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Summary: Pick the right foods to get slim!
Review: "The South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide" is a 138 page companion book to the best selling book, "The South Beach Diet".According to the author, Dr. Arthur Agatston all fats and carbs are not created equal. The good fats and carbs will nourish your body, help you stay healthy and lose weight. Eating the wrong kinds will trigger cravings, decrease your ability to burn off calories and make you hungry. In this book, Dr. Agatston shows you at a glance which fats and carbs are compatable with "The South Beach Diet". Each entry lists a food item, its carbohyrate, sugar and fat grams. Foods are then ranked as limited, very limited or avoid. There are over 1,200 listings. The beginning of the book gives a quick overview of "The South Beach Diet". It describes why we need to select certain foods in order to lose weight and get healthy. Though it does not go into the great detail of the original South Beach Diet book, you could purchase this mini book and learn enough to be able to follow the diet successfully. The book packs in a lot of information. In addition to the overview, and food ratings there are also shopping tips and meal makeovers. A handy dining out section makes it easier to stay on the South Beach track at your favorite restaurants.
A quick guide also lists what foods to enjoy on each phase of the diet. The only drawback to the book is though its smaller than a normal sized book (7" tall by 5" wide), it's still to large to fit in a pocketbook. It would be nice if it were smaller, making it more portable, thus I deducted one star.
Other than that, the book is a super handy resource, excellent for those following the South Beach diet or concerned about their health.
Rating: 
Summary: No usable Info
Review: 90% of this book list foods that should be avoided. There is no reason to list every type of doughnut or cake you should avoid. If you remove the listings of the foods to avoid the remainder is not worth the price.
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Summary: If You've Made it Past the First Two Weeks ...
Review: After hitting 30, I was like many people who gained a significant amount of weight. Probably due to a more inactive lifestyle (sitting at a desk all day), working out at the gym rather than playing sports regularly (allowing for more cheating), just hitting the inevitable slowing metabolism of older age and getting married and eating too much "good?food. During the past 8 years I've gone from 155 pounds to 180 pounds. I got tired of complaining about how fat I was, buying new pants and not liking the way I looked in the mirror compared to how I used to look when I was more athletic. Also, hearing from old friends how "fat?was a real downer. It takes determination to lose weight and I've always thought the formula to be relatively simple: eat less calories and burn more through exercise. It's just very difficult to do so ?it takes that determination and discipline. Sometimes, you get so fed up it just happens and you make that resolution to do so. But, many times you see some results and fall back on the fat bandwagon. I've been on the South Beach diet for about 3 weeks. Personally, I've found this to be the most practical diet out there. Also, the science behind the diet especially regarding insulin and the benefits of the diet for the heart was very interesting. Atkins was way too strict and Body for Life was just impractical with their 6 meals a day routine (the exercise program theory is great, though). After the initial first two weeks (the strictest) I've lost about 6.6 pounds. But, I've done no exercise whatsoever and have eating quite a bit (probably too much) which accounts for the lower than the average weight loss I saw. I was rarely ever hungry. I'm feeling great and have more energy ?can't wait to incorporate exercise into my diet which should get me the last 10 pounds I want to lose. I'm now in the second phase and just purchased this Guide as a complement to the South Beach Diet book. The only complaint I had about the original book is that it was a bit weak in terms of listings of good foods / bad foods. I had many questions as to whether a particular food was good or bad and just made a personal judgment call ?I wouldn't call it so reassuring. Though it would have been nice to have this included in the original book (and have the book have a bit less testimonials) I would highly recommend it to any one past the first few weeks of the diet. It's small and you can keep it in your bag or briefcase and whip it out whenever (a good case for having it in its own slim volume). Probably, after a few weeks the knowledge in there will have sunk in to let you make those calls on your own. For that reassurance, I think it's worth it. The benefits far out outweigh the fairly minimal cost especially since it's all about your health. Good luck to you and hoping all a healthier and happier life!
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Summary: Its not a way of dieting, its a way of life
Review: After trying numerous diets and excercise routines nothing has really helped. I have tried the Atkins diet which is a no carbohydrate diet, similar to the South Beach diet, but I gained the weight back in a week after going off.When I tried the South Beach diet I could still enjoy most of the foods I always had before.Most importantly I did not feel deprived or hungry at any time.The South Beach Diet book is an excellent tool to help you choose a meal plan that is healthy, satisfying, and invigorating. Although most low carb diets are known to be unhealthy the South Beach diet does not only restrict you to high protein, low carbohydrate,high fat foods. The South Beach Diet employs the differences between good carbohydrates and bad ones. It explains the significance of sugar, carbohydrates, and fat in ones diet plan. Agatson tells you exactly what to eat, how to cook it, and most importantly what to stay away from. Agatson also gives tips on what excercises to do and how often to do them. He shows how regular excercise can greatly increase your chances of losing weight, and keeping it off. The book also includes true success stories of people who have tried the diet and now live by it. I strongly recommend buying this book because it really helps to have a guideline to follow when trying to lose weight.Plus it really works!
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Summary: plagarism
Review: Dr. Agatston is a hack at best. Atkins New Diet Revolution book came out before South Beach Diet and differentiated between good carbs and bad. Much of Agatston rips off Atkins and you will be better off purchasing and, unlike many insipid reviewers who tried to compare Atkins and Agatston, reading closely, so that you fully understand it, Atkins book. OWL reintroduces carbs and does encourage all the healthy carbs that Agatston's book recommends. Since Atkins is cheaper you can save money, or just check out Atkins free website - and you will have all the basics needed for Atkins. Bear in mind, I'm not saying Agatston's book doesn't have sound advice, it's just that he isn't saying anything original (even he knows you can't reintroduce every single thing you like and maintain a healthy bodyweight). The best thing to do is combine exercise with either diet, since their the same, and good luck with your weightloss.
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Summary: I can eat again!!!!!!
Review: Finally I can eat again.I had my daughter two years ago and before her I was on Weight Watchers.I lost about 30 pounds and I was at my thinnest ever, 119pds.With pregnancy I gained 62 pounds and I still have to lose about 20 more pounds.I tried WW again and it just didn't work for me anymore.I was always hungry even when I stayed within my points.My friends and I calculated our caloric intake on WW and it was about 1100-1200 calories.Starvation!!!It wasn't enough.With South Beach I am not hungry and I watch what I eat I'm not panicking about how many points I have left for dinner.It's great and it does incorporate healthy eating like WW (low fat ).I own all 3 books and their great.
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Summary: An Amazing Follow up to the Book about the Diet
Review: For anyone who wants to keep up with a diet idea and plan, this book is a great source of information regarding what to eat and how to replace things in your family or individual meal plan. There is an interesting introduction to trans-fats that lists the foods that tend to have those in them. There is a list of what to eat and what not to eat, what specifically to avoid, what you can substitute and the amounts. I like the section telling you what to eat at various restaurants and types of eating establishments in the back of the book. If you are on the South Beach Diet or planning to be on it, then this book will be a great guide in getting you through it. Joe Slevin
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Complete Reference to Favorite Foods
Review: Having purchased "The South Beach Diet", I thought that this would be a fairly comprehensive supplement of foods to avoid and foods which are acceptable. However, the book, which is only slightly over 100 pages to begin with, re-iterates much of what is in "The South Beach Diet" without the very informative sections about how our bodies process foods and without the specific details of the actual diet program. Unfortunately, the food list was far from exhaustive, failing to include even products like V-8 [even though vegetable juice cocktail is included in the suggested breakfast menus]. The jacket states that it has 1200 food listings, but that is not 1200 different foods. Many, many items have multiple listings. For instance, 4 listings for canned peaches, depending on syrup. 12 listings for different cookies, all of which are to be avoided, but none of the listings are for chocolate chip which would be a typical cookie. Bottom line: I was disappointed; this is OK book; not sure it is worth $8.00.
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Summary: Disapointed
Review: I bought this book because I'm a fat ass loser but it doesn't work.
Rating:
Summary: So far So Good...
Review: I had done the Atkins diet and rebounded, gaining more than I had lost. My doctor and my dentist both recommended the South Beach Diet citing many of their patients who were sucessfully doing it. I asked my wife if she would go on it with me (easier with two pulling in the same direction!) and we've gotten through the first two weeks induction program (Phase 1) and into Phase 2. So far, so good. I dropped eleven pounds during the two week "boot camp" period and am down fifteen in week three. I really appreciate being able to eat fruits and a wider variety of vegetables. Especially grateful for whole grain breads. I believe that this is an eating program I won't get bored with and can stay until I lose my eighty pound goal. It's a little early to be writing a review but wanted to encourage those who might shy away from another "low carb" diet. I think it is a kinder and gentler program than pure Atkins. It certainly has much more variety and easier to stay on.
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