Day 4 on the South Beach Diet

Today was Day 4 on the South Beach Diet, a popular low-carb diet created by Dr. Agatston. This just isn’t a typical New Year’s resolution to lose weight – it’s actually something that I have been planning for awhile. I quit smoking 7 months ago and the weight has really come on since then. They say that after you quit smoking, your metabolism slows down to nothing for quite some time causing you to gain weight. Not to mention the constant eating – a replacement for cigarettes. While I was quitting smoking, I told myself that I would not worry about the weight gain – I would deal with that later. The most important thing was to get off of the smokes. Now 7 months later, it is time to pay the piper. I probably gained about 40 pounds since quitting.

This is not the first time I have been on the diet. I did it about 3 years ago and lost quite a bit of weight – about 35 pounds at the time. The first two weeks (Phase 1) are the most difficult – no fruit, no grains, no sugar (not even natural) – only foods like eggs, lean meats and vegetables. During this period, one typically loses about 12 pounds, which isn’t too bad considering that this is all within a two week period. Then, you move on to a more liberal phase of the diet (Phase 2) where you reintroduce certain low carb foods like fruit and grains. During this period, you lose about 2-3 pounds a week and you stay on this phase until you reach your target weight. In addition to the main book that explains the program, Dr. Agatston has also put out a cookbook, which provides you with many more meal choices during the diet. He has authored a few other books that I haven’t yet read: The South Beach Dining Guide, The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life, The South Beach Heart program: the 4-Step Plan that Can Save Your Life and The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook.

One thing that I like about the diet is that it works! It is also very doable and tolerable. Anyone else have any success with it?