South Beach Diet
Dr. Agaston teaches you how you can get a South Beach body.
BACKGROUND
If you're looking for a diet plan that has grown wildly popular over the past few years, gives your eating habits a dramatic makeover, and shares the name of one of the world's favorite beaches, then the South Beach Diet is for you. Dr. Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist, created this friendly contrast to other prohibitive weight-loss plans and offers a chance to achieve success where you might have previously failed.
The South Beach Diet differs from its low-carb competitor Atkins, in that it restricts saturated fats, which are linked with health problems like heart disease and high cholesterol. It promises that cravings for sugars, sweets and other carbohydrates will disappear as you go along because the diet is supposed to keep blood sugar levels maintained.
The South Beach Diet has three separate phases in which in each phase, you wean yourself away from certain foods and incorporate other South Beach Diet "friendly" foods. The diet promises that you'll lose 8-12 pounds in the first two weeks as long as you adhere to the guidelines.
PRO
- The South Beach Diet supports a clean way of eating that is void of refined sugars and trans fats
- Its emphasis on fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and heart-healthy fats is an eating plan that is full of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids
- Support from the medical science community
- Thousands of satisfied clients
- Updated its research in the 2008 release"South Beach Diet: Supercharged"
- Has a maintenance plan
CON
- Research shows that unless you're diabetic, sugar levels actually remain stable even if you eat a sugary candy bar
- Many South Beach Diet food products contain sugar-alcohols, which may hard to tolerate
- Not very vegetarian friendly
- Its elimination of sugars, certain fruits like bananas and other carbohydrates make it difficult to maintain
- Science behind Dr. Agastaton's assertions about certain foods and their ability to raise blood sugar levels or put on weight is inaccurate
- No exercise guidelines
DIET and NUTRITION
The first phase lasts for two weeks and has you remove starches like bread, pasta and rice, potatoes, fruits, milk, yogurt, honey and baked goods. Sugars are completely eliminated. During the first phase of South Beach, you'll enjoy three balanced meals and some snacks that should include lean meats and fish, eggs, low-fat cheese, fresh vegetables, beans and nuts.
Phase two of the South Beach Diet will allow you to slowly re-introduce fruits, whole-grain breads and pastas. You'll choose just one carbohydrate and include that in one meal each day for one week. You are encouraged to wait a few days and if there are no noticeable effects, introduce one more healthy carbohydrate. Continue this until you're able to successfully have two or three healthy carbohydrates each day. Phase two will continue until you meet your goal weight.
You'll begin the maintenance, or third, phase of South Beach once you've met your goal weight. It's here that you'll put to practice all that you learned in phases one and two.
The book and website offer many South Beach-friendly recipes. There is also a complete line of South Beach Diet foods that can be purchased in your grocery store from cereals to frozen meals. But many of the nutrition bars and snack items contain artificial sweeteners, which have been known to induce gastrointestinal problems.
EXERCISE
Even though exercise has been shown to be an effective and necessary component to losing weight and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, there are no specific exercise guidelines in the South Beach Diet.
EXPENSE
The South Beach Diet book costs $24.95. You can join the online program for about $6/week.
CONCLUSION
You must wonder if the South Beach Diet is just another marketing attempt to motivate folks who are desperate to lose weight? With its strong assertions and its complete line of food products hitting grocery store shelves everywhere, makes you question how much of its appeal is fact or fiction? The truth is that any diet that cuts calories will help you lose weight. The South Beach Diet is no different.
It's encouragement of eating vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats is admirable. Its elimination of white sugar and refined carbohydrates is equally laudable albeit challenging to follow. And many people have had a lot luck losing weigh following the South Beach Diet. But the South Beach Diet itself has some scientific flaws and many nutritionists would argue that its promise of losing 8-12 pounds in 14 days is a bit aggressive and may not be able to stand up against the test of time.
But if you've got a lot of willpower and don't mind knowing that you might be buying into another fad diet, then this might be just the diet for you.
Common Misspellings
south beech diet, Southbeach diet, Sobe, SBD, South Beach, South Beech Diet, South Beach Deit, southbeach diet, southbeachdiet.com
Related Diets: Atkins Advantage, Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet Supercharged, Low-Carb Diet, Sugar Busters!
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For all the people who say they love the diet, you will gain all that weight back and more as soon as you start eating like a normal person again.
Really awful. Phase 1 is ridiculously strict. Even on phase 3 people cannot eat normal foods and enjoy life. Don't try to tell that to people who are on it; they are obsessed with it (almost like a "religion.")
hi.....to everyone...
I did this diet and lost 40 pounds quickly!! it was easy and I also walked every day. I found food i could eat thst i liked
Love the south beach diet! need to get ready for south beach miami in feb :-)
I started South Beach on May 5, 2008. My husband's doctor said he had to loose weight and since I'm the cook, I decided to join him to support his effort.
The first two weeks I lost 14 lbs and he lost 8. Who in their right mind wouldn't continue??
To date he has lost 32 lbs and I have lost 67 lbs. I am elated with my new figure and my husband's new trim body.
I would have never thought I could do this and so easily.This diet really works! I have recommended this book to all who see me and say how awsome I look!
My medical doctor wasn't aware I had started the SBD and was blown away by my results. She thought I should be a spokes person for the plan!
To everyone who thinks this won't work you need to give it a chance. If you use your imagination with cooking you won't be bored with the lean meat and vegetables. This is the greatest discovery I have ever made.
I have changed my life.
Remember "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" And that's the truth!
I liked the results
I have tried this "lifestyle change" and it WORKS! It REALLY does work! All it takes is tons of self discipline. After only 7 months, I have lost a total of 30 pounds.
Didn't really knew much about this diet. I read here you can lose a lot of weight, and you can still eat snacks and chocolate. That's awesome.
This is my 10th day on the first phase. I have already lost 5 pounds as of last Wed. (which was only 4 days on the sbd) I actually saw that I'm not supposed to have yogurt or milk products. (I ordered the book from amazon last week and it's not here yet.) I had the book and tried this before..but gave up because I didnt' want to give up carbs. NOW...I'm determined. I work out approx 5 days a week and feel awesome. This has helped my perspective on food in general. I ate well before, but now I feel a little in control. I am a vegetarian, although i eat fish and cheese and eggs. This is for me....I love it....I do cheat and have a little vodka. I'm hoping to lose about 15 to 20 pounds.
I followed the diet for about 2 years and lost 40 pounds. They call it a "lifestyle", but I find it far too rigid for it to be that. All white sugar and white flour is banned forever. Many nutritious fruits an all fruit juices are completely eliminated. Everyone loses in phase 1, simply because carbs are eliminated and glycogen is burned, therefore water weight is lost, but in phase 2 - you have to be very mindful of serving sizes and you need to weigh and measure everything you eat. The obsession with portions takes away the common sense approach to "intuitive eating" or listening to your body as a guide. This diet requires a great deal of time; its not an easy plan to follow
I am new to SBD. yesterday was day 5from and I was down 171 t 166 (I am 5'5" and 35yrs old) today I weight 167.4, so a little dissapointing. My goal is 130 lbs. I cheated a bit with SBD salad dressing I had 2 tbs and I made taco meat which has a bit of a card count, other than that I have eaten meat cheese and veggies with a snack of nuts. I have NOT eaten enough veggies according to the plan though. I hope this diet continues to work for me!
I lost around 80 lbs on the SB diet in about eight months...coupled of course w/ exercise...I rid my house of processed / easy foods - a shocking process (27 grocery bags given to a thin thin friend)...and it was wonderful...don't have it available -you won't eat it...now though after a long winter on the road (with work) I have gained 25 lbs back...going on SB again for a wedding - and more important - for me...so I feel good, am healthy and able to particiapte in all of my life...it's a lifestyle choice - not a 'diet'...good luck!
At first, i loved this diet. You can eat a lot and still lost weight. After 3 months i had lost 25 pounds. However, by this time i am so sick of lean meat and chicken and that actually would look at my plate and get sick of it.
i am on 4th day of South Beach Diet phase 1, and i lost 7 pounds. I am so happy and love the results. i quit my chew and spit disorder.
I have been on the diet for 5 days and have lost only 2 pounds which is kind of discouraging given the talk of losing 10-15 pounds in two weeks. Does the weight loss pick up in the later stages or do most people lose the weight in the early stages?
I want to begin, but I don't like tomato juice, can I have gazpacho instead ? or what else?
I did the South Beach Diet just for the first two weeks as part of Phase 1, and I lost 12 pounds and I have never gained it back. I loved the results, but it was far too restrictive for me
I am on a south beach diet, I am doing everything they say, but I am becoming bulky and gaining weight, what is this?
The SBD, first time around (phase 1), was a hard because I was surrounded by people eating junk, junk, and more junk. It was VERY difficult, I had to constantly distract myself. So my number ONE recommendation: have a small support group.
Also, the first time around-while I was doing phase 1- I didn't exactly do the diet by the book... I mean I never anything on the 'bad' list..(no fruit, bread, rice, candy, cookie, cake, non-lowfat dairy, etc.) I ate a TON of veggies, lean meats, low-fat cheese, LOTS of celery, LOTS of eggs, and oh my goodness LOTS of salad & almonds. But, let me get to my point. When I did NOT cook the meals i ate by the book I was very 'out-of-it'. I took a nap every chance I could and had a lot of headaches (the reason being: before I was very addicted to sugar.. before SBD if I had a headache I would just pop a reeses cup in my mouth and be done with it.)
Now I'm back to doing phase 1 again, a couple months later, and I'm doing everything by the book and oh my goodness I practically JUMP out of bed in the morning I have so much more energy. So... number TWO recommendation: Do SBD by the book.
Also first time around I lost only 6 pounds in the full 14 days, this time it's been only three days since I started again and I've already lost 5 pounds!! DO it by the book!!!
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