LADY PHARAOH'S LUCKY BLOAT-BANISHING DISCOVERY: DR. BARRY SEARS’ “THE ZONE”



Lady Pharaoh’s Lucky Bloat-Banishing Discovery: Dr. Barry Sears’ “The Zone”

Note: Although Lady Pharaoh, aka Norma Westover, has been a health-nut for nearly 30 years, this information has not been evaluated by a medical or dietary professional. Use it at your own risk, and for heaven’s sake, if you have any medical conditions, please check with your physician before applying the principles herein. All material in this article is strictly the opinion of Norma Westover, and neither Helena Vlahos nor I assume responsibility of any sort for injury or illness arising from the use or misuse of this information.

As a person having the combination of a life-long interest in dance, coupled with an infuriating tendency to tire out and gain weight easily, I have often struggled with weight and body-image related issues. Many years of suffering, self-deprivation, and episodic bulimia marked my early adulthood. Fortunately, I made peace with my body over two decades ago, and have learned constructive methods for managing delusional self-perceptions. This article isn’t a judgement on the very heavy or the very thin; in fact, I see the beauty in all who make the effort to do the best they can, with what the powers-that-be have given them. I don’t strive to have a Barbie-type figure, because I simply don’t possess the genetics for it, but neither do I despise and shun those women who do. On the other hand, I don’t allow myself to gain more than a pre-determined amount of weight, because beyond that point, I am physically, spiritually and emotionally uncomfortable. Short, tall, big, small; doesn’t matter, so long as the radiance of vitality emanates from your person. In Lady Pharaoh’s eyes, the only real sin is to disrespect and abuse the mind/body-temple, the Maker’s most precious gift to humankind. So, having stated where I stand on body-image politics, I’ll proceed with some personal observations regarding weight control for those who might be seeking some help in that area.

Having chosen Middle Eastern dance, in part, for its happy adaptability to many body types and sizes, I then found myself confounded by the desire to bare decently-toned upper arms and midriff. Although I am not a heavy woman by any means, I had an ongoing case of the bloats that had been haunting me since my mid-thirties, no matter what diet or exercise program I tried. This nasty puffiness afflicted all parts of my body; face, arms, belly, thighs and calves. Annual checkups never revealed any heart, kidney, liver, or metabolic disorders of the type that might cause such a condition, but nevertheless, I felt and looked like the Pillsbury Dough Girl, with a bad hangover, most of the time. And, to make matters worse, the few diet and exercise regimens that proved somewhat effective were so extreme and restrictive that I ditched and ran without establishing any habits of lasting help. Lady Pharaoh is an unashamed hedonist and fun-hog. It’s my conviction that we were put here on Earth to enjoy life, not to count every single solitary, unholy gram of whatever sinful nutrient in our food is currently fashionable. Any program that consumes so much of your waking life-energy that you have no time left to smell the roses is a sure ticket to eventual failure in my experience.

Once again fed up with my inflated flesh, I wound up at the library last month, looking at shelves and shelves of diet books. I had also been driven there by the resurgence of interest in the Atkins protocol, which I kept hearing others preach the wonders of, although I’ve always been instinctively leery of it. Forcing the body into crisis-level metabolic states just seemed an unwise idea, and I soon found that looking over the new Atkins literature didn’t do a darn thing to change my mind. Frustrated by the confusing glut of weight-control plans, I decided to let my intuition take over the search through the stacks. My attention settled on a plan made popular in the late 90’s, “The Zone” by Barry Sears PhD. Leafing through the book I soon discovered that biochemist/researcher Dr. Sears advocated minimizing consumption of carbohydrates with a high glycemic index. These very popular, government and nutritionist-endorsed foods, such as breads, pastas, rice, potatoes, etc, cause a super-rapid surge in the body’s insulin levels, which then sets off a chain reaction of horrors that ultimately impacts every system of the body. The interesting thing was that Helena, my beloved belly dance teacher, and I had both made the observation several years ago that limiting these substances in our diets produced a loss of bloat. Intrigued, I grabbed the book and checked it out, wanting to plunge into Dr. Sears’ extensive research into the whys and hows of this gratuitous method of eating.

Being the unrepentant and not-really-overweight lush that I am, let’s suffice it to say that, although I deeply admire the immeasurable contribution Dr. Sears’ plan has made to self-help diet literature and the potential health of humankind, I was unwilling to embrace the regimen wholeheartedly. So, figuring that some steps toward wellness were better than none, I set out on my own little version of the program, adjusted to allow for my comfort. The outcome happily exceeded all my expectations, and within a little over a month, I now fit all of the clothes from my early thirties that had become so infuriatingly tight in recent years. Additionally, my energy levels and endurance have improved significantly as well. The most wonderful thing about Dr. Sears’ plan is that it really isn’t a diet; rather it’s a life-long and easy-to-stick-with way of choosing, timing and combining your food intake that promotes harmony in the body’s biochemical processes. I have suffered absolutely zero feelings of deprivation since beginning Zone-type eating, and that’s of enormous importance to person like me having a history of eating disorders. Should you be a person with a serious weight problem, I whole-heartedly recommend that you get Dr. Sears’ books ASAP and begin working within the plan as close to his guidelines as you can tolerate without feeling deprived. It’s almost certain that you will have excellent results, with the added benefit of wellness habits that stick you can stick to painlessly, for life. Again, please check with your physician before doing this, but I can’t imagine that any MD in their right mind would object to Dr. Sears’ work.

In a nutshell, Dr. Sears began research into optimal health out of concern for his own wellness, having been born into a family where the men usually died of heart attacks at alarmingly young ages. “The Zone” represents the outcome of his years of extensive research and self-experimentation. On the subject of food, “The Zone” plan teaches readers to maintain a targeted ratio of protein/carbohydrate/fat in each of the day’s 3 meals and 2 snacks. The meals and snacks are also timed to keep the body’s blood sugar levels stable, which, along with optimal exercise, is really the gist of the whole thing. It’s so user-friendly in its approach that even the most indulgent among us is sure to see some benefit, in even a simplified version like mine. Of particular appeal to me is the recommendation of moderate exercise, into which category belly dance and long walks (my two favorites!) fit very neatly. The extra health perks that come with stable blood sugar are incredible, and constitute pages and pages of eye-opening revelations that anyone interested in wellness should make it a definite point to read. Also included is an in-depth explanation of which fats, proteins, carbohydrates, dietary supplements and exercise programs are the best and worse choices, making “The Zone” a truly holistic program for life-long wellness.

The very first book Dr. Barry Sears recommends for people to pick up is "A Week in the Zone”, ISBN 0-06-103083-X, which is a mass-market paperback. The first 30 pages of it explain how to get in the Zone and it contains a week's worth of recipes for males and females. Also, the book best explains the hand-eyeball method that makes The Zone method readily accessible to those like me who don’t want to be bothered with measuring and counting anything. Another of Dr. Sears’ books that’s been helpful to me is “Mastering The Zone”, ISBN 0-06-039190-1, from the back cover of which I extract as follows:

Master The Zone Rules To Super Health

Level 1: Bronze

What-Your-Grandmother-Told-You Rules

1. Drink at least 64 ounces of water per day (eight 8-ounce glasses). Your body is composed of 70% water that is easily lost.

2. Eat more fruits and vegetables, and less pasta, breads, grains, and starches during the day.

3. Eat more frequent meals with fewer calories.

4. Eat small amounts of low-fat protein at every meal and snack.

The Payoff: You will stop gaining excess body fat.

Level 2: Silver

Begin-To-Pay-Attention Rules

1. Determine how much protein you require per day and consume that amount.

2. Use the eyeball method to control your ratio of protein to carbohydrate at every meal.

3. Add some extra monounsaturated fat to every meal.

4. Drink 8 ounces of water 30 minutes before a meal.

The Payoff: You are going to start losing excess body fat.

Level 3: Gold


Now-I-Have-To-Do-Some-Hormonal-Thinking Rules

1. Make sure most of your carbohydrates come from fruits and vegetables, and use grains, starches, pastas, and breads as condiments. Try to keep grains, starches, pastas, and bread to no more than 25% of the total carbohydrates consumed at a meal.

2. Never let more than 5 hours go by without eating a Zone meal or snack.

3. Always eat a Zone breakfast within one hour of rising.

4. Always have a small Zone snack before you go to bed.

5. Always have a small Zone snack 30 minutes before you exercise.

The Payoff: You’re in the Zone, and you have done everything possible to achieve SuperHealth.

Please address any questions you may have about the Zone plan to the proper party; i.e. either Dr. Sears through his website at desears.com , or to your own family physician or wellness professional. My sincere thanks go out to Anne Genovese, Dr. Sears’ executive assistant, for her help and input, and to my dear friend Jack Pickering for his editorial expertise. Best of luck to my fellow dancers who decide to embark on this program of self-help. Like mine, perhaps your shimmies will begin to be less self-perpetuating in their duration!