South Beach Diet Review South Beach Diet Review: The South Beach diet is probably the latest and most popular 'It' diet to come out of the weight loss industry. It's success has spawned numerous South Beach dining guides, heart healthy plans and recipe books. How does it work and is it right for you? Here's a review of the South Beach Diet to help you decide:
The South Beach diet is a lower, healthier carb diet that is kinder and more permissive than Atkins. Created by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, M.D. for his overweight patients in his South Florida practice, it focuses on eating the 'right' carbs, such as whole grains and certain fruits and vegetables; the right fats, such as olive and canola oil; and lean sources of protein. However there are a few things you need to do before you get there. There are 3 phases to the diet: Phase 1 is the toughest and is similar to Atkins in that all carbs are restricted. This helps reduce your insulin (which is a fat-storing hormone among other things) and subsequently you lose weight as your body starts to burn fat for energy. Phase 1 lasts for 2 weeks and kick-starts your weight loss. People have reported losing 5-10 pounds in this 2 week phase. The focus during Phase 1 is on lean meat, fish, eggs, reduced-fat cheese, nonfat yogurt, nuts, and plenty of vegetables. You are also allowed artificially sweetened products. This phase helps you lose weight fast and reduces your cravings for the wrong kinds of carbs. During phase 2 you start to reintroduce 'good' carbs, such as whole grains and most fruits. Some indulgences are allowed. Your weight loss will be slower at this stage (1-2 pounds per week) but at least you're allowed some carbs (unlike Atkins). You should stay on the Phase 2 part of the diet until you reach your goal. Phase 3 is more of a maintenance phase once you've reached your goal. You'll still make good eating choices but it's less strict than the previous 2 phases. You're supposed to basically stay on Phase 3 for the rest of your life - it's more like a way of eating for life.
The South Beach diet is balanced and, for the most part, healthy. If you can't for the life of you imagine cutting out carbs, you don't have to on this diet (except for the first 2 weeks). It's not as complex as many other diets however it does still require you to prepare special recipes. Also you're encouraged to eat when you're hungry (not starve over long periods of time, like some other diet plans) which will definitely help you not to feel deprived. South Beach diet reviews by users have been very positive - the average user rating at epinions was 4 out of 5 stars, with many people liking the fact that they lost weight fast, and that the diet was easy to understand. Also, Consumer Reports in their 'Rating the Diets' issue gave South Beach a good overall score and a positive rating on the nutritional analysis of the diet
Recipes are sometimes a little involved to prepare and if you are extremely busy, you might do better with a diet where the meals are pretty much prepared for you like Medifast or Nutrisystem. Also users have reported that the first 2 weeks (phase 1) is especially tough to get through.
The South Beach diet comes in both online form and as a book (There's also recipe books, clubs, etc.) The book is 320 pages and contains both explanations of how the diet works and why it works. Plus there are a lot of detailed recipes. The online membership is an excellent value at only $5 per week. You can get South Beach recipes, customized meal plans, weight loss tools, 24 hr access to dietitians, autogenerated shopping lists and access to other South Beach dieters for moral support.
South Beach is a welcome improvement over the crazy low or no carb diets that have been the rage in the past. It's much more balanced and focuses on curbing cravings while you're making positive eating changes. While the first 2 weeks can be tough for most people, they are not starving themselves and the rapid weight loss can be reward enough for most people. If you've found that your body responds best to lower carb plans and you have the time to prepare the recipes yourself, you'll probably like this diet.
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