Question: I have lost 60 lbs. of fat with the Zone diet. Now I want to build lean body mass. Can I still use this program?

Answer: Congratulations on losing 60 lbs. That is outstanding! Now, to gain lean body mass you will have to shift gears a bit. Obviously you cannot eat the same amount of calories that you lost weight on and expect to gain weight. There is nothing "magical" about the 40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat ratios that builds lean body mass. If you are in a calorie deficient state you won't gain weight no matter what the ratios are and no matter what foods you eat. You must be in a calorie surplus and train with weights to gain muscle. Period.

Let me use an example to illustrate my point. Suppose you weigh 175 lbs. and your body fat is 10%. That means you have 17.5 lbs. of fat and your lean body mass (LBM) is 157.5 lbs. If you work out five times per week for one hour then according to Dr. Sears, the author of the Zone, you should consume .8 grams of protein per lb. of LBM. That's .8 (activity factor) X 157.5 (LBM), which equals 126 grams of protein. There are four calories in each gram of protein, so that's 504 calories from protein. That's 30% of your total calories. Your fats should also be 30% of your total calories. 504 calories from fat, divided by nine calories per gram equals 56 grams of fat. Finally, your carbs should be slightly higher, about 40% of your total calories, or 672 calories from carbs. There are four calories in each gram of carbohydrate so that's 168 grams of carbs. Add all these calories up and you get a grand total of 1680 calories per day. 1680 calories is a very low calorie diet for a moderately active man. Will you lose weight on 1680 calories? You bet! Will you gain any substantial amount of lean body mass on 1680 calories? Not a chance! Why? Because the calories are too far below your maintenance level.

Dr. Sears calculations for caloric intake tend to be very low (usually too low), and this is one of the reasons you will lose weight on the Zone; it's a calorie restricted (dare I say "starvation?") diet. The other reason people lose weight on The Zone is because the 40-30-30 ratios are quite effective at controlling insulin and blood sugar levels, which in turn can help you lose body fat. This is especially effective for people who feel they are "carb-sensitive" (but not everybody is).

To get back to your question, "Can I use the zone to gain lean body mass," the answer is yes, you could eat the same zone foods and the same zone 40-30-30 ratios you did while on the zone for weight loss as long as you eat enough. Personally, I prefer to increase my carbohydrates to 50-55% when I am trying to gain lean weight because it keeps your glycogen levels high. Glycogen is the primary fuel for resistance training so you get better workouts with at least half of your calories from complex carbs. (with 30% pro, 15-20% fat). However, there is no reason you can't stay on the 40-30-30 ratios, as long as you increase your calories. It's been a few years since I read the Zone, so I don't remember if the Zone makes different recommendations for weight gain, but clearly what must be different now is your caloric intake. You must eat more to gain lean body mass. For most people, 18-19 calories per pound of body weight will provide enough caloric surplus to gain muscle. If you weigh 175 lbs, that would be at least 3150 calories a day! 18-19 cal/lb. is just an estimate; if you know your LBM, you can get a more precise determination of your caloric needs. If you would like to know your exact calorie needs based on your LBM and activity level, please read my article called "calorie calculators."

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