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Sounds good… hang at the beach all day and get thin! Maybe get a walk-on part in Baywatch?

Perhaps not! Unfortunately this diet plan has nothing to do with hangin’ at the beach other than the fact that Dr. Agatston, who created the South Beach diet lives or practices medicine in South Beach, Florida.

What is the South Beach Diet?

It’s a diet that shoots to achieve a healthy balance between carbohydrates and fats–good carbs and good fats. Highly processed foods like baked goods, sweets, and soft drinks spike our blood sugar. In those who are susceptible they create carbohydrate addiction and eventually lead to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Sugars in the blood stop being effectively absorbed by the muscles and instead get converted to fat and deposited around the belly.

Dr. Agatston says that decreasing the highly processed carbs in your diet can help you reverse this syndrome and improve insulin resistance, leading to weight loss.

So here’s the big question… does it work?

Yes… it does seem to get results.

The diet is founded on the principle that high-glycemic carbohydrates-those with a glycemic index of 55 or higher such as white bread, potatoes and white rice (which Dr. Agatston calls bad carbs) lead to weight gain and eventual diabetes and heart disease.

On the South Beach Diet you would consume more low-glycemic carbs, or good carbs, such as whole grains and vegetables. These are absorbed gradually into the blood stream and so don’t trigger the spikes in your sugar/insulin cycle.

Amazingly the weight loss benefits of this diet are a secondary outcome; they were not the original intention. Dr. Agatston designed his diet to help his cardiac patients maintain a healthy lifestyle and lose weight. When lots of patients began to report positive weight loss he decided he was onto something and quickly dashed off the book.

You work the diet in three phases, which initially restrict certain foods and then restore them to your diet.

In Phase 1, which lasts 14 days you eliminate most of the carbs from your diet and instead you eat protein-rich foods, such as lean meats, chicken, fish, nuts, cheese, eggs, vegetables and olive oil.

Cravings for bad carbohydrates should be eliminated by the end of this phase.

The second phase lasts until you reach your target weight, and is less restrictive than Phase 1. Shoot to lose one to two pounds per week.

You can eat good carbs like whole grain breads, sweet potatoes, brown rice, pasta and fruit. You can also have chocolate and wine in moderate amounts.

Once you hit your target weight you should be coasting. The diet becomes part of your life style, you’re eating complex carbs again and the carb cravings should be gone.

All in all this is quite a successful diet, not too limiting or restrictive and you will lose weight.

On the other side of the coin, people become frustrated with the time involved in preparing the meals. As well as that, this is not a low cost diet solution… some of the recommended foods can be quite expensive.

Bottom line… this doesn’t seem to be a diet that people are inclined to get into for the rest of their life. It’s work intensive and somewhat expensive. It’s my experience that if a diet gets too complex to prepare and maintain then people don’t persist and they don’t achieve their desired result.

Much better would be a plan that is low cost, simple, everything is prepackaged and prepared for you and you would be happy to stay on it for life; a diet that is healthy, tasty, satisfying and allows you to lose those pounds and easily maintain a healthy weight long term… and you would never need to go hungry.

If you’re interested I can show you a plan like that.
About the Author
I have recently written a book entitled “Lose Weight - Never Go Hungry” which lays out a plan for overcoming carbohydrate addiction and losing weight. You can download it FREE here: http://www.loseweightnevergohungry.com/Book

Developing a wish list on why you want to quit smoking can increase your chances of quitting. Smokers who want to quit know the reasons to quit, whether it be for health, family, financial, or psychological. Often times the reasons to quit smoking involve many different areas of one’s life.

Knowing the reasons to quit smoking is a start when preparing your plan to quit. But you need to take it one step further by writing down your reasons to quit smoking. Once you have your list or “wish list” of reasons to quit smoking it is beneficial to rate them as to their importance and influence on your life. For example, you may have reasons that pertain to the financial aspects of smoking along with the health benefits of quitting smoking. For most the health benefits of quitting outweigh the financial benefits of quitting smoking, although the two are not mutually exclusive. By quitting smoking your health will improve and you may end up saving money on more than the cost of a pack of cigarettes. You medical bills from future complications caused by smoking would also have a direct impact on your financial situation. However, this is a secondary affect of quitting smoking based on living a healthier lifestyle. In this instance you may want to rate the reasons related to your health higher and give them more attention than the financial reasons.

By developing your “wish list” on why you want and even should quit smoking can come in handy in mentally preparing you for the challenge. Once you do quit smoking you also have a tool to look back on when you are faced with cravings to smoke. Keep your list in a place where you can quickly access it and review it often. Keep a copy in your pocket or make multiple copies and put one in your car, at work, and home.

Quitting smoking can be challenging. Knowing what you want and the reasons to quit smoking can be quite beneficial. It is as simple as meeting the goals on your “wish list”, you have been able to meet goals before in your life don’t let smoking hold you back. We have all gone through uncomfortable times in our lives and dealt with giving up destructive things. You can be victorious and quit smoking.

Visit Jason D’s website for additional information on the Health Effects of Smoking and Quit Smoking Tips.

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If you’re trying to lose weight, you know how difficult and challenging it can be at times. Here are some tried and true tips for healthy weight loss.

Healthy Weight Loss Tip #1: Drink plenty of water every day. You’ve probably heard it more times than you care to remember, but it’s true. Drinking at least eight glasses of water every day will help you lose weight quicker.

Healthy Weight Loss Tip #2: Walk twenty minutes every day. You don’t necessarily have to walk. Any kind of exercise that will get you up and moving works great. The point is to move your body every day.

Healthy Weight Loss Tip #3: Reduce your portion size. If you are used to eating two helpings for dinner, cut out your second helping. Another great tip for this is to eat off a small saucer, instead of a plate because you won’t be able to pile on the food on a saucer.

Healthy Weight Loss Tip #4: Limit sodas and junk food. Again, this isn’t easy, especially if you’re used to drinking lots of sodas throughout the day. Start slow by cutting your intake by half for a week. The next week, cut it in half again. Easy does it, and you don’t have to cut it all out at once.

These healthy weight loss tips will get you started on your way to losing pounds and inches. It isn’t easy, but losing weight is possible. Start your new weight loss plan with these simple tips and you’ll see results.

Visit http://fat-weight-loss-tips.blogspot.com a popular website for more information about how to lose weight.

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