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Introduction to South Beach
"Lose up to 13 pounds in 2 weeks, banish cravings, shrink your belly--
without ever feeling hungry."
Introduction
This is an easy-to-use version of the South Beach Diet Overview & Recipes. This is only meant to be an introduction to this great diet, although this is all the info you need to use the diet, and provide alot of recipes to play around with. Please always consult with a doctor before starting any diet, especially if you have a health condition. And last but not least, have fun and enjoy the many recipes listed in this package.
South Beach Diet PhilosophyThe South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet is not low-carb. Nor is it low-fat.
The South Beach Diet teaches you to rely on the right carbs and the right fats--the good ones--and enables you to live quite happily without the bad carbs and bad fats. As a result, you're going to get healthy and lose weight--somewhere between 8 and 13 pounds in the next 2 weeks alone.
Good Carbs versus Bad Carbs
Much of our excess weight comes from the carbohydrates we eat, especially the highly processed ones found in baked goods, breads, snacks, soft drinks, and other convenient favorites. Modern industrial processing removes the fiber from these foods, and once that's gone, their very nature--and how we metabolize them--changes significantly, and for the worse.
One side effect of excess weight, we now know, is an impairment of insulin's ability to do its job of processing fuel (fats and sugars) properly. This condition is called insulin resistance. As a result, the body stores more fat than it should, especially in the midsection.
Decrease consumption of those bad carbs, studies showed, and the insulin resistance starts clearing up. Weight decreases, and you begin metabolizing carbs properly. Even the craving for carbs disappears once you cut down on them. Finally, cutting out processed carbs lowers triglycerides and cholesterol.
The Right Fat
To make up for the overall cut in carbs, the diet permits ample fats and animal proteins. The low-fat regimen's severe restrictions on meat were unnecessary. The latest studies had shown that lean meat did not have a harmful effect on blood chemistry. Even egg yolks are good for you, which is contrary to what we once believed. Chicken, turkey, and fish are recommended, along with nuts and low-fat cheeses and yogurt.
As a rule, low-fat prepared foods can be a bad idea; the fats are replaced with carbs, which are also fattening. But dairy products such as cheese, milk, and yogurt that are low-fat are exceptions to this rule; they are nutritious and not fattening.
Also allowed is plenty of healthy monounsaturated fats such as olive and canola oils. These are the good fats. In addition to actually reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke, they taste good and make food palatable. They're filling too.
A Day in the Life
Please read the info on each Phase before starting the diet, but to give you an idea, let's start with the first day of Phase 1. You've no doubt treated yourself to a memorable meal the night before, but whatever carb-driven cravings you prompted, came as you slept, with no further damage done. By the time you wake up today, your bloodstream is a relatively clean slate. The immediate goal is to keep it that way. We will accomplish that simply by not introducing any bad carbs into your system.
We'll begin with a two-egg omelet fortified by two slices of Canadian bacon, cooked in a spray of olive or canola oil. You may yearn for your usual toast or bagel, but if you can get your mind off bread, the rest of you will follow.
This will be your first test of the new regimen. It may take a few days to wean yourself from the customary morning dose of carbs. But it's our goal in Phase 1 to begin reversing your body's likely inability to process sugars and starches properly, the condition at the root of most weight problems.
To accomplish this, we must cut off all carbs but the healthiest ones. This means we'll allow those highest in fiber and nutrients and lowest in sugars and starches--vegetables and salads only, in other words, at least for these 2 weeks.
This morning's combination of proteins (the eggs and Canadian bacon) and good fats (the oil and the bacon, which is leaner than its American cousin) will keep your stomach full and occupied with digestion. You won't have to contend with hunger pangs now or later this morning.
It didn't have to be the Canadian bacon omelet--we could have gone with two eggs and some asparagus, broccoli, mushrooms, or peppers. That would have introduced some good vegetable fiber to the mix. An omelet with ham or low-fat cheese would have been fine, too.
With this meal you can have coffee or tea if you like, with low-fat milk and sugar substitute. There are many to choose from nowadays--I prefer one that's actually derived in part from a form of sugar, although it has no calories. Some diets prohibit coffee or tea because caffeine does intensify cravings somewhat. But you've got enough changes to contend with without having to give up your morning coffee, too.
A phenomenon I've noticed when dealing with overweight people is how many of them skip breakfast altogether--especially women, for some reason. It's not even necessarily an attempt to save on calories. They say they just don't like eating first thing in the morning.
The problem is that this allows blood sugar to drop and hunger to increase over the course of the morning, resulting in powerful cravings for a lunch that includes carbs of questionable value--the very kind guaranteed to keep you overweight. So, skipping breakfast is a bad idea, especially if you're trying to fight off obesity.
Planning Your Meals
The array of breakfasts, even in the strict first phase, is varied. There's a frittata made with smoked salmon, for instance, and something we call Vegetable Quiche Cups To Go, which are made with eggs and spinach and, for the sake of convenience, can be prepared in advance and then microwaved at mealtime.
We make liberal use of eggs for breakfast, which will alarm some people who have been taught to avoid them due to cholesterol concerns. It turns out that eggs contain no saturated fat and raise the good cholesterol along with the bad. The yolk is a good source of natural vitamin E and protein, too. So eggs are permissible.
By the second phase of the diet, we'll begin to reintroduce carbs, even whole grain toast and English muffins, along with high fiber cereals. Fruit, too.
Whether you feel the need for a midmorning snack or not, you should be ready for one by 10:30 or so. Wisely, you remembered to pack a part-skim mozzarella stick.
Cheese and yogurt are the only low-fat foods I recommend for dieters, because they're the only ones that don't add bad carbs to replace the fats. The sugar is limited to lactose--milk sugar--which is an acceptable component of the South Beach Diet.
You can find cheese sticks in most supermarkets--they've become a favorite snack for children. They're convenient and they taste good. Most important, they do the job of filling you up with good fats and proteins. That means you won't arrive at the lunch hour feeling famished.
When lunch rolls around, you may have a salad--lettuce and tomato mixed with grilled chicken or fish, dressed in a vinaigrette made with olive oil. You'll also have water or a beverage containing no sugar. Another day you might choose grilled shrimp over a bed of greens, or a tomato stuffed with tuna salad. Niçoise salad is great, too.
All these dishes can easily be made at home, and, thanks to the trend toward fresh, healthy dining out, can usually be found in restaurants, too.
Don't even think about limiting the amount you eat--the point of this diet is to eat well. Food is one of life's dependable pleasures, and it can be a wholesome one if you're eating the proper foods. Accomplish that and you'll be free to indulge in the improper treats from time to time.
I hope you are beginning to see the pattern of these meals: They're all combinations of healthy carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. They are normal, everyday dishes intended to fully satisfy your hunger while depriving your system of the low-quality sugars and starches that have wreaked such havoc on your blood chemistry.
You may have noticed that we're not discussing calorie counts, fat grams, or portion sizes. The South Beach Diet is designed so that you don't pay attention to any of that. One hallmark of this program is its simplicity--life is complicated enough without having to overanalyze your food before you eat it. If you're eating the right foods you don't need to obsess over how much of them you eat.
Since fats and proteins create the sensation of satiety much more efficiently than refined carbs do, you won't sit in front of the TV all night popping bites of steak into your mouth, though you can easily imagine snacking for hours on potato chips or cookies!
Through this diet, you'll understand the principles of metabolism--not as a matter of academic interest but in a practical, nuts and bolts way that will give you a basic understanding of how foods affect your blood chemistry and how that, in turn, determines what you weigh. You'll actually learn how to control your blood chemistry and your metabolism through food choices.
Knowing how individual foods affect your internal workings will help you lose weight and maintain the loss. In the future, if you ease up on the diet and find you've gained a few pounds, you'll know how to undo the damage.
Changing Your Thinking
Okay, by now it's midafternoon, typically the first dangerous time of day, dietwise. This is when you might normally crave a sugar fix, owing to the natural dip in blood sugar and consequently, energy, that takes place about this time. This is when people tend to run to the coffee shop, the candy counter, or the vending machines.
Instead, you'll have nuts--let's say plain almonds (not salted or smoked). Nuts contain good, healthy fats, and they fill you up. It's possible to have too many of them, however, and undermine your weight loss. I recommend counting out 15 almonds or cashews or whatever you choose.
Some people have told me they prefer pistachios, in part because they're so small that you can allow yourself 30 of them. Cracking and eating 30 pistachios makes it a more elaborate, and therefore more satisfying, snack.
Now it's time to begin thinking about dinner. Recent trends in fine food have brought us all toward something close to the South Beach Diet way of thinking--fresh vegetables, fish, and lean meats are the staples of dinner on our program. So Phase 1 features dishes such as grilled salmon with lemon, roasted eggplant and a salad, chicken made with balsamic vinegar, or even marinated London broil and mushroom caps stuffed with spinach.
You could happen upon any of these on the menu of a good restaurant and be happy with them. And this is the strict phase of the diet! As you'll see, in the meal plans for Phase 1, we rely on chicken, fish, lean beef, and plenty of vegetables and salads to go with them.
We strongly recommend that you have dessert after that meal. The second dangerous time of day is between dinner and bedtime. This is when all good intentions and strong resolve are challenged.
Partly it's just the normal nightly routine--you unwind with a book or in front of the TV, perhaps in the company of friends or family, and the communal snacking habit kicks in. If you've got children, as I do, you've almost certainly got lots of temptations around the kitchen. Or it may just be that you've trained yourself to expect something sweet after a savory dinner.
In any event, we've come up with two basic strategies for dessert during Phase 1. The first, and simplest, is to have some sugar-free gelatin. For people who love fruit, it may even make up for the loss of fresh fruit flavors during these 2 weeks.
The other suggestion makes ample use of low-fat ricotta cheese. You can use it as the basis for a number of delicious, permissible desserts. This one is reminiscent of the Italian delicacy known as tiramisu, which combines cheese, chocolate, espresso, and ladyfingers.
Instead, you take a half-cup of low-fat ricotta and stir in a few teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, some slivered almonds, and a packet of sugar substitute. It tastes great, and I guarantee that when you're done you'll feel as though you've had a real dessert.
We've tried a number of variations on this--using vanilla or almond extract, lemon zest, or even topping the ricotta with sugar-free chocolate syrup and then baking it.
And that's day one on the South Beach Diet! By the time you finish the last bite of mocha ricotta, you will have already begun ridding yourself of the cravings that pushed you into the growing (in every way) ranks of the overweight in America.
Your blood is different from the way it was 24 hours ago: it's healthier. Get through another day this way and you'll be even closer to your goal of weight loss, and of better overall health.
Don't Forget (All Phases)
1. Drink at least eight glasses of water or decaf beverages (club soda, unsweetened flavored seltzers,
decaf tea or coffee [no sugar], decaf sugar-free sodas) per day.
2. Limit caffeine-containing beverages to 1 cup per day.
3. Take a daily multivitamin and mineral supplement.
4. Take a daily calcium supplement (500 mg for men of all ages and women under 50, 1,000 mg for women over 50).
Who Loses Fastest?
Why do some people lose more weight, more rapidly, than others on the South Beach Diet? People who gained their excess weight as adults and whose weight gain is largely around the belly, lose weight fastest. Central obesity, where excess weight is concentrated around the midsection, is a warning sign for present or future heart problems. If youre losing weight at a slower-than-expected pace, dont despair. Research shows that too rapid weight loss can cause you to lose lean body mass-not just fat-which can decrease your metabolic rate and increase your risk of plateauing and yo-yoing as you diet. Slow and steady weight loss is more likely to result in permanent weight loss.
Strategic Snacking
It's important in Phase 1 to eat snacks between meals. Snacking on foods like low-fat cheeses, cold veggies, or nuts prevents drops in blood sugar, which leads to cravings. Once these cravings occur, people tend to overindulge in high-glycemic, high-calorie foods to satisfy them. It takes far fewer calories to preempt a craving than to satisfy one. Eat a healthy snack one to two hours after your meals, or one hour before your cravings usually occur, and your blood sugar levels will remain steady. Once the "detox" process is complete and your cravings are under control, you may not need to eat as frequently.Don't Skimp On Salt
If you're feeling tired, achy, or just plain sluggish, try adding salt to your diet to help maintain body fluid. When cutting back on carbs in Phase 1, it's possible to lose body fluid and experience dehydration, as well as hypoglycemia (too-low blood sugar). Once the body adjusts, however, energy levels increase. Until then, it is recommended that you get plenty of fluid (eight glasses of water a day), eating low glycemic carbs, and adding salt to your diet to restore energy.Spice Up Your Diet
What's the key to dieting success? We've found that the most successful dieters are the ones who try every recipe imaginable and take advantage of all the foods and ingredients permitted. You can also make interesting use of herbs and spices - especially the more intensely flavored ones, such as horseradish, hot peppers, garlic, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
COMPARING LOW CARB RECIPES TO SOUTH BEACH
For Phase 1 the recipes are nearly identical to Atkins, except that South Beach Diet never uses saturated fats like real butter and real whipping cream, etc. It recommends low fat but not fat free varieties of cheeses and of course no sugar added to any recipes. For fats and oils to make recipes taste good and be moist, etc., South Beach uses Olive Oil, Canola Oil, and the "healthy fats" spreads like "Smart Balance" and others that specifically say "No Transfatty Acids". For the heavy whipping cream in some recipes, he would instead use Skim Milk or Skim evaporated milk for a creamier recipe. South Beach is not nearly so carb-restrictive as Atkins, so Skim Milk and low-fat milk products are fine. But basically Phase 1 restricts all fruit, grains, and saturated/trans fats, and allows all vegetables except Potatoes and nearly all nuts. So much freer than Atkins in that respect.
Phase 2 begins allowing some of the other grains and fruits into the diet. Always recommends eating the fruit/grains in as "whole" form as possible. So again many of the Atkins products work well here--whole wheat pasta and breads, but they don't have to be so very low carb as Atkins, and again he never allows liberal amounts of the fats like butter, whole milk, etc., as Atkins does.
Phase 3 is the "lifelong" portion, and basically is eating "normally", but substituting healthier versions of high-sugar/refined carb staples. Again also restricting the saturated fats.
South Beach focuses on limiting "bad" fats (the saturated fats, transfatty acids, etc.,) and limiting "bad" carbs--little to no refined flour, refined grains/rice, no white potatoes, no sugar obviously. Basically nearly any Atkins recipe can be converted to a South Beach recipe by using an unsaturated source for the fats,
using egg whites more often in place of whole eggs, that sort of thing. The only problem is, it does change the flavor and texture of some items, so without testing them a little, it is hard to know if they will be satisfactory with the change.
BREAKING NEWS!!
Posted 9/26/2004 9:53 PM Updated 9/27/2004 10:10 AM
Kraft gets South Beach diet's seal of approval
Kraft, the largest U.S. food company, on Monday, September 27, 2004, will reveal details of a high-stakes marketing gamble to tie many of its lines with the popular South Beach diet.
The maker of Oreos, Kool-Aid and Cheez Whiz will announce plans for the South Beach diet seal of approval to appear on 200 Kraft foods lower in carbs and fats. (See Kraft Food Lists on the Phase 1 and Phase 2 links in the Navigation bar to your left).
Kraft executives insist they're acting from strength. "Few companies have the brand portfolios that we have," says Howard Brandeisky, vice president of health and wellness. "Kraft is looking for ways to make weight management easier."
Among Kraft products that will carry the South Beach diet seal: 2% and fat-free cheeses, Reduced Fat Triscuits and Jell-O Sugar Free gelatin, snacks and pudding. There also are tentative plans for Kraft and South Beach to team up on meal-replacement bars and shakes.
About 15 million Americans are estimated to be on a low-carb diet. South Beach stresses low carbs and high protein, but it is more flexible than Atkins.
With 64% of adults in the U.S. considered overweight and 46% on some form of diet last year, it's no surprise that demand is growing for successful weight loss strategies. But the reality is, Americans are looking for a weight management solution beyond the low-carb craze. They are looking for a plan that not only works well, but also includes foods that taste great.
If you're one of the many who love delicious food, but are trying to watch your weight -- look no further. Kraft(R) has teamed up with the best-selling author of The South Beach Diet(TM) and its creator, Dr. Arthur Agatston, to make weight management easier and more enjoyable. "If you love to eat good food, The South Beach Diet can work for you," said Dr. Agatston. "Because The South Beach Diet is not a traditional low-carb diet, you can enjoy many of the dishes that some other diets require you to give up completely."
The South Beach Diet is not a traditional low-carb diet. The South Beach Diet lets you eat a variety of foods that satisfy your appetite such as lean sources of protein, whole grains, certain fruits and vegetables, while decreasing saturated and trans fats.
Available in stores October 2004, a variety of Kraft products will have a "South Beach Diet Recommended" seal to help you find convenient foods that fit within the diet. It appears on favorites such as Boca Burgers, Kraft 2% Milk and Fat Free Singles, certain Oscar Mayer Deli Meats, Planters assorted nuts, and Light N' Lively Cottage Cheese, to name a few. This new seal makes it easier to find convenient, great-tasting foods that fit within the diet.
"Kraft's alliance with Dr. Agatston and The South Beach Diet is part of our company's continued commitment to improved nutrition," said Howard Brandeisky, Vice President, Health and Wellness, Kraft. "Now we're making weight management easier for many consumers with our 'South Beach Diet Recommended' products. These products are among people's favorites -- foods they regularly add to their cupboards."
For some time, Kraft has been a leader in products that help consumers eat and live better, offering a range of nutrition alternatives like fat free and sugar free as well as those that leverage emerging health and wellness trends. Kraft's product portfolio provides a broad range of options for consumers to choose different products for different eating occasions.
Kraft Foods markets many of the world's leading food brands, including Kraft cheese, Yuban and Maxwell House coffees, Planters nuts, Triscuit Reduced Fat crackers, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer meats, Post cereals and Breyer's yogurts in more than 150 countries.
The South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatston debuted in April of 2003 and has more than 8 million copies in print. It was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list for 38 weeks. Its successor, The South Beach Diet Good Fats/ Good Carbs Guide has more than 3 million copies after 6 printings and spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Publishers Weekly Bestseller list. Dr. Agatston's latest book, The South Beach Diet Cookbook printed more than 1.5 million copies in its first print run, the largest first printing for a cookbook in publishing history.