I followed the zone diet ratio of 40% carbs/30% fat/30% protein for a year and consistently lost 4 lbs a month (~20kg). I also gained muscle during this time as a beginner weightlifter (are you intermediate after a year?) I have no idea what the zone diet is about or what the details are; I just followed the macro ratio and ate what I wanted. Of course I kept my sugar intake daily below 65g, saturated fats below 25g, trans below 2g (averaging at 0.4g), sodium below 2300mg (up to 3000mg when I did cardio to replenish electrolytes). Then I focused on pushing my fiber intake to around 35g a day, calcium 1000mg, 18mg iron, 60mg Vit C, 5000IU Vit A (mostly beta carotene from veggies rather than retinol as your body can reject additional, but will absorb all retinol). Oh, and I drank lots of cold water. Lots and lots. I weigh in every meal (log on myfitnesspal), but I eat consistently so I have all my foods logged easily (usually a +-5 minute process of logging and weighing my food). I've built up a gargantuan database of food nutritional information (mostly USDA database info for generic foods and from labels of products I buy regularly e.g. low fat cottage cheese from Woolworths etc.). I even logged raw foods that went into cooking like stews, soups, bakes etc. and weighed the cooked weight to determine the cooked weight percentages. This gave me access to lots of information for thumbsucking when I'm eating out or with friends (examples are baked chicken schnitzels usually are 88% of their raw weight. So you can log 100g cooked schnitzel as roughly 114g. Just don't dry out the schnitzel as this value will shoot up. Cook your foods CONSISTENTLY) Log your food, make sure you stay within USDA RDAs, exercise and stay below your required energy intake (BMR + walking cals + exercise - 500kCal for ~4lbs a month) and you will succeed. I was nervous at first and logged my weight every day, but now I have a nice data curve in excel showing my steady decline in weight (currently gaining from weight training). I even logged my reasons for sudden weight spikes (high sodium intake, constipation, weighing after eating/drinking rather than immediately). These all dropped back to down to my calculated weight and trendline as expected asthe issues were resolved. Don't panic when you plateau or get spikes. Wait a week and if not resolved, adjust your diet by 100-200 kcals. Then fine tune after a week or two in 100kcal increments. You don't want to lose weight too quickly (health issues, muscle atrophy etc.) or too slowly as it simply sucks lol. It's easy and convenient to lose weight. Simply be consistent and disciplined and you too can do it.
Sears now says you can eat grain products and by pure coincidence he has found a special baking process that makes baked good okay to eat. And amazing as it might seem, he sells these baked goods. I am waiting for him to find a way to eat sugar.
The premise here is to attack your hunger before it hits you. More than likely if you skip a snack because your not quite hungry enough for food then you will get sidetracked and forget about the snack all together. Then, when your hungry you are more tempted to grab the first thing you see and if your not at home or if your home has junk in it then it's more than likely going to be one of these junk foods you grab first. Happens all the time with people.
vegetables and fruits have fiber, they are the carbs, and they have a very low glycemic index, which is why this works. very big misconception out there.
well I have posted this comment 8 months ago and I have now lost 50 pounds... I love this diet it truly changed my life. But it is not magic you must exercise. It is all about proportions in your food. I have done this diet now for little over a year now. I have lost the weight got a girl friend and joined a sports team. Try it because it is not really low carb because with no carb you become sluggish and ... well it's bad. this is the way to go.
To the naive poster who couldn't understand eating 5 times whether hungry or not. 5 proportioned meals in a day keeps your metabolism ticking over, avoids the body goin into starvation mode amd holding on to fat more (does this after 3-4 hours of not eating). It keeps your blood sugar at good levels and avoids hunger pangs. the ratio's match what bodybuilders can use for a maintenance phase and you can see how much fat is on thise guys!
Oh hai! Have you heard about - fast abs magic (do a google search)? Ive heard some decent things about it and my cousin got detailed Six pack abs and lost lots of fat with it.
This is the type of problem people run in to with fad diets like this. Even though the percentages are good as far as carbs to fats and proteins, it lacks certain aspects such as whole grains.
I followed the zone diet ratio of 40% carbs/30% fat/30% protein for a year and consistently lost 4 lbs a month (~20kg). I also gained muscle during this time as a beginner weightlifter (are you intermediate after a year?)
I have no idea what the zone diet is about or what the details are; I just followed the macro ratio and ate what I wanted. Of course I kept my sugar intake daily below 65g, saturated fats below 25g, trans below 2g (averaging at 0.4g), sodium below 2300mg (up to 3000mg when I did cardio to replenish electrolytes). Then I focused on pushing my fiber intake to around 35g a day, calcium 1000mg, 18mg iron, 60mg Vit C, 5000IU Vit A (mostly beta carotene from veggies rather than retinol as your body can reject additional, but will absorb all retinol). Oh, and I drank lots of cold water. Lots and lots.
I weigh in every meal (log on myfitnesspal), but I eat consistently so I have all my foods logged easily (usually a +-5 minute process of logging and weighing my food). I've built up a gargantuan database of food nutritional information (mostly USDA database info for generic foods and from labels of products I buy regularly e.g. low fat cottage cheese from Woolworths etc.). I even logged raw foods that went into cooking like stews, soups, bakes etc. and weighed the cooked weight to determine the cooked weight percentages. This gave me access to lots of information for thumbsucking when I'm eating out or with friends (examples are baked chicken schnitzels usually are 88% of their raw weight. So you can log 100g cooked schnitzel as roughly 114g. Just don't dry out the schnitzel as this value will shoot up. Cook your foods CONSISTENTLY)
Log your food, make sure you stay within USDA RDAs, exercise and stay below your required energy intake (BMR + walking cals + exercise - 500kCal for ~4lbs a month) and you will succeed.
I was nervous at first and logged my weight every day, but now I have a nice data curve in excel showing my steady decline in weight (currently gaining from weight training). I even logged my reasons for sudden weight spikes (high sodium intake, constipation, weighing after eating/drinking rather than immediately). These all dropped back to down to my calculated weight and trendline as expected asthe issues were resolved. Don't panic when you plateau or get spikes. Wait a week and if not resolved, adjust your diet by 100-200 kcals. Then fine tune after a week or two in 100kcal increments. You don't want to lose weight too quickly (health issues, muscle atrophy etc.) or too slowly as it simply sucks lol.
It's easy and convenient to lose weight. Simply be consistent and disciplined and you too can do it.
I love this it actually works. i lost 46 lbs its healthy eating . i use the book which has the blocks or you can eyeball it.
Sears now says you can eat grain products and by pure coincidence he has found a special baking process that makes baked good okay to eat. And amazing as it might seem, he sells these baked goods.
I am waiting for him to find a way to eat sugar.
@eforce1200 all it does is say that a carb block is 9 grams, so you can still eat whole grain bread n such, just obviously not as much
The premise here is to attack your hunger before it hits you. More than likely if you skip a snack because your not quite hungry enough for food then you will get sidetracked and forget about the snack all together. Then, when your hungry you are more tempted to grab the first thing you see and if your not at home or if your home has junk in it then it's more than likely going to be one of these junk foods you grab first. Happens all the time with people.
but in a diet like that without whole grains how do you get your daily fiber?
vegetables and fruits have fiber, they are the carbs, and they have a very low glycemic index, which is why this works. very big misconception out there.
Or replace your meat with grass fed beef or free range chicken. Grass fed beef has been shown to aid in weight loss and provide great nutrients.
well I have posted this comment 8 months ago and I have now lost 50 pounds... I love this diet it truly changed my life. But it is not magic you must exercise. It is all about proportions in your food. I have done this diet now for little over a year now. I have lost the weight got a girl friend and joined a sports team. Try it because it is not really low carb because with no carb you become sluggish and ... well it's bad. this is the way to go.
I am 12 and i was obese so far after 3 months i have lost 30 pounds its so cool. I still want to lose another 10-15
To the naive poster who couldn't understand eating 5 times whether hungry or not. 5 proportioned meals in a day keeps your metabolism ticking over, avoids the body goin into starvation mode amd holding on to fat more (does this after 3-4 hours of not eating). It keeps your blood sugar at good levels and avoids hunger pangs. the ratio's match what bodybuilders can use for a maintenance phase and you can see how much fat is on thise guys!
Poor description
Oh hai! Have you heard about - fast abs magic (do a google search)? Ive heard some decent things about it and my cousin got detailed Six pack abs and lost lots of fat with it.
This is the type of problem people run in to with fad diets like this. Even though the percentages are good as far as carbs to fats and proteins, it lacks certain aspects such as whole grains.