South Beachers show me the resources!

July 27, 2007 2:52 PM

I've decided to try the South Beach diet. What resources should I use? There seem to be a ton out there, what worked well for you?

The reviews of the first book seem to say it's not very well organized. I need some solid instruction. I'm up for Books, websites, podcasts, (heck even CDs!) anything related to the south beach diet.

posted by TheDukeofLancaster to health (9 comments total)

You may or may not be a chick, but you might still find this forum at 3fatchicks helpful. There is a section sorted by recipes/foods for each phase.
posted by TheClonusHorror at 3:05 PM on July 27, 2007

There's another forum here
posted by waterlily at 3:08 PM on July 27, 2007

This might seem like a weird suggestion, but I would recommend the GI Diet by Rick Gallop. The diets are essentially the same, when you get down to what foods you're eating and why, but the GI Diet is written in a really clear, easy to undersand, non-scary way. (I say non scary because I find that a lot of health/diet writing is designed to motivate the reader by panicking them.) I read it, and promptly lost ten pounds. So there ya go!
posted by Kololo at 3:08 PM on July 27, 2007 [1 favorite]

I believe this is the original book.
posted by sophist at 3:18 PM on July 27, 2007

If you have the first book, it outlines the entire first two weeks for you, if you don't want to think about eating. Just make the recipes as the book tells you and bam, that's two weeks down. You'll have to go through them to make your shopping list, and shuffle a few things to make a little more sense of the food you buy, but it's really not hard. Between that and the official (orange) cookbook, it's really easy.
posted by cobaltnine at 3:19 PM on July 27, 2007

All I used was the original book, linked by sophist above. It contains a ton a recipes, but if you're somehow not satisfied with those just google "south beach diet recipes" and you'll get endless results. The rest of the book was also essential for me, because I'm always wary of crash diets and it explained the process and science behind it very well. I honestly can't think of any way in which it was disorganized.

On a side note, good choice. I shed 30lbs on the diet. If you have any other questions feel free to email me.
posted by Roman Graves at 10:46 PM on July 27, 2007

This is a great website for recipes: http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com/
posted by inquisitrix at 1:23 AM on July 28, 2007

Just a side note for anybody else looking this up Waldens Books (Borders) had the original book for $5.99. The gentleman at the counter was awesome and pointed that out to me when I had one that didn't have the $5.99 sticky on it.

I'm still looking for any other tips/advice on the diet if you have it!
posted by TheDukeofLancaster at 6:23 AM on July 28, 2007

I thought the website was helpful. It's expensive but you can cancel it once you've copied the food lists and meal plans. If you have a lot of weight to lose they have good support and motivation from knowledgeable fellow dieters. I think questions for their nutritionists were VERY slow to be answered.

There is some stuff on wikipedia too. In broad strokes, just avoid fruit, alcohol, starches for the first two weeks. That's phase one.
Limit your bean intake to 1/2 serving per day total, at either lunch or dinner, or if you're eating hummus, the serving is 2 TB and that is your bean intake for the day.
Limit your nut and cheese intake. Avoid fruit juice and sugar.
Nut totals below:
NUTS AND SEEDS (Limit to one serving per day as specified. Dry roasted recommended.)
Almonds - 15
Brazil Nuts - 4
Cashews - 15
Filberts - 25
Flax Seed - 3 TBS (1 oz)
Hazelnuts - 25
Macadamia - 8
Peanut Butter, Natural, and other nut butters - 2 TBS
Peanuts, 20 small (May use dry roasted or boiled)
Pecans - 15
Pine Nuts (Pignolia) - 1 ounce
Pistachios - 30
Pumpkin Seeds - 3 TBS (1 oz)
Sesame Seeds - 3 TBS (1 oz)
Soy Nuts - 1/4 cup
Sunflower Seeds - 3 TBS (1 oz)
Walnuts - 15

After 2 weeks, you can have 3/4 cup of a WHOLE GRAIN at every meal. So for example. you would eat 3/4 cup of shredded wheat and bran for breakfast with skim milk.
At lunch and dinner, you could have either 3/4 peas, or a piece of whole wheat bread, or 3/4 brown rice etc.
You can add back in alcohol, but try to limit your intake and keep it low carb. Think rum and diet coke, vodka and club soda.

Congrats on giving it a try! I've never felt so good - not just from losing the weight but it really is a lifestyle change and I feel really healthy on it.
posted by chickaboo at 10:09 AM on July 30, 2007