South Beach Diet Results – Follow the Guidelines to Success
Many factors affect your South Beach diet results other than just what you eat. For example, these factors can include portion size and how the food is prepared. To get the most out of the South Beach diet plan, it is highly recommended that you follow the diet as close to the guidelines as possible.
The Two Rules for Best Results
Developed in Miami Beach, Florida, in 2003 by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston, with nutrition guidance by Marie Almon, chief clinical dietitian at Mount Sinai Medical Center, the South Beach diet is divided into three phases so that people can achieve their goal weight incrementally, using sound diet techniques.
The best results for the South Beach Diet come when bad carbs that rank high on the glycemic index (GI) are eliminated or at least greatly reduced. Dr. Agatston and other diet professionals believe that eating complex carbs with a high GI produces more insulin, which drives down blood sugar levels. This then sends a signal to the brain that you are hungry. It is this affect on the blood sugar that causes excess calorie consumption, which in turn causes you to gain weight.
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Setting aside all the books, cookbooks, DVDs, and websites dedicated to the plan, getting the right South Beach diet results can basically be broken down to two rules:
- The first is that you must replace Simple Carbohydrates (starches, white sugar) with Complex Carbohydrates (vegetables and whole grains).
- The second is you need to replace saturated fats and trans fats with Unsaturated and Omega-3 fats – as well as reduce consumption of some good fats.
You Can Beat the Carb Cravings!
The South Beach diet plan works because it corrects the bad diet you’ve had for years. Within the first two weeks during Phase 1, you will be amazed and delighted that you turn away from donuts, cakes, cookies, candy, and the types of sweets that are loaded with refined sugar. By the end of Phase 1 you will feel better, be more clear-headed and energetic, and might even be inclined to start exercising.
Properly followed, the South Beach diet results in rapid weight loss the first two weeks, then a more gradual weight loss (about 1 to 2 pounds a week) during Phase 2. You stay in Phase 2 until you reach your goal weight. At that time, you will be in Phase 3, the maintenance phase for the rest of your life. Not only will you be slimmer, you will be “heart healthy” and experience of host of other health benefits.
This is a good diet for sugarholics who need help to stop the cravings for sweets. In fact, many people, myself included (raises hand), have done this diet and found sugar to be a turn-off. When chicken and steamed vegetables are your new cravings, you’ll know you’ve achieved good results with the South Beach Diet.
Another important consequence, though, will be that your blood sugar level is under control. You’ll be surprised that once you have stopped consuming complex carbs (such as bread) and refined sugar for a week, you won’t be craving sweets, cakes, and cookies like you were before. You can walk past that cookie aisle in the grocery store without stopping to graze. You may even find yourself to be a bit nauseated at the thought of eating sugar.
Simple, Logical, Natural Eating
Rather than promote an unnatural idea of eliminating all carbs – which somewhat describes the restrictive Atkins Diet – the South Beach diet results in a healthy approach to eating. You eat carbohydrates daily because, after all, they are necessary for a balanced diet. You are simply substituting bad carbs (bread, sweets) for good carbs (fruit, nuts, veggies). And that’s the healthy, natural way to eat.
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