South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet promotes a lifestyle that allows you to choose the right carbohydrates, fats and proteins, eat normal sized portions, become healthier and lose weight in the process - see our previous pages.

Dr Arthur Agatston, a Florida based cardiologist, developed the South Beach Diet several years ago for his overweight heart patients and achieved excellent weight loss results. He says that following the program will help you to lose weight and make you healthier.

To follow the 3-Phase plan, you use food lists that tell you which foods to avoid and which to include into your meals. You can create your own menu using foods from these lists offering a greater flexibility for individual tastes. Or there are a number of South Beach Diet recipes available including soups, pizzas and vegetarian options - "it's easy to find diet-friendly meals that you'll love." The South Beach Diet also claims that you don't have to stop going to your favourite restaurants while following the plan stating that this way of eating is flexible and you should be able to find healthy eating choices at nearly every establishment, from fast food chains to fancy Italian restaurants!

Best of all, the South Beach Diet states that you will see amazing results in a short amount of time. "Your hips, thighs, and stomach will be thinner, the number on the scales will go down, and all those overwhelming food cravings will be gone! Just imagine losing weight while still enjoying many of your favourite foods."

How the South Beach Diet Works

The South Beach Diet consists of three phases and is similar to the Atkins Diet where both have an introductory two-week period designed to kickstart your weight loss. The introductory period, or Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet aims to eliminate food cravings and is more strict than Phases 2 and 3 - these consist of continued weight loss and maintenance.

Phase 1, lasts 2 weeks, is the strictest phase of all and calls for the elimination of processed carbohydrates such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, cake, cookies, etc. You can eat normal-sized helpings of lean protein, such as chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. Vegetables are also allowed, so are nuts, cheese, and eggs. The goal is to eat three balanced meals a day, and to eat enough so that you don't feel hungry all the time. Already from the Phase 1 description you can see that the diet allows the main food groups that make up a healthy diet.
Find out more about the South Beach Diet Phase 1 Foodlist

Phase 2, commences immediately after Phase 1 and lasts until you reach your weight-loss goal. This phase is more liberal and allows you to reintroduce healthy carbohydrates such as fruit, whole grain bread, rice and pasta. Some indulgences are allowed and you should continue to lose weight on Phase 2 until you reach your target weight and move onto Phase 3.
Find out more about the South Beach Diet Phase 2 Foodlist
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Phase 3, this begins when you've reached your ideal weight and focuses on weight maintenance. It is the least restrictive phase where you're allowed to eat the things you enjoy in moderation with continued focus on maintaining your achieved weight. Dr Agatston describes it as a "way of life."
Find out more about the South Beach Diet Phase 3

Why Choose The South Beach Diet?

The South Beach Diet is not a 'portion limiting' diet, so will not be accompanied by the traditional hunger pangs associated with a lot of diets. It also looks at your food intake in the long term guarding against the dieting 'yo-yo' - the cycle of gaining and losing weight over and over. Overall, The South Beach Diet appears to be a solid diet that is safe and effective with many great ideas for healthy recipes and healthy eating. And remember, combining healthy eating with exercise can help speed up the weight loss process. Why not take a look at the exercise equipment page for ideas.

South Beach Diet Results

Does the South Beach Diet get results?. Well, the diet does have one of the lowest diet drop out rates, reported to be around 5% during tests. The diet is the most searched for diet term on the Internet. Oh, and after all - Bill and Hillary Clinton can't be wrong!

Here's some individual feedback on one visitors South Beach Diet experience.

If you would like to see an example Phase 1 menu click South Beach Diet Recipe Examples to find out more.