Health - Family - Food

The South Beach Diet book became tremendously successful when the diet book by similar name was finally published and grew with rapid succession among a grassroots following. Armed with dieting successes to tell everyone about, the South Beach Diet book, officially titled as, The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss, continues to grow in passion, but the South Beach Diet Phase 1 continues to confuse readers.

The South Beach Diet Phase 1 is designed to be the shortest of phases 1, 2 and 3 of the diet, only lasting for a 2 week period. It was created to be confrontational, kick-start your body and how you think about dieting from that point on. The opposite to readers' thinking and one of the more difficult to grasp parts to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, you don't have to hold yourself back only eating low carb foods.

In a nut-shell, Phase 1 instills in you the thinking to: rid yourself of bad carbs that aren't providing anything nutritionally for your body, replace the bad carbs that are abundant in the American diet with large amounts of protein, good fats and low glycemic index (G.I.) carbs that entertain your hunger and balances your blood sugar.

Foods that do more harm rather than benefit: fruit, candy, cereal, potatoes, grains, etc. all are eliminated, or the dieter must phase themselves off of during the South Beach Diet Phase 1. A safe bet, if you should have any confusion, is to consume all the salad, greens, and (most) vegetables you desire, as they are right in line because of their dietary benefit.

It is during this South Beach Diet Phase that Dr. Agatston has proven that one's body resistance to insulin will lower, so depending on your body weight and condition, you may lose 2 to 9 pounds initially, even in the first two weeks right off the bat, as your body begins to eliminate extra body weight.

The major purpose of the South Beach Diet Phase 1 two fold: to throw you into a routine that you stick with which keeps you feeling full and to lay the groundwork for a mindset that ensures you rid yourself of the bad foods and move toward the food that drops pounds, deliver energy and improve your lifestyle.