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The South Beach Diet Program - How It Works |
The South Beach Diet is broken down into three different Phases. You'll start in Phase 1 and follow it for two weeks, then move into Phase 2 to continue losing weight. Finally, Phase 3 is meant to last the rest of your life. Here's more:
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The South Beach Diet Phase 1: Kick-Starting Your Fast Weight Loss Program |
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You'll stay on Phase 1 for two weeks, kick-starting your fast weight loss while learning what foods to enjoy and what foods to avoid.
What you'll eat:You won't go hungry — the plan involves eating three balanced meals along with snacks. The snacks, in fact, are mandatory, even if you're not hungry. The reason? They can help keep you more satisfied, so you're less likely to overeat at your next meal. During Phase 1, you'll eat foods such as lean meats, chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish (vegetarians can enjoy meat substitutes and tofu), along with eggs, reduced-fat cheese, nuts, beans, and plenty of vegetables.
What you won't eat: No bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Not even fruit. Before you panic: You'll begin adding those things back into your south beach diet plan in two weeks. But for right now, they're to be avoided. No candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar for two weeks, either. No beer or alcohol of any kind. After this Phase, you'll be free to drink wine, which is beneficial for a variety of reasons.
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The South Beach Diet Phase 2: Reintroducing the Right Carbs |
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In Phase 2, you'll start to reintroduce the right carbs, such as fruit and whole-grain breads and pastas. Many dieters get nervous about this stage of the diet — they think that reintroducing these carbs might reverse the quick weight loss they've seen. But The South Beach Diet™ is meant to be a plan you can follow for life, so it's essential that you learn how to work the right carbs back into your lifestyle.
The trick is to reintroduce these carbs slowly. Choose a single carbohydrate and add it to one daily meal for one week. Pay close attention to how your body responds over the next few days. If things are going well, add a second choice and again monitor your reaction. Continue this process until you're able to eat two to three servings of the right carbohydrates a day. If you find that you are out of control, feel free to return to Phase 1 for a few days until things are back under control.
There is no time limit for Phase 2 — follow it until you reach your weight-loss goal.
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The South Beach Diet Phase 3: A Diet for Life |
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Once you reach your weight-loss goal, it's on to Phase 3 where you'll continue following the principles of The South Beach Diet™ that you learned in Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 3 isn't about abandoning the diet and eating anything you want — it's about continuing to make smart food choices. Experiment with new recipes and ingredients, enjoy your new lifestyle, and know that fast weight loss can greatly improve your overall health
You may start on The South Beach Diet™ hoping just to lose weight. If you adopt it and stay with it, you will surely accomplish that much, but you'll also do a lot more for yourself, all of it very good — your quick weight loss can help improve your overall health. |
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Dieting |
"...sound nutritional advice....Agatston encourages a well-balanced diet program that includes plenty of fruit, vegetables and whole grains, plus nuts and healthy oils..."
– Newsweek |
Doctor-designed weight-loss... |
"It started out simply enough. Arthur Agatston, MD, a cardiologist, decided to develop an eating plan that would improve the cholesterol and insulin levels of his patients with heart disease. Now, the South Beach Diet has grown into something much bigger. That's because the plan Agatston created not only improves cholesterol and insulin levels, but it also has helped many people lose weight."
– MSN Health |
Good fats and good carbs! |
"Unlike the Atkins diet, Agatston's plan steers dieters away from saturated fat found in butter and fatty meats like hamburger and bacon and encourages the consumption of monounsaturated fats like olive oil and omega-3 fatty acids found in fish."
– USA Today |
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