Starts quasi-Atkins, ends quasi-Mediterranean

books:


	• The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss (The ... Arthur Agatston St. Martin's Griffin, 2003 - 311 pages average customer review:based on 719 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Starts quasi-Atkins, ends quasi-Mediterranean

If Americans ate in the fashion recommended by this book, we would be slimmer, healthier, and live longer. The South Beach Diet blends the best of Atkins and a Mediterranean-style diet.

Dr. Agatston's theory to explain overweight is that we eat too many sugars and starches. The detrimental carbohydrates are concentrated sugars--such as soft drinks, some fruits, and commercial fruit juices--and over-processed low-fiber starches, such as enriched white flour and white rice. These are his "bad carbs." According to his theory, bad carbs increase insulin levels sharply, leading to increased fat storage (especially abdominal fat) and increased cravings for carbohydrate as the insulin eventually causes abnormally low blood sugar levels a few hours
after the carb intake. Then you eat more carbs to raise your sugar level back to normal. Dr. Agatston spends much time explaining the glycemic index, a measure of how rapid and high a spike in blood sugar is seen after ingestion of particular foods.

Figuring less prominently in this obesity theory are his "bad fats"--saturated fats and trans fats. These are associated with cardiovascular disease according to most nutrition experts. A few of the "good fats" allowed on South Beach are olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil.

If sugars and starches cause overweight, then the cure should involve avoidance of them. And that's exactly what Dr. Agatston recommends over three diet phases. Phase One, lasting two weeks, eliminates nearly all concentrated carbs, like the Atkins diet Induction Phase. In Phase Two, lasting two weeks, "good carbs" are gradually re-introduced: low-fat milk and yogurt, sweet potatoes, whole grain bread and pasta, most fruits, brown rice, more high-fiber vegetables. Start with one or two servings daily. If your rate of weight loss stalls, cut back on carbs. If you gain weight, return to Phase One. Starches are still eaten only sparingly. Phase Three starts after you have reached your "ideal weight" and lasts the rest of your life. Curiously, the author never tells you how to determine your ideal weight. This phase is similar to Phase two, except even more of the good carbs are allowed. Judging from the 14-day meal plan, this phase is close to a Mediterranean diet, although providing more protein (in eggs, chicken, fish, and lean beef) and fewer carbs. All three phases involve two weeks of eating exactly what and when Dr. Agatston specifies on detailed daily meal plans. The meals involve cooking and you will need a blender or food processor. Overall, there is great food variety. Fish is featured often.

How much do you eat? "The meals should be of normal size--enough to satisfy your hunger, but no more than that." So the author never says how many calories you will eat. The author had intended to produce a diet with few rules, yet he tells you exactly what and when you will eat for 6 straight weeks. Although he says it is not a low-carb diet, it is.

South Beach is an improvement over Atkins, especially to the extent that the author moves Atkins toward a Mediterranean-style diet. Agatston never claims his diet is Mediterranean, which would have too much carbohydrate and not enough protein to suit him.

Weakest points? My biggest turn-off is the six weeks of prescribed eating, leaving no room for flexibility. After two weeks, "the physical cravings that ruled your habits will be gone, and they'll stay away for as long as you stick with the program." I'm highly skeptical. Reactive hypoglycemia is not nearly as common as he implies. Exercise is recommended--essentially a brisk walk for 20 minutes daily--but is not stressed nearly enough. Anyone looking for an excuse not to exercise will find it here. People can still easily overeat and gain weight, even eating just from the lists of approved foods. There is no reference section and very few references are given. His attitude seems to be, "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

An improvement to South Beach would move it further away from Atkins and closer to the time-honored healthy Mediterranean diet of the mid-20th century, in which more "good carbs" and fewer proteins would be encouraged. And myriad benefits from exercise should not be ignored. The only diet that meets these criteria is The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer.

-Steve Parker, M.D., author of "The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer."

for more information click here

awesdomeb diet

Since, 1996 and turning 40 the next year, I went from weighing 180 to 267 as a man only 5ft 7.

Neither 3 years of power lifting nor 6 years of TKD helped me lose much weight.

A doctor tried to help me with fat absorbing pills and I kept gaining weight. Other doctors found my body no longer made testosterone and diagnosed me with sleep apnea both of which contribute to weight gain. One doctor tried some pills to help my body get use to eating only 1,500 calories.

Two years ago, I started using Androgel and a breathing machine for sleep apnea, but I was not loosing weight. Neither was the diuretic doing all it was prescribed for. That didn't improve much when the dose was increased.

On November 28, my doctor put me on the South Beach diet and prescribed metformin to keep my blood sugar level balanced. By December 1, I lost 12 pounds. Not eating all that fruit and drinking so much fruit juice along with the strictness of phase one really made my diuretics work.

I'm still in phase one and now weigh 243. I'm 17 lbs away from my competition weight when I benched 315 in the spring of 2000. Given my morbid obesity, I'm going to stick with phase 1 for another month.

A doctor told me that whatever you loose in the first 2 weeks or 1st month will take twice as long to loose again. So, I understand it will take two months to loose another 24 lbs. I have much more energy to exercise with. I look forward to loosing another 24 pounds by early March by staying on phase one and being religious about exercise. That would mean weighing 219 before taxes and then four months to loose another 24
by the end of July--195; eight months to loose the same by March, 2008 and weigh 171.

for more information click here

My Thoughts

I wanted to chime in on this plan. I was a skeptic from the start, but 2 not 1, 2 doctors recommended this to me, (and specifically said, not atkins) I thought I would give it a shot.

I've never done anything besides trying to run or burn the weight off in some way. No diets.

Here's how it played out:

1st 4 days was tough. You have to stick to it, no matter what. I was grumpy, but I knew that it was my body telling me it wanted the same junk it had been getting for the past 20 years. (I'm 39) No beer, no bread, no sugar. You're basically kicking sugar people and that is what makes this first part so hard. It's in everything we eat.

After the first 4 days, things leveled out and the next 10 were O.K. I'm not gonna lie, it wasn't nirvana, it was just o.k. What made it nice was the weight drop. 5 the first week, 9 the next for a total of 14 lbs in 2 weeks. May not sound like much but I'm 5'7" and was 186 when I started. I carry weight well, but you could see it in my face, and that's where it started to show, and of course my beltline.

You eat a lot of salads - and you should. You drink a lot of water - and you should. You start to control just how much and "think" about what you are putting in your body. That's the key.

Skeptics might say, "well, sure - of course." But the thing for me was "thinking" about it again.

After the 2 weeks were up it got easier, and I lost another 5 lbs. That put me down in the "Regan administration" years as far as beltlines go.

So yeah - I was happy.

--- down side --

This is a hard diet to maintain unless you are totally committed. You have to watch what you eat all the time or the flood gates could come open. I just bought my first house, and it was a brutal experience. The diet fell off the table and I was back to my old ways in no time. up 10 lbs to boot.

The people around you have to buy in too. No more white pasta, no more white rice, cut out the beer on a daily basis, bread - whole grain only. This part can be tough.

Personally, I thought the whole thing was worth it, and I'm back to phase one trying to reel in the damage from the home buying debacle. It really won't take me that long to get things back in order, and I know I had another 5lbs in me from my lowest weight. I also did not exercise regularly and I'm a believer in that. You have to have both.

hope this helps

Other things that make it hard is the spouse. My wife was not a believer, and needed to see it for her self. She's convinced that it works, and while she doesn't want to do the 2 weeks with me, she will go along with the phase 3 portion.

for more information click here

Saved my life

I was close to 300 lb.s and not looking too good. Instead of just trying the fad, I tried to change my life and understand how my body works. This book does that. It's been 3 years and I have kept off all the weight (90 lbs)! One does need to excersize, but if you just take the time to understand what the book is trying to teach you, your life will be better!

Outstanding

I've lost nearly 30 pounds over the last few months and haven't felt better in years! I have no intention of going back to my old eating habits. An Absolutely liveable program!!

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

hot

not?

What's your opinion?

Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

Get into Shape! How to Empower Yourself Through Exercise
How I Finally Lost Weight and Kept It Off
Surviving Everyday Life the simple way.
The South Beach Diet Books

search for books
south beach, delicious, designed, doctor, doctor-designed, foolproof, healthy, weight

Impressum / about us