How Does The South Beach Diet Work?

The South Beach Diet is unique, successful, easy, and works in a three-phase process. Unlike many other so-called diets, with the South Beach Diet, simply substitutes your bad carbohydrates and fats for good ones. After trying this, you will be amazed by how well and quickly it works.

PHASE ONE

This is the first phase of the South Beach Diet. The concept is fairly straightforward: the goal is to get the body free of cravings for sweets, as well as stopping the fluctuations in insulin our bodies endure regularly when we indulge in sugars and other high glycemic index foods.

Your main focus is to avoid all sweets, and any low glycemic index foods. In addition to this, you should avoid anything high in fat, and also other restricted foods outlined in the diet. Avoiding sweets is the hardest aspect to this phase of the diet. It is obvious why - we are all tempted by sweet, indulgent foods, and beyond what you may think is only a mental craving, your body physically craves the foods as well, making it a formidable task to fight the urge. But to succeed in the South Beach Diet, and to achieve the 8-13 pounds loss that is typical of phase one, you must abstain from them.

The food choices you make are also important. You should eat only lean meats, for example chicken, fish, and turkey. Vegetables that are low glycemic index are also allowed. You may add seasonings, and eat candies that are sugar free and fat free (such as sugar-free hard candies or sugar-free Jello). This whole process modifies the way your body works, getting it off of the spikes in insulin that it has becoe used to. This phase primes your body for the next two phases, to eliminate the tendencies that would otherwise prevent you from losing weight.

This phase lasts 2 weeks, and during this time most people who correctly follow it lose between 8-13 pounds. But more importantly, they teach themselves not to crave the bad carbs that could hold them back later on. This phase is meant also to prepare you for the second phase. For a more complete list of approved foods, read the "Meal Suggestions" section.

PHASE TWO

Phase two of the South Beach Diet involves maintaining most of the same techniques as phase one, but with the gradual reintroduction of some carbs and other foods. The goal here in this transition is that your body is working on a restricted group of foods, and the foods you are omitting are going to slow down and could even reverse your weight change if not controlled. Therefore the plan of action here is to slowly add small increments of the banned foods until you reach an amount that maintains the weight you were aiming for but does not exceed and amount that will be conductive to your weight goals. When you eat carbs, your bodies immediately turns to them for energy. When you stopped eating them in the first phase, your body became a fat burning metabolism which focused on other foods for energy. So as you reintroduce carbs back into your meals, you need to ensure that your body doesn't snap back into carbohydrate-burning mode.

Your body will eat up the calories from the newly-introduced carbs and continue turning to eating fat and protein like you began in phase one. In this way, you can continue to lose weight at a rate of what should be one or two pounds per week; and this should continue until you reach your ideal weight. Your ideal weight should be based on one or more influences, prefereably either your ideal Body Mass Index weight, or your Waist-to-Hip ratio, or just how you WANT to look, or the size of a dress you want to fit into; you should NOT base your ideal weight on magazines or societal norms, since these are not realistic or healthy at all. Once you have reached the shape and weight you desire for yourself, move on to phase three.

PHASE THREE

The final phase of the South Beach Diet is considered the "lifetime" phase, since the goal is to remain in the habits you have developped through phase one and two and use them to eat a comfortable diet that allows you never to feel deprived and yet keep a healthy body for the rest of your life.

Phase Three is also referred to as the "maintenance" phase. This is where everything you've done for the past two phases comes together. This phase will last the rest of your life. By maintaining the permitted level of carbohydrates in your diet in order to continue your proper weight, you can enjoy all the meals you've come to love and amounts of the originally restricted foods that you've determined are in keeping with your diet.

The hardest part of the diet in the initial phases is keeping off of bread. Once you reach the level where you are comfortable with the level of carbs in your diet you will be able to enjoy bread (within limits) and still be healthy and look great.

What is South Beach Diet?

Most people are sick of trying new diets for one reason – they do not work! What makes the South Beach Diet different is that it teaches a way of life where you rely on the right carbohydrates and fats. This new way of eating allows you to live contently without eating the bad carbohydrates and fats. In contrast, when a person eats bad carbohydrates and fats they feel hungrier, causing them to eat more, which causes weight gain. In exchange for eating right, you become healthier and can enjoy an 8 to 13 pound weight loss in just two weeks!

The Diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, a highly respected cardiologist, to work with your body safely and effectively. This diet works in phases, the first two for a specific timeframe and the third phase for life. With this new approach, you can stop counting calories, stop weighing food portions, and stop feeling as though you are deprived from eating good-tasting and satisfying food! Actually, you will be eating three, normal-size meals but wait, that not all! You will also get two snacks each day and with meal plans that are designed to be flexible, you can enjoy a variety, based on what sounds good to you on any particular day.

Best of all, 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 favorite foods. With the diet, you can dine on mouth-watering foods like Chicken en Papillote, Shrimp Louis, and even Chocolate Sponge Cake and still lose the weight!

South Beach Diet Phase

There are basically three phases in SB Diet. You eat normal portion sizes In Phase 1, but all carbohydrate are restricted. This is the strictest phase in the diet and will last for two weeks. It emphasizes lean meats, such as chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. Low-Glycemic-index vegetables are allowed as well as low-fat cheese, nuts, eggs. Dieters should expect to lose somewhere between 8 to 12 pounds. In Phase 2, some of the banned food are slowly introduced while weight loss continue to around 1-2 pounds per week. You should remain on it until you lost your desired amount of weight. Phase 3 is for maintenance and should be followed for life. Is all about maintaining your desired weight with a healthy balanced diet. Should your weight begin to climb, simply return to Phase 1.

To learn what the phases consist of, how South Beach Diet plan works, and what you can eat, keep reading!

Caution:
As with any new diet, if you have any illness, are pregnant, or have questions or concerns, consult your physician prior to starting. Specific to the diet, if you have kidney problems, or have diabetes that might have impaired your kidney function, talk to your physician before starting this diet.