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081821-Packing-For-A-Day-On-The-Go-Blog

Packing For A Day On The Go

There are so many things that can stand in the way of good health, but often the difference between failure and success is whether you plan ahead. If you have a full day of meetings on the road, are taking a weekend road trip, or doing a beach day, here are ideas of what you can bring while staying in the Zone. Now if a meeting runs over, there are no healthy options along the way, or the lines are too long to stop, you have everything you need on hand.

Protein Ideas

  • Greek Yogurt: Easy to bring on the go if you have ice packs. Some individual containers have up to 20 grams of protein per serving.
  • Jerky: There are so many varieties and high-quality brands out there. They are a bit higher in sodium and some have sugar so do pay attention to labels and portions.
  • String Cheese: Easy on-the-go choice and having them pre-packaged keeps portion in check. Couple with a piece of fruit and you have the ideal zone snack.
  • Hard-Boiled Egg Whites: Eggs are considered a high biological value food, meaning they contain all the essential amino acids your body needs. To reduce the saturated fat in the yolk, swap it out with healthier fats like hummus or guacamole for an easy snack. Just don’t pack and forget about them please!
  • Chicken or Tuna Salad: Left-over chicken or canned tuna makes for a great protein choice. Swap the mayo for Greek Yogurt to make a healthier alternative.
  • Deli Rollups: Wrap lean deli meat in romaine lettuce leaves for an added crunch without the added carbs of bread.
  • Edamame in Pods: These can be found in the freezer section. Place in a baggie in the morning and pending when you eat they’ll be thawed while helping to keep some of your other things on the cooler side. A ½ cup of pods supplies 10 grams of protein, 4 grams of net carbs, and 3.5 grams of fat. A little low on the carbs but pretty close to being Zoned.

Healthy Carbs

  • Veggie Sticks: Cut up cucumbers, peppers, radishes, and cherry tomatoes make for a filling snack plus they can be hydrating too. Make them even yummier with a side of dip, hummus, or guacamole.
  • Fruit: Aim for fruits that travel well like Clementines, oranges, apples, or pears.
  • Homemade Chickpeas: If you need a crunchy snack roasted chickpeas are it. Simply drain and rinse the chickpeas, pat dry, lay on a sheet pan, and drizzle with olive oil and seasonings of your choosing. Bake at 425 for 30 minutes (turning halfway through to ensure they don’t burn).
  • Low Carb Tortillas: These are a better alternative to bread just make sure to read the carb amounts on the label.

Fat

  • Hummus: There are so many varieties of hummus available which makes it great as a dipping option for veggies on the go. Some also come in convenient single-serve packs which is a great way to bring it while keeping portions in check and avoiding waste. Again just pay attention to portoins as one single-serve might be your whole fat requirement for a meal.
  • Guacamole: Guacamole is rich in heart-healthy fat making them a great option for dipping or spreading. Look for the guacamole minis but keep an eye on the amount of fat in a serving.
  • Nuts: There are so many flavors and varieties in the marketplace now. Try and keep it simple by looking for ones that have just a couple ingredients on the Nutrition Facts Panel. Beware of portions as even a small bag can be up to 3 servings and that is easy to consume in one sitting or on a long drive.
  • Seeds: Pumpkin and sunflower seeds are a moderately good choice and they do contain some protein. Use in moderation as they are high in omega-6 fats (more pro-inflammatory). Plus, they can easily rack up the calorie count of your meal.

Combo Foods: If you don't have time to calculate just remember to have your meals and snacks on the go be a blend of protein, healthy carbs, and fat. The following are just an idea of a few pairings. Put them in a mason jar and bring them on the go for an easy meal.

  • Greek Yogurt and Berries topped with a little Zone Cereal
  • Mixed Greens, Tomatoes, Basil, Mozzarella Balls, Precooked Chicken with Vinaigrette
  • Overnight Steel Cuts Oats with Berries and Protein Powder
  • ZoneRx Shakes: 1 scoop of powder with 10-12 ounces of lactose-free milk and mix. A great on-the-go option with the right balance of macros, and no need to think. 
  • Zone Protein Bites- An easy and delicious make-ahead snack! Click here to view the recipe.
These are just some simple tips to keep you in the Zone all day long! Let us know which ones are your favorites or how you plan ahead for a day on the go in the comments below.

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022724---Weight-Loss-Blog

Dr. Sears Q&A: Weight Loss

With so much interest in weight loss and so much buzz around weight loss drugs, we put together some of the top questions we get in this latest Q&A blog. Here Dr. Sears answers your questions on weight loss, weight loss drugs and what he thinks is the most scientifically backed way to lose weight. See what he has to say.Question: What medical conditions could impede weight loss, and how can they be identified?  Answer:  Any condition associated with insulin resistance will make it difficult to lose weight.  This would include diabetes, heart disease, neurological disease, etc.  Also, any drug that induces insulin resistance will also make it difficult to lose weight.  These include corticosteroids and many neurological drugs. Question: How do hormones affect weight loss, and which imbalances are most detrimental? Answer: High levels of insulin (caused by insulin resistance), high levels of cortisol (caused by stress), and low levels of satiety hormones such as GLP-1 will make weight loss difficult. Question: Is there a connection between sleep quality and weight loss? Answer: Poor quality sleep increases cortisol levels that lead to insulin resistance. The higher your level of insulin resistance, the more difficult it is for any organ to remove glucose from the blood for transport into the cell, where it can be converted to energy. This i Question: Do any weight loss supplements work?  Answer: Not really. You have to restrict calories to activate AMPK which causes your body to effectively burn excess stored body fat.   Question: What medications are FDA approved for weight loss? Answer: There are number of approved older drugs, but the most widely used is still an old drug (Phentermine) that was only recently approved for long-term use. However, the new injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists are more powerful and more popular. The scientific name for the most well-known injectable weight-loss drug is semaglutide, which is marketed under the tradenames Ozempic and Wegovy. In simple terms, these injectable drugs activate the release of the hormone GLP-1 from the gut that goes directly to the brain to tell you to stop eating. These drugs were initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes, but the clinical studies in overweight and obese individuals demonstrated significant weight loss at higher levels. Question: What are the unintended side effects of weight loss medications (i.e. GLP-1s, dual GIP/GLP-1). Answer: One major problem is that the lack of hunger caused by the drug makes you less likely to consume sufficient protein to maintain lean body mass.  Lean body mass is defined as functional tissue such as organs (including the brain) and bone.  Nearly 40 percent of the weight loss in obese patients comes from loss of lean body mass.  Without adequate protein (especially on a diet that is calorie-restricted because of lack of hunger), the replacement of damaged cells is compromised.  The skin and hair are the first site to suffer.  This lack of protein also makes it difficult to maintain mitochondrial function that provides energy for each of your 30 trillion cells. As a result, fatigue (both mental and physical) is often experienced. Question: Would you recommend an injectable weight loss drug? Answer: The answer is no. There is a big difference between weight loss and fat loss. Weight loss is the combined loss of stored body fat and lean body mass (i.e., muscle). You want to lose fat but not muscle. Although the weight loss using weekly semaglutide injections is impressive according to the literature, a deeper look shows that about 40 percent of that weight loss is due to loss of lean body mass. That is not a good sign. It suggests that the injections reduce hunger to the extent that the person has little desire to eat enough protein to maintain muscle mass. In essence, the drug increases the patients' sarcopenia (muscle loss). One of the consequences of sarcopenia is increased frailty. Also once you stop using these weight loss drugs, the weight quickly returns. Question: Does a high protein diet help with weight loss? Answer: Most high protein diets are ketogenic diets that disrupt metabolism in addition to being high fat.  The appropriate diet is protein-adequate (about 30 grams of protein at each meal), carbohydrate-moderate (primarily non-starchy vegetables, low-fat (to reduce calories) and rich in fermentable fiber.  The common name for such a diet is the Zone diet. The ideal amount of protein at each meal for weight loss is about 30 grams. Less than 30 grams of protein at meal will not generate the hormonal signals from the gut to stop hunger. Too much protein at meal, greater than 30 grams, will inhibit AMPK activity which helps cells burn excess stored fat.  

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020524-Winter-E-Newsletter-Blog-4

Aging: Can You Slow It Down?

The first few weeks of the New Year are often focused on the resolve to lose weight, when in actuality people should focus their goals on slowing down aging, no matter the time of year. The only regimen that clinically achieves results in slowing the aging process is calorie restriction without malnutrition. Why? It’s not simply losing weight but orchestrating the complex interplay of reducing senescent cells, reprograming your metabolism, and changing gene expression, leading to a longer and better life.   A Timeline of Calorie Restriction   The first recorded human experiments with calorie restriction began with the written books of Luigi Cornaro in the 16th century, as I outlined in my book The Anti-Aging Zone, published in 1999. However, the molecular mechanisms of why calorie restriction is so effective required more recent breakthroughs in metabolism and epigenetics that were confirmed with the CALERIE study that carefully controlled the diets of 225 participants over two years and then ongoing testing of their retained blood samples.     The results of the CALERIE study have been impressive. However, the one clear take-home lesson was that reduction of insulin resistance was the most predictive blood marker correlated with the genetic changes and the decrease in senescent cells that ultimately accelerate aging.   The Zone on Calorie Restriction   The Zone diet is a calorie-restricted diet that was patented to reduce insulin resistance. It requires balancing macronutrients at each meal to generate the rapid hormonal changes that give rise to satiety. Only then can you follow calorie restriction for a lifetime without hunger and fatigue. It starts with having enough protein at each meal to create satiety in the brain's appetite control center. You need about 30 grams of protein (no more, but no less) at each meal to generate the same hormonal responses induced by the recent injectable weight loss drugs. However, you also must balance that protein with an adequate level of low-glycemic carbohydrates (about 40 grams) to stabilize blood glucose levels, and then add a dash of monounsaturated fat (about 15 grams). Over the years, it has been demonstrated by more than 40 research publications that the Zone diet is superior to ketogenic diets and the Mediterranean diet under controlled clinical research.    A New Technology to Slow Down Aging  Unfortunately, many people think the Zone diet requires too much thinking.  That’s why I developed Zone Foods to overcome that problem. The first generation of Zone Foods demonstrated dramatic reductions in insulin resistance compared to a control group, getting an equal number of calories (1). The second generation of Zone Foods offers greater variety and even more appetite suppression without thinking. This second generation will include new and improved versions of the Zone Pasta and Zone Bars, with new additions of Zone Muffins, Zone Oatmeal, Zone Granola, Zone Soups, and Zone Cookies (coming soon!). Each Zone Food contains 15 grams of protein, balanced with the appropriate level of low-glycemic carbohydrates, so any combination of two Zone Foods will provide the critical 30 grams of protein at a meal to stop hunger and maintain peak mental awareness for the next five hours. The growing variety of Zone Foods makes following the Zone diet incredibly easy. If you are never hungry, that indicates that you are reducing insulin resistance. The long-term benefit to you is slowing aging, which is only possible with lifelong use of Metabolic Engineering that starts with the Zone diet as its foundation. You May Also Like: Reaching the Zone Using Metabolic Engineering

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