Felt good on the Zone – and even lost weight!

by Ann
(Mississippi)

After finally recognizing that I have a low blood sugar problem that made me feel drained and uninspired all the time, I began searching for a diet that would make me feel better.

In addition, I had long battled the bulge and the typical low fat, starvation diets just did not work for me.

I found that after weeks of being totally miserable on these diets and not losing a single pound of weight, I was left frustrated and feeling like a failure. The rebound effect was that I came off of these diets with a vengeance. I ate and ate – almost as though I was trying to make up for punishing myself on the low fat, starvation diets.

As my blood sugar would yo-yo up and down, I felt blah and my brain seemed forever cloudy. It became obvious that I needed to do something.

I read “The Zone” book and decided to try it. Immediately I was amazed at how much food I was eating and how good I felt.

Suddenly, I had energy and the most dramatic response was that my brain seemed clear. For the first time in decades, I felt like my brain was working as intended!

I made very sure to eat a small meal or snack every 3 hours – with no exceptions. I always began with the protein component and tried to keep the recommended 40-30-30 balance.

I felt great but was sure that I would be gaining more weight. Therefore, I was amazed a few weeks later when my clothing felt loose. I stepped onto the scales to discover that I had lost 10 lbs!

I then began to worry that I must have something wrong with me because I just could not believe that I had really lost weight due to this diet. But I continued eating and eating – and I continued losing weight.

Staying on the diet took some planning in order to make sure to have an appropriate snack ready every 3 hours. But the trade-off was the unbelievable way I felt – like I was 20 years younger.

Reading labels to make sure I matched the dietary needs of The Zone diet made me realize just how much sugar and carbohydrates that we consume. I lost 65 lbs in 9 months on the diet with no effort and as I lost weight, I felt like moving for the first time in years.

Unfortunately, I then experienced a REALLY bad day that lead to a bad week (parents died, brother became ill, boyfriend problem, stressful job) and I fell off of the diet. In the midst of the overwhelming circumstances, I just HAD to have chocolate and plenty of it.

I unfortunately fell into my old ways, which lead to me physically feeling as bad as my depressed mood. Over the next year I mourned and did not take care of myself. I regained the weight and felt as lousy as I did before the diet.

I am now beginning The Zone diet again – and again I am feeling MUCH better. I feel confident that I will have success again.

Ann

Note from Dr. Dan

Ann,

Thank you for your heartfelt story.

You point out some common problems with typical diets: feeling frustrated, feeling like a failure, rebound effect.

Now, about reading labels: many people feel like it's just "too much work" to read labels. Or they're "too busy." And yet until you do you might never "realize just how much sugar and carbohydrates that we consume."

And that realization -- facing what you are really eating -- can be the key to successful weight loss. Without that you are left following blindly, and that will never get you where you want to be.

Good luck with your current program.

Dr. Dan