Rating: 
Summary: It will work, but for how long?
Review: In a few words, this diet plan will work. I'm on a very similar plan and have lost some fat (I'm at 7% now) and put on about 10 pounds of muscle over the past few months. It's simply a matter of limiting your caloric intake, maximizing protein consumption, and avoiding insulin spikes that come when you eat quickly burning carbs.Where this diet plan falls short is its failure to address an exercise routine. No, you don't have to kill yourself with cardio. You're really not burning that many calories unless you're swimming or running at a very intense level for an hour or so. With that said, the natural high you get off of an exercise routine combined with the knowledge that you're eating well and working towards a goal is what changes your life. Diets are a temporary fix. You won't stay on them forever (as many of you know) unless you have something motivating you to continue--namely the results you see from even a very modest exercise routine. Lift weights even twice per week. Ladies, you will not become ripped by doing this. Trust me, you'd have to go extremely out of your way to have that happen. When it comes down to it, I'd recommend Body for Life over this book anyday. The South Beach Diet is only half of the equation--one many of you won't stick with because it promotes the wrong goals. BFL presents a plan that can transform you and leave you looking forward to remaining healthy for years to come.
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Summary: Not too good to be true - Lost over 50 lbs
Review: In a six month period, I went from 215 lbs and a 38 waist to 158 lbs and a 32 waist. Even more impressive is that I have been able to keep the weight off, even during the recent Holiday season.This program did more for me in a few months thanw hat I was able to do with Doctors, Nutritionists, health clubs etc. my whole life.What a great program! Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed...
Review: I lost 13 pounds in two weeks. I stopped the diet after that to see if the weight would come back, it did not but I did start to crave the junk food again. So I am starting the diet again now that I am sure that once I start adding good carbs, I won't explode like a watermelon. It is really easy to follow. I love candy, cakes, bread, cookies, and lots of junk food so if I can do this diet. Anybody can! When I am on the diet I don't even crave the sweets.
Rating:
Summary: Is It Good or Is It Bad?
Review: I received a glorious, full-color brochure about the South Beach Diet from Prevention. It all sounded too good to be true, even the price of the book was unreal ($30.00 plus postage and handling.) So I decided to check the reviews on Amazon.com. There are many glowing recommendations plus a few negative reviews. Most of the naysayers also have valid points to make. I understand about severely restricting the carb intake, but what if (like me) a person doesn't like fish and seafood, doesn't like yogurt, doesn't like tofu, etc. And, will never eat fat-free cheese (that is really an oxymoron, don't you think?), then what? Is this diet of any use to someone with those types of restrictions? Can you make a success of this diet even though you eliminate the above foods from the diet? Just wondering. Would like to know thoughts on that before buying and trying this book.
Rating:
Summary: Yep, this diet works all right!
Review: This diet DOES work. I went from 196 lbs. to 172 lbs. in a period of about 3 months. No exercise, either! Now I plan to exercise/lift weights to tone up now that I've dropped over 20 lbs. The book is great.. detailed, informative, and the diet works. GET THIS BOOK!
Rating: 
Summary: nothing new
Review: This book has some helpful recipes, but it is basically the same low carb diet that can be found in less complicated form elsewhere. It's not all that different than Dr. Atkins work, really, particularly if you read his newest book, Atkins for Life.
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Summary: I lost 27 pounds and am making the most of my life!
Review: The South Beach Diet is a wonderful book because it explains which foods are good for us and how others keep us in a never-ending blood sugar cycle which leads to more food and despair. The diet works if we have dealt with our tendency to self-sabotage. So I recommend Optimal Thinking: How to Be Your Best Self, endorsed by leading experts, to eliminate whatever is stopping you from being your best. You will learn how to consistently make the most of any situation and will optimize your emotional intelligence. Once this is working for you, the South Beach Diet is a cinch!
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Summary: I like this better
Review: I like this better than the Atkins Diet. They are both similiar diets. They promote protien, low carb eating. Yet, the Southbeach recommends more portion control, which I think is important. And less fat intake. The Atkins tends to say you can eat as much protien, meat, etc. People tend to go overboard in this case. For example, low fat cookies. Then they eat the whole box thinking that's good. NOT! I'd also like to recommend a book on happiness that I think is cute. Like, Southbeach, it has a diet plan for happiness that is lite. It's called the Little Guide To Happiness. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that.
Rating:
Summary: Not for the busy dieter...
Review: I was so excited to start this book and all of the information is very useful and interesting. But this diet is not for someone who has many responsibilities. Meaning that if you don't have time to cook now, forget about it. I work a full time job and a part time job and there's no way I'll be able to find a stove to use to make the dishes they suggest. Good luck to those who are trying it!
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Summary: Advances in nutrition
Review: While I'm a nurse not a dietitian, I believe that much of Dr. Agatston's discussion of food and how the body uses it is reliable. This assessment is based primarily on what I've learned myself about diets over the course of several years of patient care and of trying to bring my own weight under control. Like most of those who have reviewed Arthur Agatston's book, I too have tried most of the diets that have come down the road and found them distinctly wanting. I was quite pleased by the author's discussion of the data underlying these diets and of that which refutes their effectiveness. As he points out in the introductory chapters, information about nutrition, like other scientific endeavors, changes continually over time. That's because science is an on-going activity that self corrects--I recall one scientist who said that it was every scientist's unhappy fate to eventually be proven wrong. This is a difficult concept for many laymen to accept--difficult even for some scientists. Because nutrition like medical science is interested in the betterment of the lives of contemporary people, the research data and the theories it engenders are put into practice as soon as possible, and it is only with time that the results of these practices, good or bad, become apparent. So it is with diets like those suggested by the American Heart Association, the Pritkins, the Adkins, and the Ornishs. Dr. Agatston is fully aware of that fact, whether his readers are or not. As he points out, Dr Ornish has modified his theories to accommodate the data. That's because they are scientists--and more important MDs--and they move forward as needed for the betterment of their patients, some of whom are only patients by proxy, by way of the written word. One of the things I liked most about the author's current attempt to help others is his honesty with respect to the value of the efforts of his predecessors. He doesn't make currency of their failures to better his own standing in the nutritional world. He takes the useful information from these early efforts and adds his own to them. In short he avoids throwing out the baby with the bath water, as the old saying goes. He's being a scientist. I also believe Agatston when he states that his primary interest is entirely in the well being of his patient's coronaries, not in their personal appearance or vanity. He views the improved self esteem that may arise from losing a few pounds as a perk that enhances the likelihood of his patients' follow through and thereby of an improvement in their lab values. I believe this because he's a cardiologist and that's their thing. When he says he's happy that so many people have jumped on the bandwagon for their own reasons, I suspect he's happy that they will also decrease their likelihood of developing coronary artery disease--again also because he's a cardiologist and that's their thing! As far as the actual content of the diet goes, I felt that the avoidance of concentrated sugars and refined starches was a good idea, and I approved the reintroduction of low glycemic index vegetables, something which the Adkins in particular had forbidden. Although I tried the diet myself, I found that I felt somewhat unwell by the third day. The doctor indicates that this is to be expected as the body gets used to the changes. Like one or two of the other reviewers, I too suffered from headaches and a general mild nausea. Both of these factors made it difficult to remain faithful to the diet beyond the fifth day. I will say, however, that a friend of mine, whose weight was nearing 250 pounds and had begun to affect her physical well being profoundly (and to the point where she said thought she would be the first of our circle of friends to die!), had no trouble with the diet, did in fact loose some 30 pounds in four months and was thoroughly pleased with her results. What I personally intend to do about my symptoms is to return milk to my diet but to stick to proteins and low GI vegetables, in short to move into Phase II sooner. As with any project like this, one should probably consult ones physician for advice. For some people, there might be medical reasons not to pursue this type of weight loss program. Your MD will be able to assist you in this regard. Again, as with any medication, weight loss program or other activity that affects your health, if you feel that your response is negative, you should probably heed those feelings and discontinue or alter the diet. In any case, good luck with your resolution to lose weight and improve your health.
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