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| The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss | 
| Author: Arthur Agatston
Publisher: Rodale Books
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $24.94 (100%)
New (315) Collectible (34) from $0.44
Avg. Customer Rating:  730 reviews
Sales Rank: 5842
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 310
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.6 x 1
ISBN: 1579546463
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.25
EAN: 9781579546465
ASIN: 1579546463
Publication Date: April 5, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: With pride from Motor City. All books guaranteed. Best Service, best prices.
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| Customer Reviews:
Great book January 3, 2008
I often suggest this book to my paitents. Dr. Agatson's book is clear and simple. A great starting point for dieters who wish to change eating habits for heart health, weight loss or just for a better eating style overall. The follow-up books & pocket guide are fabulous as well. This book is not for vegetarians or vegans and you have to like, and have access to, fish.
Need more diet advice? Check out my book Chinese Medicine & Healthy Weight Management.
Be Well,
Juliette Aiyana, L.Ac., Author
http://www.amazinghealing.com
 THIS ONE WORKS - lost 20 pounds in 2 months January 2, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
The South Beach diet is nothing at all like Atkins - I don't know why other reviewers compare them at all. I have tried both. On the Atkins diet I lost about 10 pounds in one month, but I had headaches, no energy and felt sick from the zero-carb diet (my body went into ketosis). I had to quit after one month and gained all that weight right back.
I've been on South Beach for 3 months now and have suffered no ill effects - in fact this is the healthiest I have felt in years! Not only am I losing weight like never before (about two pounds per week on average) but my complexion has cleared up, I don't catch every cold that comes along, and I feel great!
Unlike Atkins, you do NOT cut out all the carbs - you just cut out the BAD carbs, like sugar and starch. You give up all the sweets, potato chips and fried foods. And unlike Atkins, you don't fill yourself with heavy, fatty foods like bacon - you cut out the bad, saturated fats and only eat "good" fats.
For the first two weeks you have to live without alcohol, fruit and bread - but it isn't really that rough. It's only two weeks. During that time, which is called Phase One, your metabalism and body chemistry changes. After Phase One you don't even crave these foods like you did before.
On Phase Two you hardly even feel like you are dieting. Typical meal for me: Salmon fillet with asparagus and hollandais sauce, whole-wheat bread roll, green salad with balsamic dressing, red wine and for dessert: strawberries dipped in dark chocolate! I don't feel deprived, I eat my fill and I enjoy my meals. I don't spend a lot of time counting calories, I just weigh in once a day and watch the pounds come off.
I never thought I would be able to lose weight like this. I was a stick figure most of my life, running around in size 5 mini-skirts, eating whatever I wanted without a care in the world - then when I hit my 30's my metabolism finally caved in to bad eating habits and I ballooned up to a size 14 almost overnight.
I tried Atkins, I tried Scarsdale, I tried juicing and colon cleanses, I hired a personal trainer and worked my butt off at the gym - and I couldn't put a dent in my weight! In fact, I gained weight because of all the muscle I put un undernieth the fat!
An aquaintence had recommended South Beach to me over a year ago, but I was so gun-shy from all the failed diets that I ignored what she said - until I saw her months later and she had lost 35 pounds! I realized something must have worked, so I decided to try it - and low and behold it did work and it was FAST! 20 pounds gone in the first two months and I am down to size 8. People comment to me on how much younger I look. My double chin is gone, I have cheek-bones again - and all that muscle I got at the gym actually SHOWS! I can see my knee-caps again, the cellulose is melting away and I really do feel 10 years younger.
I still have a long way to go to get back to size 5, but I can actually see light at the end of the tunnel. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a healthy life-style change. It is well written, easy to follow and very simple. There are a lot more foods that you CAN eat than what's on the no-no list, and all you really give up is the stuff that's bad for you anyway.
Go for it - you have nothing to lose except FAT.
awesdomeb diet December 30, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Since, 1996 and turning 40 the next year, I went from weighing 180 to 267 as a man only 5ft 7.
Neither 3 years of power lifting nor 6 years of TKD helped me lose much weight.
A doctor tried to help me with fat absorbing pills and I kept gaining weight. Other doctors found my body no longer made testosterone and diagnosed me with sleep apnea both of which contribute to weight gain. One doctor tried some pills to help my body get use to eating only 1,500 calories.
Two years ago, I started using Androgel and a breathing machine for sleep apnea, but I was not loosing weight. Neither was the diuretic doing all it was prescribed for. That didn't improve much when the dose was increased.
On November 28, my doctor put me on the South Beach diet and prescribed metformin to keep my blood sugar level balanced. By December 1, I lost 12 pounds. Not eating all that fruit and drinking so much fruit juice along with the strictness of phase one really made my diuretics work.
I'm still in phase one and now weigh 243. I'm 17 lbs away from my competition weight when I benched 315 in the spring of 2000. Given my morbid obesity, I'm going to stick with phase 1 for another month.
A doctor told me that whatever you loose in the first 2 weeks or 1st month will take twice as long to loose again. So, I understand it will take two months to loose another 24 lbs. I have much more energy to exercise with. I look forward to loosing another 24 pounds by early March by staying on phase one and being religious about exercise. That would mean weighing 219 before taxes and then four months to loose another 24
by the end of July--195; eight months to loose the same by March, 2008 and weigh 171.
 Starts quasi-Atkins, ends quasi-Mediterranean December 29, 2007
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
If Americans ate in the fashion recommended by this book, we would be slimmer, healthier, and live longer. The South Beach Diet blends the best of Atkins and a Mediterranean-style diet.
Dr. Agatston's theory to explain overweight is that we eat too many sugars and starches. The detrimental carbohydrates are concentrated sugars--such as soft drinks, some fruits, and commercial fruit juices--and over-processed low-fiber starches, such as enriched white flour and white rice. These are his "bad carbs." According to his theory, bad carbs increase insulin levels sharply, leading to increased fat storage (especially abdominal fat) and increased cravings for carbohydrate as the insulin eventually causes abnormally low blood sugar levels a few hours
after the carb intake. Then you eat more carbs to raise your sugar level back to normal. Dr. Agatston spends much time explaining the glycemic index, a measure of how rapid and high a spike in blood sugar is seen after ingestion of particular foods.
Figuring less prominently in this obesity theory are his "bad fats"--saturated fats and trans fats. These are associated with cardiovascular disease according to most nutrition experts. A few of the "good fats" allowed on South Beach are olive oil, canola oil, and peanut oil.
If sugars and starches cause overweight, then the cure should involve avoidance of them. And that's exactly what Dr. Agatston recommends over three diet phases. Phase One, lasting two weeks, eliminates nearly all concentrated carbs, like the Atkins diet Induction Phase. In Phase Two, lasting two weeks, "good carbs" are gradually re-introduced: low-fat milk and yogurt, sweet potatoes, whole grain bread and pasta, most fruits, brown rice, more high-fiber vegetables. Start with one or two servings daily. If your rate of weight loss stalls, cut back on carbs. If you gain weight, return to Phase One. Starches are still eaten only sparingly. Phase Three starts after you have reached your "ideal weight" and lasts the rest of your life. Curiously, the author never tells you how to determine your ideal weight. This phase is similar to Phase two, except even more of the good carbs are allowed. Judging from the 14-day meal plan, this phase is close to a Mediterranean diet, although providing more protein (in eggs, chicken, fish, and lean beef) and fewer carbs. All three phases involve two weeks of eating exactly what and when Dr. Agatston specifies on detailed daily meal plans. The meals involve cooking and you will need a blender or food processor. Overall, there is great food variety. Fish is featured often.
How much do you eat? "The meals should be of normal size--enough to satisfy your hunger, but no more than that." So the author never says how many calories you will eat. The author had intended to produce a diet with few rules, yet he tells you exactly what and when you will eat for 6 straight weeks. Although he says it is not a low-carb diet, it is.
South Beach is an improvement over Atkins, especially to the extent that the author moves Atkins toward a Mediterranean-style diet. Agatston never claims his diet is Mediterranean, which would have too much carbohydrate and not enough protein to suit him.
Weakest points? My biggest turn-off is the six weeks of prescribed eating, leaving no room for flexibility. After two weeks, "the physical cravings that ruled your habits will be gone, and they'll stay away for as long as you stick with the program." I'm highly skeptical. Reactive hypoglycemia is not nearly as common as he implies. Exercise is recommended--essentially a brisk walk for 20 minutes daily--but is not stressed nearly enough. Anyone looking for an excuse not to exercise will find it here. People can still easily overeat and gain weight, even eating just from the lists of approved foods. There is no reference section and very few references are given. His attitude seems to be, "Trust me, I'm a doctor."
An improvement to South Beach would move it further away from Atkins and closer to the time-honored healthy Mediterranean diet of the mid-20th century, in which more "good carbs" and fewer proteins would be encouraged. And myriad benefits from exercise should not be ignored. The only diet that meets these criteria is The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer.
-Steve Parker, M.D., author of "The Advanced Mediterranean Diet: Lose Weight, Feel Better, Live Longer."
Outstanding December 2, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've lost nearly 30 pounds over the last few months and haven't felt better in years! I have no intention of going back to my old eating habits. An Absolutely liveable program!!
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