South Beach Diet

margaretdephillips
margaretdephillips Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Any fans?

Replies

  • Unicorn_Bacon
    Unicorn_Bacon Posts: 491 Member
    Nope.
  • Unicorn_Bacon
    Unicorn_Bacon Posts: 491 Member
    paperpudding wrote: »
    What exactly does this diet involve?

    Although my own answer is still going to be NO, as am quite happy following the eat all the foods to your calorie limit diet.

    I copied this from the mayo clinic:

    Phases of the South Beach Diet
    The South Beach Diet has three phases:

    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. You can't drink fruit juice or any alcohol. You focus on eating lean protein, such as seafood, skinless poultry, lean beef and soy products. You can also eat high-fiber vegetables, low-fat dairy and foods with healthy, unsaturated fats, including avocados, nuts and seeds.
    Phase 2. This is a long-term weight-loss phase. You begin adding back some of the foods that were prohibited in phase 1, such as whole-grain breads, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, fruits and more vegetables. You stay in this phase until you reach your goal weight.
    Phase 3. This is a maintenance phase meant to be a healthy way to eat for life. You continue to follow the lifestyle principles you learned in the two previous phases. You can eat all types of foods in moderation.

    Here's a look at what you might eat during a typical day in phase 1 of the South Beach Diet:

    Breakfast. Breakfast might be an omelet with smoked salmon or baked eggs with spinach and ham, along with a cup of coffee or tea.
    Lunch. Lunch might be a vegetable salad with scallops or shrimp, along with iced tea or sparkling water.
    Dinner. Dinner may feature grilled tuna or pork paired with grilled vegetables and a salad.
    Dessert. The diet encourages you to enjoy a dessert, such as a ricotta cheesecake or chilled espresso custard, even in phase 1.
    Snacks. You can enjoy snacks during the day, too, such as a Muenster cheese and turkey roll-up or roasted chickpeas.

    I dunno why they bother having 3 phases if the end result is eating all foods in moderation.. that's why I dont like it lol... just a bunch of pointlessness
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    I did it in the past and I did lose weight. It wasn't because it's a magical diet or anything. I was simply switching out higher calorie items for lower. So instead of pasta I was having vegetables. It just basically forced me to lower my calorie intake without counting my calories.

    Now I know better.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,228 Member
    jelleigh, I get that some people like following a program - but i think it would be better to follow a program devised by someone with better nutritional principles that randomly eliminating things like bread and fruit.

    CSIRO had quite a good one a few years back - it was prescribed diet but flexible.

    eg Breakfast
    choose 2 of the following: half a cup of x,y,z fruits or 1 cup of yoghurt or 1 cup of unsweetened cereal eg weetbix or all bran or special k or 1 piece of toast/crumpet with small amount of butter and/or diabetic jam

    Lunch: choose 3 of the following: small tin of tuna, salad sandwich, 100 g of cheese, 1 average size piece of fruit (eg 1 apple, banana, orange, ) 1 cup of yoghurt, 100g lean meat - cold chicken or ham slices.

    Meals can be interchanged - ie you can eat breakfast for lunch or vice versa

    PS I just made up the examples but you get the idea - it guides you to what to eat without there being no room for flexibility.

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
    never really tried it, but do have a couple of the cookbooks because they have some nice, lower calorie recipes in them. I modify them to get the calorie count even lower.

    I have no intentions of going low carb (that's the compromise I make with my body; I let it have carbs, and it agrees to a calorie deficit), so I know its not for me, but at the same time, I don't see anything unhealthy about the diet plan itself, so if it works for you in helping you stick to a deficit, then by all means, carry on with it!

    I have tried to talk my sister into trying it because she's a type 2 diabetic struggling to control her blood sugar and is obese, but my intentions there were to help her lower her carb intake to hopefully help with the diabetes. Didn't work though; she's decided she doesn't want any restrictions on what she eats and if that means additional medication, then so be it - she'd rather take medication than alter her lifestyle :disappointed:
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Most of my weight loss efforts lasted 6 weeks or more. There were a couple that were early fails. On SB I lasted 2 weeks. I am sure some people find success there as they do with other plans. I wasn't one of them.

    I do not like any plan that has phases especially ones that start hard and end easier. It needs to be the other way around. Start as easy as you can then when the harder stuff comes you have more of a foundation to deal with it.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    I will eat Soylent Green before using a diet that eliminates pasta.

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  • papayahed
    papayahed Posts: 407 Member
    lgfrie wrote: »
    I will eat Soylent Green before using a diet that eliminates pasta.

    Preach!
  • bdale1966
    bdale1966 Posts: 3 Member
    edited June 2020
    I have went on this diet twice. once by the rules and lost 15 pounds in 3 months. gained 30 back later. then 5 years later did it again NOT by the rules but just trying to avoid carbs and plain old sugar and counting calories. lost 50 pounds in 9 months. that was dec 2016. this month i had gained back 30 of the 50 lost so i am just counting calories. eating healthy foods which i always have but in wayyyy smaller portions. also have gotten rid of the bad foods in the house(ice cream, cookies and cinnamon toast crunch are my downfall). my problem is portion control. plain and simple. the south beach works and you will assuredly lose weight, reduce the need for BP or cholesterol meds and diabetic meds but it is NOT sustainable. every time on this diet my final straw was potatoes. If the good Lord didnt want me to eat potatoes i dont believe he would have made them.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,228 Member
    Well that is the thing about just about any diet, not just South Beach, - if you stick to it, it works and you lose weight ( nutritional balance is another thing)

    But real life application - if it isn't sustainable, it won't work.

    Any diet randomly eliminating foods people like to eat - no likely to be sustainable in real life.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,730 Member
    I have lost significant weight on low carb diets, but as others have stated, it is hard to maintain. I have a bad sweet tooth and use sweets as a way of rewarding myself or dealing with stress, sadness, anger, etc. By eliminating sugar and carbs generally, my calorie count dropped significantly, especially since I didn't replace carbs with a lot of fat, as some people do. SB is better than a lot of the low carb diets because it does allow you to eat fruit and whole grains while losing weight. It is also lower fat than Keto or Atkins. The question is, can you stay on the plan long enough to lose the weight you want and can you transition to eating carbs again without going overboard? I did one plan years ago that turned me off protein. I couldn't eat eggs or chicken for a long time because I was eating that every day. I've had other diets where I was able to eat on plan for 5 or 6 days a week, but needed at least one cheat day in order to continue. That worked, but it did slow down progress significantly. I never did SB specifically, but it doesn't seem as extreme as some low carb diets, so might work if you like a high protein low carb way of eating.
  • whoami67
    whoami67 Posts: 297 Member
    I tried it when it first came out many years ago. The only thing I really remember is eating sweetened ricotta cheese for dessert. I'm pretty sure that had almost nothing to do with the diet, but was just some recipe from the book. I also remember thinking it was a pretty good plan, but not my preferred way of eating.

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