the zone diet isn’t atkins… it is an incredibly moderate ediet. unless you have serious weight issues, you can pretty much eyeball things once you figure out you eat a balance of protein, carbs and primarliy mfats.

when i drink soda (most of the time, but i’m on water right now), i drink diet rite - not the best, but it is flavored with splenda.

pbs did a study and the lady who went on the zone lost the most (to be fair, she had the most to lose). when asked how she felt about the zone, her first comment was, “i love the way this diet makes me feel.”

not even a peep about losing 40+ pounds in 6 months. ;-)

i’ve never had to lose more than 5-10 lbs b/c i apply the zone as required. recently, i was about 3 lbs over my highschool weight (20+ years ago!). i’ve had a bump since my knee has hobbled me due to a basketball injury, but i’m no elypticalling every day and i’m back in the zone again.

i’ll be within my high school weight in no time - and feeling bettr for it. i’m about 180 lbs now, i should probably be between 170-175 lbs.

remember, the easiest weight to lose is the weight you don’t gain and it is easier to work off the weight now rather than later (as we get older).

food is like a religion, and i think more people die for their food than they do for their religion. in proper context, food is not an end, it is a means to an end.

i’ve walked ya’ll to the water…

good luck!

Don’t miss the big point here guys (and/or gals), taping yourself isn’t useful just to see how you present as a speaker, it’s also useful to know how you come off to others just in normal conversation, during a pitch, or in an interview. If you notice you don’t smile much while presenting, chances are that you don’t do it during an interview. If you always have a serious look on your face, you might seem standoffish which is bad in any social situation. This is why taping yourself, and then watching it (can’t forget this part) carefully to see what to improve on is a very powerful and cost effective way to manage your outer appearance and approachability.

I think recording yourself is a great idea - even just re-recording my voicemail message recently made me realise just how much I’ve started mumbling words and generally speaking ‘lazy’.

I just went through some old photo albums and saw pictures of myself when I was in school just a few years ago and recent photos and was just sick to my stomach. I wasn’t healthy.

So, I stopped eating (and drinking) sugar, and started exercising. I’ve lost over 30 lbs and am down to size 34″ waist. It’s amazing what a little change in habits can do. I drink Splenda in my coffee now instead of sugar, and have stopped eating fast food, drinking soft drinks, and stay away from candy.

As for the public speaking abilities… I don’t even want to imagine how bad I am. I speak from time to time, but have never been videotaped, so I don’t know how horrible I looked. Maybe I’ll have the guts to tape myself one day - I’m sure it’d make me a better speaker, but I don’t really like the thought of watching myself do something I do poorly. :)

Good Luck!

I would also like to add that you’ll probably be surprised to hear your voice. You can always blame the cheap microphones, but you know it’s not it. You don’t know your real voice until you hear it’s recording, and then you’re most likely to be surprised, for good or for bad. Just try it :)