Weight Loss South Beach Diet

Weight Loss 101: South Beach Diet

The South Beach diet is developed by a cardiologist named Dr. Agatston. This diet is made specifically for his patients who have chronic heart problems. The gained popularity when the book was released out on the market on the year of 2003.

For sure you already heard about this diet and perhaps you are quite curious on how it actually works. Well, the South Beach diet is composed of different phases, three to be exact. Every phase is quite different from the other because specific food restrictions are recommended.

Some people are comparing this type of diet to Atkins but Dr. Agatston clearly stated that the only thing that is similar between the two diets is the time phase required for the first phase which is two weeks. With regards to South Beach, a person will be engaging into a balance intake of “good” fats and carbohydrates.

Let us take a tour on how does South Beach diet works. The first phase which is the most challenging phase of all requires two weeks of elimination of foods such as baked goods, alcohol, rice, pasta, potatoes, bread and sugar from your food intake.

After the first phase, some of these foods can be included back again to your daily diet. There are some who make the time frame of the first phase longer to lose more weight but it is not meant for long term purposes because you may risk your health condition in the end.

Making this diet a successful one may be quite difficult due to the possibility of feeling fed up with the monotonous daily meal. You are allowed to eat chicken, meat, fish, turkey, eggs and shellfish. You may opt for a bacon and egg for breakfast, salad or ham that is boiled for lunch and so on.

Your main focus and goal for this phase is to satisfy your hunger. You will not have any problems with this because you will three full meals a day with mid snacks in between and even deserts. You would feel that you are not even dieting.

Most of the people who tried South Beach diet said that the cravings for certain foods that are not allowed to eat will gradually subside, more or less after the first two weeks. No pain, no gain. You just have to be well determined if you want your diet to be successful.

So what does actually the first phase do to your system? They say that there is a theory that exists wherein there is a specific switch in our body which affects a person’s daily pattern of eating.

You tend to eat more when the switch is turned on which in turn makes you gain more weight. After the two weeks of inhibiting yourself from certain types of foods, your body will automatically turn the switch off. This will stop the cravings.

So the logic behind this phase is to adapt yourself from this kind of eating habit in order to correct your body’s reaction to foods. Once you add some of the foods again to your body system, your body will adjust to it.

Obviously the second phase is all about the addition of certain foods to your daily diet from once eliminated food groups during the first phase. The pasta, bread, fruit, cereal and rice can now be added again to your eating habit. You have the choice on which to add back again.

You have to remember that although these foods can now be freely eaten, you should always consume them in moderation. Avoid eating them too often just like before or else your sacrifice in the first phase will be just put into waste.

The third phase is the easiest of all since your main goal here is to just maintain what you had worked for the past couple of weeks. The eating pattern is all up to you. It would be you who will decide on how you will eat as long as you can maintain your weight.

The South Beach diet can indeed have promising result. It will be you who will make this program a success. You have be patient, focused and responsible if you want to attain your ideal weight.