diet Questions

xX_Samantha_Xx

Hey everyone! I have questions!

Some good friends of mine swear by the zone diet. Have lost weight, gained muscle, and LOVE it.
I'm interested in trying it for myself, but it just seems so complicated to have everything you need on hand.
Who here does this?
When you start this, do you completely disregard calorie counting that's been ingrained for years? It's just hard for me to understand.
For those of you who think it's great.. can you give me some benefits you've had?
Or tips, and just general reasons why I should do it?

Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks guys.

xX_Samantha_Xx

Anyone?

healthygreek

For me, any eating plan that is too complicated is not sustainable.
I'd rather just eat like I normally eat but at a deficit.

MommyisFit

I have eaten this way! Actually thinking about trying it again to get more healthy carbs. I have actually found this to be the easiest diet to follow. If you look for the crossfit journal - zone diet, they have a great pdf to get you started. I found it easy because the way I did it, it was virtually no cooking. Just grabbed 2 of each "block" from the list. The only problem I had, was being able to eat all of that food. It is a lot of food and not eating it all resulted in too few calories. So I would still calorie count. The different with the zone diet, in my opinion, is that it is sustainable and balanced. The only reason I stopped eating "in the zone" was because of hypoglycemia where I was told to reduce carbs.

xX_Samantha_Xx

I have eaten this way! Actually thinking about trying it again to get more healthy carbs. I have actually found this to be the easiest diet to follow. If you look for the crossfit journal - zone diet, they have a great pdf to get you started. I found it easy because the way I did it, it was virtually no cooking. Just grabbed 2 of each "block" from the list. The only problem I had, was being able to eat all of that food. It is a lot of food and not eating it all resulted in too few calories.

Yeah, my friend spent one of her work days creating me a binder with the PDFs and such. LoL. She's awesome. But it's just the getting started and organized/familiar with everything that is holding me back. She has mentioned how much food it is, too, and how it's hard for her to eat it all. This puzzles me as far as how can you not be eating a ton of calories.. So confusing!
But she loves it and says it's easy once you get the hang of it. Maybe I'll take her shopping with me!

tigersword

Meh, I don't care for anything that's named "x diet." Get enough protein, fat, vitamins and, and minerals, and fill in the rest of your calories however you please. That's all there is to eating healthy. No confusing binders needed.

futuresize8

I have used it and generally still eat this way. It is a helpful concept IF:

You don't look at it as a diet and instead as a lifestyle.
You still monitor your calories to make sure you're not eating too much.

I find it keeps me fuller longer. Good luck!

MommyisFit

I have eaten this way! Actually thinking about trying it again to get more healthy carbs. I have actually found this to be the easiest diet to follow. If you look for the crossfit journal - zone diet, they have a great pdf to get you started. I found it easy because the way I did it, it was virtually no cooking. Just grabbed 2 of each "block" from the list. The only problem I had, was being able to eat all of that food. It is a lot of food and not eating it all resulted in too few calories.

Yeah, my friend spent one of her work days creating me a binder with the PDFs and such. LoL. She's awesome. But it's just the getting started and organized/familiar with everything that is holding me back. She has mentioned how much food it is, too, and how it's hard for her to eat it all. This puzzles me as far as how can you not be eating a ton of calories.. So confusing!
But she loves it and says it's easy once you get the hang of it. Maybe I'll take her shopping with me!

I have to say, it works well for me because this is the food that I like to eat naturally. I personally love veggies. This plan is tons of them. That is what keeps you so full. I am a very small female, so I would do 2 block meals (most people do more than that). Which meals 2 blocks of carbs, 2 blocks of fat, and 2 blocks of protein. 6 cups of romaine lettuce (YES - 6 CUPS!) is only one carb block. 6 cups of lettuce is a ton of food, but only 60 calories. Once I add in my other carbs and protein and stuff, each meal is about 250 calories. So, you can see why I need to eat ALL of it at EVERY meal to get enough.

Also, I am a very type A personality and I like to log, track, see, chart, etc. I am guessing this may not work for those that are much more go with the flow.

Kanuenue

I love the Zone diet, I have been using it since I joined a Crossfit gym and have maintained it since. A simple way to go about the zone diet is to use 3-2-1. You are tracking on MFP which will make it easy since they display all the grams of macros that you are tracking. If you are planning a meal, just think 3g of carbs/ 2g of protein/ 1g of fat. It's a range to keep it in. Use the food goals to set your macro percentages, 30% Fat, 30% Protein, 40% Carbs to stay in your goal range.

There is also a Zone group you may want to join for further questions.