The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss by Arthur Agatston M.D. (2003, Hardcover)

I’ve tried countless diets, as I sure you have too, but this one REALLY worked for me! In the first two weeks I lost 10 lbs! This diet is so unique because its not just about losing weight but changing your lifestyle and focusing on a healthier you. I love this diet because it stresses not having to feel hungry and isn’t complicated!

This is the perfect diet for everyone, mainly because you do not have to deprive yourself! You'll enjoy normal size helpings of meat, poultry, and fish. You'll also eat eggs, cheese, nuts, and vegetables AND (my favorite part) - snacks are required! You'll learn to avoid the bad carbs, like white flour, white sugar, and baked potatoes. Best of all, as you loose weight, you'll loose that stubborn belly fat first!

The intial two week period is the most restrictive part of the diet. This phase was hard for me because I am always craving bread, pasta and fruit but there are still choices and snacks. The second phase offers somewhat more choices, including whole wheat bread and other selected carbohydrates. Also, roughly half the book is comprised of complete meal plans along with simple recipes!

I also love how the book is written – in a conversational tone and inviting manner that makes the book more appealing than many other diet tomes. From someone who was sick of counting calories and fad diets – the South Beach Diet was my answer and can be your too! Give it a try – what’ve you got to lose (besides a few pounds)?

I wish I had not waited so long to buy this book after learning about this diet. It is a marvelous lifestyle plan. I have lost 40 pounds since mid December of 2004 (yes, that's right I started this diet just before Christmas) This diet is by far one of the healthiest I have ever encountered. It is the emphasis on good vs. bad carbs, good vs. bad fats and use of lean protien that is the key to both instant results, and LONG TERM success. I was on Atkins twice with good results but I never could quite lose the nagging thoughts about all that fat and cholesterol laden meat, eggs and cheese so I could not strictly follow it and the weight came back. With South Beach the weight has come off, stayed off and I am continuing towards my goal on a pace that is neither too fast nor to slow. My doctor is quite pleased with my weight and my vastly improved cholesterol numbers. My ultimate goal is to get off the low doses of medication I use now to keep my blood pressure under control.

South Beach takes Atkins one step further and is much more healthful than Atkins will ever be. It really is just common sense once you know the not so secret secrets. It only took 6-8 weeks before I was able to eat almost anything I wanted as long as I avoided white flour, white sugar, corn, carrots, and potatoes. That still leaves plenty of vegetables to chose from. It's almost as if once I got to a certain point that my body reset some switches and I eat less, crave less and feel excellent.
If one can get over the sugar cravings of the first two weeks there is no reason that anyone should not succeed on South Beach.

I see one major pitfall being people's past eating habits being a stumbling block to success on this diet more than any flaw with the diet itself. If one has spent a lifetime consuming little else besides bread, potatoes, pasta, sodas, baked goods etc., etc. with only an occasional salad and vegetable thrown in they will have problems. If that same diet has been filled with white flour, refined white sugar, white potatoes in every form imaginable the first two weeks will be a struggle. It does require developing a taste for more natural and non-processed foods. If you have been eating heat and eat dinner from a box for most of your life be warned that it will take a major change on your part to make this work.

Still, even small changes inspired by the book will be helpful so anyone who has been on the fence about South Beach should not hesitate to pick up a copy of the book, or recipe book or both on Ebay.

I won't be selling mine. This diet is a diet for life and I'm keeping them right here with me.

I had to buy a third copy of my diet bible as two copies are packed up from moving. This is the only book of its kind that makes sense. It fully explains the action of insulin and glucose on the body. For those of us who are insulin resistant and on the way to diabetes, it is a god-send. Very user friendly and very effective.
Dr. Atkins started this generation's re-interest and success with the low carb diet. However it was stringent and I never believed it was healthy for the body to be in ketosis. Effective yes, but the medical sources pounded it to death as totally unhealthy (that is until Dr. Atkins died, then it became THE diet). Dr. Agatson has used the basis of the low carb diet but with commom sense,removing the harshness by adding believable, factual reasons why it works, and by modifying the diet to a healthier status. What could be easier? Meat, eggs, cheese and a ton of green vegetables. The only thing missing in my mind is all the junk we have been told all our lives not to eat...white bread, white flour,rice, pasta, white sugar...junk foods and excessive fast-food. If in a pinch timewise, roll up a piece of cheese and sliced ham, leaf of lettuce..yummy. Nothing wrong with a nice grilled steak or chicken breast with a salad and asparagus with a little natural butter for flavor. So easy! If you are a cook, there are a kjillion recipes. If not it is still easy. If you travel, it is easy. Have a shrimp cocktail, broiled hamburger steak and steamed broccoli with a little shredded cheese. Eat as much as you need. Excess is excess no matter what. I was never hungry, kept pecans and peanuts on hand to snack, an occasional square of dark chocolate, lots of water and some Coke Zero. You have to give it a fair try, You have to eat enough. You have to read labels to watch for sneaky sugars and other carbs. A small amount of carbs helps keep your metabolism going.

The book is always inspirational for me (only the first half, I don't do recipes). Phase I is a little more strict but it is only 2 weeks to jump start your loss..I lost half a pound most every day. Starting with Phase II is fine too, you just won't have the rapid loss for incentive.

This is designed to be a lifestyle change, not a "diet". You just have to avoid places and feeding friends who aren't supportive a first. Like everything else, old habits are hard to break. I'm a slider, that's why I need to re-enforce myself by reviewing the facts from time to time.

Good Luck!

This is the best diet ever with the fastest results! I lost about 15-17 lbs. during a month of being on this diet. In fact, the South Beach Diet is no longer a "diet" but is now a 'lifestyle' for me! Also, it is not a "black and white" diet in that, if you slip-up and eat something 'forbidden' then your diet is forever sabotaged. It is the opposite with the SB diet...if you do slip-up you can always get back on the diet without sabotaging your achievements (provided you get back on it quickly and continue the plan of eliminating white bread, white flour, refined sugars and processed foods from your meals.)

After the initial weight, body fat and water loss, I am now able to take my body conditioning efforts to the next level...getting a lean body with tone muscles (albeit with the help of a personal trainer!) However, if it weren't for the SB diet, it would've taken me years to get to where I am right now!

Everything good that you've heard about this diet is absolutely true because it DOES GIVE YOU BONIFIDE RESULTS! And anything bad that you hear about the SB diet are from skeptics who have never tried the diet or have not followed the SB diet properly! So what have you got to lose (but that stubborn weight!) Go and give this diet a chance!!

**P.S.**
I am never selling my copy of the SB diet...it is my new 'health bible!'


03/21/09
UPDATE:

It's been almost 2 years now since I've started the SB diet and I'm proud to say that I'm now a size 2 and weigh 109 pounds! Overall, during the course of 2 years, I've lost 40-43 lbs. and was able to maintain my new ideal size and weight!

Everyone, this "healthy life style method" actually works!! I am still on it. Granted, I occasionally eat bread and sweets, but...I keep it at a minimum as per the diet. What I do is I indulge on bread OR sweets up to 3 times a week. I try not to do more than that. If I do, then I get back on the "strict" phase for a week or two.

Bottom line is:
I don't believe in endorsing anything that doesn't work and I believe and feel passionate in the SB so much that I am compelled to share it with you! This is the only "diet" that makes sense and that has worked for me!!

I purchased this book in the hopes of losing weight and re-learning proper eating habits. So far the diet has proven to be effective. Dr. Agatston uses a very sensible and healthy approach to address weight loss. I found his 3 phases to be similar in approach to the Atkins diet, however it is not about "low-carbs" it is about the "right" carbs. The first phase completely restricts bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other high starch foods. Sound familiar? This is where it ends! Phase 2 allows you to add back in whole wheat and whole grain breads, skim milk, light yogurt, oats, sensible portions of pasta... He realizes that we can't deny ourselves certain foods forever! If you have a special day coming up it's okay to indulge a little, just keep it confined to the day! Get back to the sensible eating immediately and don't beat yourself up for the indulgence. In regards to dessert, if you are given to a sweet tooth, only eat 2 or 3 bites and stop! You get the taste you wanted and you don't overdo it with all the calories and fat! I have lost 4 pounds so far and plan to keep it up. In the past I have tried Weight Watcher's, Atkins, T-Factor and calorie counting! I did experience success with each diet. I also eventually re-gained all the weight I had lost on Weight Watcher's, T-Factor and calorie counting. I only re-gained 10 pounds out of the 46 I lost on Atkins, so there is definitely something to the carb restriction. I just want to incorporate the foods I missed and South Beach fits the bill! I also hope to break the plateau I had with Atkins and lose that excess 20 pounds that wouldn't budge! I strongly recommend this book to anyone wanting to get their body back to a more healthy state. The recipe section is especially nice to have. Some of the chef's recipes are a bit involved and use ingredients that most of us would not normally keep in our pantries. Unless you want to cook for yourself, just wait and purchase the fancy meal when you go out to a nice restaurant! dunmo45