OT - South Beach Diet

[Dogmama]

Has anybody tried this? My DH needs to lower his carbs & lose some weight (he is pre-diabetic) but Atkins is too extreme. I've never really followed any kind of strict diet, so I'm totally clueless. Is is a fairly high protein diet?

[brok]

and lost 25 lbs in 2½ months. The first phase about killed me - cut out Pepsi and had terrible caffeine withdrawal - top that off with no/very, very low carbs and I was a wreck for a few days. After the body gets over the initial shock of no carb though, I though it was a breeze. Have him read the book - it made sense to me and theat helped me stay focus on the change of eating habits. I approached it all from a health standpoint.

[SadieKate]

I really like it. If he rides a lot, Phase 1 needs to be modified because you just can't go on a several hour bike ride without carbs. Otherwise, the "diet" is the way we should all be eating - high fiber, low fat, lean protein, lots of veggies, etc.

[KnottedYet]

I tried to follow the diet (i'm just not that disciplined). I looooooved some of the recipes in the book.

Actually, I noticed that when I went "free range" with my eating, I ended up falling into a South Beach diet kind of pattern. Felt great. Lost 50 lbs.

The diet for diabetics is very similar to South Beach.

[SouthernBelle]

I lost 35 lbs on South Beach. I've been holding steady at 120-123 for several months now.

There is a very active forum that covers it.

http://www.southbeach-diet-plan.com/forum/

I'm known as WGirl there.

HTH,

[Geonz]

This bod was designed for carbs (at least while I'm biking). It doesn't work well without them.

[SouthernBelle]

This bod was designed for carbs (at least while I'm biking). It doesn't work well without them.

I would assume that you believe that SBD is a low carb diet. It certainly is in the first 2 weeks, but after that, it is not.

[SadieKate]

Geonz, read the book. The diet in Phase 3 is the right carbs not low carb. The previous phases are all about breaking you of cravings for sugar - simply like an elimination diet.

[Tiffanie]

SBD jump-started my weight loss. I followed phase 1 to help me kick my sugars and refined carbs addiction. It provided a lot of information on what are good/bad carbs.

This is not a low-carb diet. It's a good/healthy carb diet. After phase 1, I felt more prepared to make better food selections and it helped me to make healthier eating a lifestyle change as opposed to feeling I was just on a diet.

[SouthernBelle]

Geonz, read the book. The diet in Phase 3 is the right carbs not low carb. The previous phases are all about breaking you of cravings for sugar - simply like an elimination diet.

Plus it doesn't have you eating bad fats, like pork rind.

[SadieKate]

Dogmama, I don't know what kind of mileage you put in on a weekly basis but I'll share what I did during Phase 1. The diet is low carb for only the first two weeks which is fine for about an hour's road ride at moderate levels (for me). Anything longer or more intense required more glycogen than Phase 1 can supply. The glycogen stores are pretty depleted during this time.

Starting with lunch the day before a long ride, for me Friday lunch, I would eat pasta or rice and stay with a fairly high carb diet through Sunday lunch. I could ride longer and with more intensity (for instance mtb rides) without problem. I would go back to the Phase 1 diet at Sunday dinner. Due to this I extended Phase 1 to three weeks. This modification worked really well for me. I have a friend who tried a pure Phase 1 approach but for some reason insisted on no carbs at all (I don't think he even ate vegetables which isn't part of the plan) and, in his words, "just about died." I tried to get him to understand the relationship between carbohydrates and glycogen stores but he wouldn't and now bad mouths the diet. Agatston even states briefly somewhere in the book that endurance athletes need to be aware of this issue.

The first part of the book is the educational part while the second half is recipes. An easy read and very educational - stuff we all should know. It is very little effort to get up to speed on Agatston's reasoning and make your own decision.

[SadieKate]

Another diet you might look into is The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain and Joel Friel. I haven't read it yet but have heard good things. Controversial again (as all "diet" plans are) but Joe Friel is certainly a well-respected name among cyclists.

Anyone have an opinion on it? The book is in my big bedside pile holding down the floor.

[GLC1968]

Another diet you might look into is The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain and Joel Friel. I haven't read it yet but have heard good things. Controversial again (as all "diet" plans are) but Joe Friel is certainly a well-respected name among cyclists.

Anyone have an opinion on it? The book is in my big bedside pile holding down the floor.

I HIGHLY recommend this book as well as the original one "The Paleo Diet". It's a very good read...very, very intersting concepts. When I read the first one, all I could think about was how I was going to survive 3 hour workout sessions (back before I started biking). When The Athletes one came out, it made perfect sense to me.

Be forewarned, our Paleo ancestors did not eat any grains, dairy, salt or sugar, so the 'diet' sounds a bit extreme when you first read it. Loren Cordain gives extremely sound reasoning for everything. I followed the plan for about a month and really felt great. I had to tweak some of the recommendations for long rides based on how my body reacted, but overall it worked well. I ended up going 'off' the plan due to some odd scheduling issues, but I keep meaning to get back to it. Good stuff!!

[SJCzar]

I did South Beach about 3 years ago. Lost 40+ pounds and have stayed within 10 pounds of that weight. While on it, I really lost the need for sweets. I keep saying I'm going to go back on for awhile just to get rid of that urge to have hot fudge sundaes or cookies ....which I unfortunately give in to way more than I should.

I think the diet helps you make healthier food choices (most of the time), even after you aren't officially following it anymore.

[maillotpois]

Anyone have an opinion on it? The book is in my big bedside pile holding down the floor.

Maybe we should compare the sizes of our bedside book piles one day. Not that I'm competitive or anything.