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 you'll 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.
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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The diet was wonderful I ate all the foods I love but I also used the prepared South Beach meals that were avaiable at my local grocery stores then all of a sudden none of our stores carry them then South Baech says its because there not sellling, I am so unhappy about this and the fact that I have lsot 75lbs and now I am at a stand still because we got dependant on these prcoooked pre ready to eat meals and we cant get them anymore so yet the diet is wonderful but I am not happy that my support went away
For all of you who are complaining that you gained all your weight back, is obviously because you went back to your old eating habits "normal" again. Normal in this day and age is too much food, I mean, what is normal now days? There's no normal, have you seen the portions they feed you at restaurant now days, if you think that's normal, well, yeah, you're going to be a few pounds than you'd like to be. Well I'm just here to say that I lost 30 lbs in three months 6 years ago and since that time I've slowly re-gained it back, but the great thing is that I can eat healthier for the next three months and lose it again, ummm, that's sounds like a good plan to me as long as I don't SLOB out, or as they say, eat normal again... good luck to you. I'll be 30 lbs lighter the next time I log in to this website.
For people who gain weight back... its because you go back to the old way of eating and dont have enough willpower to stay away from the bad carbs. Dont blame the diet, because like they say, any diet will work as long as you stick with it... dont knock this diet unless you have been consistently following its guidelines and have not lost at least 5 lbs.
So, i started south beach 2 days ago. I kinda mess up the first day. But, the second day went well. I've only lost a few oz's. What am i doing wrong? I had egg with turkey bacon for breakfast. Morning snack sugar free jello. Lunch salad with turkey lunch meat on top. 2 tsp of dressing(hidden valley ranch). 4 cellery sticks with cheese (low fat). Snack nuts. Dinner hamburger with no bun, Lettuce, red onion, tomato and green beans. sugar free ice cream 1/2 cup. I had one decaf cup of coffee and one regular cup in the morning. I also drank tons of water 8 glass +. What am i doing wrong? I work out for 2 and 1/2 hours too. Help. thanks :)
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So, i just started yesterday. I'm not sure what i am doing wrong. I gain a pound. Yesterday i had a hard boiled egg with low fat cheese (breakfast). Snack cellery with cheese. Lunch Salad with turkey meat and nuts. Snack pickle. Dinner fish with veggies and a greek salad. I did have a diet soda for lunch. But, i had 6-7 glasses of water. So, what went wrong? I need help. Thanks :)
OK, now having some concerns. I'm losing weight which is great but it feels like I'm losing a lot fast. I started this diet April 9th and after 9 days I have lost 18 pounds. I'm not feeling tired or weak but it still feels odd. Don't know if I should just skip to phase 2 or not.
Heres an update, I have lost 14 lbs in less than a week with this diet. I'm eating lean turkey and ham wraps for lunch and boneless skinless chicken for dinner most days and some south beach mixed nuts and low fat cheese sticks. My only concern is the amount of weight loss so soon. As long as I don't pass out during the day, and have no mood changes I'm sticking with it
Just finished my phase 1 and lost 10 pounds. However, it is boring and a true "diet" which I hate. Very limited. Just meat, nuts and veggies. Was missing my fruit and yogurt and now hope to never see another egg or bowl of Jello!
I was thinking of beginning this diet. I was wondering how badly drinking alcohol on the weekends will affect the results in the first 2 weeks
i lost 120 lbs
I'm finding this diet to be very difficult but am doing my best to stick with it. The main reason I find it difficult is because I have a lot of food allergies and greens are one of them because of clorophyl. Its really hard to find enough foods I enjoy each day without getting bored, if my body adapts to the low fat cheese sticks and quarter cup pecan consumption I'll get by but I can only hope.
Will update if my body and mind adapt and if this diet is successful or unsuccessful.
Both my wife and I followed the diet with great success. My wife thought the first phase was a bit too strict however, it only lasts two weeks. Surely anybody can do anything for two weeks, for goodness sakes. What I really liked about this diet is that you don't need to measure or track anything once you get to phase 3. You simply need to make good choices, as much as possible. I wouldn't say that I follow the "diet" strictly, in that I pretty well eat what I want however, I tend to make healthier choices whenever the choice is available and I haven't put any weight back on. I do exercise regularly...which to me is common sense - you shouldn't rely on a diet to tell you that.
I love this way of eating. It's not a "diet", it really is a lifestyle change. For those saying that this is too strict - I just can't understand that. If you truly follow the plan the way it is meant to be followed, you won't have cravings. They completely disappear. Also, to those saying that this is low-carb - it's not. It may seem that way in phase 1, but you re-introduce good carbs in phase 2 and phase 3 is a continuation using the healthy eating habits you learned earlier on. Out of all the plans I've tried, this is the ONLY thing that helped me take off more than a few lbs.
It did everything it said it would do. 8-13 lbs in two weeks was right on the mark!!
I happen to love eating the SB way. Fresh veggies, whole grains, dairy, and dessert everyday? What's not to like. For those of you who say once you start eating like a normal person you'll gain it back, of course you'll gain it back if you eat a ton of FRIED, FATTY foods. Who wouldn't!!
Very good diet and better than the original...loosing .5lb a day!!
I Like It.
I lost 30 pounds on the South Beach Diet in 2006, and have kept the weight off. This plan really worked for me!
If you are doing this as a low carb diet altogether and not re-introducing fruits and vegetables in Phases 2 and 3 as the diet calls for, it is not healthy. That is like the Atkins, not the South Beach. The South Beach has you add back in the good carbs (fruits and vegetables) in phases two and three. It is only meant to do away with bad carbs forever such as chips, sugar, white flour, etc.
I tried South Beach when it first started a few years ago. I lost 20 pounds BUT gained it all back. Seriously, a low carb diet will never work. Proper nutrition is necessary in maintaining one's weight and that means eating sensibly and record-keeping, NOT eliminating important food groups from one's diet.
I don't like South Beach diet at all.
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