What is The South Beach Diet?

Most people are sick of trying new diets for one reason – they do not work! What makes the South Beach Diet different is that it teaches a way of life where you rely on the right carbohydrates and fats. This new way of eating allows you to live contently without eating the bad carbohydrates and fats. In contrast, when a person eats bad carbohydrates and fats they feel hungrier, causing them to eat more, which causes weight gain. In exchange for eating right, you become healthier and can enjoy an 8 to 13 pound weight loss in just two weeks!

The Diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, a highly respected cardiologist, to work with your body safely and effectively. This diet works in phases, the first two for a specific timeframe and the third phase for life. With this new approach, you can stop counting calories, stop weighing food portions, and stop feeling as though you are deprived from eating good-tasting and satisfying food! Actually, you will be eating three, normal-size meals but wait, that not all! You will also get two snacks each day and with meal plans that are designed to be flexible, you can enjoy a variety, based on what sounds good to you on any particular day.

Best of all, you will see amazing results in a short amount of time. Your hips, thighs, and stomach will be thinner, the number on the scales will go down, and all those overwhelming food cravings will be gone! Just imagine losing weight while still enjoying many of your favorite foods. With the diet, you can dine on mouth-watering foods like Chicken en Papillote, Shrimp Louis, and even Chocolate Sponge Cake and still lose the weight!

South Beach Diet Phase

There are basically three phases in SB Diet. You eat normal portion sizes In Phase 1, but all carbohydrate are restricted. This is the strictest phase in the diet and will last for two weeks. It emphasizes lean meats, such as chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. Low-Glycemic-index vegetables are allowed as well as low-fat cheese, nuts, eggs. Dieters should expect to lose somewhere between 8 to 12 pounds. In Phase 2, some of the banned food are slowly introduced while weight loss continue to around 1-2 pounds per week. You should remain on it until you lost your desired amount of weight. Phase 3 is for maintenance and should be followed for life. Is all about maintaining your desired weight with a healthy balanced diet. Should your weight begin to climb, simply return to Phase 1.

How Does The South Beach Diet Work?

As mentioned, the South Beach Diet is unique, successful, easy, and works in a three-phase process. Unlike many other so-called diets, with the South Beach Diet, simply substitutes your bad carbohydrates and fats for good ones. After trying this, you will be amazed by how well and quickly it works.

South Beach Diet Phase 1

South Beach Diet Phase 1 lasts for two weeks. During this first phase, you will eat normal meals of chicken, beef, turkey, fish, and shellfish, lots of vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and garden salads using 100% olive oil for your salad dressing. Each day for 14 days, you will eat three, well-balanced meals. While eating until your hunger is satisfied may go against most diets, with the South Beach Diet, it is part of the plan.

Trying to lose weight and become healthy by depriving the body of food makes no sense. In addition to the three meals each day, you will also eat a snack between breakfast and lunch, and then again between lunch and dinner. Even if you do not feel like eating these snacks, for the South Beach Diet to work, you need to, and after dinner, you will even have dessert. Additionally, during this phase, you can drink all the coffee and tea you want and be sure to drink lots of water.

You may be thinking that this is a lot of food – it is! With most diets, you deprive your body, eating only small portions of foods that are unappealing. The change you will make during this phase is that you will cut out all bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, baked goods, fruit, candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar. Keep in mind that these eliminated foods will be added back into your diet, starting in Phase 2. In addition to taking these foods out of your diet temporarily, you will also need to avoid beer, or any kind of alcohol. Once you start Phase 2, reasonable amounts of wine can be added back in.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed about the foods that will be taken out of your diet during the first two weeks, stop and think about this for a minute. To achieve a life of health and lose unwanted weight, two weeks is a small investment to make. After all, you are worth it! The first two or three days will be somewhat challenging, but breaking any bad habit starts out a little bumpy. Once you pass this small hurdle, the rest of the time will go by quicker than you think. When you see the results that these changes bring, you will be glad you did not give up!

South Beach Diet Phase 2

South Beach Diet Phase 2 is different from the first in that it will last as long as it takes you to lose your desired weight. This phase will last different lengths of time depending on each individual person, how well they follow the diet, and how their body reacts.

Do not forget that by the time you start this phase, you will already be 8 to 13 pounds lighter! Other changes you will notice when starting Phase 2 is that your outlook on eating will be changed. During the past two weeks, the way in which your body was reacting to foods making you overweight was corrected. Those old, nagging cravings have been squelched and the bad eating habits of the past are gone.

The secret is not that you are eating less food, but eating fewer foods that start cravings and store excessive fat. Once the first phase ends, the weight will continue to come off by staying on the plan. Some of the indulgences you took out of your diet during Phase 1 will be added back in, but less often. When you want a piece of chocolate cake, you can have one, just not every night. If hot garlic bread sounds good, you can have this too, but not as often and with less enthusiasm.

As you go through phase 2, your weight loss will not be as dramatic, but it will be consistent. On average, you can expect to lose from one to two pounds. While these numbers are lower than what you achieved in the first phase, losing slowly is healthier and you will keep the weight off.

South Beach Diet Phase 3

South Beach Diet Phase 3 begins when you have hit your target weight. To help you maintain your new weight, you will be able to enjoy options that are more liberal. Once you get to this phase, you will stay there for the rest of your life. After completing Phase 1 and 2, this phase will feel like normal eating to you. Now you are eating differently – for life! If your weight starts creeping back up, modify the foods you are eating and the amounts.

Along with losing extra weight and changing the way your body responds to food, your blood chemistry is also changing, improving your cardiovascular system. With heart disease being a leading cause of death where the only symptom of heart attack is often death, improving your cardiovascular system will add quality years to your life. Although you may have started the South Beach Diet as a way to lose weight, when finished, you will see that you achieved so much more!

South Beach Diet Food List

During Phase 1, the foods eaten will be in controlled portions to include chicken, beef, turkey, fish, and shellfish. These types of food can also be eaten along with vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and salads, but all will be in controlled portions too. Refer to the following list to see the types of food that are acceptable in phase 1, 2, and 3. Remember that bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, baked goods, fruit, candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar will be added back slowly into your diet in Phase 2.

Foods to Enjoy

• Boiled Ham
• Canadian Bacon
• Canola Oil
• Chicken Breasts (skinless)
• Cheese (fat-free or low-fat – American, Cheddar, cottage, cream substitute, feta)
• Cornish Game Hen
• Eggs (whole)
• Fish (all types)
• Green Vegetables
• Lunchmeat (lean)
• Peanut Butter
• Peanuts
• Pecans
• Pistachio Nuts
• Olive Oil
• Seasoning/Spices (broth, butter sprays, pepper, anything containing no sugar)
• Shellfish
• Sirloin
• Sweets * (chocolate powder, cocoa powder (baking type), hard candy, sugar substitute (sugar-free)
• Tenderloin
• Tofu
• Turkey Bacon
• Veal
• Vegetables (artichokes, asparagus, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, legumes, lettuce, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini)
• No more than 75 calories per day

Foods to Avoid

• Alcohol *
• Baked Goods **
• Beef (brisket, liver, rib steaks, fatty cuts)
• Bread **
• Breast of Veal
• Cereal (all kinds) **
• Cheese (full fat, brie, edam)
• Crackers **
• Fruit
• Fruit Juice
• Honey-Baked Ham
• Ice Cream
• Matzo **
• Milk (whole, low-fat)
• Oatmeal **
• Pasta **
• Pastries **
• Poultry (chicken wings, legs, thighs, wings, duck, goose, poultry products)
• Soy
• Vegetables (barley, beets, black-eyed peas, carrots, corn, pinto beans, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, yams)
• Yogurt

* Includes beer, hard alcohol, wine (wine will be introduced in Phase 2 in moderation)

** Includes all starchy foods

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Guidelines and Food List

Breakfast
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 1/2 cup. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 tsp mayonnaise or oil (optional) See choices

Lunch
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil. See choices

Dinner
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: None
Starch: None
Milk: None
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil. See choices

Snack
Snacks are required. Choose from the Protein or Vegetable list, or eat nuts from the Fats list.

South Beach Diet Phase 2 Guidelines and Food List

Breakfast

Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 1/2 cup. See choices
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Milk: 1 – 1 1/2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt) See choices
Fat: 1 tsp mayonnaise or oil (optional) See choices

Lunch
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Milk: 1 – 1 1/2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt) See choices
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil See choices

Dinner
Protein: Quantity is not limited. See choices
Vegetables: Minimum 2 cups. See choices
Fruit: 1 fruit serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Starch: 1 starch serving allowed daily (with this meal or other). Gradually increase to 2 or 3 total servings for the day. See choices
Milk: 1 – 1 1/2 cups allowed daily (including yogurt) See choices
Fat: 1 Tbsp mayonnaise or oil See choices

Snack
Snacks are optional: Choose from the Protein, Vegetable, or Fruits list, or eat nuts from the Fats list. Plain, low-fat or fat-free yogurt is also allowed.

Foods Allowed in Phase 2 (Foods you can reintroduce to your diet)

FRUITS

• Apples
• Apricots-dried fresh
• Blueberries
• Cantaloupe
• Cherries
• Grapefruit
• Grapes
• Kiwi
• Mangoes
• Oranges
• Peaches
• Pears
• Plums
• Strawberries

DAIRY

• Milk-light soy, fat-free or 1%
• Yogurt-light, fruit-flavored, plain, low-fat or fat-free

STARCHES (use sparingly)

• Bagels, small, whole grain
• Bread-multigrain, oat and bran, rye, whole wheat
• Cereal-Fiber One, Kellogg’s Extra-Fiber All Bran, oatmeal (not instant), other high-fiber, Uncle Sam
• Muffins, bran-sugar-free (no raisins)
• Pasta, whole wheat
• Peas, green
• Pita-stone-ground, whole wheat
• Popcorn
• Potato, small, sweet
• Rice-brown, wild

VEGETABLES AND LEGUMES

• Barley
• Beans, pinto
• Black-eyed peas

MISCELLANEOUS

• Chocolate (sparingly)-bittersweet, semisweet
• Pudding, fat-free/sugar-free
• Wine, red

Similar Posts:

• South Beach Diet an Overview
• The Montignac Diet
• How Does the South Beach Diet Work
• The Ultimate New York Diet
• Fat Loss 4 Idiots