The Zone Diet Plan

The Zone Diet Plan is one of the most popular ways to lose fat and gain muscle without suffering from hunger. 

A great eating plan to get ripped abs fast

There are many diet plans out there that claim to help you shed the fat. But I have found that the Zone diet plan is one of the best at helping to shed the fat around your stomach and help you get 6 pack abs

I have found that the very best abs diet – the best eating program for shedding pounds off the stomach – is the 40-30-30 diet, also known as the Zone diet plan.

This diet plan is very effective for taking off the pounds. The theory behind the Zone, as developed by Dr. Barry Sears.

The basic idea behind the Zone diet is that eating the right ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats moderates the amount of insulin released by your pancreas.

Insulin in turn regulates the amount of calories that are stored as fat. The more insulin released, the more fat is stored.

Consuming carbohydrates is believed to promote the release of insulin by the pancreas, whereas consumption of protein and fat is thought to inhibit the release of insulin.

Consuming fat, additionally, is thought to be necessary to burn the body’s stored fat.

Eat the right fats during your Abs diet

While the Zone diet emphasizes eating adequate fats, it also emphasizes consuming healthy fats while moderating the amount of unhealthy fats you eat.

Healthy fats are monounsaturated fats, found in olive oil, canola oil, some margarine style spreads, and in nuts.

The unhealthy fats are saturated fats, found largely in meats, and trans fats, which are especially unhealthy and are found in margarines, shortening, and many packaged goods.

Another more recently emphasized element of the Zone diet plan is the ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 fats.

Omega 6 fats are most commonly found in nuts, eggs, poultry, cereals, baked goods, and vegetable oils.

Omega 3 oils are found in oily fishes such as wild salmon (NOT in farmed salmon), mackerel, and sardines. They are also found in flax, kiwi fruit, and grass-fed beef.

The ideal ration of omega 6 to Omega 3 oils is around 4 to 1 (the typical Western diet tends to have a ratio of anywhere from 10 to 1 all the way up to 30 to 1). Since many people do not eat adequate amounts of Omega 3 oils, the Zone diet recommends fish oil supplements.

The Zone diet basics

According to the Zone diet, every meal should contain approximately 40% carbohydrates, 30% quality protein, and 30% good fats.

By maintaining a diet within this range, you keep yourself in “the Zone”, producing just the right amount of insulin to burn fat at a healthy rate.

Concentrate on low-glycemic carbohydrates (that is, carbs that are lower in the glycemic index). And concentrate on meats that are low in saturated fat, such as chicken breast, fish, and some low fat beef.

Egg whites are another great source of high quality, low fat protein.

As a general rule of thumb, consume a portion of protein about the size of your fist every meal, along with a similar number of calories of fat. Olive oil is a great primary source of fat and can be used in salad dressings and cooking.

Almonds are also a great source of quality fat and some protein too.

Then round your meal off with some low or moderate glycemic carbs, like a salad with lettuce and assorted veggies. Or have a piece of fruit.

Just read labels and stick to the 40/40/40 ratio of carbs/protein/fat. In a few weeks, you could really be seeing a difference.

Add a program of moderate aerobic exercise (again, consult your doctor before starting an exercise program), and an ab workout routine, and in no time at all, you will see progress, with your fat starting to burn and your abs starting to show through.

Obviously, the more fat you have to burn off your midsection, the more patient you need to be. The Zone is a moderate diet, rather than an extreme one, but I have found it to be the most effective way to shed pounds.

A Warning from the American Heart Association

In the interest of giving you all the available facts and points of view, I want to add this note of warning: The American Heart Association has issued an alert to the potential dangers to the heart from the long-term usage of “high protein” diets, and they included the Zone as one of the diets in this warning.

I would add that this warning seems to lump the Zone in with Atkins, Protein Power, and Sugar Busters, claiming that all these diets promote unlimited amounts of red meat and high-fat dairy products.

From what I know of the Zone Diet, from having read Dr. Sears’ books, the Zone does NOT recommend unlimited or even high consumption of red meats or any other sources of saturated fats. In fact, the Zone advises quite the opposite, recommending such protein sources as chicken breast and fish.

If anything, I see the Zone as not exactly a high protein diet, but rather a calorie-restricted diet, with fewer carbs than the average diet. I find it perplexing when researchers lump the Zone in with other more extreme diets, but this is often the case.

But I wanted you to be aware of this warning so you can make decisions yourself based on all the evidence.

In any case, this warning only seems to apply to long-term usage of these diets, and the AHA statement seemingly acknowledged the short term effectiveness of the Zone in promoting “quick weight loss”.

In my opinion, there really seems to be something to Dr. Sears’ theories about moderating your insulin production by eating within the 40/30/30 ratio.

Therefore, I believe the Zone diet plan is one of the best diets for getting ripped abs (even if you only use it for the short term).