I am thinking about trying low carb for the first time ever! And South beach diet seems to be the most sensible! BUT I dont have the book yet and was wondering if anyone knows of a web page that outlines the diet?

Also I know it allows carbs after 2 weeks but what is considered a good carb. I was hoping potatoes were! lol because they are sooo easy to make and cheap. anyway does anyone have a food list or anything like that?

Any help would be great!!! I am so glad I found this place! Its so informative!

*Karen*

You continue with Phase 2 for as long as you want to lose weight. Once you've reached your goal, you enter Phase 3, which is maintenance. This is the same as Phase 2, but you gradually add more foods to the diet so that you stop losing, and level off your weight. You stay on this pretty much forever.

I really recommend getting the book if you decide to give this a try. I tried to find as much info online as possible to help me decide if I wanted to try it, and found a lot of great articles on reputable websites to back it up. The book contains a lot of helpful information, as well as a lot of recipes and tips to make the most of the food lists. The lists look restrictive at first glance, but you'd be surprised at how many things you can do with them!


Here's a great article about the benefits: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/65/72554.htm

Wow!!!! You are the best! lol I didnt expect that much info! That was great!

What do you think about this diet? have you seen many success stories? was it hard to not have carbs at first! The thought of no carbs is scary to me! hehehe For one I would have to give up a MAJOR thing! PEPSI! Oh my I get bad bad BAD headaches when I dont drink the stuff! lol

*karen*

I agree, the idea of giving up carbs is scary! I love my carbs Fortunately, you only have to give them up during the first 2 weeks. However, the carbs you add back into the diet will be "good carbs", so Pepsi probably won't be on that list. Do you ever drink Pepsi One? I think it's the best tasting diet cola. I also love Diet Sierra Mist. I haven't checked the labels on either to see if they contain carbs, but assume they will be ok since they are sugar free. Maybe one of the expert low-carbers can answer that one. I really prefer water, though. I drink chilled, filtered water all day long, it's addictive.


One of the things the author of the SBD says is that your body will adjust to this diet and you won't miss the carbs. I didn't believe him, but so far he's right! Now I admit I'm only on Day 5, but it's painless and I'm not having carb withdrawals. I'm seriously looking forward to Phase 2, though. I never really appreciated something as simple as a piece of fruit before, but that's what I'm craving the most right now.

This isn't really a low-carb diet, and it's not low-fat, either. The WebMd article I linked above goes into more detail about it.

HMMM I used to drink pepsi one but got scared off from it because of aspartum I heard it would cause MS and bad stuff like that. I have gone without pepsi before but man I get bad headaches at first! lol

I dont think it sounds so bad? At least its not all fatty like atkins. just the thought of all that fat grossed me out. I just never saw how it could be good for you?

The only thing I dont see about the south beach diet is searving size? Do you ever eat to much and think I wont lose weight now! lol

All the hype about Aspartame is just a hoax I can't find any medical resources that state it's dangerous, but there are plenty that say not to believe the rumors. It's like an urban legend.

However, Pepsi One doesn't use aspartame. It uses a new sweetener called Sunett (acesulfame potassium or Ace-K)


I agree about Atkins. Personally, all that fat scared me! (no offence to any Atkins followers!! any diet is a personal decision, and Atkins just wasn't right for me)

No serving sizes on SBD, except for a few foods such as pistachio nuts, or the 75 calories worth of sugar free sweets per day. You need the book for the full details.

ahhhh I see! lol well that makes me feel better!

I will have to form a grocery list for me! Thanks for the help!

HUGZ KAren

I printed out the food list and took it to Super WalMart, and bought the book there at the same time. (It was about $17) I then glanced through the book as I cruised the aisles and bought a few extra bits to make some of the recipes. It's sectioned into recipes for Phase 1 and Phase 2, so it was easy to see at a glance.

I know this was a backwards way of doing it, lol, but I hate shopping and didn't want to have to go buy the book, then go out again to buy the groceries. I could have ordered it online, but was anxious to get started. It's available at Buy.com http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...088603&loc=106 for $15.71 and that includes free shipping!

wow free shipping! good deal! Cant wait until payday now! lol

http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/aspfaq.html

Read about aspartame at this website.

I'm not sure I buy into that article. They are also saying you can get methanol poisoning from eating 3-5 apples or oranges per day.


FDA http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1999/699_sugar.html
Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=HQ01029 This is a great article, though brief, describing many artificial sweeteners and the safety of each.

Re: "the idea of giving up carbs".

Just want to clarify something~~~the first 2 weeks are not without carbs. There are lots of good carbs that you can eat, which is a huge difference from Atkins.

The website www.prevention.com has lots of SB info there for free. Look under weight loss and you'll find it.

Suzanne, just one addition to your list of allowed foods. Well, a slight change. You aren't allowed all you can eat of nuts or peanut butter. I think the snack serving size for PB is 1 tsp. ONE LOUSY TEASPOON!! And only 15 nut halves, I believe. I have a hard time stopping at that because I love nuts. Even frozen nuts. LOL And don't tell me that anything crunchy, like celery, would satisfy my need for crunchiness. It just isn't the same. But, in spite of all that, I'm back on Phase 1 (for the third time). I think I'm one of those people who is probably going to have to stick pretty close to Phase 1 forever. I've tried moving into Phase 2 twice now and each time it has triggered a monumental carb binge (we're talking chocolates and ice cream and lots of them).

Thanks Linda! I have a lot to learn, too I think we do get 30 pistachios, but I guess it's because those are little buggers!

What on earth can you do with just 1 teaspoon of peanut butter?