There was a time, not all that long ago, when the South Beach Diet was making the headlines as the hottest weight loss program around. However, the skeptics were quick to claim that it was nothing more than another entry on the long list of fad diets, and that it was destined to fail. To be blunt, the critics were wrong. The Diet is still going strong, and people are still trying it for the first time. Many of those people have question about the South Beach Diet Phase One. With that in mind, here are some things that you should know.
One of the most interesting things about the South Beach program is that its main focus is to get you to change cravings for–and dependencies on–unhealthy foods. For example, it cuts out most of the sweets from your diet, which are really nothing more than empty calories anyway. However, it does it in a way that makes it easy to do and easy to stick with. Giving up unhealthy food makes a lot of sense, but it's how this diet does it that causes it to be so effective; and so much more than a here today, gone tomorrow diet plan.
The diet is made up of three distinct phases, with each successive phase building on the previous one. By doing it this way people don't have to jump from their current diet to the advanced phase of the diet. Instead, they are able to ease into it and that greatly increases their ability to lose the weight they would like to lose.
While the following list isn't complete, it gives you a good idea of the foods that you should stay from and the ones you can eat. Foods to avoid during the South Beach Diet Phase One include sugar, rice, cookies, potatoes, ice cream, bread, candy, fruit and pasta; as well as all forms of alcohol. Some people get a bit nervous about cutting out so many carbohydrates and sweets, but you will be eating so much good food that you won't miss the other stuff at all.
Foods that are allowed during the first phase include vegetables, meat, fish, nuts, eggs and cheese. In addition to those foods you will be able to eat garden salads topped with olive oil. That means olive oil only, with nothing else added to it. It's true that olive oil is 100% fat, but it's a healthy fat, and it also helps to make you feel more full. Not that you will have any problem with that when following the program because you get to eat three full meals and two snacks each day…plus dessert!
Finally, you should know that people doing the South Beach Diet Phase One are often surprised at how quickly the craving for sweets and unhealthy foods goes away. So, not only will be eating plenty of good, satisfying food, but you will also lose your cravings for the foods that do more harm than good–and that makes it an ideal plan for just about everybody.
