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