Stay happily in the Zone with these
fresh, flavorful, and satisfying meals!
Millions of people worldwide have discovered the incredible weight loss and health benefits of living in the Zone. Zone Meals in Seconds makes it easier than ever for you to stay in the Zone.
For almost fifteen years, Barry and Lynn Sears have maintained a completely Zone-friendly kitchen for their family. As a working mother, Lynn has had to battle the vending machines and fast-food frenzies of the average workday. Zone Meals in Seconds combines her hard-won wisdom and experience with Barry's Zone expertise and medical knowledge. This family-friendly book has everything -- from quick and easy breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes and snack tips, to mix-and-match lunches for kids and tasty slow-cooker dishes you can throw together in the morning and enjoy when you come home at night. You'll find hundreds of convenient and delicious ways to experience the incredible benefits of the Zone lifestyle.
The Zone Diet wasn't created overnight. We took baby steps as we began to walk to the center of the Zone. Remember that the first thing we did was to eliminate starch from our meals. We noticed an immediate improvement. We were no longer hungry at bedtime, and if we were, we would eat a piece of cheese (protein and fat) and some fruit (carbohydrate). This chapter will allow you to enter the Zone at several different levels as well. Many of you reading this book have already read other Zone books, and are reading this one for new tips and recipes. Others may be Zone experts. Still others may be learning about the Zone for the first time. Jump in where you feel comfortable.
LEVEL ONE: As you read this book and begin to understand its principles, we hope you will immediately begin to substitute vegetables and fruits for much of the bread, pasta, rice, and potatoes that you eat. Not all fruits and vegetables are created equal because some raise insulin levels more than others do. Vegetables to avoid or use in moderation include carrots, corn, and beets. Fruits to avoid or use in moderation include raisins, most tropical fruits, cranberries, and bananas. Berries are the most Zone-favorable fruit. A complete Zone Food Block Guide, listing favorable and unfavorable protein, carbohydrate, and fat choices is found on page 365.
Use what we call the hand-eye method. Divide your plate into thirds. On one-third, place low-fat protein, such as chicken, fish, egg whites, cottage cheese, or soy products. The portion should be the size and depth of the palm of your hand. Fill the other two-thirds with vegetables and fruit. After your plate is full, add a dash of fat, such as olive oil, avocado, or nuts.
You should eat three meals and two snacks every day. For meals use a dinner plate, and for snacks use a dessert plate. Use this little ditty to help you understand which foods are protein and which are carbohydrates: "Carbohydrates grow in the ground, and protein (with the exception of soy) moves around." Make sure you drink lots of water and avoid caffeine and soda as much as possible.
Now, learn the Zoning by-laws. Timing is important. Make sure to eat breakfast within one hour of waking. Don't ever let more than four to five hours go by before eating lunch. Have a snack either mid-morning or mid-afternoon. The timing of this snack depends upon the length of time between either breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner. For example, you might eat breakfast at 8 A.M. and lunch at noon. Dinner might not come until 7 P.M., which means you'll need a small snack at 4 or 5 P.M. On the other hand, you may eat breakfast at 6 A.M. and not have time for lunch until 1 P.M. In that case have your snack in the mid-morning. Remember, you don't want to let more than five hours go by before your next meal or snack. Use the same hand-eye approach that you use to construct your Zone meals, except use a dessert-size plate to construct your snack. (Check out a list of snack ideas in chapter 6.)
The wonderful thing about the Zone dietary program is that you will never be hungry because your blood sugar is stable. If the brain isn't hungry, then you won't feel hungry. You will never go more than four or five hours without eating, except when you go to bed. And before you go to bed, make sure you end your day with a Zone snack. Remember, even if you are asleep, your brain is still working. A favorite bedtime snack is 1 ounce of cheese and a glass of wine. (Treat alcohol as a carbohydrate.)
To help with the planning, here are a few examples for your first day in the center of the Zone.
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 parents of two grown daughters, Kelly and Kristin, Barry and Lynn Sears live in Swampscott, Massachusetts.
www.drsears.com
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