The core philosophy of The Zone diet is managing the portions of carbohydrates, proteins and fats you eat with each meal or snack. You should consume 40 percent carbs and 30 percent fats and proteins each time you eat. Zone Diet Info reports that this balances hormone production that is spurred by what you eat. Carbohydrates produce insulin and proteins produce glucagon. Insulin tells your body to store carbs for fat and glucagon tells it to let go of the carbs. The theory is that if you eat foods in the proper percentages, you'll lose weight. As with any diet, there are ways to help the process along.
Meals and Snacks
The website 433 Zone Diet says that you can tell if you're in the Zone and correctly maintaining the 40-30-30 balance if you're not hungry again two to three hours after a meal. If you are hungry, you've gone over the 40 percent ratio for carbohydrates. Timing your meals is important for your hormone levels, too, according to The-Zone-Diet-Recipes.com. Have one meal or snack at least every five hours. Eat breakfast within an hour of rising, and make sure you have a light snack before bed and 30 minutes before exercising.
Portions
Zone Diet Info suggests that you use your hands to measure your portions so that they fall into the required 40-30-30 parameters. Place your hand palm down on any surface. Your protein intake per meal should equal the thickness and width of your palm. Next, form both your hands into loose fists. This is the portion size of healthy carbohydrates you can eat in the form of fruits and vegetables. Take one fist away and this equals the amount of "bad" carbs you can consume, such as those in bread. Now, stick your thumb up. The tip is the portion of fat you can have with each meal or snack, such as oil or butter.
Calories
If you watch your calories as well as manage your carbohydrate-protein-fat ratio, you'll stay in the Zone for optimal weight loss, according to Zone Diet Info. Their website suggests staying within 500 calories per meal and 100 calories for each snack.
Beverages
Zone Diet Info says that if you are going to drink alcohol, make sure you do it with a meal or snack. Having food in your stomach can slow the absorption of the sugar content and help maintain your insulin levels. 433 Zone Diet suggests eliminating any beverages containing caffeine. Drink eight 8-oz. glasses of water a day instead, according to the Zone rules. Your body is 70 percent water, according to The-Zone-Diet-Recipes.com, so water intake can prevent dehydration where caffeine encourages it.
Motivation
433 Zone Diet recommends keeping a diary of your diet progress. If you're not losing weight as you anticipated, don't despair. The diary will point out where you erred so you can make changes and do better. Keep your goals small. Aim for a 5-lb. loss instead of 50 lbs. and reward yourself each time you successfully hit one of those increments.
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