Going on the South Beach Diet. South Beach Diet Tips.

If you want to lose weight, you can join the many people who have made the South Beach Diet their choice. The South Beach Diet is neither a traditional low carbohydrate diet, nor a low fat diet, but rather utilizes one of the newest tools for making healthy food choices – the glycemic index.

Basically, the glycemic index is a measure of how different foods affect your blood sugar. When you eat a food that makes your blood sugar go up, your body releases the hormone insulin. If you don’t need all the food you just ate for energy, insulin helps your body store that food for later use. Unfortunately, that storage method is the creation of new fat. Therefore, if you avoid an elevation in blood sugar, you avoid the release of insulin and the creation of new fat. If you use up more energy than you’re eating, your body will turn to your fat cells for the additional energy it needs, resulting in weight loss.

The South Beach Diet is different from more traditional low-carbohydrate diets in that it adds more complex carbohydrates at an earlier stage. After a two-week phase designed to kick start weight loss and help you reduce your cravings for carbohydrates, you begin adding what the diet calls good carbohydrates – whole grains and whole grain products, and additional vegetables and fruits. This is different from the Atkins diet – the most popular low-carb diet – in that whole grains are usually reserved for the period of time closer to achieving your goal weight. The South Beach diet also allows a wider variety of foods during its initial phase than the Atkins diet.

Like the Atkins diet, the South Beach Diet encourages the use and consumption healthy fats, such as olive oil and fats from nuts and fish rich in omega 3 fatty acids. Both diets also actively discourage the use of trans-fats. While the Atkins diet requires you to count the carbohydrates you eat, the South Beach Diet focuses instead on making healthy food choices. Like the Atkins diet, the South Beach Diet encourages activity – but unlike the Atkins diet, it has its own custom exercise plan. With its reliance on the glycemic index, the South Beach Diet is actually more of a close cousin to the Sugarbusters diet.

In addition to regular meals, the South Beach Diet encourages regular snacks to keep energy level highs and to keep you from becoming excessively hungry.

There are a variety of South Beach resources available, including the South Beach Diet book itself, a number of cookbooks, fitness books and DVDs, and commercial products designed for South Beach dieters. Online support is also available through the diet’s website, which you can join for a fee. Recipes are available online, as well as meal planners, guides to dining out, and nutrition counseling. A variety of other resources are also available on the site, including a user forum where you can join discussions with other South Beach dieters.

Overall, the South Beach Diet is a healthy diet, featuring lean proteins, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats. If you’re looking for a diet that offers a variety of food choices with minimal “counting,” then this diet may be the right choice for you.