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This was developed in 1999 by Dr. Arthur Agatston who is a leading Cardiologist and is designed to work safely and effectively with your body.
There is no calorie counting no weighing food portions and no more feeling deprived from good tasting satisfying food.
Not only will you be able to have three normal size meals a day also snacks will be allowed. The plan is flexible so you can have a variety of things depending on what you want that day.
The South Beach Diet has three phases
Phase One
This is the strictest part of the diet and will last two weeks, you eat normal size portions but all carbohydrates are restricted, you should cut out all fruit, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, alcohol, and baked goods. It encourages you to eat lean meats, such as chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. Vegetables with a low Glycemic-index are allowed as well as low fat cheese, eggs and nuts. The purpose of this phase is to regulate blood sugar levels, which in turn stops cravings. It also means it is ideal for people who are diabetic.
Phase Two
This is the part of the diet where you will lose the rest of your desired weight, if you only need to lose 10 lbs or less it would be ideal for you to start on phase 2, also if you are not really overweight and just want to improve your health start here. Phase two consists as the same as phase one plus good carbs. Good carbs include wholemeal bread, brown rice, fruit, whole wheat pasta, even more vegetables including peas. You will be able to enjoy snacking including dark chocolate. You will stay on this plan until your desired weight loss.
Phase Three
This begins at the stage when you reach your desired weight goal, you will already have the principles behind you and will have be used to making better choices. This is a lifelong plan to maintain your weight, it includes the principles from phase 1 and 2 but it allows for occasional indulgences and includes almost all types of food.
How much weight will I lose?
It is claimed that in the first two weeks during phase one you could expect to lose between 8-13 lbs. This is then expected to slow to 1-2 lbs a week during phase two. As this plan is designed to keep going until you reach your goal weight it is expected that if you follow it correctly you could lose as much weight as desired.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- It promotes a healthy balanced diet as no food group is excluded apart from in the first two weeks.
- It can improve cholesterol and insulin levels
- It doesn’t require a strict exercise regime
- It has a low drop out rate as proven in tests, so is easy to stick to
- It encourages people to give up foods that are high in refined carbohydrate and educates people to make better choices.
Cons
- It can be hard to prepare meals if you have a busy lifestyle it could be hard to resist tempting fast food and convenience foods.
- It is limiting especially if you dislike dairy products, also not ideal for those will intolerances to dairy products.
- The initial weight loss may be predominantly water caused by cutting carbs.
Summary
Overall this diet does seem to be good. It has shown low drop out rates in comparison to other modern diets showing it to be more realistic. It provides people with quick weight loss at the beginning giving them the boost and motivation to keep going. Then the weight loss is steady meaning it will be easy to keep it off.
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