 Phase 1: Kick-Starting Your Weight Loss | Back to Top |
You'll stay on Phase 1 for two weeks, kick-starting your weight loss while learning what foods to enjoy and what foods to avoid.
What you'll eat: You won't go hungry — the plan involves eating three balanced meals along with snacks. The snacks, in fact, are mandatory, even if you're not hungry. The reason? They can help keep you more satisfied, so you're less likely to overeat at your next meal. During Phase 1, you'll eat foods such as lean meats, chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish (vegetarians can enjoy meat substitutes and tofu), along with eggs, reduced-fat cheese, nuts, beans, and plenty of vegetables.
What you won't eat: No bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Not even fruit. Before you panic: You'll begin adding those things back into your diet in two weeks. But for right now, they're to be avoided. No candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar for two weeks, either. No beer or alcohol of any kind. After this Phase, you'll be free to drink wine, which is beneficial for a variety of reasons.
 Phase 2: Reintroducing the Right Carbs | Back to Top |
In Phase 2, you'll start to reintroduce the right carbs, such as fruit and whole-grain breads and pastas. Many dieters get nervous about this stage of the diet — they think that reintroducing these carbs might reverse the weight loss they've seen. But The South Beach Diet™ is meant to be a plan you can follow for life, so it's essential that you learn how to work the right carbs back into your lifestyle.
The trick is to reintroduce these carbs slowly. Choose a single carbohydrate and add it to one daily meal for one week. Pay close attention to how your body responds over the next few days. If things are going well, add a second choice and again monitor your reaction. Continue this process until you're able to eat two to three servings of the right carbohydrates a day. If you find that you are out of control, feel free to return to Phase 1 for a few days until things are back under control.
There is no time limit for Phase 2 — follow it until you reach your weight-loss goal.
 Phase 3: A Diet for Life | Back to Top |
Once you reach your weight-loss goal, it's on to Phase 3 where you'll continue following the principles of The South Beach Diet™ that you learned in Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase 3 isn't about abandoning the diet and eating anything you want — it's about continuing to make smart food choices. Experiment with new recipes and ingredients, enjoy your new lifestyle, and know that weight loss can greatly improve your overall health.
You may start on The South Beach Diet™ hoping just to lose weight. If you adopt it and stay with it, you will surely accomplish that much, but you'll also do a lot more for yourself, all of it very good — your weight loss can help improve your overall health.
