That night I did a simple Internet search, and sure enough, dozens and dozens of URL's about The Zone showed up.

.

If someone had asked me, up to that moment and date, what was a balanced meal, I would have answered, "what my Mother made for us as a family meal as I was growing up; meat, potatoes, and fresh vegetables."

It made perfect sense to me that there should be a definite ideal percentage intake of the macronutrients. As soon as I read what Dr. Sears had proposed I immediately understood the simple clear logic of it.

Why hadn't this been explained to me years ago? Why hadn't my diabetic Doctor and diabetic nutritionist told me about this?

On that date, in August 1997, I weighed over 250 pounds and I was injecting myself 4 times a day with a total of 160 units of insulin.

I adopted The Zone way of eating and within hours things started to happen. I had to dramatically cut back on my insulin.

I started to eat more frequently, three full meals and two snacks. Suddenly, I was no longer hungry and I was eating less, a lot less.

Within days I had more energy. I slept better. I started to lose weight.....

Best of all, I felt that I was in control.

Entering the foods into the computer taught me a great deal about food values. I became very interested in what I was eating, and I began to plan my meals carefully.

As I write this, it is over a year later. I have lost over 60 pounds. I weigh 188 pounds. I plan to go down to 182 pounds during the next couple of weeks, and then I will level off for the second time. I leveled off at 200 pounds for 8 months. My insulin intake has dropped down to almost nothing. Some days I do not take insulin. Some days I take less than 10 units. I am determined to be insulin injection free.

For over a year I have lived comfortably with The Zone way of eating. The weight I lost has stayed off. My energy level has been consistently high. All of the side effects of my diabetes have disappeared; the tingling in the feet at night; the stiffness in the shoulders.

.

I bought it and that night I read Dr. Sear's words for the first time. I was amazed!

Everything I knew about The Zone, I had learned from others on the Net. I was excited about my weight loss and the impact on my diabetes. But I had missed the whole point and main focus of The Zone.

The percentage or ratio of proteins to carbohydrates that we eat is the key to that sustained euphoric state of health and excellence called The Zone. This is the focus of Dr. Sear's way of eating. And this is the focus that I had missed.

 Finally, a comment on how we would suggest others might adopt this way of eating. Over the past year, dozens of people have watched me lose the weight, and feel great. We have shared this knowledge in detail with many of these people. But there are very few we know who have consciously changed their eating habits as a result of our sharing this information.

We firmly believe that The Zone Diet or way of eating will help many, many people, with many, many problems. But a person has to be ready to change.

I was ready to change.