What's the South Beach Diet?

[TaraNorth]

What exactly is the South Beach Diet? Is this easy to follow? Has anyone had success with it? Is it just a fad diet, or is there more to it?

[M-Stark334]

In my opinion it’s a fad diet. It’s not one of the worst ones out there and it’s meant to be followed as a lifestyle, not really as a short-term diet. It reduces your “bad” carb intake and your saturated fat intake and encourages you to eat “good” carbs and unsaturated fats. That said, the main problem with this diet is that it has different phases and the first one is really strict, and requires to you cut out a lot of foods from your diet that the average person typically consumes on a regular basis, like bread, dairy products, pastries, potatoes, starchy foods, cereal, pasta, and even some specific fruits and veggies. This only last for about two weeks, and then during the next phase you can add more foods back into your diet. Some people say that it’s more balanced than the Atkins Diet, but personally, I think both are a little too extreme and demanding for my taste. If you want to know more about it, I believe there is an official webpage for the South Beach Diet.

[suzieQ]

My friend tired this diet and she said it was really hard to follow. She did lost a few pounds on it, but it turned out to be a bust because she couldn't keep up with it so she ended up gaining it all back. That's the reason I never tried it. Maybe you'll have better luck. It's really just a matter of how much self-discipline you have.

[TaraNorth]

Thanks for the heads up about the south beach diet! Ya, I’m not really big on the self-discipline myself haha.

[PennyThoughts]

It really sounds like a fad diet to me but it's been around for a very long time. I heard it was pretty tough, too. It's never something you'll be able to keep up for a lifetime, so there's a risk of ballooning up after the diet, even if you do lose the weight.