Once I realized that a big key to fitness and health is building lean “functional” muscle, I’ve been looking for the best approach.   I think I found it.  It’s, You are Your Own Gym, by Mark Laruen.  The tagline is, “Use the body you have to build the body you want.”  What a great concept.

I wanted a fitness routine that I could do anywhere, and I wanted it to be as effective and efficient as possible.  Here’s the big deal:  Mark, trains special forces for a living.  In fact, he trains them in record time.

Mark is in the business of building lean, muscular, physically fit bodies as fast as possible.  He uses the latest strength and conditioning principles and sports science to produce better results with only a fraction of the time and with less injuries.  It’s a huge plus that Mark is goaled with getting people into amazing physical shape as fast as possible and their lives depend on it.  It keeps it real, and puts a premium on results.

Mark has really optimized his approach too.  You can get rapid results by working out just 30 minutes a day, four time a week.  Mark also provides motivation techniques and expert training tips and tricks along the way.  You even get a great primer on nutrition.  The icing on the cake is that Mark includes 125 exercises that are visually depicted , and you can use them to work out every part of your body.

Take Your Gym Wherever You Go

What I really like about the book is that Mark’s approach uses bodyweight exercises.  What that means is that you can get lean, strong, and confident without expensive gym memberships, free weights, or infomercial contraptions.  You really are your own gym, so you take your gym wherever you go.  If you want to save money, and get in the best shape of your life, the answers are in this book.  What an amazing game changer.

Your Real Home is Your Body

Your body is your temple.  Take care of it, and it takes care of you.  Mark writes:

“Your real home is not your apartment or your house or your city or even country, but your body.  It is the only thing  you, your soul and your mind, will always live inside of so long as you walk the earth.  It is the single most important physical thing in this world you can take care of.”

Train as Ancient Warriors

Get back to the basics.  Train with techniques that have stood the test of time.  Mark writes:

“You will be training as Achilles did before the battle on the shores of Troy, training as ancient warriors the world over knew was best, training as future SpecOps warriors will to meet their own foes.  Why?  Because it works.”

Train Like Special Forces

This is too cool.  Mark puts into your hands the same exercises that the world’s best get to use.  Mark writes:

“The military’s most advanced forces — from Navy SEALs to Green Berets to Air Force Special Tactics Operators — use these exercises as the backbone to their strength training, and now I bring them to you.  Now, for the first time, men and women outside SpecOps have the opportunity to reach the pinnacle of fitness, with an amazingly small sacrifice of your time.  Clear, concise, and complete, I bring these exercises into your living room, bedroom, hotel room, garage, yard, yard, office, wherever you like.  They are for people of all athletic ability levels, tailored to suit the needs and lifestyles of today’s busy women and men.

Lean, Flexible, and Strong … at Any Age.”

Get Lean, Strong, and Confident

It’s a total fitness program, optimized for rapid results.   Mark writes:

“These programs will increase the strength of important muscle groups needed in every day living, keep your muscles and joints supple and flexible, improve the efficiency and capacity of the heart, lungs, and other body organs, reduce susceptibility to common injuries as well as degenerative heart diseases, and reduce emotional and nervous tension.  The benefits are never-ending.  And success in your fitness program will inevitably lead to success in the other aspects of your life, both work and play.”

Mark has truly created a masterpiece and has given us a gift that keeps on giving.  Check out You are Your Own Gym, and explore what you’re capable of.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around every once in a while, you might miss it.” — Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

You can add up to 12 years to your life, and look and feel younger along the way.   Research shows that genes only account for 10% of our longevity and the rest is our lifestyle.

The Blue Zones teach us a lot about how to live longer, healthier, happier lives.   Dan Buettner and the National Geographic team of explorers studied the Blue Zones to identify the keys to adding years to your life, and life to your years.

By adopting the patterns and practices from the world’s healthiest spots, you too can add years to your life, and life to your years.

9 Ways to Add Years to Your Life

Dan Buettner shares 9 ways to add life to your years, and years to your life:

1. Move Naturally
2. Know Your Purpose
3. Down Shift
4. 80% Rule
5. Plant Slant
6. Wine at 5
7. Family First
8. Belong
9. Right Tribe

Buettner refers to these 9 habits as the Power 9.    His simple frame for adding years is that moving naturally adds 4 years, having the right outlook adds 4 years, eating wisely adds 8 years, and connecting adds 4 years. (That’s a total of 20 years, but I guess you only get to keep up to 12.)

Here are some ideas on how to turn this insight into action …

1. Move Naturally

Find a way to move it, move it.  Walking is a great example.  Regular, low-intensity physical activity can add years to your life.  In the places where people live the longest, people are constantly nudged into activity.  It’s part of their daily life.  If they do an intentional activity, then it’s something they enjoy.

2. Know Your Purpose

Find your ikigai.  Ikigai is a word in Okinawan that roughly means, “the reason for which you wake up in the morning.”  If you know your purpose, you can add years to your life.  In fact, people that know their purpose live up to seven years long than those who don’t.   If you need help finding your purpose, check out Discover Your Why and explore the Purpose Pack.

3. Down Shift

Stop and smell the roses.  In a world that’s always on, you need to find your way to turn it off.  Research shows that chronic inflammation from stress is related to every major age-related disease.  One of the most effective ways to deal with stress is to learn the relaxation response.  Rather than respond with a stress response, you can teach your body to respond with a  relaxation response.  It’s something you can learn, and then practice for life.  See Relaxation Techniques for Stress Relief.

4. 80% Rule

Eat until you are 80% full.  According to Buettner, Okinawas, begin every meal by saying, “Hara hachi bu!” The saying translates to “Eat until you’re 80% full.” In addition, Buettner also recommends eating slowly off smaller plates to make smaller meals more satisfying.  See Hara hachi bu (Wikipedia.)

5. Plant Slant

Eat mostly a plant-based diet.  The diet should be heavy on beans, nuts and green plants.  This is consistent with Dr. Joel Fuhrman who focuses on nutritional density for health and he reverses disease through nutrition.  See Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

6. Wine at 5

Drink two glasses of wine per day if you want to live longer.  Buettner says that the research shows drinkers out-live non-drinkers.  In Sardinia, Italy, one of the “Blue Zones,” the men live the longest in the world, and they have ten times more centenarians than in America.  A key factor may be that their Wine has three times the level of polyphenal antioxidants than any type of wine in the world.

7. Family First

Put your family first.  Buettner says that a thriving family can add up to six years.  In Okinawa, the older you get, the more equity you have.  The more wisdom you’re celebrated for.  This is good for aging parents.  It’s also good for the children of those families.  They have lower rates of mortality and lower rates of disease.  It’s called — “The grandmother effect.”

8. Belong

Connect.  Buettner says that people who show up to their faith community four times a month live an extra 4-14 years.  In America’s Blue Zone, Loma Unco, California, the Adventists community celebrate their Sabbath from Sunset on Friday to Sunset on Saturday.  It’s their 24 hour sanctuary sanctuary in time.

9. Right Tribe

Thrive with your tribe.  Your social circle can add security and social networking.  According to Buettner, five years ago the average American had three good friends.  There’s strength in numbers and it helps to know someone has your back.

Additional Resources

• Power 9
• TED Talk – Dan Buettner on “How to Live to be 100+”
• The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest

“Life is like a ten speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.” — Charles Schultz

Where do people live the longest, healthiest, and happiest lives on the planet? The Blue Zones.

The big idea behind the Blue Zones is that if we study the places in the world, where people live the longest, healthiest lives, then we can learn from them and replicate their success in our own lives.

Only about 10% of how long the average person lives within certain biological limits is dictated by our genes. The other 90% is dictated by our life style. The premise of Blue Zone is if we can find the optimal life style of longevity, then we can come up with an ideal formula for longevity.

It makes sense — If you want to live a longer, better life, then learn from the best examples.

What Really Helps Us Live Longer, Better Lives?

There’s a lot of confusion around what really helps us live longer, better:

• Should you be running marathons or doing Yoga?
• Should you eat organic meat, or should you be eating Tofu?
• When it comes to supplements, should you be taking them?
• Should you be taking any hormones?
• Does purpose or spirituality play into longevity? How does the how we socialize impact our longevity and quality of life?

There is a lot of competing information on these topics. If you try to sort your way through, what you find is there is a mixed bag of facts, feelings, and opinions about what should work, mixed in with what actually does work. One way to cut through this is to just look at the places in the world where people actually do live longer, healthier, and happier lives, and study their success.

The Blue Zones

These are the places where people live longer, better lives.  The Blue Zones are:

1. Okinawa, Japan
2. Sardinia, Italy
3. Loma Linda, California
4. Nicoya, Costa Rica
5. Ikaria, Greece

In Sardinia, there is an area where men live the longest in the world with the most vitality, and they have ten times more centenarians than we have in America.

In a northern part of Okinawa, we find the oldest living female population, and it’s the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. They Live seven good years longer than average Americans. They have five times as many centenarians. They have one-fifth the rate of breast and colon cancer. They have one-sixth the rate of cardiovascular disease.

Loma Linda, California is America’s longest lived population. The average life expectancy for women in America is 80. In Loma Linda, California it’s 89. The average life expectancy for men in America is 76. In Loma Linda, it’s 87.

TED Talk on the “Blue Zones”

Watch the video where National Geographic writer and explorer, Dan Buettner, study the world’s “Blue Zones” to find the path to long live and health:

TED Talk – Dan Buettner on “How to Live to be 100+”

The Book on “Blue Zones”

Dan Buettner wrote a book on the Blue Zones.  It’s  a New York Times Bestseller with rave reviews.

• The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest

My Related Posts

• 10 Years Younger
• Breathe with Skill to Dramatically Improve Your Health
• Health and Fitness Books

“A healthy mind has an easy breath.” — Author Unknown

We do it everyday so you think we’d be good at it.  No, there are actually better ways to breathe, than how we breathe by default. By default, we tend to breathe shallow and, according to research, that’s not as effective as deep diaphragmatic breathing.

I first heard about a better way to breathe from Tony Robbins.  He wanted to know why athletes have statistically lower cancer than the average American.  The conclusion was that athletes get more oxygen in their bloodstream and they stimulate the movement of lymph which stimulates their immune system to work at peak levels.

In the book, Unlimited Power : The New Science Of Personal Achievement , Tony Robbins writes about how improving our breathing can improve our immune system and overall health.

Benefits of Better Breathing
Back in the lab, Tony found the most effective way to breathe so you can emulate the effects.  Basically, it’s deep diaphragmatic breathing.  By breathing deeply and in a specific way, you pump your lymph nodes.  Your heart pumps your bloodstream, but deep breathing pumps your lymphs.  In terms of impact, if you measure your white blood cell count before, and then two weeks later after making this a habit, you should see a dramatic change.  I haven’t measured this, but I can’t see any downsides to attempting to breathe better, so in this case, I’ll just go with Tony’s findings.

How to Breathe the Most Effective Way to Cleanse Your System
Tony writes:

“Let me share with you the most effective way to breathe in order to cleans your system.  You should breathe in this ratio: inhale one count, hold four counts, exhale two counts.  If you inhaled for four seconds, you would hold for sixteen and exhale for eight.  Why exhale for twice as long as you inhale?  That’s when you eliminate toxins via your lymphatic system.  Why hold four times as long?  That’s how you can fully oxygenate the bllod and activate your lymphatic system.  When you breathe, you should start deep in your abdoment, like a vacuum cleanere that’s getting rid of all toxins in the blood stream.”

Tony recommends taking 10 deep breaths in this way, 3 times a day.  Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.  He says work up slowly, never strain, and always start your breaths from your abdomen.

There you have it.  A better way to breathe.  The potential upsides are amazing and the downside is three times a day you wasted five minutes trying to breathe well and be in the moment.  Hmmmm … not much of a downside.

Photo by lululemon athletica.

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” — Howard Thurman

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income.com.  Here’s what I like about Pat — he goes above and beyond and he keeps things real.   I first stumbled across Pat while doing some research about really making a passive income online.  I think it’s a skill more people will need as the world we know changes under our feet.  As I read through Pat’s posts, it was clear that Pat lives and breathes his passion and he genuinely wants to help people succeed.  I like that … I like that a lot.

I also like Pat’s bio …  “I didn’t win the lottery, I don’t drive a fancy car, and I’m not a millionaire. What I do have is a beautiful wife, an awesome baby boy, a loving family, awesome friends, and a line of work that allows me to spend all of my time with them.” … Pat is leading an extraordinary life and loving it along the way and that is success in action.

I have to say, this is truly one of the most amazing posts I’ve read on how to make a living on the Web.  I’m blown away.  Rather than a step-by-step approach, it’s a set of timeless principles and patterns.  Pat has distilled an incredible set of insights that he’s learned from actually making money online and walking his talk.  Without further ado, here’s Pat on how to make a living on the Internet …

This post is not intended to be a step-by-step guide on how to make a living on the Internet. Think of it as a compendium of the lessons I’ve learned since starting a number of online businesses – lessons that I hope will be far more useful to you than any “system” I could possibly teach. The fact is that there are thousands of different business models one could choose from if you do want to make a living online, but it’s the core principles and motivations behind them that determine whether or not it will be successful and long-lasting, or just a waste of your time.

Lesson 1: Internet Business is Not For Everyone

This might seem like a weird first lesson to you, but it’s absolutely true – Internet business is not for everyone. Although I feel very fortunate to be living how I am today, working from home for yourself does have its drawbacks:

• You Make ALL of the Decisions: Yes, this is the very reason why many people begin to work for themselves – to become their own boss and not answer to anyone else, but people fail to realize that this involves making business decisions that before (working 9 to 5) you would never even have to expend energy to figure out. With things like taxes, legal matters and healthcare, it can be too overwhelming for some to handle.
• Your Schedule Isn’t Set in Stone: Again, this is exactly what you want, right? A flexible schedule with the ability to work when you want? Yes, but a lot of discipline needs to come along with it in order for this to work. One problem that many Internet entrepreneurs have, including myself at times, is having the discipline to stop working and enjoy life. There is always more work that can be done, and it’s really easy to just step into the home office or open up the laptop and continue working.
• It’s Harder to Get Into Work Mode: Along the same lines, there are many distractions at home and online that can stop an Internet entrepreneur from doing work that needs to be done. I’m sure you can think of a few yourself.
• No Co-Workers: Having co-workers to talk to and become friends with is probably what I miss most about working 9 to 5. Luckily, there are things like Twitter, Facebook and Skype that help me stay connected with people while working from home, but talking about Monday night’s football game isn’t quite the same anymore.

I do love working from home, don’t get me wrong, but its not exactly all fun and games. It may or may not be the right thing for you.

Lesson 2: Strive to Make the Internet a Better Place

With whatever you want to do online, if you’re not doing something that makes the Internet a better place – if you’re not creating something of value that people can appreciate and say, “This makes my life better”, then you’re not going to see any long-term success. I’ve experimented with a number of various methods to make money online, and what has always given me the best results and the most ROI for my time and money (not to mention what gives me the most fulfillment) are those projects and websites that actually help people – businesses that if for any reason were to disappear tomorrow, people would notice. My website at greenexamacademy.com, for example, helps people study for a small exam in the building and design industry. One day in 2009, my servers went down and my website was unavailable. That day, I remember receiving over 50 emails from people who were using my website asking me when it was going to be back up. This just shows the kind of value I was providing, which is a good reason why this particular business has consistently earned thousands of dollars for me each and every month for over two years.

Lesson 3: The Passive Income Business Model

As I mentioned before, there are several ways to make money online, but the business model that I’m about to share with you is the one that I use because of how much work is needed by me in order to make things run.

Here’s a flow chart of how things basically work, starting from the top: The driving force behind all of this is automation. As you can see, the only part of the equation that YOU are involved in is at the receiving end of a payment. Things can happen without you having to do anything, as long as it’s setup properly.

People can arrive to your website, purchase a product and have it automatically delivered to them without having to lift a finger. What’s nice about doing business online, especially today, is that there are so many different tools, services and resources available that make this passive income model possible. And, if there are tasks in your business that do need the human touch, you can easily find someone else to do those things for you, on the cheap. On my site at greenexamacademy.com, I sell eBook and audio study guides that I created to help people pass the LEED exam. I purposely choose to only sell digital products because I can use a service like e-junkie.com to accept payments and automatically deliver these electronic goods without having to take the time and worry about going to the post office or shipping and handling. Furthermore, because my business is online, my “store” is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and is open to the entire world. Just to give you an idea of what passive income can do for you, in March of 2009 I had worked a total of 8 hours the entire month. Most of my time was spent in Hawaii with my wife on our honeymoon and just settling into a new apartment. This month happened to also be my most profitable month ever, grossing $30,328.48. It’s an amazing feeling to know that you have businesses setup working for you, instead of the other way around. Obviously, however, you can’t take yourself totally out of the equation (since you may need to answer emails and deal with customer service), but you can get really close. As Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week says, “I am not a tollbooth through which anything needs to pass. I am more like a police officer on the side of the road who can step in if need be…” What’s nice about this business model is that it’s something that you can setup in your spare time and continue to have while working a 9 to 5 job if you want. Also, since things are mostly run on autopilot, you can use that extra time to do the things that you want, whether it’s travel the world, stay at home with the family, or even work on setting up new passive income streams.

Lesson 4: Take Action

In other words – just do it.

We all have business ideas (or ideas that will improve our existing businesses), but ideas mean nothing unless they are put into action. We can plan as much as we want, but planning is just that – a plan. It’s the doing that actually gets you somewhere. I consider myself pretty lucky that I was laid off. It wasn’t a good feeling, that’s for sure, but looking back, my lay off (and the terrible economy which made it virtually impossible to land another job in the architecture industry) is what forced me to take that action. I really had no choice, which is why I think I’m where I’m at today. It can be tough to take action when it’s not totally necessary, which is why I use the following “mind hacks” to make sure I get things done:

1. I always set a deadline. I find that I’m more focused when I work under pressure, and if I know something has to be done by a certain time, I’ll make sure that it happens. This goes for items both big and small.
2. I get others to hold me accountable. Sometimes, all this requires is announcing or telling people what I want to do. This forces me to take action because I don’t want to say I’ll do something and not follow through.

Lesson 5: Take BOLD Actions

To expand on lesson #4, not only should you take action, but you should take bold actions that will make a big difference. It’s like in golf. When you’re putting, if you swing your club and hit the ball but it never even reaches the hole, you’re not giving yourself a chance to sink the putt. It’s impossible. If you take a strong stroke and your ball rolls past the hole, then at least you gave yourself a chance to sink the putt. Another way to look at bold actions is to compare it to some advice I learned from Ramit Sethi of iwillteachyoutoberich.com. He says that in the personal finance game, it’s always better to go for “the big wins”. He explains that being frugal and saving money by brown bagging your lunch or cutting down the number of non-fat grande white chocolate mochas you drink is virtually pointless. Although you will save money little by little, you can have more money in your life by going for the “big wins” like finding the lowest interest rate, negotiating down the price of your next car, or even starting your own business, and you can even still enjoy your non-fat mocha whatsits. When I first started doing business online, I was making money through advertisements on my blog, but it was after spending two months writing my first eBook study guide that I saw my income skyrocket from $250 a month, to over $8,000.00 a month. Then, instead of working on small things for my business, I took another bold action and added an audio guide to my product line. $1400 for a voice talent and another month later I took that product live and I began to see upwards of $15,000 to $20,000 a month. Bold actions = big results.

Lesson 6: Stop Worrying About Being Perfect

I have worked with so many people who are starting online businesses who take forever to get things rolling because they want things to be perfect, and what happens is they end up missing out on valuable opportunities or chances to really make some good money online. Like I said before – just do it! As long as your product, website or whatever it is you’re doing online has value and the message comes across clearly, all of that perfection stuff doesn’t even matter. Many people use perfection as an excuse. “I want things to be perfect” is just another way of saying “I’m too scared to really do this.” You don’t have to be perfect to be profitable! Get something out there now and you can worry about perfecting it later. It takes time for things to happen, so the longer you keep “making things perfect”, the longer it will take for you to see results.

Lesson 7: The King and Queen of Online Business

Content is King. Content, or what you write or publish online and in your products, is the driving factor behind any successful online business. Not only because original and desirable content matters to people, but because it matters to the search engines and their algorithms for what pages rank higher than others as well. You will hear many Internet marketers preach the phrase “Content is King” quite often. Not many of them, however, have taken on the idea that Design is just as important, but it is. Design is the Queen, and as we all know (especially if you’re married), sometimes the Queen has more of a say. This is why companies like Apple go over-the-top on the design of their products, because they know that there are people out there who really care about what something looks like, sometimes even more than what the product actually does. If you’re going to sell an eBook or audio product online, you should always include a high-qualty digital representation of the product on your sales page. There are companies out there (like coveractionpro) that are dedicated to doing just that – creating high-quality eBook and CD covers – because they know that design matters too.

Lesson 8: Specialize

When I ask people who their target audience is, the worst thing they can respond with is “everybody”. If you try to cater to everyone, you’re going to sell to no one. At most of the malls here in San Diego, there are at least 5 or 6 different types of shoe stores. There’s a store for athletic shoes, casual shoes, dressy shoes, walking shoes, and even one that sells only sandals. So why isn’t there one “all-kinds of shoes” store at the mall which could just tear the little competitors apart? Because it wouldn’t. Businesses know that the more you can cater to a specific type of person, the more likely it is that that person will buy from you. If someone is shopping for some serious basketball shoes, which store do you think they would visit: All Shoes Company, the shoe store that has all different kinds of shoes, or The Athletic Foot Company, a store that specializes in shoes for athletes. Of course, the Athletic Foot Company, since they would probably know more about basketball shoes and have a better selection than All Shoes Company. This “specialization” is even more important online, which is why you must really narrow down your niche and figure out exactly who your target audience is. There are over 6 billion people in this world, and you don’t need to build a business for all of them. In fact, you shouldn’t. Even a small, tiny niche like the LEED exam can be very profitable, and it’s even at your advantage to stay narrow, because you’ll run into less competition, both in terms of number of competing companies, and ranking in the search engines.

Lesson 9: Join a Mastermind Group

One of the smartest things I’ve ever done is join a mastermind group. For those of you who don’t know, a mastermind group is just a fancy term for a group of people with a common goal that meet (in person, on the phone, via Skype, chatrooms, meeting software, etc.) to share and learn to improve what they do. Think of it as a show and tell (and ask) for highly motivated individuals who want to get things done. In these meetings, members of the group share their ideas, questions, triumphs and downfalls. Members with questions get immediate feedback from the others, while everyone learns from everyone else’s experience and wisdom. I’m involved in two separate mastermind groups, both made up of other Internet entrepreneurs and business people who are all looking to improve what they do online. I’ve learned so much from these groups that I am confident in saying that if it were not for them, I would not be living like I am today. It’s not one single person, but rather the group as a whole that provide the advice and encouragement I need to get results. And, at the same time, I can give back a little bit of the knowledge that I know to help other people and their businesses succeed as well. You may know a group of people with similar interests who you may be able to get together with and start a mastermind group already, but if you don’t, and you’re interested, you might be able to find a group of people through Meetup.com or other online communities.

Lesson 10: Don’t Give Up

If you do decide to want to start something online, please understand that it will not be easy, and results don’t happen right away. There is no such thing as “get rich quick”, so don’t expect that. You will struggle and you will fail. That is what you can expect, and instead of giving up, learn from your mistakes and failures and just keep going. I’ve failed a number of times and I’m not afraid to admit that, but each failure brings me one step closer to a success. In all of my online businesses, I’ve wanted to give up at one point or another, but I’m really glad that I didn’t. Remember what your goals are, and take things one step at a time on your way there. And lastly, know that I’m not anyone special. I don’t consider myself an expert, and I only attribute my success to working hard, working smart and being confident that I could really make it happen.

BONUS Lesson 11: Always Over Deliver

To get even more results and leave a long lasting impression with your audience, one that will keep them coming back for more, you should always overdeliver on your promise. Always. Seth Godin simply describes this as “the free prize inside”. With my free eBook that you can get at ebooksthesmartway.com, I made sure to really go over the top with it. I’ve had people email me saying that I’m crazy for not selling it, and that it’s one of the best eBooks they have ever read (both paid and free). I did go crazy with it. I spent 2 months writing (and designing!) it to make sure that anyone who wants to publish, market and automate their own eBook could do it too. I went all out with it because I knew I was going to give it away for free, and that if I did that, people would be happy to pass it along and I’d be able to reach more people in the long run.

Thank You!

Before I go, I just wanted to say thanks to J.D. for allowing me to share a little bit of what I know and a bit of my story too. If you have any specific questions about my businesses or what I do online, you can leave a comment here and I will respond, or you can find me on my blog, Facebook or Twitter if you’d prefer that instead. I wish you nothing less than success. Cheers!

“You can only be young once. But you can always be immature.” — Dave Barry

I’m a fan of periodic experiments for finding new ways to improve your mind and body. 

My latest experiment is shedding ten years of age-related damage in ten weeks based on the book, Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks, by Dr. Julian Whitaker and Carol Colman. 

Given how much heart disease, cancer, … etc there is in today’s world, it won’t hurt me to put more techniques under my belt.  I told some friends and colleagues about my experiment and they wanted me to share my notes, so here it goes …

Benefits of the Age-Loss Program

The book outlines the following potential benefits:

• Lose a decade’s worth of fat and regain ten year’s worth of muscle.
• Erase fine lines, diminish wrinkles, and restore youthful glow.
• Boost your brain power and sharpen your memory.
• Revitalize and enjoy your sex life.
• Strengthen your immune system and prevent disease.
• Recharge your spirit and regain your energy of yesteryear.

The Key to the Age-Loss Program

What I like about the book is that it’s not magic.  It’s based on results from research and experience with more than 15,000 patients.  It boils down to the following formula — eat the right foods, take the right supplements, exercise regularly, and control the negative impact of stress in your life.  Dr. Whitaker does mention that the combination of supplements is especially important.

Wellness and Reversing Diseases

I really like the fact that Dr. Whitaker is focused on wellness over illness.  He specializes in modeling from the best and sharing what works.  I also like the fact that he focuses on "reversing" issues.  For example, he has books on reversing diabetes, reversing heart disease, and reversing health risks.

10 Steps of the Age-Loss Program
Here’s a summary of the objectives of the ten steps, according to Dr. Whitaker and Colman.

Supplement Routine

Here’s an example of the supplement routine, based on Dr. Whitaker’s and Colman:

Skin Routine

Here’s an example of the skin routine, based on Dr. Whitaker and Colman:

Workout Routine

Here’s an example of the workout routine based on Dr. Whitaker and Colman:

Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Supplement Recommendations

Here’s an example of the key supplements Dr. Whitaker recommends:

• Beta-Carotene (15,000 total)
• Chromium Picolinate (200 Micrograms total) (2 x 100 micrograms)
• Co-Q10 (60 MG total) (2 x 30 MG)
• Ginkgo Biloba (120 MG total) (2 x 60 MG)
• Lipoic Acid (50 MG total) (2 x 25 MG)
• Omega-3 (1000 MG total) (360 MG EPA, 240 MG DHA)
• Potassium – Magnesium apartate (1000 MG total) (2 x 500 MG)
• Selenium (200 Micgrograms total)
• Vitamin A (5000 IU total)
• Vitamin C (2500 MG total) (Multi-vitamin = 1200 MG,
• supplement = 1300 MG)
• Vitamin E (800 MG total)

Shopping List Example

Here’s an example of how the supplements mapped to products I could actually get:

• Alpha Lipoic Acid (Solar Ray Alpha Lipoic Acid, 250 MG, 60 capsules)
• Bio CoQ-10 (Solar Ray Bio CoQ-10, 60 MG, 60 capsules)
• Chromium Picolinate (Trader Darwin’s Chromium Picolinate –
• 200 Micrograms, 100 tablets)
• Ginkgo Biloba (Solar Ray, Ginkgo Biloba, 60 MG)
• Magnesium and Potassium Asporatates (Solar Ray Magnesium and Potassium Asporatates)
• Multi-vitamin (Super Nutrition – Iron Free, Easy Swallow Opti-Pack)
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids (Trader Darwin’s Omega-3 Fatty Acids, 1200 MG, 90 softgels)
• Vitamin C (Solar Ray Bio-Plex, Buffered Vitamin C, 500 MG, 250 capsules)
• Green drink (Greens to Go)
• Odorless Garlic (Trader Darwin’s Odorless Garlic)
• Olive and Oregano Oil (Trader Darwin’s Olive and Oregano Oil

Results So far

I’m only three weeks in so I don’t expect miracles.  So far though I’ve dropped more than 10 pounds and I’m closer to my "fighting weight."  I have a lot more power hours throughout the day.  I have a spring in my step and I feel a lot more powerful.  I would expect that from any combination of the right foods, the right workout, and the right sleep.  I guess the part that’s different is how quickly my nails and hair are growing and how fresh my skin is.  I think that’s where the supplements are showing.

Lessons Learned

I’ve learned a few lessons so far that really help me:

• Reduce friction.  Rather than depend on sheer will power, I find ways to make it easier to fall into success.  trade complexity for simplicity.  Anything I can do to simplify or reduce friction, I do.  For example, rather than run outdoors, I got a NordicTrack Elliptical so that rainy days didn’t get in the way.
• Find the fun.  I think anything long-term has to be fun.  In general, we move towards pleasure and away from pain.  For example, I originally was going to get a treadmill, but realized that I liked the idea of bounding on an Elliptical better.  I also found that I need to play my favorite songs to associate fun to the pain of the workout.
• Take weekends off.  I doubt Dr. Whitaker would agree, but for me, it’s easier for me to push during the week, if the weekend is playtime.
•  Make it a routine.  I found that I really have to make it a routine so the less I have to think about it, the easier it is to just do it.  For example, even just scheduling time for the workout was important.  I tested in the morning and tested at night, and while the morning is easier to make a routine, I find I like it more at night.
• Find your personal success patterns.  I experimented with a few different sleep patterns and found that if I wake up too early, I’m just no my most for the day.  I really do measure my day in power hours.  What good is having more time if you can’t use it?  I finally realized that just by flipping through my past experiences, I could find success patterns that worked to draw from.
• Turn your routines into checklists.  I find that having a simple, scannable checklists go a long way (for example, the supplement routine, skin routine, and workout routine above helped me quickly visualize what I need to do.)
• Find what works for you.  I found the diet part of the routine a little tough to follow.  I think the principles were sound, but it’s easier for me to just follow The Zone.  (see A Zone Primer.)

Additional Resources

• Dr. Whitaker.com
• Whitaker Wellness Institute

My Related Posts

• Melt Away Stress
• Take a Worry Break
• Exercise Your Body Makes You Smarter
• A Zone Primer
• What is The Zone

Photo by cheetah100.

Do you feel smarter after you workout?  It’s because you have more oxygen available to your brain.  Working out also increases your sense of well-being.  In Shed 10 Years in 10 Weeks, Dr. Julian Whitaker and Colman write about how exercising makes you smarter and feel better.

Think Better and Feel Better
Dr. Whitaker and Colman write the following:

Did you ever wonder why you feel so recharged after a good workout?  Nowhere is the body mind connection more apparent than when it comes to the effect of exercise on the brain.  Exercise increases the amount of oxygen available to the brain by making the heart stronger and able to pump more oxygenated blood.  In addition to increasing oxygen stores, exercise creates a natural high.  It stimulates the release of endorphins, neurochemicals that actually have an opiatelike effect on the brain.  People who exercise think more clearly, feel more alert and energetic, and have a markedly increased sense of well-being.

Key Take Aways
Here’s my key take aways:

• Exercising makes you think and feel better and act better.
• You feel smarter after you workout because you have more oxygen available to your brain.
• Endorphins released during exercise make you feel better.

I originally thought the Zone was a fad diet, but a colleague told me that it’s actually based on science and results.  In fact, some Olympic athletes have used the Zone.  I then started researching the Zone to find patterns and practices for more effective eating strategies.  In this post, I summarize fundamentals of the Zone.  This post is based on the book,  The Top 100 Zone Foods: The Zone Food Science Ranking System, by Dr. Barry Sears.

You’re Only as Good or Bad as Your Last Meal
According to Dr. Sears, your hormones are adjusted at every meal:

To enter the Zone, you need to learn how to maintain the hormones produced by the foods you eat within a Zone (not too high, not too low).  These hormones are readjusted every time you eat a meal or snack, so you’re only as good or as bad as your last meal.  This means that if you splurge and eat too many carbohydrates in one sitting, you can get back into the Zone the next time you eat.  Thus you don’t need to feel guilty about cheating.  Just make your next meal Zone-friendly.

The Zone is a Precise Medical Definition
Dr. Sears writes that the Zone is a precise medical definition:

The Zone is not some clever marketing phrase.  The Zone has a very precise medical definition that can be measured with a simple blood test.  The next time you have a blood test, ask your doctor to measure your fasting insulin levels.  If your insulin levels are too high (greater than 10 uU/ml), you know that you’re not in the Zone.  The sluggishness, hunger, and moodiness you feel in between meals are all signs that you’re out of the Zone.

Food is Your Key Drug
According to Dr. Sears, food is your key drug for controlling your insulin:

You can lower your insulin levels to get into the Zone.  The only “drug” that can take you there is food.  In the process, you’ll radically improve your quality of life.  You’ll feel less tired, more mentally charged, and happier throughout the day.  Your new hormonal balance will be giving your body the continuous fuel it needs to keep all your systems operating at their peak performance.  You will feel your body tell you that “all systems are go” and that the possibilities of what you can do are limitless.

Wipe Away the Myths
Dr. Sears writes that you have to reexamine what you know about nutrition:

How can you gain control of your unruly hormones?  You need to wipe away many of the nutrition myths that you’ve probably come to believe — for example, that fat is bad and pasta is good.  You need to stop fooling yourself into thinking that you can lose weight while eating fat-free cookies or fat-free ice cream.

Balance and Quality
Dr. Sears writes that the key to the Zone is balancing protein, carbs, and fats and choosing higher quality foods:

You need to embrace the notion that you must have a balance of the three major categories of food (protein, carbohydrates, and fat) at every meal to get the right response from your body.  You also need to be selective about the quality of the foods you choose within each category to get the most hormonal cluck for your buck. …  Get the right balance and quality of foods, and your body will produce the appropriate hormonal signals for the next four to six hours.  During this time, you will be in the Zone.  You can keep yourself there by eating the same balance of foods at your next meal or snack.  But you still need to be selective about the quality of foods you choose within each category.

Seven Rules of the Zone
Dr. Sears provides seven rules for the Zone:

• Rule 1.  Always eat a Zone meal within one hour of waking.
• Rule 2.  Every time you eat, go for a Zone balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.
• Rule 3.  Try to eat five times a day: three Zone meals and two Zone snacks.  Afternoon and late evening snacks (which are really Zone mini-meals) are important to keep you in the zone throughout the day.
• Rule 4.  Never let more than five hours go by without eating a Zone meal or snack — regardless of whether you are hungry or not.  In fact, the best time to eat is when you aren’t hungry because that means you have stabilized your insuline levels.
• Rule 5.  Eat more fruits and vegetables (yest, these are carbohydrates) and ease off the bread, pasta, grains, and other starches.  Treat these low-quality carbohydrates like condiments.
• Rule 6.  Drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water every day.
• Rule 7.  If you make a mistake at a meal, don’t worry about it.  There’s no guilt in the Zone.  Just make your next meal a Zone meal to get you where you (and your hormones) belong.

Divide Your Plate in Three (The Hand-Eye Method)
Dr. Sears provides a simple way to divide your plate to create a Zone friendly meal:

Divide your plate into three portions.  On one-third of your plate, choose a low-fat protein portion.  It should be no bigger than the size and thickness of your palm.  Then fill the other two-thirds of your plate with high-quality carbohydrates (vegetables and fruits).  Add a dash (that’s a small amount) of “good” fat to complete your Zone plate.

Zone Food Block method
For those that want a more precise way of measuring your meal, Dr. Sears provides the Zone Food Block method:

You may find that creating Zone meals using the hand-eye method described earlier works well to get you into the Zone.  Some people don’t like to estimate portion sizes, however, and would prefer a more scientific way of measuring out carbohydrates, protein, and fat.  If you are one of these people, you should consider using the Zone Food Block method.  … Instead of using your plate as a guide, you’ll be counting out blocks of protein, carbohydrates and fat. 

Protein Block, Carbohydrate Block, and Fat Block
According to Dr. Sears, the Zone Food Blocks are as follows:

• Protein Block.  One Protein Block contains 7 grams of protein.  The average male needs four Protein Blocks and the average woman needs three Protein blocks.  
• Carbohydrate Block.  One Carbohydrate Block contains 9 grams of carbohydrates.  3 Carbohydrate Blocks would contain 27 carbohydrates.  4 Carbohydrate Blocks would contain 36 carbohydrates.
• Fat Block.  One Fat Block contains 3 grams of fat.  3 Fat Blocks would contain 9 grams of fat.  4 Fat Blocks would contain 12 grams of fat.

Key notes about the Zone Food Blocks:

• The number of Protein Blocks you need depends on whether you are a man or a woman.
• Eat the same number of Carbohydrate Blocks at every meal as Protein Blocks.
• Eat the same number of Fat Blocks at every meal as Protein Blocks.

The “1-2-3″ Method
Dr. Sears writes that you can think of the Fat Block as the “1-2-3″ Method:

Each fat block contains 3 grams of fat, so you’ll get 9 grams of fat in three blocks and 12 grams in four blocks.  Another way to think of this is to use the “1-2-3″ method.  Plan to have 1 gram of fat for every 2 grams of protein and 3 grams of carbohydrate.  A typical Zone meal for a woman would contain 10 grams of fat, 20 grams of protein, and 30 grams of carbohydrate.

The Average Woman Zone Food Blocks
According to Dr. Sears, a typical Zone meal for a woman would contain about 9 grams of fat, 21 grams of protein, and 27 grams of carbohydrates.

• 3 Protein Blocks.  The average woman will need three Protein Blocks for each meal (21 grams of protein.)  That translates into about 3 ounces of high-quality protein.
• 3 Carbohydrate Blocks.  The average woman will need three Carbohydrate blocks for each meal (27 grams of carbohydrates.)
• 3 Fat Blocks.  The average woman will need three Fat Blocks (9 grams of fat.)

The Average Male Zone Food Blocks
According to Dr. Sears, the typical Zone meal for a man would contain about 12 grams of fat, 28 grams of protein, and 36 grams of carbohydrates.

• 4 Protein Blocks.  The average man will need four Protein Blocks for each meal (28 grams of protein.)  That translates into about 4 ounces of high-quality protein.
• 4 Carbohydrate Blocks.  The average man will need four Carbohydrate Blocks for each meal (36 grams of carbohydrates.)
• 4 Fat Blocks.  The average man will need four Fat Blocks for each meal (12 grams of fat.)

Three Steps to a Zone Meal
Dr. Sears outlines the three steps to a Zone meal:

• Step #1. Start with Protein
• Step #2. Balance with Carbohydrates
• Step #3. Add Fat

Step #1.  Start with Protein
Dr. Sears writes:

The first step of Zone meal preparation is never to consume any more low-fat protein than you can fit in the palm of your hand or that is any thicker than your hand.  For the average American female, this amount is 3 ounces of low-fat protein, and for the average American male it is about 4 ounces.  Unless you are active, your body can’t utilize any more protein that that at a single sitting, and any excess protein will be converted to fat.

Your body needs a constant supply of dietary protein to replace the protein that is lost from your body on a daily basis.  What’s more, eating protein stimulates the release of the hormone glucagon, which has a hormonal effect opposite to that of insulin.  Glucagon tells your body to release stored carbohydrates from the liver to replenish blood sugar levels in the brain.  Without adequate levels of glucagon, you’ll always feel hungry and mentally fatigued because your brain is short on its primary fuel — blood sugar.

Step #2. Balance with Carbohydrates
Dr. Sears writes:

Once you have the protein portion of your meal, you need to balance it with carbohydrates.  Remember: fruits and vegetables are carbohydrates.  In fact, they are the highest-quality carbohydrates you can eat, which is why (with one or two exceptions) they are the only carbohydrates you’ll find on my Top 100 list.  The reason you won’t find pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes on my list is that they wreak havoc on your body without providing much nutrition.  First of all, these carbohydrates  in cause dangerous spikes in your insulin levels, which cause your blood sugar levels to rise and then quickly fall, leaving you famished just two hours after eating.  Second, these carbohydrates contain very few vitamins and minerals (unless they’re artificially fortified) and only sparse amounts of phytochemicals, the tiny plant chemicals that can ward off cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses by acting as powerful anti-oxidants.

On the other hand, fruits and vegetables meet both of my criteria for high-quality foods.  They are packed with natural vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals.  They also contain fiber, which slows the release of insulin so you won’t get quick spikes in your blood sugar.  This is why an apple leaves you feeling satisfied longer than a cookie.  not all carbohydrates are equal in their ability to stimulate the production of insulin.  The high-quality carbohydrates are favorable in that they have the capacity to stimulate insulin: others are unfavorable in that they have a high capacity to stimulate insulin.

Step #3: Add Fat
Dr. Sears writes:

Now your plate is completely covered.  Protein takes up one-third of the space, and carbohydrates take up the other two-thirds.  Where does fat fit in?  Fat is the sprinkling that seasons your foods — whether it’s the teaspoon of olive oil that you cook your vegetables in or the avocado slices or handful of slivered almonds that you add to your salad.  Without fat, you can’t have a complete Zone meal.

Fat has no direct effect on insulin, nor does it have any effect on glucagon.  Fat, though, acts like a control rod in a nuclear reactor, slowing the rate at which carbohydrates enter your bloodstream.  In addition, it also causes the release of another hormone that tells your brain to stop eating.  Finally, fat gives you a feeling of satiety and helps blend the flavors that give great meals their exquisite taste.

The high-quality fats that make my Top 100 list are those that are good for your heat and your health in general.  These are the monounsaturated fats and long-chain Omega 3 fats.  You get monounsaturated fats from olive oil, select nuts, and avocados.  Long-chain Omega-3 fats come from fish and fish oils (like the cod liver oil your grandmother told you to take).  These are exceptionally powerful allies in your quest for a longer life.

The fats that are absent from my Top 100 are the saturated fats, trans fats, and Omega-6 fats.  You find saturated fats in margarine and other partially hydrogenated oils found in many processed snack foods.  Polyunsaturated fats like corn and safflower oil are rich in Omega-6 fats, which in excess are far worse for you hormonally than saturated fats.  I consider these Omega-6 fats to be really “bad” fats because they can lead to increased inflammation, which is an underlying cause of heart disease and arthritis.

Zone Meal Timing
Dr. Sears provides an example of meal timing to stay in the Zone throughout your day:

A Day in the Zone
Dr. Sears provides an example day in the Zone:

You’ll Lose Weight and Live a Longer Life
Dr. Sears writes:

Just glancing through this, you should notice that it’s a lot of food.  That’s because you’re eating low-density carbohydrates in the form of fruits and vegetables.  On a volume basis, fruits and vegetables contain much fewer carbohydrates than high-density bread and pasta.  This means you get more food in fewer calories.  For this reason, women typically eat only about 1,200 calories a day on the zone and mean only about 1,500 calories per day.  This is what I call the Zone paradox.  You can consume a lot of food without getting a lot of calories or feeling hungry or deprived.  You will also lose weight, which is an added plus.  Most importantly, if you eat only Zone meals and snacks, you are greatly increasing your chance for a longer life by keeping your overall calorie count at a level that has been shown by 60 years of research to be the only way to reach your maximum longevity.

Key Take Aways
Here’s my key take aways:

• You’re only as good or bad as your last meal.  I really like this idea of eating thinking one meal at a time.  Your hormones readjust every time you eat, so each meal is a new chance for you to get in the Zone.
• Your insulin levels influence your quality of life.  Your hormones influence your thinking and feeling.  They also influence your ability to have a long and healthy life.
• Food is the key drug that controls your insulin levels.  Your food choices impact your insulin.
• The key to the Zone is balancing carbohydrates, proteins and fats.  To be in the Zone, you need to balance your carbohydrates, protein and fats. 
• Choose higher-quality foods over lower-quality foods.  You need to choose higher-quality foods over lower-quality.  For example, choose fibrous carbohydrates over starchy carbohydrates.  Avoid foods that have a high glycemic impact.
• For a Zone meal, divide your plate in three.  For 1/3rd of your plate, choose a low-fat protein (chicken or fish.)  For 2/3rds of your plate, choose fibrous carbohydrates (fruits and vegetables.)
• Think in protein, carbohydrate, and fat blocks.  A Protein Block is 7 grams of protein, a Carbohydrate Block is 9 grams of carbohydrates, and a Fat Block is 3 grams of fat.
• Men need 4 blocks of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.   This translates to 12 grams of fat, 28 grams of protein, and 36 grams of carbohydrates.
• Women need 3 blocks of protein, carbohydrates, and fat.  This translates to 9 grams of fat, 21 grams of protein, and 27 grams of carbohydrates.
• Choose “good” fats over ‘bad” fats.  Choose monosaturated fats and long-chain Omega 3 fats over saturated fats, trans fats, and Omega-6 fats.

My Related Posts

• What Is The Zone
• Dining Out In The Zone
• Supermarket Shopping In The Zone
• High-Quality Carbs, Proteins, and Fats
• The Top 100 Zone Foods

The Zone is a fitness strategy focused on controlling your insulin levels, by changing what you eat.  By controlling your insulin levels, you improve how you think and feel.   The key to controlling your insulin levels is balancing your intake of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. 

In the book, The Top 100 Zone Foods: The Zone Food Science Ranking System, by Dr. Barry Sears writes about what “the Zone” is and why it matters for your health and fitness.

Key Take Aways

Here are my key take aways:

• Defeat cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.  The Zone was originally created for cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
• The Zone may help you live a longer life.   The longest-living population follows a diet similar to the Zone.
• Change your foods, to change your genes.  You don’t have to be a victim of your genetics.  You can successfully influence your genetic tendencies by your food choices.
• Treat food like a drug.  Treat food like a "drug" that influences your hormone levels.
• Influence your insulin.   Control your insulin levels to stay in the Zone.
• It’s a strategy.   The Zone is a life-long dietary strategy.

Overall the Zone is about shaping your body’s health, by designing what you eat to influence your insulin and genes.

Why the Zone

According to Dr. Sears, within one week of the Zone, you’ll enjoy the following shorter-term benefits:

• Get mentally focused.
• Experience a surge of energy.
• Lose a few pounds of fat.
• Feel happier.
• Gain control over your insulin levels.

According to Dr. Sears, in the longer term, the benefits of the Zone include:

• You will achieve permanent fat loss.
• You will reduce your risk of heart disease.
• You will protect yourself against adult-onset (Type 2) diabetes.
• You will lower your risk of arthritis and osteoporosis.
• You may reduce your risk of developing breast cancer.
• You’ll get fewer infections.
• Your skin will look younger.

The Story of the Zone

You can change your genetic fate by changing what you eat.   A key inspiration behind the health practices of the Zone are inspired by the idea of using foods to influence your hormones.   Dr. Sears writes:

“You probably assume you’re a product of your genes.  You have your father’s eyes, your mother’s freckles, and your grandmother’s diabetes.  I, too, am a product of my genes.  Every male on my father’s side has died at an early death after suffering a premature heart attack.  My father died in 1972 at the age of 54, and I was sure that I was genetically destined for this same fate.

Although I knew I couldn’t change my genes, I didn’t want to be a slave to them either.  I was determined to alter my genetic destiny and live a normal, healthy lifespan.  I didn’t buy into the notion that some new medication would come along to save me.  I had to take charge of my own health directly by changing my eating habits.  So I decided to devote my work as a researcher to discovering what, if any, dietary habits could reverse my impending collision course with my genetic fate.  Through 20 years of research, I’ve learned that foods can indirectly turn certain genes on and off by altering the levels of hormones, the chemical messengers that control our lives.  These hormones can alter our genetic fate by increasing or decreasing our natural lifespan.”

Keep Your Insulin Levels in the Zone

Dr. Sears writes that the key to a longer, healthier life is controlling your insulin levels:

“One of the most powerful hormones controlled by foods we eat is insulin.  My research found that if you could keep insulin levels within a certain zone — not too high and not too low — you could, in fact, bypass your genetic glitches and avoid certain chronic diseases.  The result?  A longer and healthier life.”

A Life-Long Dietary Strategy

Dr. Sears writes that the Zone is not a short-term diet, but a life-long dietary strategy:

“I called my program the Zone Diet.  Although it was developed for treating cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, it is also the most effective way to lose excess body fat without feeling deprived or hungry.  It is not a short-term diet, but a life-long dietary strategy that can keep you at a healthy weight for the rest of your life.”

Carbohydrates, Protein and Fat

Dr. Sears writes that the key to the Zone is balancing carbohydrates, protein and fat:

“All you need to do is eat the right combination of foods at every meal.  This means eating a balanced amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat at every meal and snack — and eating all these foods in moderation.  Follow this simple rule at every meal, and you will achieve the hormonal responses that will get you into the Zone.”

The Longest Living Population in the World

According to Dr. Sears, the Okinawans have a diet similar to the Zone:

“The Zone Diet has continued to evolve into increasingly healthier versions, such as replacing low-fat animal protein with increasing amounts of soy protein. I wrote The Soy zone based on the diet eaten by the longest-living population in the world, the Okinawans.  Their basic diet is the Zone Diet, containing primarily vegetables, some fish and animal protein, but with most of their protein from soy.”

My Related Posts

• Dining Out in the Zone
• Supermarket Shopping in the Zone
• High-Quality Carbs, Proteins, and Fats
• The Top 100 Zone Foods

You Can Have It Both Ways
Dr. Sears writes that food should be enjoyed:

I’m always drumming in your head that food is a drug, but I also want food t be the ultimate pleasure.  You should be salivating over your Zone meals and treating yourself to a nice dinner at your favorite restaurant.  The sheer enjoyment of food is an integral part of the zone plan, and I don’t want to deny you any of the eating pleasures you’ve experienced in the past.  All you need to do is follow some simple guidelines, and you can eat the way you’d like and stay in the Zone.  You can have it both ways.

Six Guidelines for Eating Out
Dr. Sears provides six guidelines for staying in the Zone while eating out:

• 1. Eat ahead of time.  Have a Zone snack less than two hours before you go to the restaurant.  It’s much easier to dine in the zone and make the right food choices if your blood sugar is stable.
• 2. Skip the bread.  When you are seated, simply ask your server not to bring any bread or rolls to the table.  If you need something before your main course, have a glass of wine and a protein appetizer (like smoked salmon or shrimp cocktail).  Sipping your win, determine the protein entree you plan to eat (such as grilled chicken or fish.)
• 3. Substitute for low-quality side dishes.  Ask your waiter if you can replace any side dishes that are low-quality carbohydrates (pasta, rice, grains or other starches) with high-quality carbohydrates like steamed vegetables.
• 4. Create a Zone-size meal.  When the meal arrives, but a serving out of your protein entree that’s as big as the size and thickness of your palm.  Ask your waiter to wrap the rest of your entree up so you can take it home.  Of course you still eat all of your high-quality carbohydrates that came with the entree.
• 5. Divvy up dessert.  If you want a rich desert, eat only half and give the other half to your dining partner.  Of course, if you opt for fresh fruit, you can eat the whole thing.
• 6. Give yourself a little leeway.  Finally, if you consume too many carbohydrates or too many calories at a meal, don’t worry that you’ve done irreperable damage.  You can reset your hormonal system if you make sure your next meal is a Zone meal.

Chinese
Dr. Sears provides tips for when you dine Chinese:

Forget the rice, and you have all the makings of a great Zone meal.  Grilled fish or chicken, stir-fried chicken, or tofu dishes are great sources of protein.  Choose a protein dish that’s piled high with abundant levels of high-quality carbohydrates, such as vegetables, to accompany your high-protein choice.

Italian
Dr. Sears provides tips for when you dine Italian:

This is always a potential Zone disaster because of the heaping amounts of pasta and bread piled on your plate.  Try the chicken or fish entrees served with extra vegetables instead of pasta.  Drizzle on some olive oil to enhance the flavor of your salads and cooked vegetables.  If you want pasta, have it as a small side dish.  I wouldn’t recommend pasta though, if you’re planning on drinking wine, since you’ll eat far too many carbohydrates for a Zone meal.

Japanese
Dr. Sears provides tips for when you dine Japanese:

Japanese cuisine is more Zone balanced thatn what you typically find in a Chinese restaurant, but you still should avoid the rice.  Fish and tofu entrees with abundant amounts of steamed vegetables are great.  Even sushi is not a bad balance of protein and carbohydrate.  (Helpful hint — A breaded protein dish like tempura is not a high-quality Zone protein choice.)

Mexican
Dr. Sears provides tips for when you dine Mexican:

This is another potential Zone disaster area because of the large amounts of low-quality carbohydrates, especially chips, refried beans, rice, and tortillas.  You can stay in the zone though, if you choose the chicken fajitas.  Always ask for corn instead of flour tortillas to decrease your carbohydrate intake, and for extra vegetables in place of the rice and beans.  Don’t forget to dab on a little guacamole, which is a great source of monounsaturated fat.

French
Dr. Sears provides tips for when you dine French:

If you’re eating in a gourmet French restaurant, you’ll probably be in Zone heaven.  You’ll be served a small serving of protein piled with plenty of crisp colorful vegetables lightly dressed in olive oil.  enjoy the wine and the meal.

Pizza Parlors
Dr. Sears provides tips for when you eat at pizzerias:

Yes, you can still eat pizza in the Zone.  It’s not the highest-quality meal you can find, but it’s OK on occasion.  Order the thin crust pizza instead of the thick crust and make sure that you have a protein-rich topping like cheese, chicken or even anchovies.  Then eat the topping of every slice, but only eat every other crust.  To make your pizza more satisfying, order extra vegetables as a topping.

Dining Out for Business Travelers
Dr. Sears provides an example of breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks when you’re on the road:

• Breakfast – Egg-white omelet with a side order of oatmeal.  This is the ultimate power breakfast.  Just don’t eat the toast and the hash brown potatoes.
• Lunch – Chicken Ceasar salad with fresh fruit for desert.
• Dinner – Grilled fish with extra vegetables in place of the starch.  Have fresh fruit for dessert.  Consider having a glass of wine with the dinner, and always pass on the rolls. 
• Road Snacks – Have 1 ounce of sliced turkey or of low-fat cheese with half a piece of fruit.

Things to Avoid When Eating Out
Dr. Sears suggests avoiding the following:

• Fatty meats (steaks, pork, lamb)
• Fried foods (including appetizers)
• French fries
• Chips
• Excessive amounts of starches (rice, pasta, and bread)
• Rich desserts (unless it is a very small portion size)

Key Take Aways
Here’s my key take aways:

• Get in the Zone before you go.  Have a Zone meal before you eat out.  This will help you make better food choices.
• Trade high-quality carbs for low.  Substitute your sides.  Choose starchy carbohydrates for fibrous carbohydrates.
• Cut your portions.  Eat your palm sized portion of protein, then take the rest home.
• For Chinese, choose a protein dish with vegetables.  Avoid breaded dishes when possible.
• For Italian, choose fish or chicken and a salad.  Avoid the pasta and breads. 
• For Japanese, avoid rice.  Sushi is not a bad choice.
• For Mexican, choose chicken Chicken fajitas.  Avoid the breads and starchy carbs.  Choose corn tortillas over flour tortillas.
• For French, enjoy the meal!
  
• For pizzerias, order thin crust, and top with chicken and vegetables.  Eat the topping of ever slice, but only eat the crust of every other slice.
• On the road, stay in the Zone.  For breakfast have an omelet, for lunch a chicken salad, for dinner fish with vegetables, and snack on cheese and fruit.

My Related Posts

• Supermarket Shopping in the Zone
• High-Quality Carbs, Proteins, and Fats
• The Top 100 Zone Foods