South Beach Diet

The Weight Loss Plan

With the rate of obesity at an all time high, out eating habits have come under scrutiny. For years experts have been preaching a low fat diet without addressing the overeating of carbohydrates. This book looks at that with a new plan for eating.

The notion that a low-fat diet is the answer to all our health woes has come under attack over the last couple of years. The Atkins Diet, the much maligned low carbohydrate, high protein diet has been reexamined by the experts and is now much more in favor.

The problem with the low fat diet plan is that while we were encouraged to lower our fat intake, our carbohydrate intake was a bit of a fuzzy area. We were encouraged to eat pasta, rice and wheat along with our fruits and vegetables, but without clear limits. While we need carbohydrates in our diet, the overabundance and type of carbohydrate have directly contributed to our obesity problem. While we may eat less fat (and that is debatable) we are packing more fat on our bodies because all those excess carbohydrates are being turned into fat (cholesterol) by our own body. Additionally when we eat carbohydrates (especially bad carbohydrates found in sugar sweetened sodas) there is a metabolic yo-yo effect that increases our hunger and can lead to overeating. Carbohydrates are metabolized very quickly causing a rapid rise in our blood glucose level. In response our pancreas increases its output of insulin in the blood to help transport that glucose to the cells for energy.

What is not used by the cells is transformed into cholesterol by the liver and stored by the body for times of need. The insulin response to the high blood sugar causes a rapid drop in blood glucose levels, stimulating a hunger response that encourages overeating. It is a vicious circle.

The South Beach Diet can help to overcome that very unhealthy cycle of overeating. Developed by Dr. Arthur Agatston the South Beach Diet isn't complicated and doesn't require that you go hungry. You'll enjoy normal size helpings of meat, poultry, and fish. You'll also eat eggs, cheese, nuts, and vegetables. Snacks are required.

The diet has three phases. In phase one you follow a fairly strict regime with lots of protein and vegetables - no bread, pasta or even fruit is allowed during phase one. This phase lasts for two weeks and most people experience a weight loss of 8 to 13 pounds. In addition to the weight loss, most people find that the cravings for those problematic foods have diminished without feelings of hunger.

In phase two you will begin to reintroduce some of the forbidden foods from phase one into your diet, but in quantities that are appropriate, and as part of a diet that does not cause those swings in blood sugar levels.

In this phase weight loss tends to level off to a steady rate of a pound or two a week. This phase lasts as long as it takes to lose the appropriate amount of weight.

Phase three comes after the weight is off. This phase will last the rest of our life and will maintain the weight loss.

As with any diet this should be discussed with your physician, but can be adapted for any special nutritional needs.

This book is packed with much information and help in your quest for weight loss. There are meal plans and numerous delicious recipes for each phase of the diet. Many of the recipes are from popular restaurants in the Miami Fl area.

I like this book and the diet. It is very well written and easy to understand. The nutritional science behind Dr. Agatston's diet is easy to understand and helped me to understand better why I had a hard time sticking to a low fat diet.

I have started following the eating plan for phase one of this diet and so far, so good. I have lost some weight and find my jeans are not as tight as they were. Perhaps this time I will find diet success.