How To Choose Good South Beach Diet Snacks

Many people equate dieting to eating less. But that is hardly the case with South Beach Diet. This diet is touted as balanced low-carb diet in that the dieter is advised to consume a variety of foods that is in accordance to the glycemic index. The South Beach Diet is divided into three phases, with phase one being the “strictest.” In this phase, you are allowed to eat six times in a day, which include two snacks: mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Because you are not allowed to eat rice, pasta, bread, fruits, sugar, and baked items in phase one, you may find it quite hard to pick the foods to eat during the two snack times. But the truth is, you have a variety of options. And here is a guide to help you.

1. Choose yogurt. Sugar-free, fat-free, and plain-flavored yogurt makes a good South Beach Diet snack. You can eat it on its own or make it a dip. Get some vegetables, say cucumber, celery, or lettuce, and dip them into a cup of yogurt. You can also use yogurt as a vegetable salad dressing.
2. Take sugar-free Jello. South Beach Diet includes a daily intake of 75 calories. To meet this caloric requirement, you can eat sugar-free Jello, which has all the sweetness in it, but eliminates the guilt feeling. Sugar-free Jello comes in different flavors, so you can have variety even if you eat it everyday. You can eat it on its own or mix it with nuts or, for added flavor, coconut milk.
3. Go for sweets. Other than Jello, you can also eat other kinds of sugar-free sweets like hard candies, popsicles, and fudgesicles to meet the daily 75-calorie requirement.
4. Eat nuts. One serving of nuts is also a recommended South Beach Diet snack. You can take peanuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews. Although you can eat them as they are, nuts are also good if paired with other snacks like low-carb dips and yogurt. To avoid overeating nuts, make sure to measure them correctly and keep in a zip-lock bag. Peanut butter also makes a good South Beach diet. A teaspoon of low-carb peanut butter is best paired with celery.
5. Go for cheese. You can also eat low-fat cheese as a snack. Go for cottage, cheddar, or cream cheese. Add nuts and vegetables such as cucumber, tomatoes, and celery for extra flavor and variety.
6. Choose vegetables. South Beach Diet involves a lot of vegetables. You can eat asparagus, beat greens, broccoli, celery, eggplant, lettuce, snow peas, spinach, tomatoes, and water cress, among others. Mix the vegetables together and add yogurt or low-fat cream cheese to make a vegetable salad. You can also eat them with tuna flakes and small dice of meat like ham.
7. Take eggs. Hard-boiled and deviled eggs are excellent South Beach Diet snack. Eat them as is or with vegetables and meat. You can, for instance, include eggs in lettuce roll-ups with tuna.

The purpose of snacking is to control your hunger pangs. So each time your stomach is grumbling in the mid-morning and mid-afternoon, don’t deprive yourself; instead, take a good and satisfying snack.

Read More ..... »

How To Do the South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is hitting the diet world by storm, and for good reason! You can easily shed many pounds by following the rules outlined below.

Step 1

Understand the glycemic index. The glycemic index (GI) is a way of measuring the amount of sugar in a food, both natural and artificial. The more sugar a food contains, the higher it is said to be on the glycemic index, or the higher its GI is. Foods that are high on the glycemic index slow down your metabolism (because they spike your insulin levels and put your metabolism out of whack). So the South Beach diet decreases your bad carbs, increases your good carbs, and makes sure you only eat good fats (yes, there is such a thing!).  With this plan, your body's metabolism with become more regular and you'll notice major weight loss on the South Beach Diet.

Step 2

Understand the different phases of the South Beach Diet. There are 3 phases in the South Beach diet - phase 1, phase 2, and phase 3. Each phase requires that you modify your eating habits slightly. Phase 1 is the ‘habit-killing' phase, phase 2 is the ‘weight dropping' phase and phase 3 is the ‘maintenance' phase. Here are the specifics of each of the South Beach diet phases.

Step 3

Begin with phase 1. Phase 1 of the South Beach diet is the most drastic. It requires you to cut the bad foods out of your diet, cold turkey. You must stop eating the following foods for 2 weeks:

• Fruit
• Bread
• Rice
• Potatoes / chips
• Pasta
• Sugar / honey
• Alcohol
• Flour / baked goods / cereal
• Regular dairy products (cheese, milk, yogurt)
• Most oils (corn, grapeseed, peanut, palm, safflower, sesame, soybean, sunflower, coconut, and light/low-fat mayo)and fats (butter, lard, bacon grease, margarine, miracle whip, vegetable shortening)

I know - you're probably crying already at the loss of some of these foods which probably make up the bulk of your diet. But these foods keep your hips thick and your thighs wide, and so these foods need to be eliminated if you want to see changes in your bodily physique. There is good news though. You can still eat the following foods on phase 1:

• Lean protein (eggs / egg whites, seafood, skinless poultry, lean cuts of beef/pork, soy foods)
• Beans, nuts and seeds
• Low-starch vegetables
• Fat free and low fat dairy (minimal servings, if any, per day)
• Unsaturated fats (olive oil, canola oil, olives, avocados, flax seed oil, cooking spray)
• Certain condiments (full fat mayo in moderation, trans-fat-free spreads)

Phase 1 is the strictest of all the phases, but it's designed to be that way. It helps to cleanse your body and jumpstart your weight loss. It only lasts for 2 weeks, so you'll manage. (And you'll probably find that you don't even crave some of your favorite foods after a while during phase 1).

Step 4

Continue with phase 2. Phase 2 of the South Beach Diet allows you to start eating some of your favorite foods again, including bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, cereal and fruit. However, it is important to do so in moderation and you must strive to eat only whole grain versions of these foods whenever possible. You can't add all of these foods back into your diet during phase 2, or your South Beach Diet efforts will be all for naught. Just add in a few, in moderation, that are healthier for you.

Continue with the phase 2 way of eating until you reach your optimum or desired weight.

Step 5

Maintain your new weight in phrase 3. Phase 3 is the maintenance phase of the South Beach Diet. It's the least restrictive, and it is meant to become a permanent way of eating. During this phase, you are in charge of what you eat, but keep in mind what effect it will have on your insulin levels and therefore, your metabolism. If you find your weight climbing, go back to phase 1, cutting back on your carbs. With a little persistence and willpower, the South Beach Diet will be something good you can do for yourself that will keep you healthier and happier for the rest of your life.

Read More ..... »

About South Beach Diet Food Delivery

Arthur Agatston, is a medical doctor who created the South Beach Diet in an effort to prevent strokes and heart attacks. He claims that many other diets are only created for short-term weight loss, while his diet focuses on converting to a healthy lifestyle, with weight loss as the added benefit. The South Beach Diet is different than most diets because this plan is geared towards improving overall blood chemistry, while trimming the waistline at the same time. In his book, "The South Beach Diet," he explains how the glycemic index works and why it is important to keep it under control.

He also goes into detail about what types of good carbs and fats are needed by the body. The diet has three phases. The first phase is very strict. During the first phase of the diet. a person is very limited by what she can eat. No carbohydrates are allowed during the first phase. You are allowed to eat normal size meals several times a day. The main foods allowed during the first phase are lean meats like salmon and chicken. Low fat dairy is also allowed such as, part-skim mozzarella cheese sticks. Phase two is a more liberal phase of the diet. During this phase, healthy carbs like vegetables are added in gradually. Lean meats, eggs and proteins are the main staples during this phase. However, healthy desserts, such as chocolate-dipped strawberries are allowed. Phase three is the maintenance phase and by far the most liberal phase. The same healthy meals are recommended as well as a few treats.

South Beach Diet food delivery is a program which is set up by food delivery companies in many areas across the nation. Many of these delivery companies also deliver food for other diets such as, The Zone or the Atkins Diet. You simply place your order and the food is delivered right to your door. The cost of this service varies depending on the area that you live in. In most cases, the price ranges from $150 to $350 each week.

Benefits

• The South Beach Diet food delivery service has many benefits. The meals are pre-made for each phase of the diet. This can help make things easier for you, because there will be no cooking needed on your part. The main purpose of this diet is to achieve a healthy weight and literally change body chemistry, as well as control cravings. A person who follows this lifestyle plan will have a healthy stronger heart, lower cholesterol and a reduced risk of developing diabetes.

Time Frame

• The delivery is set on a weekly basis and it can be customized depending on your overall goals. For instance, some people stay on phase one for longer than the recommended time frame. Phase one is meant to last two weeks. Phase two lasts up until you reach your goal weight. The length of time a person stays on phase two depends on how much weight they need to lose and how long it takes. Phase three is simply a phase which is meant to help maintain your weight loss by sticking with the heart healthy lifestyle.

Warning

• Be sure to check out the facility of the diet food delivery company if possible. Some food delivery companies will ship out of state, but if the company is in your area, you may want to make sure the food is being prepared properly in a sanitary environment. This is typically not a problem, because most companies are required to have health inspections by the health department, but if you want peace of mind you might want to do more investigation yourself. Always speak to your doctor before starting any diet or weight loss program.

Prevention/Solution

• Staying on the maintenance program is the best way to prevent gaining the weight back. This diet is meant to be a lifestyle change rather than a temporary fix. If you find that you don't like the particular food delivery service for one reason or another, you always have the option to cancel and find another company to delivery your food.

Significance

• The South Beach Diet food delivery program can offer an advantage. When the food is delivered directly to your door, you are more likely to stay on track and stick to the diet. This is a health investment that will pay off for the rest of your life.

Read More ..... »

How Does South Beach Diet Work?

What is the South Beach Diet?

• The South Beach Diet is a three-phase plan that separates itself from the Atkins diet by promoting "good carbs" vs. "bad carbs" and "good fats" vs. "bad fats." According to the diet, the good carbohydrates such as beans, vegetables and whole grains are better at regulating blood sugar than the grains and refined sugars that typically make up the Western diet. Also, it says that trans fats and saturated fats must be eliminated in favor of unsaturated fats that contribute to health cholesterol and a healthy heart. These good fats can be found in oily fish, nuts and lean meats.

  The three phases consist of a 2-week strict phase that eliminates most sugar and encourages lean meats, vegetables, nuts and 100 percent olive oil salad dressing, a more liberal second phase that allows dairy, fruits and whole grains, and a third phase that is guided by the lessons learned in the first two phases. The diet states that after you have learned how sugar and hunger can affect your life, you will eat much differently. This is why the time after the diet is called phase three.

Why Do You Lose Weight?

• The weight you drop at the beginning of the South Beach Diet is mostly water weight. When the body is deprived of sugar, as it is in the first phase of the diet, and to a lesser extent the second phase, it will begin breaking down the sugar stored in the body. The carbohydrates in the body are locked in stores of glycogen. Since glycogen exists in a sugar and water solution, the body burns off the sugar and only the water is left. This water will be secreted out in the urine. Unless you had been eating quite unhealthily before the diet in such a way that you retained extra water, this is weight that you will lose and almost immediately put back on when you take in enough water and sugar in phase three.

Does That Make the Diet a Scam?

• The South Beach Diet is not a scam, but it is a little bit misleading. Cutting out the processed carbohydrates and extra sugar in a diet has been known to improve levels of energy, mood hormone regulation, and has helped to lessen the chases of diabetes. The "good fats" that the diet talks about are well known in the field of cardiology as being heart healthy and they can also lead to improved brain function (see References). If you go into the South Beach Diet with the water weight knowledge, you have a much better chance of getting value out of it. The diet works as a healthy plan because it teaches you the value of changing your food intake to improve the way your body functions.

Read More ..... »