How The South Beach Diet Works

The South Beach Diet is a unique three phase program unlike many other so called dieting programs. It tries to substitutes your bad carbohydrates and fats for good ones. Here is a simplified version of what is about.

Phase 1

Phase 1 is to lasts for two weeks. During this phase, you will eat normal meals of chicken, beef, turkey, fish, and shellfish, lots of vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and garden salads using 100% olive oil for your salad dressing. Everyday you will eat three, well-balanced meals.

You will also eat a snack between breakfast and lunch, and then again between lunch and dinner even if you do not feel like eating these snacks. For the South Beach Diet to work, you need to eat. After dinner, you will even have dessert. During this stage, you can drink all the coffee and tea you want and be sure to drink lots of water.

During this phase, you will cut out all bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, baked goods, fruit, candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar. In addition to taking these foods out of your diet temporarily, you will also need to avoid any kind of alcohol.

Phase 2

This phase will last different lengths of time depending on each individual person and how their body reacts. During the past two weeks, the way in which your body was reacting to foods making you overweight was corrected. Those cravings have been squelched and the bad eating habits of the past are gone.

The secret is not that you are eating less food, but eating fewer foods that create cravings and store fat. Once the first phase ends, the weight will continue to come off by staying on the plan. Some of the indulgences you took out of your diet during stage 1 will be added back in.

Phase 3

Phase 3 begins when you have achieved your target weight. To help you sustain your new weight, you will be able to enjoy more food options that are more liberal. Once you get to this phase, you will stay there for the rest of your life. After completing Phase 1 and 2, this phase will feel like normal eating to you. Now you are to eat differently. If your weight starts go up, modify the foods you are eating and the amounts.

Along with losing extra weight and changing the way your body responds to food, your blood chemistry is also changing. Your cardiovascular system is also improving. Heart disease is a leading cause of death where the only symptom of heart attack is often death. Improving your cardiovascular system will add many years to your life.