Dearest Trophy: While
I think living Trophy is the best way to diet. (Meaning you eat great food in
the right amounts, The Trophy Wife Diet is all about calories in vs. calories
out). There are other diets out there and I want to give you a little review of
a few of them. One that is pretty
popular and actually stresses eating great food is “The South Beach Diet”. A diet created in 2003 by cardiologist Arthur
Agatston and outlined in his best-selling book, "The South Beach Diet: The
Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight
Loss." The South Beach Diet is considered a commercial/fad weight-loss
diet.
The South Beach Diet,
which is named after a glamorous area of Miami, focuses on low car eating but
is not as restrictive as many low carb diets.
The purpose of the
South Beach Diet is to change the overall balance of the foods you eat to
encourage weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. The South Beach Diet says it's a
healthy way of eating whether you want to lose weight or not.
More on the South Beach Diet
It's a diet that
restricts certain carbs and fats to help you lose weight. The diet has a lot of the related South
Beach Diet products, such as cookbooks and diet foods you can purchase at your local chain grocer.
Check with your doctor
or health care provider before starting any weight-loss diet, especially if you
have any health concerns.
Diet details
"The South Beach Diet
says that its balance of good carbs, lean protein and healthy fats makes it a
nutrient-dense, fiber-rich diet that you can follow for a lifetime of healthy
eating. The South Beach Diet says that it'll teach you about eliminating
so-called "bad" carbs from your diet. It defines bad carbs as those
with a high glycemic index. Foods with a high glycemic index tend to increase
your blood sugar faster, higher and longer than do foods with a lower index.
Some evidence suggests that this increase in blood sugar can boost your
appetite, leading to increased eating and weight gain and possibly diabetes,
which can all contribute to cardiovascular disease.
The South Beach Diet
also teaches you about the different kinds of dietary fats and encourages you
to limit unhealthy trans fats and saturated fats, while eating more foods with
healthier monounsaturated fats. The South Beach Diet emphasizes the benefits of
fiber and whole grains and encourages you to include lots of fruits and
vegetables in your eating plan."
Carbohydrates
The South Beach Diet
is lower in carbohydrates than is a typical eating plan, but not as low as a
true low-carb diet. On a typical eating plan, about 45 to 65 percent of your
daily calories come from carbohydrates. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, you can get as much as 28 percent of
your daily calories from carbohydrates, or about 140 grams of carbohydrates a
day. A true low-carb diet might restrict your carb intake to as little as 5% a day.
The South Beach Diet says that regular exercise will boost your metabolism
and help prevent weight-loss plateaus.
Phases
of the South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet
has three phases:
·
Phase 1. This two-week phase is
designed to eliminate food cravings and jump-start weight loss. You cut out
almost all carbohydrates from your diet, particularly starches and sugars,
including pasta, rice, bread and fruit. You can't drink fruit juice or any
alcohol. You focus on eating lean protein, such as seafood, skinless poultry,
lean beef and soy products. You also can eat high-fiber vegetables, low-fat
dairy, and foods with healthy, unsaturated fats, including avocadoes, nuts and
seeds.
·
Phase 2. This is a long-term
weight-loss phase. You begin adding back some of the previously banned foods,
such as whole-grain breads, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, fruits and more
vegetables. You stay in this phase until you reach your goal weight.
·
Phase 3. This is a maintenance
phase meant to be a healthy way to eat for life. You continue to follow the
diet and lifestyle principles you learned in the two previous phases. You can
eat almost all the foods that you want, including occasional indulgences.
A
typical day's menu on the South Beach Diet
Here's a look at what
you might eat during a typical day in phase 1 of the South Beach Diet,
according to the South Beach Diet website:
·
Breakfast. Breakfast might be
artichokes Benedict, an asparagus omelet with goat cheese, or baked eggs with
spinach and ham, along with a cup of coffee or tea.
·
Lunch. Lunch might be a
shrimp stir-fry or a warm beef salad, along with iced tea or sparkling water.
·
Dinner. Dinner may feature
grilled sesame salmon or flank steak paired with a vegetable side dish and a
salad.
·
Dessert. The diet encourages
you to enjoy a dessert, such as a ricotta cheesecake or chilled espresso
custard, even in phase 1.
·
Snacks. You can enjoy snacks
during the day, too, such as a Muenster cheese and turkey roll-up or a spicy
nut mix.
Results
Weight
loss
The South Beach Diet
says that you'll lose 8 to 13 pounds in the two-week period that you're in
phase 1. It also says that most of the weight will be shed from your
midsection. In phase 2, it says that you'll likely lose 1 to 2 pounds a week.
Most people can lose
weight on almost any diet, especially in the short term. Most important to
weight loss is how many calories you take in and how many calories you burn
off. A weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week is the typical recommendation.
Although it may seem slow, it's a pace that's more likely to help you maintain
your weight loss permanently. Losing a large amount of weight rapidly could
indicate that you're losing water weight or lean tissue, rather than fat. In
some situations, however, faster weight loss can be safe if it's done in a
healthy way. For example, doctors may prescribe a medically supervised very low
calorie diet for rapid weight loss if you're obese or have serious health
problems. In addition, some diets include an initiation phase to help you jump
start your weight loss, including the South Beach Diet and the Mayo Clinic
Diet.
Health
benefits
The South Beach Diet,
while mainly directed at weight loss, may promote certain healthy changes.
Research shows that following a long-term eating plan that's rich in healthy
carbohydrates and dietary fats can improve your health. For example, lower
carbohydrate diets with healthy fats may improve your blood cholesterol levels.
On the other hand, no long-term, randomized controlled clinical trials have
measured the health outcomes of the South Beach Diet. Nor have there been such
studies of the overall health or cardiovascular benefits of following a
low-glycemic-index diet. But eating such foods as whole grains, unsaturated
fats, vegetables and fruits should help to promote good health.
Risks
The South Beach Diet
is generally safe if you follow it as outlined in official South Beach Diet
books and websites. However, if you severely restrict your carbohydrates, you
may experience problems from ketosis. Ketosis, caused by the breakdown of
dietary fat, can sometimes lead to weakness, nausea, dehydration and dizziness.
South
Beach Diet Information compiled by the Mayo Clinic
