FYI: The South Beach Diet Really Works

[howtobrew]

I am here to tell you that the South Beach Diet really works. I have lost 18 pounds in the past 5 weeks. And it was easy compared to every other attempt I have made to work toward getting back to some semblance of my college weight.

Couple points:
1. The premise of the SBD is not "No Carbs and High Protein."
2. The premise is control your sugar and simple carb intake.
3. The purpose of the diet is to improve your blood chemistry; the inventer is a practicing cardiologist, and he needed to develop a diet that would help his patient lower their cholesterol and triglycerides. The weight loss was a side effect.

Basically for the first two weeks you cut out all simple carbohydrates: sugary foods like desserts, fruit, bread, pasta, rice, corn, and potatos. You eat normal size (even big) portions of other things that are low in sugar - eggs, meats, and veggies. I had a Mcdonalds Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad every day for lunch, and a salad with dinner every night. Blue Cheese and/or Basalmic Vinegrette. I snacked on cheese or dry-roasted unsalted peanuts if I was hungry between meals.

After that first two weeks where you have reset your body's insulin monitor and levels, you start introducing more complex carbs back into your meals. I went back to eating breakfast burritos off the morning truck. I ate sushi instead of just sashimi, I would have the occasional donut or bowl of ice cream. But I still lost an average of two pounds a week!

Why? Because I now understand how my body processes food and know that if I have that bowl of popcorn at 11pm and the sodas and chips thruout the day at work, the sugar rush to the system is going to make the pancreas pump out insulin to reduce the sugar levels in the blood and that sugar gets stored as abdominal fat. So, I have drastically changed my snacking habits, but I am never hungry between meals, I am not tired, and I am looking better than I have in the last 7 years.

I am sharing this information because it really works, and it is easy to do. Have at it. Read the South Beach Diet book, it is logical and easy reading.
All the best,
John

[Zilverzmurfen]

I am here to tell you that the South Beach Diet really works.

I thought you were here to tell us HowToBrew..?

[Goofy]

I thought you were here to tell us HowToBrew..?

That's actually the secret to the diet- in addition to the directives, if you brew and then drink enough you don't care how much you weigh!

[keith]

Wait. You cut out sugary snacks and lost weight????

...I'm gobsmacked

Congrats.

[howtobrew]

Hahaha! Yes, weird huh!? But it is really strange how hard it was to lose 5 pounds for a short period of time before reading this book. Being middle aged, I wanted to get back into fighting trim for fencing and it just wasn't happening until now.
Anyway, if anybody else out there has the same kind of issue, give it a try.
Cheers,
John

[Araznal]

I always thought that the south beach diet was great because of its focus on avoiding processed foods and not falling for that "low-carb lard" that you see in the supermarket.

Now, as for Atkins...

[Elemental]

I'm on a diet where I only eat foods that start with a vowel.

What did I have for breakfast? Eggs and oreos.

(note: This joke brought to you by Red vs Blue)

[esskreemr]

Well, congratulations and thanks for sharing your success. Regardless of what diet you follow, losing 18 pounds is a great accomplishment.

Here's to your success and may you continue your gains (losses)! Hip hip hooray!

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

south beach might be bad for an athlete.... how can you make allowances for carb loading?

[ReverseLunge]

South Beach, Atkins or whatever. They all suck. It just means not being able to eat what you love.

I eat whatever I want, as much as I want and I prefer my food fried in lard since its even tastier that way.

I'm thin with a slight muscular build. Life isn't fair nor is equality real. Basically if you aren't born with a good body and good metabolism then you cab consider yourself screwed. Face it, You're gonna lose a few lb on any diet and then after awhile you are gonna get depressed because you can't eat what you want when you want or as much as you want. Then you get fat again.

You cannot go against your nature or your biological make up. Try it and you will be in misery.

[howtobrew]

Good question with an easy answer - You carb load before the tournement ie. you don't stay on the diet. The diet is a lifestyle thing. As a 40 year old weekend athlete who is (was) 40 pounds over his college weight, I needed to take control of my eating habits and get back to a healthier weight in general.

For college student age athletes, you are probably active enough that watching your carbohydrate intake is not an issue - it wasn't for me back then. Before the long beach open next weekend, I intend to carb load and have a peanut butter and honey sandwich in my bag. But that's only 1-2 days out of my week of relative inactivty.

PS. Millions of sperm in a shot, and we end up with RL.... Geez what a waste of cell division.

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

Card loading before an event and only then doesnt do much good. You have to maintain a high level of carbohydrate intake throughout your training to prevent chronic carbohydrate depletion. Sucks.

[Peach]

You know what else works?

A low-calorie diet coupled with regular exercise.
Weight Watchers
A balanced but high-fiber diet with plenty of bulk.
Marathon training and frequent small meals
Weight Watchers again
Writing everything down.
Weight Watchers.

They're all very effective for weight-loss. I should know. Over the course of 35 years, I've lost weight on each, once as much as 40 pounds.

Only problem is, once I've lost it and even kept it off for a few years, this or that happens (iinjury, completing the marathon, child-birth, career change, menopause) and I have to take it off again.

Dang. Bummer.

And I've watched a whole BUNCH of other people go through the same cycle. Magic diet, miraculous weight loss, gradual weight gain, new magic diet.

The basic equation, no matter what diet you use, is that energy expended has to be greater than energy stored. For recreational athletes, you can get away with a low-carb diet if you don't mind losing your edge; for serious athletes a percentage carbohydrates are a must, varying according to the sport and the training cycle. I recommend Chris Carmichael's FOOD FOR FITNESS, which I cheerfully ignore because as a veteran athete I'm probably better off year-round with a balanced diet high in nutrients and fiber, low in empty calories.

[Maeve_Mari]

Good question with an easy answer - You carb load before the tournement ie. you don't stay on the diet. The diet is a lifestyle thing. As a 40 year old weekend athlete who is (was) 40 pounds over his college weight, I needed to take control of my eating habits and get back to a healthier weight in general.

For college student age athletes, you are probably active enough that watching your carbohydrate intake is not an issue - it wasn't for me back then. Before the long beach open next weekend, I intend to carb load and have a peanut butter and honey sandwich in my bag. But that's only 1-2 days out of my week of relative inactivty.

PS. Millions of sperm in a shot, and we end up with RL.... Geez what a waste of cell division.

About six years ago I started a Low-Carb Lifestyle and lost weight, felt better and had significantly more energy. But, in work-outs and training, fell way short of the energy necessary to compete. I started eating a carbs meal on training days and found it helped out alot to keep me going. What I also found out is that even the introduction of training day only carbs, broke the ease with which it was to stay on the low-carb diet! What I mean is that just the plate of pasta before a workout, resulted in significant cravings for more carbs after training and on no training days.

I guess what I learned is really how overwhelming the sugar addiction is - it is a struggle to stay on track after carb loading, and the energy drop off the next day is severe.

What I ended up doing to keep on track with the lifestyle eating was to add only high fiber carbs, and increase fruits - strawberries, grapes, apples - to substitute for carb loading.

Oh yea, and I didn't give up any beer! A girl's gotta quench her thirst!

[ThatReallyHurt]

South Beach, Atkins or whatever. They all suck. It just means not being able to eat what you love.

I eat whatever I want, as much as I want and I prefer my food fried in lard since its even tastier that way.

I'm thin with a slight muscular build. Life isn't fair nor is equality real. Basically if you aren't born with a good body and good metabolism then you cab consider yourself screwed. Face it, You're gonna lose a few lb on any diet and then after awhile you are gonna get depressed because you can't eat what you want when you want or as much as you want. Then you get fat again.

You cannot go against your nature or your biological make up. Try it and you will be in misery.

Yeah, but it's also not fair for those skinny guys who eat whatever they want and stay skinny but then have quintuple bypasses when they're 45 or die at 55...

[cornflower]

Jennnnny Craaaaaaaig.

My mum's on it and it's been three weeks and she's lost like 12 pounds. Wooooo.

[Peach]

Yeah, but it's also not fair for those skinny guys who eat whatever they want and stay skinny but then have quintuple bypasses when they're 45 or die at 55...

Or for my husband, who's as skinny as a rail, eats one huge high-fat meal a day, smokes like a fiend, and always figured he'd die before he turned 40. He's going-on-60 now, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and wondering if he shoulda changed his mind about cashing in his pension funds every time he left a job.