Thank you everyone for your contributions to this site. I can see I will get a lot of help here.

I just today joined because I can use some advice and encouragement so this seems the right place.

Eight days ago, after planning and considering how to do it, I started on the Zone diet. I'm in my early 50's and weight creeps up on me now like it never did before. Ten years ago I had 30 pounds to lose and went on the Zone, and it really worked for me. I lost the weight quickly with moderate exercise and kept it off for as long as I was somewhat faithful to the diet and exercise (mostly walking, with some pilates). Unlike most people, I found the Zone easy, because I have many type-1 diabetics in my family (I'm fine, thank goodness) and the Zone follows many diabetic eating principles.

Flash forward and after falling off the regimen, the 30 pounds are back and brought friends. I threw out the bad foods and bought all the good foods and enlisted a diet buddy, my mom, who has a few of her own pounds to lose. We've both been faithful to the Zone, again not a hard diet for either of us. She has COPD (I'm her caregiver) and cannot do exercise, but I've been getting my lazy self out for morning walks as a tone-up before I do anything to hurt myself. Yesterday I walked 3 miles enjoyably. I feel good.

So today's the big weigh-in, and...

Mom hasn't lost an ounce. I envy her, because I've gained a pound and a half.

Aaaaaak!!!!

Hi Marsha!

Nice to see another person here that's in the Zone! I've been very successful with the Zone diet and lifestyle. Like you and many others, I find it easy too. During my first two years eating in the Zone I lost 100 pounds of body fat and gained LBM. I've maintained the fat loss and gained even more LBM since.

Don't be discouraged by the scale. The fact that you're feeling good shows that you're on the right track. Your body needs time to adjust to the dietary changes you've made. For starters, it's been shown in published studies that it takes 4 days of consistently eating Zone meals and snacks to lower your insulin into the Zone and begin burning fat. Taking this into consideration, your results are measuring at most 3 to 4 days of actually being inthe Zone; and that's if you've acheived insulin lowering in the first 4 days. The scale results for you and your mom could be reflecting any number of things, from your carb choices, to differences in hydration levels between now and your last weigh-in. It doesn't necessarily mean that you aren't beginning to burn your stored fat.

One of the great things about the Zone, as you probably already know, is that the adjustments built into it the allow you to tailor it to suit your own personal needs.

Do you happen to be following the Tour de France? Top cyclists Christian Van de Velde and David Millar (as well as the entire "Team Slipstream) are using Zone products with great success! You can read more about it on the official Zone web site.

If you have questions about the Zone, I'll be glad to help! My best to you mom!

I'm going to get started in the various support forums here. Your support means a lot to me. I'm not perfect, but I'm doing my best. I'm feeling good about doing something good for myself. We had visitors over the last 3 days, and ate out, but I found things on the menu that worked, even in a standard coffee shop. I need to slowly work in more exercize into my routine, and then I know the results will speed up and continue. I am only weighing myself every 3-4 days (I can't wait a week!) but the last 2 weigh ins show that I HAVE lost 2-3 pounds from my starting weight (4 if you count the upward blip) and that's enough for me. I know that slow weight loss is healthy and tends to stay off better than crash diets.

I'm hoping I'm in the optimal "insulin zone" but I also know I'm eating so much healthier and learning portion control. I also had a little talk with myself, reminding myself that losing weight at 52 is not the same as when it fell off 10 years ago, never mind before that.

Glad to be here and part of the party!

Great start marshagalinsky!

One of the things I like best about the Zone is how easy it is to do whether you're at home, out to eat, or even on vacation.

Keep us updated, and keep up the good work!

I've never done a diet perse, but I would say give it more time. Your metabolism may have changed some and is a bit resistant, but will kick in before long. Just keep up the positive changes Definitely keep moving--that will kick that metabolism up!

If you find it maybe isn't right for you anymore, there are still a bevy of other life changes with regards to diet or you could tweak the Zone some to meet where you are now.

Good luck to you, I'll be watching for your posts and cheering you on!

Heya Marsha! Welcome!

I understand your difficulties - I was a member of this site earlier in the year, dropped a lot of weight through diet and exercise, then went off my regimen and gained it all back (and then some).

We will just have to stick-to-it this time!!

You're right about tweaking things. The Zone include lots of room for adjusting to suit one's individual needs. That said Marsha is doign jsut as would be espected. She began only wees ago and has lost 3 or 4 pounds already. With the Zone you'll lose 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per week of excess stored fat, and you'll keep it off for good. She's right on track and doing very well!

Congrats again Marsha!

The scale says I haven't lost any more, and it's been 3 and a half weeks. I know I'm eating better, healthier, and I feel more energetic, so that's a plus no matter what. I saw a fitness trainer today and worked out a reasonable schedule that should work for me. I know I love Pilates and dance, so that's worked in. Also found some great local resources for freestyle fitness. No gym membership, which before has gone unused. Today was very active in keeping with all my good energy, walking around town, and a walk along the local beach pier just because it's beautiful. This could become habitual!

So I'm trying to increase the movement along with the healthier diet. Another problem may be all the hormonal changes (like the big Change) since my last weight loss/gain.

I'm not discouraged any more. I'm sticking with this cause it just feels good.

your probally just gaining muscle and losing the fat. If you can feel the difference and notice the change then it's working!
Keep up the good work!!

I do a variation of the zone diet and it works great for me. I have a lot of family members with diabetes as well. I plan on eating this way for the rest of my life, never gonna stop eating healthy.

I look forward to seeing your progress!

The scale isn't the bottom line because (as already mentioned) you can be shifting body composition (losing stored fat and simultaneously gaining muscle) which won't show in the total weight on the scale. The fact that you're feeling great with increased energy shows you're doing well. Judge progress by how you feel and the fit of your clothes. The number on the scale will eventually decrease as you become leaner. If you want to see actual numbes change, zonediet.com, the official web site of the Zone, has a calculator you can use to track LBM and body fat% (it's found in the "EATING" tab of that site)

If you have excess stored fat to lose and after tracking body fat % for a few weeks you still see no progress in regard to the loss of stored fat, you can adjust carbs to help jumpstart the fat loss. I'll be happy to help!

Keep up the good work!