I too, am changing from Atkins to the Zone - I'm happy with Atkins (I'm fairly strict in that I don't use any "substitutes" or "fakes" to make something low carb pretend its high carb, and I never touch sugar or grains in any form) but I want more fruit and veg and I want to try eating less fat - for instance low fat yogurt instead of full fat cream. The Zone appeals to me and so I bought the book today.

I think by the "Zone" he simply means the combination of carbs/fats/proteins that produce a balanced hormone response to keep your system on an even keel. The way I understand it, 1 block equals 9g of CARBS or 1 1/2 g of FATS or 7g of PROTEIN: that is the CONTENT of carbs, fat, protein in the food, not the weight of the food. Each time you eat, even if its a little snack as well as a large meal, you should have equal BLOCKS of p,c & f. This can be broken down (for women) into 3 blocks of each category (3 lots of 9gs of protein = 27g total protein, 3 lots of 1 1/2gs of fat = 4 1/2 g total, 3 lots of 7gs of protein = 21g total) three times a day, plus 1 block of each category twice a day for snacks - which equals 11 blocks in all. But I think you can eat up to 11 times a day (!?), just so long as you have EQUAL blocks of fat, protein, carbs each time.... I think this is being "in the zone". If you ate, say 2 blocks of fat, with 1 block of protein and 4 blocks of carbs, you're NOT in the zone. Bear in mind I only bought this book today , but that's how I understand it. I still haven't figured out if this is supposed to cause weight loss and if so, what you do when you get to your goal weight. Perhaps I need to read the book again!! Hopefully some kind soul will let us know if I've got it all wrong........