Delivery service brings Zone meals to dieters' doorsteps

Would you sign up for a diet program run by a woman who admits she's been a size 8 all of her adult life?

As president of Zone Seattle, Arlene Sherman dispatches her "food fairies" daily to roughly 150 clients of Zone Seattle, the home meal-delivery program she founded 19 months ago with her son, Jeff, based on the principles of the Zone diet developed by Dr. Barry Sears and first introduced in his 1995 book "The Zone."

A fast-talking, Brooklyn-accented food fairy godmother, Sherman set her sights on health-conscious Seattle after working for a similar company in the New York metropolitan area.

Few among us could resist a sales pitch that promises you'll lose between 1 and 3 pounds a week eating three meals a day plus two snacks, prepared by professional chefs and delivered to your door fresh daily. But many might balk at the cost: $39.99 per person per day.

"Forty dollars a day may seem expensive; certainly it is for me as a retired person," says Jo Ann Bourque, a former secretary who lives in West Seattle. But when she calculated what she was spending on food before she joined Zone Seattle, she was shocked to realize that it was close to $40 a day. Because she doesn't really like to cook or shop, she would rely on pricier prepared food, or junk food. She was, she admits, eating more than she should have been. "People pay for housecleaning, they pay for gardening, so why not pay for something that's good for you?" she asks.

Zone Seattle has been very good for Bourque. A diabetic, she was able to curtail her use of insulin within weeks of starting the program. After nine months on the diet, she has lost 57 pounds and reduced her use of prescription drugs for chronic ailments.

Getting in the Zone

The Zone diet posits that too much refined sugar and high-density carbohydrates like pasta, bread, rice and potatoes pump up insulin levels, making people fat. Eating the right mix of protein, fat and carbohydrates balances the body's hormones, particularly insulin, allowing it to operate more efficiently.

The recommended ratio for each Zone meal or snack is 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent lean protein, 30 percent mono-saturated fats. Eating often — three meals, plus two snacks a day — keeps blood sugar levels steady, and portion control keeps calories low.

According to Sherman, Zone Seattle's meals provide a total daily intake of about 1,200 calories for women and 1,500 calories for men, the low end of the range recommended by nutritionists for weight loss.

Though experts disagree on whether high insulin levels and weight gain are connected, nutritionists tend to approve of the Zone plan. NutritionWorks' Kathleen Putnam, a registered dietician, likes that the Zone diet promotes eating proteins like lean meat and fish and more healthful carbohydrates like vegetables and fruits. Plus, she says, "it's good at reminding people to include protein regularly throughout the day."

Kathleen Mahan, co-author of a widely used college nutrition textbook, says she recommends a similar balance of protein and carbohydrates to clients of her company, Nutrition by Design. "Overall, I like the Zone. It helps people cut calories and keeps them satisfied. Avoiding refined carbohydrates keeps insulin from spiking and keeping insulin levels even helps prevent inflammation, which is a culprit in many chronic diseases."

Success stories

Peggy White started having meals delivered daily 10 months ago, tapered off to five days a week, then dropped to two days a week. By last month, when she discontinued the service, she had lost a total of 95 pounds.

"Getting the meals made me realize we had been eating way too much," says White, who also swims and walks a treadmill three times a week. "It also helped not having to make choices. The food was tasty and a great convenience."

Tony Fuentes, who shed 80 pounds on the program, says Zone Seattle's portions are ample enough that he sometimes can't eat all the food in one day. He gets the service four days a week to keep the cost down, but he follows the Zone rules the other days — except for Saturdays, when he allows himself a little splurge.

NutritionWorks' Putnam suggests it may not necessarily be the magic of the diet that's been so effective for people like White and Fuentes. "By getting the service, food choices and portions are being controlled by someone else. Taking that choice away is helpful, as is portion control, which is difficult at home and even more so at a restaurant. Also, people lack the time, resources and energy to shop and prepare food they like. It's the biggest barrier to healthy eating."

Keeping costs down

To launch Zone Seattle (and now Zone Portland, which started service in January), the Shermans contracted with caterers, which saves the expense of building and operating a commercial kitchen. They won't publicize the names of the caterers, but they are well-established chefs who have cooked for celebrities and heads of state, and regularly feed executives of Microsoft and Nordstrom.

A messenger service delivers the meals. Delivery is available in all of King County and parts of Pierce and Snohomish counties. If you live outside the delivery area, but work within those boundaries, they can deliver to your workplace.

If clients travel, they can postpone and resume deliveries. If they live with someone, they can order an extra dinner for an $8 surcharge.

The food arrives at about 6 a.m., packed in reusable, insulated, tamper-proof bags. A Zone Seattle staffer oversees the packing and checks that all special requests or allergy restrictions have been honored.

Arlene Sherman, of course, doesn't need to diet, but the "food fairies" deliver to her anyway. "It's how I maintain quality control," she says. Not to mention that size 8 figure.