I'm On the South Beach Diet & Loving It!
Written: Sep 14 '03 (Updated Sep 14 '03)
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Pros: Lose Weight -- 8-13 lbs in the first 2 weeks!
Cons: Cut-out some of the foods you love at first.
The Bottom Line: I think this is the best diet I've found -- and the proof is in my waistband!
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| magenta321's Full Review: Arthur S. Agatston M.D. - The South Beach Diet: Th... |
I got to the point where I didn't know what to do any more. I grew up with the American Heart Association's low fat diet. A typical day's food for me would be a low-fat muffin, a turkey sandwich on low-fat bread, a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce, and, possibly a fat-free ice cream for dessert. Yet, I felt like a beached whale. I knew how to eat. I knew it since I was a little kid. But, year after year my weight rose, and rose, and rose.
Have you noticed that the more we all bought into the low-fat craze, the fatter we all became? The low-fat diets became all the rage in the late seventies and truly boomed in the 1980s and 1990s. And, as a nation, our waistbands expanded.
I was completely within that group. I wouldn't eat a meal with more than 7 grams of fat if I could help it. My fat totals were usually around 20 grams of fat a day. I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.
The other options were to cut calories (and starve -- I've tried that. I fail miserably), exercise like a fiend (I've done that too, but, I abandon it quickly), or go "Atkins". The Dr. Atkin's New Diet Revolution was a revolutionary book. It made us look at fat in a new way.
Unfortunately, it was not a healthy way in my own mind. Ketosis, the goal of the program, is actually the first symptom of Renal Failure. I don't want to mess with my kidneys. Frankly, his diet scared the crap out of me. Not to mention, I don't really like protein.
So, I went on with my way of eating. I liked the way I ate, even if I didn't like my weight. I also grew more and more depressed as I saw photos of myself. I wondered who the fat ugly person was. She wore my clothes (and stretched them out horribly), she had my hair, and she had my eyes. But, she didn't look anything like me.
Out of desperation I tried the South Beach Diet. I really didn't know what it was, but, I heard some media hype about it. Hey, if it didn't work, I figured, I could add it to the long list of things I've tried and warn other people about how futile it was. But, if it did work, maybe I'd begin to see me in pictures again.
So, I bought the book. The cover claims that you'll lose 8-13 pounds in the first two weeks, and that you will lose belly fat first. Belly fat! Yes! That's where I was fattest! Sounded perfect!
I was a little disappointed when I began reading the book. It has some things in common with Atkins. And, well, I've already admitted I don't like Atkins one bit.
Atkins starts off as a protein-based diet. No carbs. No fruits.
South Beach starts off similarly. Only, with South Beach, you can't eat a pound of bacon. Actually, all your bacon should be turkey bacon. Dr Agatston, the creator of the South Beach Diet, feels we should restrict the "bad fats". Transfats are bad, but, fats like Omega 3 are great with this diet.
The diet is broken into three phases.
Phase I
I called this phase "Restriction". It was because I was restricted from eating the foods I loved most. No bread, no pasta, no potatoes, and no fruit. Basically just meat, cheese, and veggies.
Phase I lasts two weeks.
I used to eat about one serving of meat a day. Getting more meat into my diet was certainly a shock. I had a hard time with it at first. The first few days I felt horrible. I had the shakes, I had a headache, and, I was lusting after everyone else's food. I thought something was wrong -- that if a diet would leave me feeling so sick, it couldn't be good.
However, I lost several pounds in the first few days, and, I was desperate to lose weight. I persisted anyway.
By the third day I began to feel fine. I suppose my body remembered how to break-down foods that weren't carbs again. Whatever happened, from day three to day fourteen I was fine. I didn't have any more ill feelings.
I did have a great deal of cravings still. By the end of my two weeks on Phase I, all of my dreams at night were about eating pasta. I missed it so much! I did, however, stop craving sweets, chips, and other empty calories.
I lost about 10 lbs on Phase I. My mother lost less, and a coworker lost more. I was relieved to fit into my old clothes again, and couldn't wait to move into Phase II.
My mother, on the other hand, decided to stay in Phase I a bit longer to get the maximum effect.
Phase II
I started Phase II after my two weeks of Phase I were up. It felt like I was being treated when I was able to eat some of the foods I loved again!
Phase II still focuses on the foods in Phase I -- meat, cheese, eggs, and veggies. However, now carbs can be added back in. Instead of indiscriminately eating all and any carbs, you are urged to add only the good ones back -- whole grains and fruits, mostly.
I've been eating low-carb breads and even low-carb pasta in addition to the foods I grew to love from Phase I. I am still losing weight, but, not as quickly.
This is normal. Rapid weight-loss is hard to sustain over a long period of time. Phase I is like a jump-start to the diet. Phase II is an introduction to the way you should eat for life.
Phase III
Phase III is the final, and least restrictive phase. This is the weight maintenance phase. You are in control -- you decide what you will and will not eat, and, you monitor how your body deals with various foods. If you gain weight, you just drop back to Phase I again until you've undone the damage, and then you continue on.
What are you counting? Carbs? Calories? Fat?
None of the above, really.
Atkins is strict about no carbs, ten carbs, etc. South Beach isn't like that. It doesn't count calories or grams of fat either.
It focuses instead on Glycemic Index. Basically, all food is changed into sugar for our bodies to use for energy. Bursts of sugar are not good. Foods which keep blood sugar levels rather even (slow rises and falls) combined with eating several meals a day keeps our bodies working most efficiently.
Dr. Agatston links rushes of blood sugar to Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke.
Who is Dr. Agatston?
He is a cardiologist who, like all of us, found his waistband growing with the years. He was also disappointed in the American Heart Association's diet guidelines which seemed to be making people fatter rather than thinner.
He experimented with himself first, then consulted a nutritionist to make his diet plan sound. He then tried it on some of the employees at the hospital he worked at. It showed a great deal of promise, and, he put his patients on it.
As his patients lost weight, they began to share the diet with their friends, families, and coworkers. The media began to pick up on the diet, and, soon, it grew to the popularity it has today.
Does it work?
It is working for me. I have more energy, my weight is declining steadily, my pants are too big for me now, and, I feel great.
I am still on Phase II and have lost about 1/3 of the weight I want to lose. I am having little trouble sticking to the diet, except at parties. I do know the right choices to make, and, for the most part, I'm sticking to them.
I whole-heartedly recommend this diet. It's worked wonders for me in just three weeks. I'm sure it can work wonders for you too.
Recommended:
Yes
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magenta321
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Location: Connecticut
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I am cool and that is it, and everyone else is full of...
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