The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is a book called The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss and online at southbeachdiet.com. The author, Dr. Arthur Agatston, is a cardiologist based in south Florida.

Dr. Agatston developed the diet for his chronically overweight heart patients. Soon, thanks to his patients' results, Dr. Agatston's diet became all the buzz in Miami.

In April 2003, the book was released and it has been flying off the shelves ever since. Dr. Agatston has also released two cookbooks and a food guide. The original book was released in soft cover in 2005.

So, What's it Like?

The South Beach Diet is divided into three different Phases.

The first Phase lasts for two weeks and is the strictest of the three. Each Phase includes specific allowable foods on the Foods to Enjoy list, as well as meal plans and recipes.
Though some have compared the plan to Atkins, but the doctor starts off by making one thing clear: "The South Beach Diet is not low-carb (Agatston, p 3)." The only true similarity between the two diets is the stringent two week introductory period.

Dr. Agatston's weight loss advice 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 off-limits.

Dr. Agatston says decreasing the bad carbs will help you metabolize what you eat more effectively and will also improve insulin resistance, leading to weight loss. The diet is based on the Glycemic Index.

When you first read the requirements of Phase 1, it may sound a little daunting, especially if you are used to low-fat, high-carb diets.

Dr. Agatston says you will become accustomed to eating the good carbs and fats and leaving the bad ones behind. He says by doing so you can lose anywhere between 8 and 13 pounds in the first two weeks.

Phase 1

What can't I Eat?
Phase 1 is the strictest part of The South Beach Diet. For two weeks, you'll totally eliminate fruit, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, alcohol, and baked goods from your diet.

After Phase 1, you can begin adding some of the excluded foods back into your diet. Some people stay on Phase 1 longer if they have a lot of weight to lose, but it is not appropriate as a long-term eating plan.

What can I Eat?
You can eat meat, chicken, turkey, fish, and eggs, shell-fish during Phase 1.

For example, you could have egg and Canadian bacon at breakfast or turkey and boiled ham atop a chef's salad at lunch. You can snack on meat, too, such as a turkey roll-up.

You will also be eating vegetables, cheese, nuts, and salad veggies.

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, such as Ricotta Creme!

Is it Difficult to Do?
Dr. Agatston says even if you're a bread and pasta lover, you'll be able to get through Phase 1 painlessly. He says you will eventually lose the urge to eat these types of foods.

What does Phase 1 Do?
The theory behind Phase 1 is that there is a switch inside us that affects the way our bodies react to the food we eat (and makes us gain weight).

When the switch is on, we crave foods that actually cause us to store fat (Agatston, pp 4-5). According to Dr. Agatston, at the end of the first two weeks the switch has gone from the on to off position.

The principle requiring the stringent Phase 1 is that by following the specified plan, you can correct the way your body reacts to food. By the time begin to add some of the forbidden foods back into your diet, your body has had a chance to adjust.

Phase 2
Now you can start adding foods from the Phase 1 Foods to Avoid list. It's up to you which ones you re-introduce: bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, cereal, or fruit.

This 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 3

Phase 3 is the final and least restrictive Phase of The South Beach Diet. Dr. Agatston says as long as you continue follow some basic guidelines, the diet has become your way of life and you'll continue to maintain your weight.