Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: south beach diet success

Question:
I was wandering the success that others on the South Beach diet experienced. I need to lose about 10 pounds and I was hoping to lose about 4-5 within a week and a half. Is this goal reachable? Anyone got success? Thanks for any input!!

Answer:
First, the good news: I have had great success with South Beach. This is the first time I have ever had a diet that was successful *and* eliminated my cravings and left me feeling normal (instead of nervous and jittery). In fact, I now have more energy and feel better than I had felt in years, and my glucose levels have remained stable (average 96). I have lost approximately 60 pounds and am now seeing big improvement in my cholesterol and triglyceride levels. I started the diet in early June 2004 when I was first diagnosed with diabetes. In addition to the basic South Beach principles, I do not eat *any* rice, pasta, flour of any type, or added sugar. However, this is not a low-carb diet -- for example, we get lots of fresh fruit. SB emphasizes good carbs, not low carbs -- but that is certainly much lower carb than what I ate prior to SB. Now, for the bad news: You may lose the 4-5 pounds you want during the first week, but this is not something you can count on, especially if you have already lost weight. People often lose what sounds like a lot of weight during the first couple of weeks of any diet, but much of that is really water and not fat. It simply is not feasible -- or healthy -- to try for substantial amounts of weight loss in a week's time. Good luck!