The South Beach DietWritten by Helen Laxton
Created by respected cardiologist Dr Arthur Agatston, South Beach Diet is generally regarded as both effective and safe. Unlike most 'fad' diets, South Beach Diet aims to modify your lifestyle slightly, in order to get you eating right fats and carbohydrates, while actually enjoying it - this of course means you will be able to stick to it with less trouble than other diets! This is, of course main reason why we here at www.supadiet.com like it so much. A cardinal point of Dr Agatston's theories is that eating 'bad' fats and carbohydrates actually makes you hungrier, and so you eat more. Proponents of South Beach Diet claim it is entirely possible to lose between 8 and 14 pounds in just 2 weeks - a rate of weight loss that would usually be regarded as 'dangerous crash dieting'.The South Beach Diet is composed of 3 'phases', first 2 are for a limited timespan, third is for rest of your life. It doesn't really rely on calorie counting, or portion control as such, more on creating a sensible eating schedule you can stick to. You won't feel deprived, or constantly hungry, and meals you eat will be full size enjoyable ones, not mung-bean snacks or some such nonsense. You will even be able to eat chocolate cake if you really want to! The meals you create will be of good variety, so not only will South Beach Diet stop you feeling hungry, you won't even get bored with menu! Couple this with tendency to see amazing results in a short timespan, and you can begin to see why South beach Diet is so popular. Phase 1 of South Beach Diet is strictest phase, and lasts only 2 weeks. Portion sizes are normal, but you have to restrich carbohydrates. Lean meats (chicken, turkey, fish) are emphasised, and you can eat both low-glycemic-index vegetables and low fat cheese, nuts and eggs. In this phase, you can shed up to 2 stones of weight, depending on your starting size. Typically, a South Beach Dieter on phase 1 will eat ordinary foodstuffs like chicken, beef, turkey or fish, with lots of vegetables, eggs, cheese, nuts, and garden salads. A salad dressing of 100% olive oil can also be used. For these first 2 weeks, you eat 3 well balanced meals a day, and best part is you can eat until your hunger is satisfied. Honestly, it really IS part of diet! (Dr Agatston believes that you can't become healthy by depriving your body of food). In phase 1 you can also eat a snack for elevenses, and another one in mid afternoon. The interesting point here is that you really do need to eat these snacks, or whole diet will be compromised. Eating snacks helps to keep your appetite under control, and you won't want to eat so much at main meals - clever, isn't it?! Unlike other diets, coffee and tea are ok in this phase, and of course you must be sure to drink lots of fresh water.
| | Body ImageWritten by Caryl Ehrlich
What do you look like? How big (or small) are you? How tall (or short)? How much do you weigh? When I ask participants how much they weighed when they were teenagers, I hear this lament: They thought they were very heavy, but when they look at those old photos now, they realize they weighed a weight they’d be thrilled to weigh today. To feel comfortable feeding smaller person you’ve become, be honest about your weight, silhouette, image, and self. You might be having a hard time giving up big person image with which you are so comfortable. It is, after all, familiar, possibly since childhood. Unhappiness about weight is a public manifestation about unhappiness about self. Real or imagined. Recent or ancient. How you looked as a child is how you might now see yourself. If you were a thin child, you might still see yourself as thin, even though you’ve gained weight. And if you were a heavy child, you might find it hard to believe you’re thinner, even though you’ve lost weight. Getting comfortable with new smaller you is a matter of taking a few steps to re-enforce a body image more closely related to new reality. Buy a full-length mirror, if you don’t already have one. 1. Undress and look in it daily. 2. Repeat step one. Just like keeping a food diary or drinking 10 glasses of water or weighing twice daily, looking in your full-length mirror must be part of structure of your program. A mirror jolts you out of your weight-loss complacency. Another assignment of awareness is to get your picture taken. Take out your camera, get a roll of film and have a friend snap shots of you sitting, standing, front view, side view, back view, standing straight, and bending over. Smile, frown, pose, and change outfits. Wear slacks, suits, skirts, dresses, cover-ups, and fitted clothing. Wear nothing. A photograph is moment in time when you know your weight problems and/or successes are no longer a secret. Others know you’ve gained (or lost) weight. * * * * * When I was 50 pounds heavier, I dressed differently. I tended to buy shapeless over-blouses, A-line dresses and skirts, and generally baggy-type clothing. I thought of myself as young and thin so I was really startled to see a photograph of me looking old and fat. One winter day, while waiting for a bus and even more padded than usual with extra sweaters and a quilted jacket, someone asked me how many months pregnant I was. I was not. When I lost weight, however, I again saw myself in a photograph with a friend I’d always considered half my size. I’d thought of myself as much bigger than my friend, even though photograph showed clearly I was actually much smaller. The late comedian, Selma Diamond, told a wonderful story about shopping in a Lincoln Road clothing shop in Miami Beach, Florida. “As I tried on a dress saleswoman oohed and aahed while she lingered in doorway of dressing room,” Diamond recounted. The saleswoman said “That dress was made for you.” “Yes,” Diamond deadpanned, “But you made it too small.” Weigh, measure, and go shopping. Try on all kinds of clothing in a smaller size to corroborate what scale says. You might feel heavy one day because of water retention possibly from overly salty food, but if scale is down or you slide into a smaller sized skirt, shirt, slacks, panties, belt, bra, or ring, it’s because you’re smaller. Experiment with colors that are brighter, clothing in a different style from those worn by heavier you. A lot of people who have lost weight are thrilled to see themselves wearing a belt for first time in years, buckling a belt a notch tighter, or wearing tuck-ins rather than over blouses. Get your hair styled, shave off your moustache. Dress smaller person you’ve become.Kirsten lost a fair amount of weight and followed an assignment to buy one new article of clothing in a smaller size. She paraded around my office pretending to model her new dress. I applauded; she did look terrific. “It’s a size 8,” she exclaimed incredulously. I beamed for her. She deserved it. And then her smile faded, as if she couldn’t believe she was wearing a size 8. “Of course, it’s not really a size 8,” she said. “It’s cut very big.” Yet, all evidence pointed to fact that when she was 20 pounds heavier, she could not have fit into that size 8 dress even if it was cut big. You weigh more than you want to weigh all over, and that is how you will lose it. It will happen gradually and subtly and won’t always be noticeable, so don’t expect extreme, daily, dramatic changes. Weight loss becomes obvious when you’ve lost anywhere from 5 to 15 pounds. With me, no one noticed until I’d lost about 25 or 30 pounds because I continued to wear those tent-like cover-ups. Many of clothes in your closet might be brand new, because as soon as you bought them, your weight increased; some clothes might even have price tags still attached. Try them on. You might need to tailor them to fit. You might decide to give your clothes to charity. Clean your closets so that everything in them, fits. Then you won’t grow back into those bigger sizes. When everything fits perfectly and you eat more than you need, you’ll feel discomfort. If you continually eat more than you need, and wear elastic-waisted clothing, your waistbands will stretch to accommodate any amount of food and discomfort won’t be obvious.
|
