Rating: 
Summary: My Favorites
Review: This South Beach Diet book was one of my absolute favorite purchases of 2003 at Amazon. The other top five are Tommy Leonardi's "Secrets of Sensual Lovemaking", the DVD "New Sex Now", and Dr. Corynna Clarke's "Goddess Worship" video. Rounding it out are Tony Robbins' "Giant Steps" and "Wisdom Daddy Taught Me." Every one of these is absolutely great!
Rating: 
Summary: A healthy diet that works
Review: As most Americans not living in caves know, millions use low-carb diets because they actually work. The South Beach Diet combines the weight-loss oomph of the trail-blazing Atkins Diet with common-sense efforts to lower saturated fat, increase fiber and add variety for long-term success.The Atkins Diet holds that severely restricting sugars and starchy carbohydrates - those that cause the blood sugar to spike, in turn causing strong insulin response and a subsequent appetite once blood sugar is driven down - lets the body easily burn both fat reserves and dietary fat. The SBD employs this principal for the two-week first phase. Author and cardiologist Arthur Agatston says most people lose 8 to 13 pounds here, and this was true for both my wife and me. (I am a former Weight Watchers leader, by the way, and for years adhered to the carb-rich food pyramid promoted by health authorities and WW. As I aged, it grew harder to lose weight even if I followed it rigorously.) The SBD expands on Atkins in its second phase, wherein low-glycemic carbs - those that, by dint of greater fiber or low sugar, don't raise blood sugar as much - are reintroduced moderately to the diet, along with some fruits. You use some whole-wheat pasta as side dishes, rather than entrees; you eat certain high-fiber cereals with yogurt for breakfast. We started having red wine with dinner. Weight loss slows to perhaps a pound a week. The effect Agatston has found, distinct from the fat-burning Atkins phase, is that selecting and controlling carbs while eating plenty of protein and beneficial fats, limits appetite and provides satisfaction such that dieters continue weight loss without too much effort. Recognizing that boredom ultimately foils most dieters, Agatston obtained creative recipes from Miami's trendy South Beach chefs. Their nouvelle-cuisine style helps embellish the chicken breasts, flank steak, fish, eggs and salads common in the menu. I never used so many fresh herbs before, and enjoyed it.
The first weeks are a major commitment. You must buy and chop many fresh vegetables - the garnish on the entrée, two side dishes, a salad, a veggie wrap for snacks. The recipes aren't difficult but have many ingredients. With a full fridge and preparation necessary for six meals and snacks daily, you must stay on track, else the vegetables spoil. I found the first few weeks cost me an extra hour daily as I labored to make dinners and prepare the next day's lunch and snacks so that my wife could take them to work. After that, it eases up. Snack choice broadens to items requiring little prep. Knowing the basics, dieters can make suitable dishes without fretting whether the cilantro is fresh. Subsequent editions of the book should deal clearly with serving size. Agatston sometimes says to eat as much as you like, and at others pushes portion control. Studies so far indicate Atkins-style dieters don't suffer elevated blood cholesterol despite a rich diet. Agatston splits the difference, sometimes using eggs and at other times egg substitutes. He uses plenty of bacon while encouraging leaner meats such as skinless chicken, fish and lean beef cuts. But this seems mostly cautionary, as both weight-loss and blood chemistry seems to accommodate higher-fat selections as long as you stay on the diet. Agaston is wise, however, to realize that because most dieters get lax over time, they may then seriously hurt themselves if they haven't acquired dietary habits lower in saturated fat and cholesterol. Science awaits a unified theory linking degree of carbohydrate restriction, rate of weight loss, appetite, dietary intake and exercise - telling me, say, that if I consume X blood sugar or less per pound of body weight, I am in the Atkins phase, and if I consumer between X and Y, I'm in the SBD phase, and should limit portions in Z fashion. It seems that SBD's phase two, allowing more sugar and carbohydrate than phase one, is more sensitive to proper serving size and exercise. Agatston's glycemic indexes are so far the best I've found for the American market. But for long-term use, more extensive ones are needed listing common processed foods and finished dishes, plus every conceivable fruit, vegetable or grain. Also, future editions should reference the newer "glycemic load," which combines the index with amount eaten to measure total blood-sugar impact, help dieters better monitor their intake. The book is easy to read, with a few pages of hard information in every chapter followed by personal anecdotes you can skip. There are dozens of recipes, weeks worth of menus, and food lists showing what's in and what's out in each phase. With new low-carb products hitting the market every day - I love the low-carb Klondike bars - you may well succeed with this diet.
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Summary: changed my life
Review: Two books that have changed my life in the past few months are "The South Beach Diet" by Arthur Agatston and "The Nice Guys Guide" by The Nice Guys Institute. I lost 15 lbs. the first 2 and a half weeks and another 7 lbs in the next 3 weeks. I love the fact that this diet doesn't include having to always write things down. I've tried many other diets, like the weight watchers diet and it was a real pain to keep having to record what I ate. Now, after reading this book, I have learned what I can eat and I always make sure I have these food accessible. For example, I always carry around a small bag of pistachios and it's a quick fix to my cravings!
Rating: 
Summary: Why all the hype?
Review: I lost 3 pounds on this diet in the first week, and then my weight started going back UP while I was still on the diet. And no, I did not cheat!!!! I think this diet is for people who are obese and/or eat a lot of junk. It certainly didn't work for me. (Did I mention I didn't cheat?!?!)
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Summary: Not overly complicated diet that seems to work!
Review: Heard the taped version of THE SOUTH BEACH DIET, written
and read by Dr. Arhtur Agatston . . . I liked that he developed
it first for himself and actually used it. Also, I liked the fact that it is less restrictive than the Atkins
diet . . . nor is it overly complicated, and it doesn't seem to
require you to go hungry. If you try it, you can eat normal size helpings of meat, poultry
and fish. You'll further eat eggs, cheese, nuts, and vegetables.
Snacks ARE required. And you'll learn to avoid the bad carbs,
such as white flour, white sugar and baked potatoes. Best of all, people who follow it seem to lose weight--with
stubborn belly fat being the first to go!
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Summary: Lost 40 lbs in 6 weeks - easy to stick to
Review: I noticed a couple of posts here asking how do you stick to this plan? That's easy because staying or sticking to this diet is easy. So much variety. So many many choices. You feel real good on this plan. High energy and satiety. This isn't some low calorie, high carb, nutritionless program that looks great on paper but leaves you tired, hungry and tense and still fat. It is a program that is complete, provides good nutrition and you will feel great. I lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks and it was the easiest 30 lbs I have ever lost. Although I have lost weight on other programs, the results were always short lived and I couldn't stick to those programs either because of hunger pangs, irritablity or just lack of food choices---diets were boring. Not so with this program. And it's good for you too. Try it, you'll like it
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Summary: An Atkins Wannabe
Review: This book is nothing but an almost exact copy of the original Atkins diet.....which was and still is excellent. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: It Works!
Review: This is an excellent book! I've tried many of the fad diets and none of them really seemed to work that well. I also tried "Body-for-Life" which works, but is just too time consuming and strict! The thing I liked better about this diet, is that you have the different "phases" which are not too hard to stick to. The recipes are great - very useful! I highly recommend it! Give it a try, stick to it.. you won't regret it. :)
Rating:
Summary: Simple Diet that Really Works
Review: I would recommend this book to anyone who has tried other "fad" diets and struggled with the hunger and lack of results. The thing I really liked about this book, was that he not only tells what you need to do and how to do it, but provides the recipies to back it up. Other diets simply make you buy other books to get the recipies. I see this book as helping people change their lifestyles, not just diet, which is the key. I lost 20 lbs. and counting. Good book easy read and very helpful.
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Summary: Better information online
Review: I liked what I'd heard about this "diet" and bought the book to get the details so that I could do the two week phase 1 correctly. But, I ended up with so many questions that I needed to go online for help. The information at the free support sites was more than enough to follow the plan. (I didn't need the fee-based official site.) For example, the book lists food that is "banned" for phase 1, but then listed as an ingredient in some of the phase 1 recipies. Is it ok for me to use in my own recipies? Also, a large part of the book is the section with recipies, but these are from restaurants and are too much trouble for me to make when I just want to grab a snack. Bottom line -- good food plan, but the book isn't worth buying.
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