The South Beach diet, while purportedly not a low carb diet, does in fact restrict your intake of carbohydrates, particularly in the diet's first two weeks. The South Beach Diet calls this period "Banishing Your Cravings." This phase of the South Beach Diet is basically a slightly more lenient version of the Atkins induction.
In fact, each phase of the South Beach Diet plan mirrors a phase of the Atkins Diet, but with more fruits, nuts, and whole grains. The remaining two South Beach Diet phases are called "Reintroducing Carbs" and "A Diet For Life." Rather than trying to lower the total amount of carbohydrates you eat, the goal through these phases of the South Beach Diet is to eliminate foods that have a high glycemic index.
Originally known as the Mount Sinai Hospital Diet, the South Beach Diet plan differs from Atkins in its compliance with the American Heart Association's guidelines for saturated fat intake. However, the South Beach Diet suffers some of the same drawbacks as Atkins: the difficultly of beating the cravings on your own, the tendency of your body to burn fat while retaining ugly flab, and the tendency to backslide.
For this reason, we recommend that you practice the South Beach Diet only with the help of a great low carb diet pill, such as South Beach Nutrition's high-quality, stimulant-free diet enhancers. Find out how you can look and feel better more quickly and easily than with the South Beach Diet alone.
The first phase of the South Beach Diet, called "Banishing Your Cravings," is a lot like the Atkins induction period, and is the closest the South Beach Diet will take you to a pure 'no carb' or 'low carb' diet. You'll eat three meals a day and two snacks, none of which will contain any bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, baked goods, fruit, or alcohol. In other words, almost no carbohydrates.
Most people never make it past Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. It is a drastic change from the way most of us eat, and the majority of us simply do not have the will power. However, the South Beach Diet gets much easier beyond this phase, if you can make it, and the weight-loss you'll experience can be dramatic.
In order to increase your chances of success with the South Beach Diet and to maximize your results, we recommend that you supplement your diet plan with highly nutritive, lean-muscle-building South Beach Diet Enhancers like the ones offered by South Beach Nutrition.
In the South Beach Diet's second phase, you will reintroduce some of your favorite carbohydrate-laden foods into your diet. The number of foods you will reintroduce is very limited, as is the amount of those foods that you will eat. This part of the South Beach Diet is equivalent to the Atkins Ongoing Weight Loss phase, although again, the South Beach Diet provides for a larger selection of foods and more lenience in the number of carbs you can eat.
The danger of this phase of the South Beach Diet is the ease which with you can slide back into your old, unhealthy eating patterns. After your first two grueling weeks on the South Beach Diet, the sudden license to enjoy a few of your favorite foods often leads to an all-out binge. And even if you manage to resist those urges, you'll likely see a significant weight loss that is not necessarily accompanied by any increase in healthy, lean muscle mass. For these reasons, it is extremely important that you exercise in addition to taking South Beach diet enhancement supplements regularly.
The third and final phase of the South Beach Diet stands in for the last two phases of the Atkins Diet: Pre-maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance. You gradually work your way into the eating patterns that, if all goes well, you will continue for the rest of your life. Sticking with the South Beach Diet in the long term means staying away from the foods it forbids—like potatoes, sodas, and baked goods—but also staying healthy and slim. Once you've come this far in the South Beach Diet, it is especially important that you give yourself every opportunity to maintain your success. When cravings for starchy potato chips or sweet, gooey pastries kick in, make sure you have every tool at your disposal. We recommend the safe, healthful diet enhancement supplements from South Beach Nutrition.