Soon, thanks to his patients' excellent results, Dr. Agatston's diet became all the buzz in Miami. In 2003, The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss hit the shelves and that regional buzz spread nationwide. The likes of Bill Clinton and Bette Midler have sung the diet's praises, as well as scores of other successful "South Beachers".
The South Beach Diet focuses on reducing the number of "bad carbs" one consumes, while encouraging "good carbs and good fats". Highly processed foods like baked goods and soft drinks are examples of the "bad carbs".
In order to properly follow the plan, you use food lists that are included in the first phases of the diet. These lists tell you which foods to avoid and which to incorporate into your meals. You can easily create your own menu using foods from these lists. There are also a number of recipes included in the plan.
South Beach is sometimes referred to as a "kinder" or less-strict version of Atkins, but it is actually quite a bit different. The main similarity between the two diets is both consist of an introductory two-week period. As with the Induction phase on Atkins, Phase 1 of South Beach is quite a bit more stringent than the last two phases -- they consist of continued weight loss and maintenance.
