Zone: A Dietary Road Map to Lose Weight Permanently: Reset Your Genetic Code: Prevent Disease: Achieve Maximum Physical Performance
by: Barry Sears
Topics include:
Amazon.com
Barry Sears looks at why Americans still have dietary problems in spite of following the advice of experts. Challenging the current recommendations for a high carbohydrate diet, Sears looks into man's history as well as the diets athletes succeed best on, to build a new dietary picture. Anyone looking for better health through an improved relationship to what they eat should put this book on their list.
From Publishers Weekly
Ciao pasta, good-bye bread, rice and other "bad carbohydrates," which can include carrots, cranberries and corn. It's time to truck in the proteins. Sears, a biochemist, crowns years' worth of research into the effects of food on hormone production and metabolic activity with a program that will lead to "optimal health," peak performance (the zone of the title) and, not incidentally, weight control. Citing the importance of eicosanoids, a class of hormones that figures critically in metabolism, Sears has worked out an approach to eating that reduces one's daily production of insulin and, at the same time, draws on stored body fat for energy. A formula for calculating an individual's Lean Body Mass is tied to an estimated Physical-Activity Factor and used to establish one's daily protein requirement, which can easily be as much as 70 grams for a moderately active, middle-aged woman with 25-35% body fat. Recommending a diet that tightly balances the intake of protein, good (low-glycemic) carbohydrates and a moderate amount of monounsaturated fats, Sears is among those current weight-control specialists (e.g., Drs. Rachael and Richard Heller and Stephen Gullo [see Notes below]) who observe that there are many "insulin-resistant" Americans for whom the new food pyramid recommendations, heavily weighted with "high-density, high-glycemic carbohydrates," can be unhealthy. "Zone-favorable" recipes and food-count tables are included. BOMC and QPC alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Based on Nobel Prize-winning research, the message is that being fit and feeling good are goals we can reach by eating the right combinations of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Though it's hard to think that noodles and bread can make anyone sick or miserable, the author makes a good case that eating too many carbohydrates can mess up the healthy hormone patterns that affect virtually every major bodily function. Dr. Sears is a former M.I.T. biochemical researcher and consultant for chronically ill patients, but the audio's focus is on the practical eating habits of ordinary people. He explains some pretty complex metabolic relationships in a way that sounds easy to apply to one's life. An accessible program with powerful, lifesaving information. T.W. AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Teresa Olson, celebrity trainer, in People
"I've never had the progress with my clients that I've had since they've started doing the Zone. They're less hungry, less fatigued, and more productive. I've seen it work."
Muscle Media 2000
"It's powerful 'how-to' information based on very complex science, approaching the subject of food in a way that has not been done before. ... After reading this, you will have gone a long way to getting your own prescription for food."
Brntwd
"Why is the nation that follows the popular dietary rules continuing to get fatter? Dr. Barry Sears believes he has the answer, and his recent best-seller, Enter the Zone, gives a detailed and convincing explanation. ... The exciting truth of the controversial diet is that it really just calls for balance and a lot of common sense ... the information and scientific approach just may convince you."
Richard Quick, Stanford swim coach, in Swim Magazine
"I am convinced that his program was the difference in helping us take our performance to a higher level."
The Light Connection
"In this scientific and revolutionary book, based on Nobel Prize-winning research, medical visionary and former MIT researcher Dr. Barry Sears makes permanent fat loss and peak physical and mental performance simple for you to understand and achieve."
Gary Morgan, celebrity trainer, in Globe
"You can lose up to five pounds a week on the Zone Diet."
Bill Potter, professional cyclist, in Health & Fitness
"I noticed a difference in two weeks. My weight and muscle mass didn't change, but I was dropping fat. My clothes were looser and I could see the change in my shape."
Playboy
"Sears' advice flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but recent studies support his radical theories, and his credentials are solid. ... It simply takes us back to the good old days, before carbo-mania swept the land."
Donalsonville, GA News
"In this book Dr. Sears provides you with a vast new array of tools, techniques, and tricks that will help you achieve superhealth. ... In following the guidelines you will look trimmer and feel more alert, and your health will be better than ever before -- and you will do it effortlessly."
The Ellenville Press
"Dr. Sears, a former MIT researcher, followed some Nobel prize-winning research and developed a dietary roadmap that causes permanent weight loss, is anti-aging and healthful ... These books are well worth reading, and no surprise they have sold over three million copies and just stay on the bestseller lists."
Description
For years experts have been telling Americans what to eat and what not to eat. Fat, they told us, was the enemy. Then it was salt, then sugar, then cholesterol... and on it goes.
Americans listened and they lost -- but not their excess fat. What they lost was their health and waistlines. Americans are the fattest people on earth... and why? Mainly because of the food they eat.
In this scientific and revolutionary book, based on Nobel Prize-winning research, medical visionary and former Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Dr. Barry Sears makes peak physical and mental performance, as well as permanent fat loss, simple for you to understand and achieve.
With lists of good and bad carbohydrates, easy-to-follow food blocks and delicious recipes, The Zone provides all you need to begin your journey toward permanent fat loss, great health and all-round peak performance. In balance, your body will not only burn fat, but you'll fight heart disease, diabetes, PMS, chronic fatigue, depression and cancer, as well as alleviate the painful symptoms of diseases such as multiple sclerosis and HIV.
This Zone state of exceptional health is well-known to champion athletes. Your own journey toward it can begin with your next meal. You will no longer think of food as merely an item of pleasure or a means to appease hunger. Food is your medicine and your ticket to that state of ultimate body balance, strength and great health: the Zone.
From the Publisher
What do our Olympic heroes, the cast of Baywatch, Madonna, and thousands of other trim and healthy people around the country have in common? They're all in "The Zone."
According to Dr. Barry Sears, "The Zone" is "that mysterious but very real state in which your body and mind work together at their ultimate best." Based on Nobel Prize-winning research, this book helps readers reach this state by teaching them groundbreaking nutritional principles. The basic premise is simple: calorie counting doesn't work. Maintaining the correct ratio of fats (yes, fats), proteins, and carbohydrates is what's important.
Designed to take the reader beyond wellness and into truly optimal health, Dr. Sears' life plan helps people lose weight permanently, avoid disease, enhance mental productivity, achieve maximum physical performance, and balance and control hormone and insulin levels. The plan is easy to follow--there are no rigid menus, just clear, sensible guidelines on how to create a personal nutrition program. With sample recipes (such as old-fashioned oatmeal and salmon mousse), a list of good and bad carbohydrates, recommendations on convenience foods, and tips on eating out are also included.
Who's in The Zone?
Carl Lewis, Alvin Harrison, Leroy Burrell
Sinjin Smith, Alicia Silverstone, Tori Spelling
Janet Jackson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and many more
About the Author
Dr. Barry Sears is recognized as one of the world's leading medical researchers on the hormonal effects of food. He is the author of the number one New York Times bestseller The Zone as well as Mastering the Zone, Zone-Perfect Meals in Minutes, Zone Food Blocks, A Week in the Zone, The Age-Free Zone, The Top 100 Zone Foods, The Soy Zone, The Omega Rx Zone, Zone Meals in Seconds, and What to Eat in the Zone. His books have sold more than five million copies and have been translated into twenty-two languages in forty countries. He continues his research on the inflammatory process as the president of the nonprofit Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The father of two grown daughters, he lives in Swampscott, Massachusetts, with his wife, Lynn.
Reviews:
5+ years of trying to follow The Zone regarding weight loss: I am a 23 year old female who exercises 3-5 times a week, cardio and weights. One thing I've noticed from reading these reviews is that many, if not most, of the reviewers have only recently read the book and begun to apply the concepts. (with a high rate of success, not to doubt.) I am adding my experience because I have been attempting to follow this eating plan for 5+ years for the purpose of losing body fat. I read THE ZONE when it was first published and went on the diet hard-core, because it made so much sense to me. I had previously had NO success trying to lose weight on the traditional low fat/protein - high carbohydrate diet illustrated by the ridiculous, industry driven "food guide pyramid." (Let's face it- do you think Nabisco would be very happy if the U.S. Surgeon General made an announcement that Wheat Thins really aren't good for you?) I did lose weight when I began to follow The Zone eating plan strictly. I was absolutely thrilled. I must say, I was a bit obsessive. However, over the past five years, I have struggled with my weight fluctuating 15 lbs. I have a hard time with what Dr. Sears protests regarding two things, now that I've been familiar with applying the concepts in this book for so long: 1) Lack of hunger/ food cravings: Even when following The Zone to a *T*, I experience intense carbohydrate cravings and get hungry between meals, usually after 3 hours at most. It is not my so-called improved hormonal balance that Dr. Sears speaks of that keeps me on track, but my sheer willpower. 2) Permanent weight loss: I was 18 when I began The Zone. I am now 23. As stated earlier, my weight has fluctuated +-15 lbs. over the past five years. It must be noted that over this time, there has not been *one single thing* that I've put into my mouth that I've not considered the "Zone" repercussions of. The bottom line is, that if I slip a bit, I readily re-gain weight. This is easy to do, because The Zone is in essence a very calorie restricted diet. Although Dr. Sears says that no foods are "forbidden," the Zone sharply limits several foods that many people really like. In sum, I am very happy for the many people who have recently gained considerable success following The Zone balanced eating plan. However, my caveat is that I have doubts regarding the ability of most people to follow it for the rest of their lives. I know I have, thus far. I never feel really fulfilled. I am not satisfied by the size of the fat blocks which the diet prescribes for my height/ body weight. If I follow the Zone very closely (and I've had a LOT of pracice) I'm very frequently half hungry and miss many specific foods.
Great diet - don't start with this book though: After a lot of encouragement from my mother, who has been following the Zone for two years, I decided to try this diet. I've been on it for 3 months and I've lost 28 pounds and 2 clothing sizes without really changing my modest exercise habits. I eat half as many calories as I used to, but I'm not hungry. I used to have terrible insomnia, often getting no more than 4 hours of sleep a night - that has vanished along with my nearly-constant heartburn. After two months, my blood cholesterol dropped from 200 to 180. I have energy to burn. I take a Cheat Day on Sundays when I eat all the evil things I've been craving that week - croissants, Nutella, McD's sausage biscuits, creamy desserts - and by the end of the day I feel so draggy, dehydrated, sinus-y, that it's a relief to wake up Monday morning and go back onto the plan. So, why don't I recommend this book? It was the first book Barry Sears (co-)wrote about the Zone, and it reads like an infomercial. The writing style is... loud. It is also poorly organized, jumping around from biochemical jargon to little tidbits of practical advice to anecdotal evidence to health claims for different conditions. And finally, this book doesn't provide any information beyond the very basics about how to actually follow the plan. If you are already convinced (perhaps by all these glowing reviews) of the benefits of the Zone and want to jump right in, the more comprehensive Mastering the Zone with its tons of practical tips is a much better place to start. If after beginning the diet you want more background information about how it works, then pick up this book. The one good thing about the early book is the more gourmet recipes (like the lamb with herbed cheese on zucchini-and-squash "pasta" - mmmm!). There are more recipes in Mastering the Zone, but for my taste they stick too strictly to the glycemic-index guide and also try too hard for one-pot meals; I've never used them. An issue to look out for: I found that the body fat tables in the back way overestimated my fat weight, which meant an artificially low food intake level. After a couple of weeks hovering on the edge of hunger, I got my body fat percentage measured on a machine at the employee wellness office at work and got a result of ten percentage points less! I raised my food intake and continued losing weight at a healthy clip, with no more hunger pangs. I suspect that the bodyfat-table problem may be why a few reviewers here felt hungry on the Zone. The tables probably underestimated their lean weight, resulting in recommended food intakes that were too low. The bottom line: even if all the health claims aren't sound, this is a balanced low-calorie diet that's easy to follow indefinitely without hunger, and what can be wrong with that - unless you are Nabisco Foods or something? Just try to start with Mastering the Zone instead.
I recently got this book and have now read through it. As I read, it was very familiar to me! This is the diet that Bill Phillips recommends in his wildly popular Body for Life program which I followed several years ago with great results. The Zone was created before Bill Phillips wrote his book, so Bill "borrowed" his recommendations from Dr. Sears! My experience with The Zone is based on what I learned from Bill Phillips. However, The Zone has a much more thorough explanation and better guidelines for following the program. I would recommend using both Body for Life and The Zone to get the best results. Here are some observations based on my experience with this program: 1) As with any diet, it only works if you follow it. 2) It can be followed with good results by using the palm of you hand to gauge portions as explained by Dr. Sears (and by Bill Phillips). Or you can follow it exactly with food scales and exact food selection for the best results. 3) If you are following it properly and consuming the right amounts of food, you will not get hungry. If you get hungry, you either had too much carbohydrate at the last meal or your protein portion sizes are not large enough. 4) You will get excellent results if this is combined with weight and cardio training as prescribed by Bill Phillips. Be sure to increase the protein amounts according to your increased activity level. 5) In addition to weight loss, you will gain massive amounts of energy and a solid feeling of well-being.