Understanding 3 Phases of the South Beach Low Carb Diet

Great results have come to those who follow the South Beach low carb diet long term. They not only experience short term results that motivate them to keep going, but many people have turned the Beach into a permanent lifestyle that keeps them healthy and thin. These results are not created by any one phase alone, but by the combination of all three as designed.

This plan does utilize lists of food that are acceptable on each phase of the plan, but you cannot lump it in with the many other fad diets that severely restrict intake by using food lists. By the final phase on the Beach the lists are gone and each follower has their own food plan designed specifically to the needs of their own body.

If you can get through the strict first phase of the South Beach low carb diet, then you can get through the rest of the plan. On this phase carbohydrates are essentially eliminated with the exception of non-starchy vegetables. For this reason many people throw this entire plan in the boat with the Atkins Diet, even though the later phases are absolutely nothing like the Atkins plan.

The first phase is more a jumping off point. You are not intended to use it for more than 2-4 weeks at a time.

During the second phase you start slowly adding different carbohydrates back into your menu. This is done one item at a time so that you can judge how it affects your body and makes you feel. The idea is to focus on foods that actually give you energy and make you feel good, while weeding out those that decrease your overall sense of health.

You never really end the South Beach low carb diet, since the third phase extends to the rest of your life. There are no food lists or serious restrictions here. You simply go on living the healthy life and individualized diet that you learned in phase two.

Next, find out more about the South Beach Diet.