The South Beach Diet Phase One Food Restrictions and Eating Schedule

So in these past two weeks I have been getting a LOT of questions about the South Beach Diet…

..(especially as I share my meal prep photos and weight loss numbers on my personal Facebook)! As a result I keep repeating myself and not doing a very good job of explaining things properly when I am trying to answer the same questions multiple times a day. So a blog post is seriously in order.

(Please forgive me if I forwarded you this link to answer your question!! I’m not trying to brush you off or be rude.. I’m trying to give you a thorough and organized answer!)

Understanding the South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is NOT low carb. It’s NOT low fat. It just teaches you to rely on the RIGHT carbs and the RIGHT fats – the good ones – and to avoid the bad ones.

You eat normal size helpings of meat, chicken, turkey, fish and shellfish.

You have plenty of vegetables, eggs, cheese and nuts.

You can have salads with real olive oil in the dressing.

You can have coffee and tea.

You have three meals a day, with snacks and dessert.

You never feel hungry. At all.

There is NO counting calories, no “points”, no obsessing measuring out ounces of food on a food scale.

The toughest part of the diet is Phase One, where some old habits and unhealthy cravings might rear their ugly heads. In this phase, the toughest one (that only lasts 1-2 weeks to kick start your new lifestyle) you WON’T be having any: bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, baked foods, candy, ice cream, alcohol, sugar or fruit. (You’ll slowly begin adding those things back into your diet again in Phases Two and Three, but in the beginning, they are off limits.)

Even if you are addicted to the “off limits” Phase One foods, you’ll be amazed at how painlessly these two weeks fly by, while pounds just melt off! (I am currently approaching the end of week two and I have lost nine pounds already!!)

After Phase One, your body has changed the way it reacts to food, and you can begin adding more variety to your diet. This is a great phase to see how your body reacts to certain foods, and to see which ones are the “diet wreckers” that are best eaten sparingly. You continue losing weight at a bit slower, but a steady pace. How long Phase Two lasts depends on just how much weight you need to lose.

Once you hit your goal weight, you even Phase Three, which is a bit of misnomer, because it isn’t really a “Phase” so much as this is your new LIFESTYLE… A new healthy way of eating, where you are empowered to make the right choices for REAL foods, and GOOD nutrients, that help you to maintain your health, your weight, and your overall wellness. Not a diet, but a lifestyle.

So there you have it! That is definitely the “how” answer and now really the “why” explanation, so perhaps a more science based blogged post is due in the near future… but for now, for those of you curious as to what I am doing and how it all going down, I hope this blog post has answered your question! <3

[Disclaimer: I am an independent product reviewer and the product in this post was provided for review. I only review products I am truly interested in and I do not accept payment for reviews. All of my reviews are unbiased regardless of how the item was obtained.]

Are you familiar with the South Beach Diet? Share below!