Developed by Barry Sears, Ph.D., The Zone diet is a weight-loss nutrition plan that uses a dietary approach to regulate blood sugar with a balanced mix of good fats, carbohydrates and proteins at each meal. Eating in The Zone means acquiring 40 percent of your daily calories from carbs, 30 percent from protein and 30 percent from good fats, avoiding saturated fat and especially trans fat. Those who choose to make their own meals on the diet require strict protein and carb counting, food measuring and meal planning. The Zone diet also provides ready-made meals and foods that remove the guesswork.
Step 1
Plan your meals for the week. Make a list including three meals daily, each including a protein and approved Zone carbohydrate along with the 10 servings of fruits and vegetables required daily. Good planning prior to shopping can minimize frustration while trying to prepare Zone meals.
Step 2
Keep your carbs, protein and fats in balance by following the 40-30-30 rule of The Zone. Using a kitchen scale or the information found on a product label, this daily percentage means eating 7 g of protein for every 9 g of carbs you eat. In addition, good fats should be limited to about 1.5 g per meal using the above ratio.
Step 3
Measure your protein servings at each meal. A starting point for women is 3 oz. of protein per meal or 4 oz. for men. Use a kitchen food-scale to measure the 3 oz. If you do not have a scale, you can use your hand as a rough estimate -- the thickness and size of your hand is generally equal to a portion of protein.
Step 4
Choose foods high in protein and low in fat. Examples include skinless poultry, egg whites, salmon and cottage cheese. Avoid high-fat proteins, including ground beef and whole eggs.
Step 5
Measure your carbohydrates for the day in the morning and set aside. The main Zone carbohydrate sources are fruits and vegetables. Divide the 10 suggested servings of fruits and vegetables equally into four containers including your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack portions. Zone Diet Info suggests using your fists as a guide -- mirror your good carbs, like vegetables, to the size of two closed fists.
Step 6
Learn the serving sizes for each fruit you enjoy and stick to one serving per sitting. One small apple, a banana, 1/2 grapefruit and 1 cup of melon each provides one serving of fruit. These fruit carbohydrates are more easily digested by your body and impact your blood sugar. In lieu of the kitchen scale, try eating one fistful-sized portion of fruits and of 'bad' carbs such as refined breads and pastas.
Step 7
Incorporate 30 percent of your daily calories in the form of good fats, such as those from olive oil, avocados or nuts. Keep your fat intake balanced by using a hand-measurement, just as you did for carbs and protein. Your meal-time fat serving should be about the same size as the tip of your thumb, according to Zone Diet Info.
Tips and Warnings
- Keep whole grains to a minimum; use sparingly, almost like a condiment.
Things You'll Need
- Kitchen food-scale
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