Rating: 
Summary: Solid advice for healthy weight loss, yet incomplete...
Review: This book illustrates that dieting can occur from within a holistic context. Furthermore, in this book, Agatston has put forward a reasonable dietary curriculum for achieving positive results in very little time. This is a must-read for any disgruntled former adherents of the Atkins diet. However, at the same time, there is not sufficient elucidation of the essential spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects which are inherent in such a disciplined program. This reviewer gives Agatston three stars for his promising, yet ultimately incomplete "South Beach Diet".
Rating: 
Summary: The results will blow your mind!
Review: My name is Jeff, and I'm a young 14 year old who wanted to lose weight. I consulted my health teacher on how to lose weight, and she recommended the South Beach Diet. I started by reading the reviews here on amazon.com to see what others thought about it. I then got the book for my 14th birthday and started right away. I expected from the reviews to only lose about 8-12 pounds in the first two weeks. I started just six days ago and I haven't exercised a bit. I went into weight myself today and i have lost a whopping 13 pounds! and i lose another every 8-9 hours! It's amazing! If you are obese and are constantly in my kind of situation, worrying about your weight, then I would definatley give this book a 10.0.
Rating:
Summary: Works for me
Review: I lost many a pound with this little jewel of a book as my beacon of hope. Thatks to Mr. Angston I can now rubber duck my way to the top of the bunny fever dance charts.
Rating:
Summary: Atkins with portion control
Review: This book is similiar to the atkins diet in that it cuts out the carbs and increases the protein, minus the excessive portions and fat. Which is Ideal. Also, I like the book, The Little Guide To Happiness. Just because.
Rating: 
Summary: Sound Diet--Fabulous Recipes--Poorly Written
Review: Just recieved the book and I'm really happy with the recipes--The book contains a great variety of dishes--enough that if you don't eat beef or pork like me, you'll still be satisfied. The book also contains what I see as really sound diet advise. Its main focus is on cardiovascular health and avoiding diabetes with weight loss as a secondary goal. This book is really about lifestyle and is pretty realistic. Dr. Agaston discusses why people fail and also advocates that people reintroduce some of the things that they really enjoy in moderation. Apart from phase 1--this is a book about changing your lifestyle. On the flipside--this book is poorly written. There are glaring errors of organization, grammar, and development of ideas. I am afraid that all of the interesting and valuable evidence may be somewhat overshadowed by this. The diet seems like a sensible and interesting way of eating backed by pretty sound evidence, but it is presented in an antecdotal style. I would like to see a section devoted to "hard evidence" from real or even semi-informal studies. Also-a section advocating the benefits of exercise as part of healthy weight maintainence would be nice. Obviously--Dr. Agaston has encountered patients who are adversive to exercise, so he knows that touting it too much may keep people from doing it, but he should include a section regardless. Also--some inconsistencies between what he says during the first half of the book and the meal plan/recipe section should be resolved in a future edition.
Rating:
Summary: Good diet (I think)/ Bad Book
Review: After only 4 days on the diet, I cannot comment on the diet itself but I am horrified by the outright mistakes and inconsistencies in the book. This just shouldn't happen in a bestseller like this. For example, Dr.Agatston recommends in Phase 2 to add fruit to your diet but advises not to have it with breakfast (p.42). Yet in the meal plan for Phase 2, nearly every breakfast includes fruit. A meal plan breakfast item in Phase 1 is said to have a recipe on p. 131 but it is the wrong recipe. Additionally, it is suggested in the text to eat nuts as a snack in Phase 1 but they are never shown in the meal plan as an option. The doctor writes in the text to eat only low-fat cheese in Phase 1 but in the meal planner for 2 days in a row he lists fresh mozzarella cheese balls as a snack.
I could go on...but did anyone proofread this book ????
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't work for me
Review: I am not writing this to slam the South Beach Diet since so many people have benefited from it and I'm happy for them. It just didn't help me very much which is why I gave it only two stars. During the two-week strict phase I lost only 4 pounds. I certainly didn't need to buy this book and do the special diet to lose only 4 pounds. I could do that by cutting back a little on food and exercising a little more. During the two weeks I felt light-headed and sick most of the time. When hunger hit me, it hit harder than with my regular way of eating. A lot of reviewers point out the lack of emphasis on exercise. I want to point out a lack of information related to supplements. There are supplements that can help people control blood sugar and cravings. Before starting SBD, I had already lost 14 pounds in 5 weeks by following the common-sense French-style of eating described in Chic & Slim by Anne Barone and The Fat Fallacy by Will Clower (and enjoyed eating a lot more, too!). I was trying to get more weight off fast by going on SBD. For those people concerned that you lose only water-weight in the early parts of a diet, some of us with persistent edema would be very happy with that. For those people who retain a lot of water, I recommend The False Fat Diet by Dr. Elson Haas. I did this diet, which is based on food reactions, and lost 8 pounds the first week and then shed another 27 pounds in three months. However, I looked like had lost 50 pounds, because I got rid of that layer of water under my skin. My face and hands lost that puffy look and my stomach was perfectly flat. I also felt marvelous since the bothersome foods and chemicals were out of my system. I let the weight creep back on because I got lazy and started eating candy again and not paying attention to what I was reactive to. Dr. Haas really backs up his diet with a lot of info. I am going to get back on that diet. Final notes on SBD: I did appreciate SBD's emphasis on vegetables at every sitting. We really have to get back to preparing and eating our own fresh food. It is the pre-made, pre-packaged, pre-digested foods that got us into this obesity epidemic in the first place. If SBD doesn't work for you, don't give up hope. I recommended three other books that may just be your ticket to weight loss. I wish you all good luck!
Rating:
Summary: Something to chew on...
Review: I am a physician and know a little about diets, just talking with dietians and trying to guide my patients. Basically, Dr. Agaston puts medical physiology in terms that everyone can understand and makes good points about the way Americans are programmed to eat. His instructions are easy, but does require some conscience to your eating habits. In my first week I've lost 5 pounds and my husband has lost more. It is not as strict as a diet as what I've seen/heard about the Atkins and it is heart healthy for you too.
Rating: 
Summary: Skip This And Buy "Flip The Switch" Instead
Review: I just finished reading the South Beach Diet and trying the diet. I bought it because I believed that I could lose 8-13 pounds in 2 weeks.Well, my two weeks are up and I am down only 2 pounds. This clearly does not work. I told my sister that I was disappointed in my results. She told me that I was crazy and the I should read the book "Flip The Switch" by Jim Karas. She gave me her copy and I cannot put it down. I am starting his plan today and am selling my copy of South Beach. If anyone is reading, you HAVE to read "Flip The Switch." I believe it has all the answers I have been looking for.
Rating:
Summary: My first
Review: I have never dieted before simply because I didn't believe in it. That said, after reading several articles about this diet (and hearing about it from everyone) I decided to try it. It sounds so cliche to say "It changed my life" but that's exactly what it did. Take it from someone who LOVES food and LOVES to eat: This is the one and only diet that will work for you. Other recommended reading: YOU CAN HEAL YOUR LIFE by Hay, for fiction, McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD, and for inspiration: THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN.
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