South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review – Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared, Delicious Meals Delivered to your Door?

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The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life – South Beach Diet Phase 1 Guide

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared

 

The South Beach Diet has three phases: South Beach Diet Phase 1. This two-week phase is designed to eliminate cravings for foods high in sugar and refined starches to jump-start weight loss. You cut out almost all carbohydrates from your diet, including pasta, rice, bread and fruit.

The South Beach Diet Phase 1 Phase One lasts for two weeks and bans bread, fruit, rice, dairy, pasta, baked goods, and potatoes. Alcohol is also off the menu. The harsh restrictions on South Beach Phase One are meant to help people kick their cravings for carbs.

Five years ago, with the publication of The South Beach Diet, renowned Miami cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston set out to change the way America eats. Now he has an even more ambitious goal: to change the way America lives by helping Americans become fitter as well as thinner and healthier . . . for life.

What is on the South Beach Diet?

The South Beach Diet is a popular fad diet developed by Arthur Agatston and promoted in a best-selling 2003 book. It emphasizes eating high-fiber, low-glycemic carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, and lean protein, and categorizes carbohydrates and fats as “good” or “bad”.

“The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life,” an essential manual, is available in hardcover, paperback, e-book and audio book. Optional online membership is $5 a week (the first seven days are free).

The South Beach Diet is a nutritious diet plan that offers a wide variety of delicious food and a practical exercise plan — at least in the Supercharged version. And it relies on proven ways to lose weight: eating smart carbs, healthy fats, lean protein, low fat dairy, and plenty of fiber to keep hunger at bay.Feb 6, 2017

 

Here are the food lists that pertain to phase one of the South Beach Diet:

  • Select meats, poultry, and fish.
  • Select vegetables (same as those recommended for other low-carb diets)
    Select dairy products.
  • Beans and other legumes.
  • Nuts and seeds.
  • Fats and oils.
  • Condiments and sauces.
  • Sweet treats.

How does a South Beach Diet work?

The South Beach diet consists of three phases. For the first two weeks you are not allowed to eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, baked goods, fruit, sugar or consume alcohol. At the next level carbohydrates are added slowly but it is still important that weight loss continues.

PROS : The South Beach Diet offers numerous online tools to help you stay on track.

CONS : You’ll need to muster up willpower to stick to this relatively restrictive diet program.

VERDICT: If you’re committed to giving up certain foods, the South Beach Diet is dramatic in its effectiveness.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully PreparedCreated by a medical doctor, the South Beach Diet is a popular weight loss program that emphasizes eating plenty of lean protein.

The best online weight loss program is the one that works, and this one did for our tester, who shed over 10 percent of her body weight in just a couple of weeks.

The South Beach Diet website guides you through three phases, and while the diet may seem awfully restrictive initially, the website provides a number of tools and resources to help you stick with it, including a phone app that helps you stay on track even on the go.

The diet program differs from other low-carb diets in that it restricts saturated fats and high-sugar carbs. The first two-week phase of the diet focuses on maintaining your blood sugar levels and eliminating cravings for sweets and “bad” carbs.

Such foods include bread, rice, fruit and baked goods. The second phase introduces some carbs, including pasta, rice and some fruits, back into your diet. The final, indefinite stage involves continuing to make healthy eating choices to maintain your health and target weight.

South Beach Diet Phase 1

Where the items have a line through them, this is a recent update.

Foods to ENJOY (controlled portions)

  • Seafood
  • Lean beef (i.e. good cuts)
  • Lean poultry (skinless chicken or turkey breast)
  • Lean pork
  • Vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, celery, asparagus, spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, onions, fennel.
  • Legumes – beans
  • Eggs
  • Cheeses – fat-free, cottage cheese
  • Dairy – (fat-free or 1% milk, fat-free plain yogurt). Dairy limited to 2 servings per day.
  • Nuts
  • Oils -canola or olive oil
  • Sweets / Sugars – no more that 75 calories per day

Foods to AVOID

  • All Starchy Carbs – bread, cereal, rice, pasta, potatoes, all baked goods.
    Alcohol
  • All Dairy – ice cream, milk, yogurt
  • Fruit – all fruits and fruit juices
  • Cheese – full fat
  • Vegetables – barley, carrots, white or sweet potatoes, corn, yams, beets.

South Beach Diet Phase 2

Foods to ENJOY

  • Starchy Carbs (sparingly) – bagels (whole wheat), bran muffins, cereals (high-fiber, oatmeal), pasta (whole wheat), rice (wild or brown), bread (multi-grain, bran, whole wheat)
  • SeeFood
  • Lean beef (i.e. good cuts)
  • Lean poultry (skinless chicken or turkey breast)
  • Lean pork
  • Fruit – apples, medium-sized banana (added June ’04), blueberries, grapefruit, grapes, mangoes, oranges, peaches
  • Vegetables – barley, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, sweet potatoes, yams, onions, carrots.
  • Dairy – yogurt, milk (fat-free, 1%, 2-3 cups max.) Note that yogurt can be artificially sweetened non-fat – but limit to 4 oz. per day.
  • Sweets – chocolate (semi-sweet).
  • Soy products (< 6g fat or less per 2-3 oz. serving)

Foods to AVOID

  • Starchy Carbs – all refined carbs – white breads, white pastas, white rice, rice cakes, cookies.
  • Fruit – bananas, canned fruit, fruit juice, pineapple, raisins, watermelon.
  • Vegetables – beets, carrots, corn, white potatoes
  • Dairy – full cream

Drinks

Aim for lots of water, and a maximum of one coffee (or other caffeine drink) per day. Soda should be sugar-free as well as other drink mix type beverages.

What About Coffee?

While the original South Beach Diet listed decaffeinated coffee and tea in the meal plans, the New South Beach Diet Supercharged Plan says that regular coffee and tea are acceptable.

Multivitamins, Minerals, and Supplements

It is recommended that the following supplements are taken:

  • 500mg Calcium (men and women)
  • 1 multivitamin / mineral supplement

The South Beach Diet Phases

Phase One

The South Beach Diet Phase 1 lasts for two weeks and bans bread, fruit, rice, dairy, pasta, baked goods, and potatoes. Alcohol is also off the menu. The harsh restrictions on South Beach Phase One are meant to help people kick their cravings for carbs.

 

Phase Two

In South Beach Diet Phase 2, which lasts until the dieter has reached their goal weight, good carbs like fruit and low-fat dairy are reintroduced. If you have less than 10 pounds to lose and don’t have issues with cravings, you can skip Phase One and start here.
related article: South Beach is Great, but What if You Want Something Easier?

South Beach Diet Phase 3

The South Beach Diet Phase 3, also known as the lifestyle phase, focuses on weight-maintenance and allows followers the occasional indulgence. The emphasis on the program is to decrease processed and simple carbs and to opt for lean protein, whole grains, and fiber-packed fruits and veggies. Instead of severely limiting carbs (a’la Atkins), your focus is on eating the right carbs.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared

South Beach Diet Online

You can sign up for a free one-week trial membership, and after that you’ll pay $5 per week to continue the program. Some of the more helpful features include customized meal plans, support from an online community, and access to over 1,000 recipes.

South Beach Diet Menu

Unlike other diet plans, you can enjoy dessert on the South Beach Diet. In fact, they encourage it! Using diet-friendly ingredients like fresh fruit, South Beach desserts can keep you from feeling deprived. And good news for grazers: The South Beach Diet promotes strategic snacking.

Eating this way keeps blood sugar levels stable. In addition, you’ll avoid many of the highly processed, refined carbohydrates that produce drastic spikes in blood sugar. And when blood sugar is stabilized, cravings are virtually eliminated.

A daily menu on South Beach includes three balanced meals, two snacks, and dessert. You won’t go hungry on this plan thanks to the bounty of satiating protein and fiber-rich foods. While members of Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig have reported that the meals were less than filling, South Beach devotees are quick to exclaim, “I’m never hungry!”

A unique trait of the South Beach Diet is that the meals are extremely family friendly. You may not win points subjecting your family to the Atkins diet (“Why can’t we have macaroni and cheese or cookies, Mom? Are you punishing us?”), but your kids will hop on the South Beach bandwagon when you offer them South Beach peanut butter and jelly cookies, apple crisp, and sweet potato fries.

South Beach Diet Recipes

You can cook as little or as much as you like on South Beach, and the website features an impressive collection of recipes that ensure you’ll never get bored. Asparagus omelets with goat cheese, grilled sesame salmon, and chipotle-rubbed steak wraps are just some of your tasty options.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared

If you love to cook, there is an array of South Beach cookbooks to choose from. The South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook: 200 Easy Solutions for Everyday Meals is the newest and features an impressive assortment of on-the-go foods.

There’s even a cookbook (The South Beach Diet Holidays and Parties Cookbook) that addresses the subject of many a dieter’s downfall: social eating. The book puts a healthy spin on classic entertaining meals, whether it’s a family Christmas Eve supper, a Thanksgiving banquet, a summer barbeque, or even a Super Bowl party.

 

There’s also an ample selection of South Beach Diet approved convenience foods such as string cheese, Triscuit crackers, nuts, and Jell-O. If you’ve got a sweet tooth you’ll want to dive headfirst into the South Beach line of snack and meal replacement bars available at grocery stores. With flavors like s’mores and peanut butter chocolate chip, these high protein treats can keep you on course. Unfortunately, the South Beach line of frozen meals has been discontinued.

Dining out on this diet is a snap as long as you avoid starchy foods like bread and potatoes. You may have to make some special requests (hold the sauce, prepare vegetables plain, etc.), but the world is still your oyster if you want to enjoy restaurant meals on South Beach.

There are few drawbacks on the plan, but a notable amount of South Beach recipes do feature more than 10 ingredients, often centered on pricier protein sources like fish and steak. Cooking is central to South Beach and some dieters may become frustrated with the level of daily effort involved.
What is the difference between South Beach Diet and Atkins Diet?

South Beach Diet stresses leaner cuts of meat than the bacon-is-okay philosophy that dieters have come to associate with Atkins. South Beach places a stronger emphasis on healthy fats—nuts, avocados, and heart-healthy olive oil. It is somewhat less restrictive when it comes to certain carbs than is Atkins.

The South Beach Diet’s heart-health orientation is due to that fact that it was developed by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston.

The Bottom Line

One major plus for The South Beach Diet is that it promotes a sustainable, long-term lifestyle that’s easy to maintain once you’ve reached your goal weight. Because indulgences are allowed on occasion, it’s a realistic plan that won’t leave dieters feeling deprived. While most people diet to get back into their skinny jeans, South Beach goes a step further and improves overall health while encouraging weight loss.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared

At a glance: Is the South Beach Diet for you?

Yes, if:

• You want healthy recipes the whole family can enjoy
• You have a history of heart disease or simply want to improve your overall health
• You don’t want to count calories or carb grams
• You don’t want to give up dining out
• You entertain frequently
• Other diets have left your stomach growling

No, if:

  • You’re a bread or pasta lover.
  • You tend to overeat or have trouble determining correct portion sizes
  • When left to your own devices
  • You never have time to/ don’t like to cook
  • You want a diet that provides in-person support or exercise guidance

While there is no strict calorie counting with this healthy-eating plan, its restriction of many common foods in the American diet may make it more difficult for some people to follow, particularly over the long term, than other online diet plans. Fortunately, the South Beach Diet website offers beneficial tools to help you stay on track. You can log your daily meals and snacks to keep a close eye on your nutrition intake.

The food tracker includes helpful eating guides that show you what you should be eating each day (e.g., four cups of vegetables, one serving of legumes and so forth). To make things even easier, the online program offers a weekly meal planner with recipes and ideas. The website provides you with personalized recommendations based on your weight and fitness level, and it allows you to specify both foods you prefer and foods you’d rather avoid.

The plan doesn’t leave you in limbo once you complete the first two phases of the diet. Long after you reach your target weight, the program continues to provide food recommendations and some basic dietary guidelines.

The South Beach Diet was not originally designed to incorporate a fitness plan, but the online portion of the program has some fitness features. There is no virtual trainer, but you can access sample exercise plans to follow, and its fitness guides serve as informational resources on how to incorporate physical activities into your routine.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared

The Official website also has a decent community, with message boards, member challenges and, most importantly, weekly chats with nutritionists. This gives you an opportunity to speak with an expert about your diet plan to get answers to your most pressing health and diet questions. There are also numerous educational articles to read from the service on South Beach Diet Phase 1, 2 and 3 or you can subscribe to several different newsletters tailored to your interests and goals.

Summary

While the South Beach Diet focuses on healthy eating overall, some phases are pretty extreme, and its total elimination of refined carbs and white sugar makes it difficult for some people to follow.

You may need to muster up major willpower to stick to the program and see significant long-term results. That said, the South Beach Diet provides the essential online tools – including tracking features for South Beach Diet Phase 1, 2 and 3 and an active member community – to provide the encouragement and support you need to succeed.

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Review - Lose weight Fast with Fully Prepared