The first nutrition book that I read cover to cover was Enter the Zone by Dr. Barry Sears, and it completely changed my approach to health and wellness. At the time I was a college student athlete who knew very little about nutrition. I wanted to learn about nutrition for many reason, I wanted to be healthy and I wanted to decrease my body fat percentage and get ripped.
Here’s a simple overview of the Zone Diet. The Zone Diet is based around the concept that when you eat the right combination of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in the same meal you can balance your hormones and keep your hormone levels in the best “zone” for fat burning, health, and weight loss.
The ideal combination that is recommended in the Zone Diet is 40-30-30. Dr. Sears suggests that at each meal you strive to eat 40 percent of your calories from carbohydrates, 30 percent of your calories from protein, and 30 percent of your calories from fat. The carbohydrate to protein ratio at each meal is very important and the zone is 1.0 to 1.0-0.6. This simply means that for every gram of carbohydrate you eat, you should eat between 0.6 and 1 grams of protein to balance out your hormones.
The major hormone that the Zone Diet focuses on controlling is insulin. Insulin is released by the pancreas after you eat carbohydrates, and the job of insulin is to lower your blood sugar. When you constantly consume a high percentage of your calories from highly refined carbohydrates, your body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin, and you’re likely to gain weight.
In order to control insulin, Dr. Sears recommends eating favorable carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables instead of white rice, pasta, and sweets. In addition, he recommends eating lean protein at each meal. Protein stimulates the release of the hormone glucagon, which has the opposite effect from insulin. Glucagon helps the body to burn fat.
In the Zone Diet, it is also recommended that you eat healthy unsaturated fats and tons of fiber. Good fats help to control appetite, blood sugar, and hormones. And fiber intake also helps to control blood sugar. Eating good carbs, lean proteins, and healthy fats is the cornerstone of the Zone Diet. You should also strive for 3 smaller meals and 2 healthy snacks throughout the day, and drink plenty of water to support a healthy metabolism.
Enter the Zone by Barry Sears is a great nutrition resource, and it can help you to lose weight and get healthier.
Charles Inniss is a Physical Therapist and Personal Trainer. For pictures and descriptions of tons of ab exercises and free ab workouts visit his website at All-About-Abs.com
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