The South Beach Diet is a reduced-carbohydrate program that claims it can help you lose weight and eliminate sugar cravings without counting calories. This may sound appealing, but before you choose a diet, you should find out what it requires. Once you've researched the South Beach Diet, ask your doctor's opinion about whether the diet is a healthy option for you.
Getting Started
The first thing you need to do for the South Beach Diet is to join the program and get instructions. The diet is not available for free, so you need to sign up before you can get specific details for your meal plan and exercise recommendations from the online South Beach Fitness Club. The site offers instructional videos for different skill levels. When you sign up, set up your account so you can track your weight loss progress, plan meals, get grocery lists and participate in community discussions and challenges.
Phase 1
Start the diet in Phase 1 if you have a lot of weight to lose or if you need to get rid of carbohydrate cravings. Avoid added sugars, fruit, grains and alcohol, and eat lean proteins, such as tofu, chicken, fish and eggs, low-fat plain yogurt or milk, high-fiber nonstarchy vegetables, canola oil, olive oil and some sugar-free foods. Eat three meals, two snacks and a low-sugar dessert each day. Drink plenty of low-calorie beverages, such as coffee, tea, diet soda and sugar-free powdered drink mixes. The meal planner and recipes at Southbeachdiet.com can help you plan menus. This phase lasts for two weeks.
Phase 2
Phase 2 is for steady weight loss toward your goal. You can start Phase 2 after Phase 1, or you can start the South Beach Diet in Phase 2 if you have no more than 10 lbs. to lose and do not have carbohydrate cravings. Eat any of the Phase 1 foods, plus most fruits, whole grains, nutrient-dense starches such as potatoes, winter squash and corn, and dark chocolate. Continue to eat six times each day. A sample day includes oatmeal for breakfast, pizza and salad for lunch, turkey burgers for dinner, custard for dessert and nut mix and apple with peanut butter for your snacks.
Phase 3
A key principle of the South Beach Diet is that it is a lifestyle, so your food choices should become habits during Phase 3 so you maintain your goal weight. The program recommends 20 minutes of walking each day, with intervals of fast and slow walking, along with Pilates for strength and balance. Another principle of the diet is that it is flexible. You can continue to make recipes that your family enjoys using recipes from the South Beach Diet.
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