Zone-Perfect Meals in Minutes (The Zone)

This is the second time I have purchased this book. I loved it the first time. I enjoy the flavor in the recipes. And, if you are following the diet plan, you really can lose weight.

I'm reading an aweful lot of whining and moaning about this book, and most of it is summed up by "I want to eat what I want to eat and still lose weight, but this book won't let me", Or "it's too hard!" (insert your favorite petulant child picture here). Another thing that boggles my mind is when people comment on how to change these recipes yet they do so in ways that completely destroy the principles behind The Zone. It is painfully obvious that they have never read any of The Zone books other than this one yet they think they are being so very clever in their suggestions. Here's the deal, Dr. Sears is dead-on about his biochemistry. Period. He's forgotten more about human metabolism than any food critic will ever know. If you make this lifestyle change, you will lose weight. The end. If it feels wrong to you, or you don't like the recipes as much as the food you were eating before, then there's probably a very good reason for that; if you are obese, then you're not going to like eating this way initially because what you like eating is what got you into your predicament in the first place. But then again you may enjoy the thrills of diabetes or degenerative joints or myocardial infarctions; and I'm sure your spouse loves the melodious chainsaw snoring at nite from your obstructive sleep apnea. I lost twenty six pounds over five months and never excercised more than what it took me to flip the channels on the remote. On top of that, I only followed it during the week and gave myself the weekends off to eat whatever. As far as the preparation time; I work eighty to ninety hours a week (I graduate med school this year), so don't complain to me about how cooking these meals takes too much time; your whining will fall on deaf and pitiless ears. The point is simple, if you want to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle, follow the principles in this book; if you just want to whine alot and eat whatever the hell you want to, and then complain that you're not losing weight, don't bother with the book.

Most of the recipes in this book are for delicious, easy-to-make, one-dish meals. Some of these will be a challenge to the sort of cook who serves Froot Loops or Pop-Tarts for breakfast and boiled weiners for dinner. Others won't.The recipes in this book are sized accurately. They are measured both in terms of the number of servings and the number of blocks of protein, fat and carbohydrate. Each recipe is designed to have an equal number of blocks of fat, carbohydrate and protein, and the number of blocks of each of these is listed. This is Barry Sears secret for designing meals that don't cause excessive secretion of insulin.Excessive insulin secretion causes sugar to be withdrawn from the blood stream and converted and stored as body fat. Probably, if you had a big crowd of people, some of them thin and some of them extra fat, you could easily sort them into two groups: the thin ones, who follow the sort of diet outlined in this cookbook, and the fat ones who don't.Most of the recipes here are for dinner. About 50 are for lunch and a couple dozen are for breakfast. Pick your favorites.There are several useful appendices. One lists the number of blocks of protein, fat or carbohydrate in various common foods. Another lists scientific references about various aspects of the Zone diet.

This book should be looked at as more then just a diet cookbook, its a training manual. If your like me, for years you have been eating processed foods (canned soups, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese). This cookbook will get you in the habit of using fresh meats and vegetables, which is the best way to tackle The Zone.I've read the reviews of others who say that The Zone forces you to eat too much food or takes too much time....Ask yourself, "What is my health worth?"

I think this book is an excellent complement to Mastering the Zone. There are a great variety of delicious zone meals. I have begun using frozen vegetables to speed up cooking time and mixing up the sauces for increased dish variety. The snack ideas have also come in quite handy.