Plan Review

The South Beach Diet was developed by Dr. Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as a way to help his heart patients control their weight. He recognized that his patients had trouble sticking to a strict no-fat diet, so developed an approach that focused on reducing quickly digested carbohydrates that cause a rapid increase in blood sugar. Unlike diets like Atkins where carbs are avoided altogether, the South Beach Diet finds room for vegetables, beans, and whole grains. It also pushes you away from trans-fats and unsaturated fats towards saturated fats and beneficial omega-3 fatty acids.

The South Beach Diet leads you through three phases towards a total change in eating habits. By the third phase, you should be settled in to a “diet for life.”

Phase One is designed to break your cravings for carbohydrates. Although you get to enjoy three full meals a day, plus snacks, you do have to eliminate bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, and baked goods. Even fruit is forbidden – as are candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, and sugar. Beer and alcohol is out, too. The saving grace is that the diet begins to ease up after 14 days. In the meantime, you’ll enjoy how the weight is starting to melt away.

Phase Two lasts until you reach your target weight. Now vegetables are allowed in moderation, and the occasional glass of wine or beer is okay. You’re learning to identify foods that your body digests gradually without throwing loads of sugar into the system. With your cravings under control, this becomes more and more easy.

Phase Three begins once you’ve reached your target weight and is intended to last for the rest of your life. There are no hard-and-fast rules about what you can’t eat, but now that you’ve been broken of the carb/sugar habit, you’re food choices are naturally going to be healthier.

Joining the South Beach Diet online is a tremendous advantage to simply following along with the book. Online support creates a fully interactive weight-loss plan, with tools to track the progress towards your goals.

• Benefit from the encouragement of thousands of active members through message boards and dieting groups.
• The Beach Buddy Program brings you together with other dieters.
• Recipes, food advice, and daily posts from certified nutritionists are also available through the SouthBeachDiet.com.

Weight Loss Plan Rundown: Based on the best-selling diet book by Dr. Arthur Agatston, the South Beach Diet is now fully integrated into a Web-based weight loss experience. Personal dieting coach, customized menus, and a host of other support systems help you switch to this “diet for life.”