I'd like to share with you some of the tips I've found helpful while starting The South Beach Diet.
- A.M. Alterations
After I mentioned my dislike of breakfast, a helpful reader wrote in that I should try cottage cheese as a substitute for a full breakfast. It was much more filling than I expected and tided me over until my snack.I also found out you can substitute a serving of breakfast meat, such as Canadian bacon, for a morning meal.
- Hold the Veggies
I haven't quite gotten used to eating vegetable at breakfast, so I've been saving my a.m. veggie for a snack a little later. I've always thought raw veggies made convenient snacks anyway. I wash and slice them at night and I'm good to go the next day. - Energy for Exercise
Do you find you're feeling too tired on Phase 1 to exercise? Dr. Agatston recommends having a low-GI carb snack before a sustained workout (longer than 90 minutes).I ate a small container of low-fat yogurt about an hour before my first Phase 1 workout. Doing so didn't turn me into a crazed carb-craving monster, I'm pleased to say.
(As I deliberated whether I should eat it or not, I had visions of myself breaking down and biting into a whole loaf of white bread or stuffing soda crackers into my mouth five at a time, mumbling "My carbs, my carbs, my beautiful carbs!"). Fortunately, I managed to avoid a bread-product pig out.
If you don't like yogurt, Dr. Agatston also recommends oatmeal or pumpernickel bread as a good pre-workout low-GI carb. He recommends eating a low-GI carb a couple of hours before exercise so you'll have a carb energy boost at the right time.
(Please note: In order to correctly follow The South Beach Diet, you will need to read The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss.
You may also find the South Beach Diet Good Fats Good Carbs Guide helpful.)
