Authored by Kristian Keefer in Weight Issues
Published on 03-06-2009
The creator of the diet, Dr. Agatston, created a diet that was meant to help people metabolize their foods in a more efficient manner. The South Beach Diet is among some of the most popular diets. It is similar in some ways to the South Beach Diet. The purpose of the diet is to teach people how to eat a diet with healthy amounts of fats and carbohydrates. The initial faze eliminates unhealthy carbohydrates from a person’s diet.
There are three phases in this diet. The phase that is often the most difficult is the Phase I. You will be very limited in what you are able to eat during this phase. The purpose of this phase is to teach your body to handle the foods we eat differently. If you do the phase as instructed, your body should begin to metabolize foods in a more efficient way. You should start to burn off fat, rather than storing fat and packing on the pounds. This phase will not be easy because you cannot eat too many carbohydrates. You will not be allowed to eat baked goods, foods with sugar, rice, potatoes, bread or even fruit.
After two weeks you can start to eat some of the foods that were restricted. This is when you enter into stage II. Even in stage II, you are not allowed to eat all carbohydrates. You will need to select those foods that you most desire to eat and still restrict the others. You still need to eat a healthy number of calories each day and cannot overdo the quantities of carbohydrates that you do eat. Baked goods and other foods high in sugar should be avoided.
If you followed all directions correctly, your body should change the way it reacts to the fats you eat. It should stop storing fat and start burning it for energy. This should result in you losing both weight and fat content from your body. You can stay in phase two for as long as you need to until you lose the ideal amount of weight for you.
The final step of the south beach diet is phase 3. This step of the diet is more like a new lifestyle than a diet. You do not need to restrict foods too much as long as you only eat carbohydrates in moderation. Of course, for healthy living, you also need to eat healthy amounts of fat. Sweets and other junk food should only be eaten every now and then as a special treat.
During the South Beach Diet, you are not allowed to drink much alcohol. In fact, you cannot have any alcohol at all during Phase I. You will be allowed to start drinking a little bit of wine if you want to during the second phase of the diet.
You can purchase books about the South Beach Diet. You can also find a large amount of information online. Use these resources to find healthy meal plans and recipes that fit into the South Beach Diet.
