South Beach Diet???

[Jadey28]

Has anyone tried the South Beach Diet? If so, has it worked for you? I want to alter my eating habits, and this seems the way to go.

Feedback...please!

[cashmoney]

It's horsedump.

[chideltjen]

my cousin and aunt went on it.

You start off only being able to eat certain foods. Then as the weeks go on, you can add more things to it.

I dunno... I like my carbs. Just stick to a low cal/low sugar diet and exercise.

I say that because my aunt and cousin cheated and they had to start all over again. (Family get togethers always have TONS of food...)

[James]

Its almost identically to later phase atkins.

ETA: From the way its been described to me. I have read atkins. not the South Beach Diet . .. .

[sororitygirl2]

My trainer specifically warns everyone to stay away from "low-carb" diets. Sure, you can cut carbs and it will help you lose weight, but they only allow like 30 grams a day or something. You need tons more than that just to allow for normal brain activity. Plus, you usually just plateau at some point with low-carb diets - you need physical activity too. And, if you quit the diet, you gain it back...

[chideltjen]

i began to wonder with low carb beer...

now they have low carb BREAD!

WHEN WILL THE MADNESS END???????

[Jadey28]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm not trying to lose a tremendous amount of weight. I'm just looking to improve my eating habits (that includes cutting back on my carbs~not eliminating them) and tighten up a little bit. Personally, I think Atkins is too strick on the low-carb intake and I thought this diet might work a little better for myself. I'm pretty active, so I can't eliminate carbs completely from my diet. I purchased the book of Ebay, so I'll read it and decide from there if I want to try it or not. Thanks again.

[Lady Pi Phi]

If you're just trying to imporve your eating habits, why not try Wieght Watchers. Their system is really all about portion control and not restricting anything you eat.

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by sororitygirl2
My trainer specifically warns everyone to stay away from "low-carb" diets. Sure, you can cut carbs and it will help you lose weight, but they only allow like 30 grams a day or something.

South Beach does not advertise it self as a low carb diet. You are never expected to count carbs. There is the strict, 1st phase that limits carbs, but you still can have unlimited amounts of most veggies (which have carbs, BTW). This is different from Atkins, which is truly low carb and limits carbs to a certain amount a day. SB has a "good food"/bad food list. You can eat what ever you want (as much as you want until you get full from the good food list. You do cut out breads, pasta, potatoes and fruit the first phase however. you are expected to eat 3 meals a day and 2 snacks. After the first 2 weeks you can add these things back if they are high in fiber or higher on the glycemic level. For instance, apples are fine, but apple juice is not. Sweet potatoes are better than white potatoes. Whole grain breads and pastas (in limited amounts) vs. white bread and regular pasta.

Even at it's strictest phase I did not get headaches or the bad breathe that I have read some people get with Atkins.

I've been on the diet for about 10 weeks and have lost about 22 lbs. This includes a week where I really bombed out and gained back 3 lbs! My weight lost at the beginning was really fast, but has slowed down considerably, which is fine with me. My current diet is probably closer to their maintainance plan than their 2nd weight lost plan, but that is o.k. with me. I set once a month splurge days (I eat what ever I want on these days) and don't beat my self up if I slip. When I do I just go back to where I was the previous day. I don't try to "start over."

I found that I lost a lot of cravings that I used to have (chips, potatoes, french fries, cookies) and am approaching a true lifestyle change. I haven't been exercising as much as I should, but there are quite a few things that are going on with me that are preventing that.

I really encourage you to get the book (or borrow it from someone. Someone has mine now!) and read the philosophy behind it and the good food bad food lists. There are also sample menus and recipes in the book that I havee found helpful.

What sold me on SB was a spread done in Prevention Magazine and a comparison of South Beach, Atkins and the Zone on one of the news mags on TV. The consensus of their experts was that SB was the healthiest and easiest to follow.

Good luck. BTW, do a search on South Beach. Several people (including me) have posted their experiences.

ETA: I see you have already purchased the book. Let me know what you think about it!

ETA again: The SB diet also emphasizes "good" fat vs. bad fat. Unlike the Atkins, SB does not advocate eating bacon for breakfast every morning. In addition, fatty cuts of meat like chicken wings are no-nos. I laughed when I saw a resturant advertising buffalo chicken wings as low carb. Well of course they are! That's like companies who advertise jelly beans as no fat! But they are full of sugar.

Low carb and low fat does not necessarily mean you can inhale as much as you want.