The South Beach Diet

Is it a fad or does it really work?
With so many
different diets all claiming to be the best, it’s difficult to
make a choice. The South Beach Diet has had a great deal of
positive publicity, so I decided to try it. After years of
struggling with my weight, I needed something that was easy
enough for me to follow without a lot of restrictions on what I
could eat.
The South
Beach diet is simple enough to follow and according to what I
had heard you simply substitute good carbohydrates for bad
ones.
The South
Beach diet has three phases, all of which are easy to follow,
leaving you fully satisfied and never hungry. The first phase
of the South Beach diet last for two weeks and includes meals
that include chicken, beef, turkey, fish, shellfish,
vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and garden salads using salad
dressings made from olive oil. It felt great to eat until I was
full and still lose weight.
In addition,
I was required to have a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack
and a dessert after dinner. I said “required” because if you
don’t eat all of the food, the diet will not work.
I really
loved the fact that I was able to drink all the coffee and tea
I wanted during this phase of the South Beach Diet. As with any
diet, and even daily living, you have to drink at least eight
ounces of water each day.
During Phase
One you cannot have any bread, rice, potatoes, past, baked
goods, fruit, candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar. That
part of the diet was very difficult for me, but I lived through
it remembering this is only the first two weeks after which you
will add these foods back into your diet. You will not be
allowed any alcoholic beverages during Phase 1, though during
Phase 2 you will be allowed to drink wine in
moderation.
You will
follow Phase Two until you reach your goal weight. I really
enjoyed this phase of the South Beach Diet because for the
first time in my life I was seeing eating food in a different
way, learning how to eat less of the foods that caused my
overweight while still continuing to eat more of the foods that
are healthy and nutritious.
Phase Three
is the maintenance phase of the diet, and the program you will
follow for the rest of your life. Even though it took me a
while to get to this phase of the diet, I learned to eat
differently during the first two weeks so that by the time I
was ready for Phase Two, I learned how to control my previous
cravings for sweets and high-calorie foods so that I could
enjoy them occasionally.
It’s been a
year now since I reached my goal weight on the South Beach
Diet, and I feel better than I have in years. I can’t say that
I haven’t put a few pounds on when there has been a special
occasion, but as soon as I notice it, I go right back on Phase
One of the diet and take it right back off.
For anyone
who has tried to lose weight on other diets and failed, I
highly recommend the South Beach diet.
Review by
Suzanne Gregory
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