South Beach Diet

So, What's South Beach Diet Like?

The South Beach Diet is divided into three different phases. The first phase lasts for two weeks. Each phase of South Beach Diet includes specific meal plans and recipes. This may sound quite similar to the Atkins diet, however the doctor starts off by making one thing clear: "The South Beach Diet is not low-carb (Agatston, p-3)."

Dr. Agatston's South Beach Diet focuses on a healthy balance between carbs and fats -- "good" carbs and fats, that is. Highly processed foods like baked goods and soft drinks are the bad guys on The South Beach Diet. Dr. Agatston says decreasing these kinds of carbs will help you metabolize what you eat better and will also improve insulin resistance, leading to weight loss. The South Beach Diet itself is based on the use of the Glycemic Index.

When you first read the requirements of phase one of South Beach Diet, it may sound a little daunting if you are used to low-fat, high-carb diets. However, the doctor says you can become accustomed to and happy with eating the good carbs and fats and leaving the bad ones behind. The introductory section of South Beach Diet states that you can lose anywhere between 8 and 13 pounds just in the first two weeks.

Phase One Of South Beach Diet:

What can't I Eat?

Phase one is the strictest part of The South Beach Diet. For two weeks, you'll be totally eliminating fruit, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, alcohol, and baked goods (The exclusion of these items is why some people may assume it's a low-carb plan.) from your diet.

This means you'll be eliminating many foods you may be accustomed to eating now such as a roll with dinner or a banana in the morning. And say good-bye to junk food. However, after the initial two weeks are up, you can begin adding the excluded foods back into your diet.

What can I Eat?

You can eat meat, chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. This could mean a serving of Canadian bacon at breakfast or meat topping a chef's salad at lunch. You can easily find a South Beach Diet recipe incorporating your favorite type of meat. You can snack on meat, too, such as a turkey roll-up.

You will also be eating vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and salads. Your responsibility on this plan is to eat until your hunger is satisfied. This shouldn't be a problem since the meal plans include three meals, a mid-morning snack, a mid-afternoon snack, and even dessert after dinner!

Is the Food Good?

Though I haven't tried the yet South Beach Diet myself, I have to say the meal plans certainly sound delicious. And there are tons of recipes included in the book. I spotted phase one dishes that sounded wonderful, such as Balsamic Chicken, Roasted Eggplant with Peppers, and Grilled Mahi Mahi.

The phase two recipes get even better with the likes of Broiled Sole in Light Cream Sauce and Baked Tomatoes with Basil and Parmesan. There are even desserts -- Almond Ricotta Créme, anyone?

Is it Difficult to Do?

Dr. Agatston says even if you're a bread and pasta lover, you'll be able to get through these initial two weeks "painlessly". It seems you may not even have the urge to eat these types of foods once you get going on phase one. The proof is in the pudding (Or is that in not eating the pudding?): Dr. Agatston's patients who have previously followed his plan have said their cravings virtually disappeared.

What does Phase One Do?

The theory behind phase one of South Beach Diet is that there is a "switch" inside us that affects the way our bodies react to the foods we eat that make us overweight. When the "switch" is on, we have urges to eat foods that actually cause us to store fat (Agatston, pp 4-5). According to Dr. Agatston, at the end of the first two weeks of the South Beach Diet that "switch" has gone from the on to off position.

The principle requiring the stringent two-week introductory phase of the South Beach Diet is that by following the specified plan; you can correct the way your body reacts to food.

In other words, by eating fewer of the foods that cause those pesky cravings, you're sort of "re-booting". You shut down those cravings during phase one of the South Beach Diet and then when you start adding carbs again, your system has had time to adjust.

Phase Two of South Beach Diet

At this time you can begin adding the foods that were off-limits before.

You can begin to add bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, or cereal to your meals... it's up to you. You can add fruit, too, if you wish.

This South Beach Diet gives you the freedom to "cherry pick" which of these foods you add back into your diet. While you can't eat them all, nor eat the ones you choose with abandon, they'll no longer be off-limits. The key here is to re-introduce these foods in moderation and to not eat them as often as you were before.

Phase Three of South Beach Diet

Lastly, phase three is the final and least restrictive phase of The South Beach Diet. Dr. Agatston says as long as you follow some basic rules, you'll continue to manage your weight. In fact, he suggests you'll even forget you ever were on a South Beach Diet and what you've learned will simply become a way of life.

What do You Think?

Have you tried this South Beach Diet? We're eager to hear what you think about it! Did you find it easy to adjust to or were those first two weeks like boot camp? Please visit our forum and share your opinions with our community.