Rating: 
Summary: No more cravings!!!
Review: This diet was not actually a diet in the beginning, but more of a nutritional approach to treating heart disease and improving the blood chemistries of the patients of Dr. Agatston. Weight loss was the benefit of it, and the book was ultimately a result of all the attention the "diet" received by word of mouth. Having tried the Atkins diet and having had my blood lipids increase on it, I was somewhat skeptical of this approach. But, the emphasis is on lower fat products, good carbs, and good fats. I feel better than I have in years, and I have absolutely no cravings. I think this is a huge breakthrough in both the health and weight loss arenas.
Rating: 
Summary: Broken Promises
Review: I just was at the book store and read a good portion of this book. I was shocked to read that it promises 8-13 pounds of weight loss in two weeks and that is says you will lose belly fat first. That is one of the biggest lies I have ever read in a weight loss book. This doctor is feeding you a line.I have been overweight for 25 years. I know it is my behavior. I just can't get it together. So, to hear this author promise me something that is impossible really made me mad. I want everyone reading this to know that there is one book I did like and did lose weight with. It's called Flip The Switch by Jim Karas. He talks about everything in his book, such as how to eat, exercise and set realistic weight loss goals. My best friends is down 47 pounds and has never looked better. Please, please, anyone reading this post, buy Flip and get the reality of weight loss, not Dr. Phil's fantasy.
Rating: 
Summary: Atkins copied
Review: This is nothing more than the Atkins Diet revisited. Diet books are big money makers and the Atkins Diet is the only diet that really works over time - so you get a number of re-written Atkins Diets with "new" names. This is just another one. The best book is still Atkins' own, which explains the inner workings of the diet. This uses a jazzy "South Beach" version as a promotion gimmick.
I do recommend the book, however, since there are so many of us who need a diet that works and while it is a copy-cat, it still works.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, A Good-Sense Plan
Review: This book is wonderful and provides great explanations about why we've gotten heavier and what we can do about it. I lost 16 pounds and I've kept it off for a year because I've learned how to think about the choices I make. It's an education and a lifestyle!
Rating:
Summary: Immediate results
Review: Wow. This book is the best. I started losing weight immediately and have now lost 12 pounds. Couldn't get going before. I have to admit that another book, Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self is part of my success story, because it helped me to overcome my self-sabotaging behavior and taught me how to bring my best self to any situation and make the most of it. Read both of these books if you want to give yourself the best chance of success.
Rating:
Summary: An improved version of Atkins
Review: I have read both this book and Atkins, and they are not the same. The South Beach diet does not limit carbs or count carbs as in Atkins. Rather it depends on dropping carbs with a high glycemic index, but allows whole grain bread, unlimited amounts of most vegetables, and milk. It also emphasizes dropping saturated and trans fats and relying on more healthy fats. The South Beach Diet is considerably more moderate and healthy than Atkins. I don't know of any controlled studies, but if it was found to work as well as Atkins, then it would show that the success of Atkins is not due to lack of carbs but rather the fact that strictly limiting carbs inevitably also removes the foods with a high glycemic index. It would be good news, because there are many low-glycemic-index carbs that can then be eaten. It is a shame that the nutrition research community gets large amounts of public funding but has devoted almost no money to testing popular diets such as these (nutritionists, please pay attention)! I have been on the South Beach diet for 2 months and lost 11 pounds and 2 inches from my waist. This may not seem fast compared to some of the claims, but speed is not really important. With any of these diets, you have to plan on sticking with them for life, so its much more important to find meals and recipes that you really like. I eat mostly what I did before, but just don't take the white starches with my meals and avoid sweet drinks, including fruit juices. I eat unlimited quantities of peanuts, cashews, cheese, and other snacks while still losing weight, and have never stopped having coffee or wine. I would suggest reading both this book and Atkins. No doubt the Atkins can drop weight faster, but this book seems to provide a healthier and easier diet for the long term. If this diet stalls or doesn't work for you, then you can move to the stricter Atkins diet.
Rating:
Summary: An Easy Explanation About our Battle with Food
Review: This book is a great and informative read and gave me a wonderful understanding about fats, carbs and fiber. I feel great and now I know how to think about what I eat. It's a plan for a LIFESTYLE!
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Summary: It works!
Review: I'll keep this brief. This diet has worked incredibly well. Finally a program that allows you to eat till you are full. By following the program, I've lost 24lbs, and still losing since July. Thank you Dr. Agaston!
Rating:
Summary: Life Changing Words
Review: 'The South Beach Diet' isn't just a book about how to lose weight. It's a personal manifesto on self-improvement. To lose weight is to become empowered, and Arthur Agatston provides the key to empowerment. Many people have followed the advice given by the author and have succeeded. Most notable is surely Marlon Brando. Marlon sent me a copy of the book recently with this written endorsement attached: 'Schwarz, before I read this book I was desperate. I'd tried everything from mouth staples to do-it-yourself liposuction. Nothing worked, including my remote contol after I'd sat on it while watching Richard Simmons mince around in his ludicrous hairpiece. But Agatston was my salvation. I'm now down to only 6 meals before lunchtime and I don't feel a day over 84. Although the whole book is wonderful, you should focus on a few specific sections. Chapter 3, 'Stop Eating Completely and Live Longer!', speaks for itself and in Chapter 6, Agatston provides information on the different types of food groups and explains why fats aren't good for you, especially when they cause death. Chapter 7, 'Snacking on Chocolate' is brilliant, as is the final chapter that presents 100 recipes in which lettuce is the sole ingredient. Cheers - Marlon.' If 'The South Beach Diet' worked for 'Buffet' Brando, it'll work for anyone. Well, maybe not Fergie.
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Summary: You better like to cook and shop, and have a lot of time
Review: While the concepts behind this diet are solid, the thought and planning that went into the menus and recipes are maddening. You need to do a LOT of planning ahead to follow the meal plan (I've been on it for one week, and already I've had to marinate steak, shrimp and chicken overnight.) The recipes are by and large excellent, but the ingredient lists are expensive. And if you're cooking for one, as I am, you wind up trying to cut things in halves, quarters or eighths, or have a lot of leftovers. Breakfasts are problematic. Who has time to get up and cook a smoked salmon frittata before work, while preparing dilled shrimp salad for lunch (if you remembered to marinate the shrimp overnight) and assemble snacks of cottage cheese stuffed tomatoes or cumcumber rounds with salmon spread. I believe the diet works, but a much more flexible menu plan is needed. Also, factual information is inconsistent. The book says you can eat eggs or regular mayo, yet many recipes call for egg substitute (no problem) or light mayo (nothing can make that taste good.) Portion sizes are also vague. For example, one night you make marinated steak, the next day you're supposed to have the leftover steak on greens with a salad dressing. What leftover steak? If you make the right amount, you have to cook more for lunch tomorrow.
I still recommend the book, though. Just beware or wait for the 2nd edition.
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