The South Beach Diet is a three-phase eating program designed for food lovers who need an effective way to lose weight. It is based on eating “good carbs” and plenty of fiber. While you can buy the South Beach Diet book to get all the program details, there are many online tools that can help you gain support and stay loyal to the program. The South Beach Diet has an entire section of the website called “Tools & Support.”

In that section you can find a meal planner, which will provide a daily menu customized to your tastes. There are hundreds of meal options to choose from, for every meal of the day in addition to snacks and dessert.

The site also comes with a shopping list generator, which helps you figure out what foods you should be buying at the grocery store. You can create a list for today or next week, and you will save time and money by going into the store with a list to stick to.

Another tool South Beach Diet provides is a recipe finder. It is replete with more than 1,000 healthy and tasty recipes for both meals and snacks. The database is easy to navigate and can help you find instructions for cooking food you’re in the mood for.

Discussion Groups are one of the major components of the South Beach Diet’s Tools & Support section. Registration is easy and will allow you to interact with others on the diet and reaching toward the same goals. Share recipes and tips, swap stories, brag about your success, ask for help – this is a place to receive ultimate support from people who understand what you’re going through.

Do you have a hard time keeping with the South Beach Diet when you go out to eat at restaurants? You can still have success by using the Dining Out and Fast-Food Guides. They will help you figure out how to read the menus at restaurants. It will also teach you how to order healthful foods everywhere, whether you are at McDonald’s or an upscale caf?.

The Weight Tracker is another major part of the South Beach Diet online program. You can track your progress as you achieve weight loss results and receive encouragement from other online members. Regularly weighing in will help you maintain motivation. This also allows you to chart your progress.

Other online South Beach Diet tools include nutrition counseling, workout videos, online journals, South Beach Diet Kitchen (cooking tips), and daily e-mails containing tips, news, and encouragement.

How much does it cost to join the program? It is free for the first seven days, so you can try it out first to see how you like it before committing. Be aware, however, that you still must submit your credit card information for the free trial. Once the trial period is over, the cost is $5 a day and you can cancel at any time after a four-week commitment. You are not billed day-to-day, however; you are billed $65 every 13 weeks.

By: Daniel Delaney

The traditional Mediterranean diet is a rich combination of vegetables, fruit, cereals, legumes, beans and nuts cooked, dressed or garnished with olive oil. The diet also constitutes moderate consumption of milk and milk products such as cheese and yogurt. The people of the Mediterranean region include a moderate intake of wine too. Thus, the traditional Mediterranean diet believes in more consumption of plant food and weekly and monthly intake of animal food.

Studies have been ongoing for years to find the secret of good health enjoyed by people living in the Mediterranean region. The Mediterranean region is a cluster of more than twenty states. Each state has its own culture, tradition, customs, practices and food habits. In spite of these differences, every state was found to make use of olive oil and red wine, ate a diet of more plant food rather than animal and enjoyed an active life style. In other words, people in this region followed a traditional Mediterranean diet even though the preparation of food varied from state to state.

The traditional Mediterranean diet is explained through the Traditional Mediterranean Diet Pyramid. Apparently, intake of food products has been classified. Based on the nutritional value of various food products, it has been classified for normal, moderate and low consumption on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. The daily diet recommends vegetables, cereals, bread, pastas, potatoes, nuts, fruit along with moderate intake of dairy products like milk, yogurt, cheese and wine. Interestingly, an active life style has also been included in the daily diet. Weekly food includes poultry, eggs and seafood and red meat is recommended only few times a month.

Thus, the diet ensures good fat provided by olive oil reducing saturated “bad” fat from animal food. The traditional Mediterranean diet provides necessary minerals, anti-oxidants, low saturated fats, vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, and other nutrients essential to maintain a healthy heart and a longer life.

By: Kevin Stith

Is there a way to spot a bad diet program? You might be confused with a lot of dieting fads in the market claiming they are the best but they do not provide what they promise.

The reason why the South Beach diet is dangerous is due to these following facts:

1. Any kind of diet which asked a specific time frame to get it all done and lose those unwanted fats is considered bad. The South Beach diet phase 1 asks a dieter to engage in a no-carbohydrate intake for two weeks. Just imagine how much vitamins and minerals will be gone if you do not provide yourself with a well balanced meal.

2. The South Beach diet might sound too good to be true on your part. A lot of people claim significant weight loss in the South Beach diet program, however, you have to be keen that any miraculous claims might also fall on the dangerous side.

3. One of the other reasons on why the South Beach diet is dangerous is because it has the probabilities of increasing high blood cholesterol and even heart diseases. This will also make way for the inability of the body to detoxify as dieters experience constipation for the lack of fibers and other nutrients that facilitates in increasing the metabolic rate.

These are just some of the reasons why the South Beach diet is dangerous. It’s always better to have a well balanced diet and regular exercise instead of shifting on a diet that might get your weight back doubly in time.

By: Mark Thomson

Although the South Beach Diet is one of the easiest ways to safely lose weight fast, there is a case to be made for adding exercise to your regime to enhance your results.

If you are like me, I hate going to the gym to exercise but studies show that those who sustain weight loss over time are those who exercise regularly. The benefit of exercise is that it helps you feel better, and exercise is shown to prevent heart and other disease to help you live longer.

So how do I incorporate exercise into my weight loss program?

The founder of the South Beach Diet, Dr. Agatston recommends interval and core body training. Studies show that you can burn more calories in 20 minutes of interval walking than by walking continuously for 1 hour.

Agatston claims interval training will speed up metabolism, increase the rate of weight loss and improve your general health. He states that interval training allows dieters to achieve maximum results with a minimum time commitment.

Interval training is simply alternating periods of high intensity exercise with periods of recovery. The easiest forms of interval training can be done at home or outdoors. No need to go to a gym. You can do interval training on a bike or treadmill or during a swim. Dr Agatston’s first choice for interval training is walking as it is available to everyone and no equipment or machines are required.

So instead of walking at a continuous pace for say an hour, you would change things up by alternating short bursts of intense walking for say a minute followed by a recovery period with slower walking after each intense period. Just keep alternating for 20 minutes to start and add time as you become more fit. You can use interval training with all phases of the South Beach Diet to enhance your results.

Also when you do any form of exercise it is strongly recommended that you drink lots of water before during and after to keep your body properly hydrated.

This type of interval training is not only for the very fit, it is also very good for those of us who have never exercised before. If this is you just remember to go at a very easy pace until you feel confident moving forward with more intense sessions. This type of training is used to get cardiac patients back in shape so just about anybody can do this.

For maximum results you should alternate days of cardio and core exercises because if you try to do both on the same day, you may suffer muscle fatigue.

The online version of the South Beach Diet and the books outline more cardio and core specific exercise programs that have proven results if you are interested.

A word of caution: Consult with your doctor before you embark on a new exercise program especially if you have been inactive at all.

By: Rick Gibb

The south beach diet has been around for quite some time now. Using a three phase system where you eat differently depending on what stage you are at in the program. The question is really, after going through so much hard work and effort does south beach diet work? Let’s look at it in detail to find out what really is going on.

Phase 1 – During phase 1 of the diet you are very restricted in eating, you are not allowed to consume foods such as bread, rice, potatoes, pasta or baked goods. Even traditionally healthy foods such as fruit are off limits, and obviously it should come as no surprise to you that candy, cake, cookies, ice cream and alcohol are off the menu as well. This is to last for about 2 weeks and is the hardest and most strict part of the diet, focusing mainly on consuming 62% from fat (healthy fats obtained through lean meat) 28% protein and 10% carbohydrates.

This means you will be consuming mainly fish, sea foods, soybeans and fish oil with mayonnaise and soft margarine as alternative sources. The aim of this phase is for you to shed as much weight as possible (most experts quote between 8-13 pounds in the 2 weeks). However, when I tried using this it was very hard to stick to the meal plans and subsequently only lost 5 pounds over the course of 2 weeks.

Phase 2 – Although phase 2 is not as stringent as phase 1 with the gradual introduction of more carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, whole grain bread, whole grain rice, whole wheat pasta and some types of fruit, expect to see your weight decrease in smaller steps. The diet expects users to have already lost significant amounts of weight during phase 1, and stage 2 is more about gradual weight loss towards your ideal weight goal. I am skeptical about the effectiveness of this phase as well.

The problem is, after going through phase 1, phase 2 does little to quench the urge of the body to eat foods which we were forbidden from. You must have great self determination to continue in this phase (which could last a VERY long time if you have a lot of weight to lose) and it relies heavily on having good success in phase 1 (which I did not have) to motivate you to continue. I tried to follow this diet to my best abilities, and although I didn’t lose any weight, I did however manage to maintain my new weight from phase 1.

Phase 3 – I never managed to reach phase 3, although I do have all the materials pertaining to it. The diet of phase 3 is very much like phase 2, consuming at 33% protein, 28% carbohydrates and 39% fat diet, by now the diet is suppose to be a way of life which you can maintain. Unfortunately, for someone like me who likes to live life the fullest and experience many different kinds of foods such a diet was really inadequate to what I believed in.

To conclude, although I did lose some weight which I managed to maintain for several weeks, as the diet was of no enjoyment for me and since I did not really see great results in the first phase I slowly slumped back into my old ways and my old weight.

By: Owen Marx

Many people seem to think that diet pills are their quick and easy way to lose weight. Sure, they can definitely be quite helpful, but don’t expect to lose weight by taking them alone. Using diet pills without exercise is probably not going to provide you with the best results. You may lose some weight, but you are more likely to plateau faster and you may not get the nice body you really want without doing some type of exercising.

Diet Pills Shouldn’t Be Used on Their Own

You see, in most cases diet pills are not designed to be used on their own. In fact, if you look at the directions that come with many of them out there, they actually recommend that the pills be used with a healthy diet and a good exercise plan. No, this doesn’t mean you have to spend hours at the gym, but using diet pills without a bit of exercise is not going to give you the best results. Don’t try using them on their own if you are serious about losing weight and keeping if off.

Lifestyle Changes are Important Too

Lifestyle changes are important too when you want to lose weight. You can’t expect to just use diet pills and live the way you always have. You will need to start eating a bit healthier and you will need to get more active if you want to lose the weight and keep it off for good. Although they offer weight loss, often if you don’t change your lifestyle, you’ll quickly gain the weight back in the future, especially if you go off the pills.

Exercise Helps in Combination with Diet Pills

When you exercise, it can really be a huge help when you do it along with taking diet supplements. Many people find losing weight hard. Some even try to eat a better diet and exercise but they still don’t get far with their weight loss needs. When you add these pills, it can make it a bit easier to lose weight. These pills are designed to be used with diet and exercise for the best results. They give you a bit of an edge as you work to lose the weight. Just don’t think you will amazingly lose weight without making any changes.

Not a Quick Fix

You see, diet pills really are not a quick fix to your weight problem. Weight loss for good is going to take some time. It will take some work too. Most pills that offer quick weight loss without any diet changes or exercise won’t provide you with long term results.

By: Rachel Z Wilson

The South Beach Diet Plan kind of sounds like a reality TV show or something, but it actually is a bona fide diet that millions swear by. The South Beach Diet is one of those new breed of diets that sees carbohydrates as the key to weight loss and increased health.

Where the South Beach Diet Plan veers from the similar path taken by the Atkins Diet is in recommending that your servings of meat are leaner. The first two weeks or so require a severe reduction in the amount of carbs, but over time you are increase it gradually.

In addition, the South Beach Diet Plan divides carbohydrates into good and evil, rather than recommending an across the board cutting back. According to the South Beach Diet Plan, the good carbs are those that contain high fiber as being high in the good kind of fat, as well as having a low glycemic index. This basically just means that these carbs more easily digested and absorbed by the body.

The South Beach Diet Plan is separated into three distinct phases, though it is recommended throughout all three that ingesting the bad kind of fat be limited.

Phase I lasts two weeks, during which dieters avoid high-glycemic carbohydrates. These include such favorites as candies, bread, and sugar as well as those foods typically much easier to avoid such as potatoes, cereals and grains.

The idea of this two week phase is for the body to reduce its insulin resistance and start using its excess fat. But more on Phase I later.

The question often asked is whether the South Beach Diet Plan qualifies as just another fad diet or does it really have merit. Let’s look at the facts. The recommended caloric intake for the average person is from 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day. On the other hand, the caloric ceiling of South Beach Diet Plan is a mere 1500 calories per day. That’s not a whole lot of food, in case you weren’t aware. Cutting that many calories out of your diet per day is almost a guaranteed way of losing weight. But at what price?

One problem faced by many people who try it out is the tendency to go right back to their normal eating patterns once the desired weight is lost. Sensing this, the creators have actually done something rather ingenious. They have built the idea of falling off the wagon into the diet. The South Beach Diet Plan creator came up with this idea from personal experience.

He himself fell off the wagon and realized that a diet system needed to be established that dealt with that whole part of the psychology of dieting. Hence, the South Beach Diet Plan is easy enough to get right back into even after falling off track for a few days. Because there are three distinct phases to the diet, at any time things go all wacky, the dieter simply starts over again from phase one, which only lasts two weeks.

By: Matt Garrett

Mediterranean diet is a diet that is taken by the people who lives in the countries of the border of Mediterranean Sea. At least 16 countries border the Mediterranean Sea. A diet that varies between these countries and also between regions within a country comes under the category of Mediterranean diet.

There are many differences in culture, ethnic background, religion, economy and agricultural production result in different diets but these may have some common things and that contributes in making Mediterranean diet. Some of the common and essential products are rich amount of fruits and vegetables, good amount of bread, cereals, beans, nuts, potatoes and seeds.

Olive oil is a monounsaturated fat source. Eggs can be taken 4 times a week. Wine can be taken either in low or moderate amount. For example, residents of Greece eat very little red meat and average nine servings a day of antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables. The Mediterranean Diet implies exercise, activity, healthy nutrition and natural products. Mediterranean Diet means to accept any type of food except artificial ones.

Any Mediterranean Diet prefers to take heavy breakfast as it help you to be full for next four or five hours at least. If you are then working or shopping, eat a couple of raw and peeled carrots and one or two very well washed apples. Before going to sleep you can take skimmed milk or skimmed yogurt or fruit as it will prove health beneficial.

Mediterranean diet promotes diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are bursting with health benefits. Fatty acids have been shown to reduce the incidence of blood clots, hypertension, and strokes and it may prevent certain forms of cancer and lower the risk of neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

Benefits

People, who are having heart problems, must take Mediterranean diet. This type of diet is incorporates with healthy dietary items. These parts of healthy diet remain true as subtle variations in proportion of certain food may make a difference in your risk of heart disease. This type of diet also lowers the risk of death from cancer.

By: Dr John Anne

Well, to begin with, there isn’t really any one Mediterranean Diet! There’s a whole swag of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. The basic Mediterranean Diet has common characteristics even if the sourrounding countries differ in culture, language and recipes to some extent.

* an extensive intake of fruits, vegetables, bread and cereals, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds

* olive oil is a source of mono-unsaturated fat – common to the Mediterranean area

* some dairy products, fish and even poultry are consumed in sparing to moderate amounts, and some red meat(not much)

* eggs are consumed in low to moderate amount say 1 to 4 eggs a week

* fortunately wine is acceptable but in low quantities ie. 1 – 3 glasses per day

A good question to ask is – Does a Mediterranean-style diet follow American Heart Association dietary guidelines?

Mediterranean-style diets are often close to US dietary guidelines, but not exactly.

People who follow the average Mediterranean diet eat less saturated fat than those who eat the average American diet. In
fact, saturated fat consumption is well within US dietary guidelines. More than half the fat calories in a Mediterranean diet come from mono-unsaturated fats (mainly from olive oil). Mono-unsaturated fat doesn’t raise blood cholesterol levels the way saturated fat does.

The incidence of heart disease in Mediterranean countries is lower than in the United States. Death rates are lower, too.
However there are some who feel this may not be entirely due to the diet. Lifestyle factors (ie. more physical activity and
extended social family support structures) may also play a part. At this stage this is just a theory. However the research tells all – the diet has existed for umpteen years.

If you would like further proof of the mediterranean diet benefits resulting from research and qualified researchers you
could try visiting http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/348/26/2599 or http://my.webmd.com/content/article/67/80070.htm. Both of these sites give good ‘food for thought’(excuse the pun).”Olive oil plays a central role, but it is not alone,” says Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, of Harvard School of Public Health.

“It’s among the divine mix of several factors that, when used in combination, help provide strong evidence of something that is very important — eating the proper diet can significantly reduce your risk of early death.” He and researchers from Greece studied some 22,000 adults, aged 20 to 86, from all regions of that country; most previous studies tracked only older people who were more likely to die during the study. The participants answered detailed questionnaires about their eating habits throughout the four-year study. Then they were rated on how closely they followed the key principles of the Mediterranean diet.

Sticking to the Mediterranean diet cut the risk of death from both heart disease and cancer. For every two points higher on this 0-to-9 scale — with top numbers going to those most closely following the Mediterranean diet — the death rate dropped by 25%.

The findings by Trichopoulos may also help explain why Asians, who typically use these other cooking oils, also have lower disease and death rates. Although they rarely use olive oil, they traditionally follow other principles of the Mediterranean
diet — lots of produce, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed grains, with little saturated fat.

“The message remains the same, and is consistent with other findings: A diet lower in saturated fats and higher in monounsaturated fats, and potentially, polyunsaturates, will result in better health outcomes,” says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, of Tufts University and a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

“If the main message that Americans get is to just increase their olive or canola oil consumption, that’s unfortunate because they will increase their caloric intake and they are already getting too many calories. What they need to do is eat more fruits, vegetables, and legumes and fewer foods rich in saturated fats.”

Some of this information has been referenced from The New England Journal of Medicine, June 26, 2003. Dimitrios Trichopoulos, MD, PhD, professor of epidemiology, Vincent L. Gregory Professor of Cancer Prevention, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston. Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, senior scientist and director, Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, Jean Mayer USDA Human

Nutrition Researcher Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston; spokeswoman, American Heart Association.

So in a nutshell, there is sound evidence that the Mediterranean Diet can help reduce heart disease, cancer, weight gain and of course reduce the risk of early death. However, it would be a mistake to think this outcome is based on the use of Olive Oil alone. The diet is diverse and allows for taste and creativity which is often lacking in most other diets. This alone warrants further investigation from those who seek a healthy, easy diet that has flavour and is fullfilling. Remember too that just as in all worthwhile diets, moderate level exercise should not be overlooked.

By: Ray Darken

If you’re considering doing the South Beach Diet, then you’ve certainly heard that the diet works because it teaches you how to eat “good” carbohydrates instead of “bad” carbohydrates and “good” fats instead of “bad” fats. But aren’t all fats and carbohydrates bad? No! They’re not! However, knowing what makes a fat or carbohydrate good or bad is an important part of understanding the South Beach Diet and why it’s so effective in not only causing weight loss but also creating good health for a lifetime.

What is a good carbohydrate?
To understand what a good carbohydrate is, you need to first understand what a bad carbohydrate is. A bad carbohydrate is a sugar or grain that has been refined or processed, which means that most of its natural nutritional value has been removed. It also means that the bad carbohydrate is not easily digested. They also spike your blood sugar level, which makes you feel hungry later. The phrase “empty calories” refers to bad carbohydrates, which include candy, baked goods, white pasta and soda.

So the flip side is a good carbohydrate. A good carbohydrate is a natural sugar or grain. They’re typically high in important fiber, which will give you longer periods of sustained energy and a feeling of not being hungry (as well as help to lower your cholesterol). You’ll find good carbohydrates in fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grain and some dairy products.

What is a good fat?
Again, to understand what a good fat is, we’ll need to explain what a bad fat is. A bad fat is what is known as a trans-fat or a saturated fat. These fats can cause heart disease, weight gain, excess insulin and overall poor health. You’ll find bad fats in most meats (excluding fish). You’ll also find them in cream, butter and dairy. If you use palm oil or coconut oil, these are also high in trans-fat and saturated fat.

Fat of some kind is essential to a healthy diet, however. Your body needs some fat, and fortunately there are a number of good fats that you can have. Monosaturated fats, Omega 6 fatty acids and Omega 3 fatty acids, found in avocado, nuts, olives and seeds are good fats. The fat found in salmon and other fish also qualifies in this category. Corn, soy, sunflower and safflower oils also include good fats, as well as, obviously, olive oil.

The truth of the matter is that a certain degree of fat as well as of carbohydrates is necessary to maintain a regular metabolic cycle. Without fats and carbohydrates, you’ll often feel hungry and likely to cheat on your diet. That’s why most extreme low-fat or carb-free diets fail or only give short term results. The South Beach Diet isn’t a fad diet or a “crash diet” for short term results. It’s a diet that teaches you how to change the way that you eat for your entire life so that you stay slim and healthy. As you learn to eat and cook with good carbohydrates and good fats, you’ll not only lose weight and reduce your risk of heart disease, you’ll experience increased energy and more level moods. Don’t be tied down to bad fats and carbs, learn how to eat and live healthily with good carbohydrates and fats with the South Beach Diet.

By: Rick Gibb