Carbs are cheap. You can get a loaf of bread for $1.00. Meat is much more than that per pound and prices seem to just go up. Here are some great ways to save money and stay on your South Beach Diet phases.

Don’t eat out. This is an important thing to think about when considering how to save money. Restaurant food is mark-up so much that you can easily spend the entire grocery budget for a week for a family of four during a night out for those same four people. Home cooked food is more nutritious, better tasting and creates great family memories.

Let’s talk about how you can save money when purchasing that food that you are going to make at home.

The best way to save money on meat is to buy in bulk and buy a lot during really good sales. Since I always seem to miss the really good sales, so I usually stick to buying the bulk packages. I am talking about the bulk packaging that is available at your local grocery store not the Costco or Sam’s Club stores. They always have portions that are way to big for what I can store. If you have memberships in these stores and can store the food, by all means, get your meats from there. For the rest of us, buy the bulk chicken, beef and pork at your grocery store.

To make sure that you don’t waste any of it separate the meat when you get home. I usually cook most of the meat in different ways and put a smaller portion in the freezer. For example, if I buy bulk chicken I cook some in the oven for a oven fried or bar-b-que chicken. At the same time I will also boil some of the chicken to use as a chicken salad or similar recipe. I will also throw a third of the raw chicken in the freezer to use when I need to make a chicken recipe. I will also freeze some of the cooked chicken if I don’t think I will use it in a day or two. This way I have prepared food in the refrigerator, prepared food in the freezer and raw food in the freezer in case company comes over.

Use coupons. It is possible to get your entire grocery cart for free if you use double, triple and manufacturers coupons. I have seen others do it and I have come close myself. It might not be possible to get the entire bill down to zero when you are on the SBD because many times you have to buy some packaged food. Usually packaged food falls into the category of carbs. You can save a lot of money if you clip coupons. It doesn’t take any time if you do it while you are sitting in front of the t.v.

Buy your produce seasonally and locally. Vegetables are also expensive these days but you can save by purchasing the produce that is in season. You can usually get some great skills. SBD phase 2 & 3 dieters can practice on their baking skills by making fruit dishes with sugar substitutes that are ok for the SBD. Local produce also will cost less especially if you go to the local farmers markets. I find gorgeous produce at my local flea market and the prices are unbeatable.

The South Beach Diet’s Phase One is the most difficult part of the diet. It can also show some of the most rewarding results. If you are careful to rid your diet of all carbs in the first phase you can lose a lot of pounds before moving onto the second phase. Losing the carb cravings is the goal for this phase and I will give you some tips to get you through this phase successfully. Success is different for each meal in the SBD so I am going to break down my success tips according to the meal, in different posts.

We will start with breakfast.

During this two week phase, the ingestion of bad carbohydrates is limited as much as possible. The South Beach Diet relies on the Glycemic Index. The lower the number on the Glycemic Index the less bad carbohydrates makeup the food.

The amount that the food raises your blood sugar compared to the how much the same amount of white bread would raise your blood sugar is the Glycemic Index number of that food.

The foods with high Glycemic Index (GI) numbers would raise your blood sugar very fast and then cause the levels to drop as fast. Not only should they be avoided for success when on the South Beach Diet, they also cause a drop in performance levels. The drop in blood sugar causes fatigue and makes you have to work harder to get through the day. A high GI numbered

Waffles have a index number of 109. Even Corn Brand which you think would be a very healthy breakfast has an index of 107. Total cereal is 109.

If you love cereal and feel like you are missing it on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, you should consider Rice Bran cereal. It’s GI is a lowly 27. That is lower than every bean except Soybean at 23 GI. The Rice Bran cereal is very good and I found it was great to have an alternative to the other breakfasts. One can only have bacon and eggs so many days in a row. Uncle Sam is also a very good cereal that works well in Phase One. It is a high-fiber cereal, so portion accordingly.

Low fat yogurt is a great breakfast item that fits in very well for the South Beach Diet Phase One. It has a super low 20 GI. I used to not be a big yogurt fan, but now I eat yogurt with some of the low GI cereal. I basically substituted the yogurt for the milk. It makes a great crunchy snack. (I do this when I make my South Beach Diet Ice Cream recipe. I will share that with you soon.)

The successful way to handle breakfast during Phase One is to put variety into your mornings. Many people are not morning people and when you add the rush that most of us have to do to get out the door, it is very easy to cheat and have a high GI food. Make most of your breakfast the night before if you fall into this category.

You can get through Phase One breakfasts. Vary your food, so you don’t get bored and remember: It’s only two weeks.

Figuring out what you are going to eat on the South Beach Diet doesn’t have to be a difficult task. First you have to learn what you can and can’t eat.

Then you have to get into the habit of the two snacks and three meals. The South Beach Diet considers dessert differently than the meals or the snacks, but if you add it all together, you have to get into the habit of spreading your eating into six times a day. This is much better for evening out your blood sugar, rather than eating the three large meals which causes an elevation in blood sugar and then a sudden drop.

So how do you figure out what should be in your meals in Phase One of the South Beach Diet? Let’s break it down:

Breakfast should always include:

Protein – This can be cottage cheese, this is your dairy though, so you have to watch how much you eat. Other proteins that you would not have to think about how many portions. These would be tofu, eggs and meat.

Vegetable – Make sure to have at least one serving of vegetables. A vegetable cocktail juice is a great way to get your morning vegetables. V8 is a popular choice, but you should get the low sodium V8. Making your own cocktail is not difficult if you use a blender. You don’t want to use a juicer because juicers take out all of the fiber while separating the juice from the solids. These solids also contain a lot of vitamins. If you throw everything in a blender with some water, the vegetables will liquefy into a great tasting juice.

Beverage – Have coffee or tea if you don’t do the juice mentioned above.

Lunch should always include:

An approved protein. The size of the serving is not important, but you shouldn’t overeat.

Several vegetables. The best way to do this is to have a salad. It is no wonder that the South Beach Diet book has Phase One lunch recipes mostly as salads. Be careful about the salad dressing, it could have sugar.

Dairy, but only if you want it. Keep in mind that there is a limit on eating dairy.

Finally, you should include a beverage in your lunch. Water is really the best beverage, but you could have coffee or tea.

Dinner should always include:

An approved protein, again don’t overeat. Make it a different protein then you had at lunch.

Several vegetables. You can have a salad again. I personally love salads. Many people aren’t fond of salads and there are a number of different vegetables that you can have for dinner, as well as a number of different way to prepare them. One of my favorite techniques is to dribble a little oil over cut vegetables and put them under the broiler for a few minutes. The outcome is very much like grilled vegetables.

Dairy – You can have the what is leftover in what you are allowed with dairy, but you also may want to save it for dessert, depending on the dessert you choose.

Any calorie-free, sugar-free beverage.

I hope this will help you in the planning of your meals on the South Beach Diet.

It’s the first day of Autumn and it is going to be a rough season for all of us. Halloween brings us carb loaded candies. Thanksgiving brings us carb loaded stuffing and potatoes and Christmas brings us carb loaded cookies and pies. The first day of Autumn is the signal that all of this is beginning. I was beginning to feel a little down when I woke up this morning. The best holidays are coming up and here I am on a diet again. I don’t want to miss my favorite foods.

Much of our success is based on how we handle things mentally. I want to continue losing weight and reach my fitness goals. So, even though I started thinking about all of the things I might miss when I got up this morning, I changed my thoughts to be positive in nature as soon as I could. In fact I started to think about:

Why I Love the South Beach Diet

1. I lost my belly fat first! I was amazed that it actually happened. It says it on the front of the book, but I didn’t think it would actually happen. This is my favorite thing about the South Beach Diet.

2. Many diets make you completely get rid of some foods. While on the South Beach diet, I only had to stop eating carbs in the first two weeks. After the first phase I could eat a little more relaxed. I just remembered to pay attention to the glycemic index in the ingredients.

3. I have actually had a good breakfast each day since starting The South Beach Diet. This is important and I have never done that before.

4. It isn’t a low fat diet. That means I can still eat a lot of really tasty foods that are usually forbidden in many traditional diets.

5. I have a lot more energy than I used to. This is from the low glycemic foods that I have been eating. I don’t feel tired after having lunch like I used to.

6. I’ll be honest with you. I have cheated a few times and had a couple of bad foods. I would get back to phase one and the weight that I gained disappeared. I like this diet because it isn’t a ‘follow all rules or fail’ type of plan. It gives me a good path to follow, but I can stray and still find my way back to the path.

7. There is an amazing amount of different kinds of foods are low in glycemic levels. I don’t feel like I am eating the same foods all the time.

Now, I am starting to look forward to the holidays. I have been looking for different ways that I can cook my favorite holiday meals and still stick with the diet. I am going to share my different substitutes on the blog as I come by them. Then we can all enjoy the holidays!

After a couple of weeks of being on the South Beach Diet we can reduce the restricted eating. Many of us are so busy with work and keep up with our children’s activities that we don’t have the time to stick to the restrictive diet and not feel hungry. Many companies have jumped on this bandwagon by offering meal replacement bars. These are completely different than energy or protein bars. Choosing the wrong bar can mess up all of that hard work you have done for weeks on the South Beach Diet.

Meal replacement bars are basically diet bars that are for people who are very busy and the bar replaces small portions of meal that are usually consumed at regular times throughout the day. This is healthy as well as controlling the cravings to have unhealthy snacks. Meal replacement bars are very popular to dieters as well as bodybuilders.

Meal replacement bars are referred to according to the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats. For example the Balance Bar is rated at 40:30:30 which is a ratio of 40% arbohydrates, 30% Proteins and 30% Fats. Don’t worry the fats are the healthy fats that we try to strive for on the South Beach Diet.

Kraft foods has made an alliance with the South Beach Diet Plan and has created the South Beach Diet Replacement Bars. One of the great things about these bar is that the print all of the information of carbohydrates, proteins and fats (no trans fats in this bar) very clearly on the front of the package.

Most bars will hide this information in that back of the packaging. The South Beach Diet Replacement Bar is 3 gm of carbohydrates and 18 gm of protein. This is a very low calorie bar with just 210 calories and no artificial ingredients.

I personally like the Chocolate Peanut Butter bar. Don’t expect it to taste like a candy bar because it doesn’t. Because of the low fat content the bar is a bit dry. I like to have it with a cup of coffee as the two seem to equal each other out.

The true secret of success to sticking to the South Beach Diet is to plan out your meals and snacks. This will save money, time and help stop any unhealthy eating because you are finding yourself hungry and not within reach of your South Beach Diet foods.

Menu planning will save you money. In fact menu planning will save you a lot of money. If you plan your meals and snacks for the entire week before
your trip to the grocery store, buy more bulk products which are much cheaper in the long run. For example knowing how many meals include beef will help you estimate how large of a package to buy. That bulk package of beef is much cheaper than if you visited the store everyday to pick up a 1/2 pound of steak or ground meat. Grocery stores charge more for the smaller cuts of meat, so buy the larger cuts and divide them up at home. Plan your meals, buy in bulk and save money.

Menu planning will save you time. Take an example from a menu planned for seven days which includes in it’s schedule roasted chicken, stir-fry with chicken and barbecue chicken salad. This calls for the use of the 3 C’s rule for saving time with menu planning.

The 3 C’s: Cooking, Cutting and Cleaning.

Cook as many items at the same time so that later you can grab already prepared food to eat or help make preparation of your meal easier. In the case of case of the chicken portion of the menu, the barbecue chicken and the roasted chicken can be prepared together, in the oven.

Cut up items together. Save time by dicing the chicken for the stir-fry while you are cutting the raw chicken for roasting and bbq. Keep the stir-fry
chicken in a container in the refrigerator and save time when you are ready to prepare the diced chicken. Freeze the chicken if there will be a few
days until you plan on cooking the stir-fry. It will only take a little time to thaw.

Clean-up will be so much easier if you follow these suggestions. Stir-fry night will be so much simpler when you simply pull the pre-diced chicken from the refrigerator. Pour the chicken into your wok or frying pan and you don’t have to worry about cleaning your knife, cutting board or counter. This
is a secret that many restaurants use and after adopting this technique, you will find yourself pre-cutting more and more.

Menu planning is also a valuable tool for the motivation to stick to your healthier way of eating. When you plan a 7-day menu with breakfast, lunch, and snacks you are solidifying your eating goals. Put your menu on paper or on a dry erase board on your refrigerator. Plan easy meals on the days that you know are going to be busy and stressful. Prepare meals ahead of time that are served cold like salads, or easily reheated meals. Plan and make your brown bag lunches and you will enjoy much better tasting, healthier foods then you might find while on a lunch emergency.

Set yourself up for success with the South Beach Diet. Gain time, save money and lose weight by planning your meals.

The South Beach Diet concentrates on high and low sugar carbohydrates. According to the creator of the South
Beach Diet, cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, processed carbohydrates such as rice, breads and pastas contain high
sugar carbohydrates that the body digests and burn very quickly. Because of this a person’s insulin levels rise
and the body craves more food. Usually the next bit of food chosen is also loaded with high sugar carbohydrates.

The South Beach Diet makes one want to eat less and much better quality of food. Calorie counting is not
required, making the diet very popular. Many people don’t feel that they are ‘dieting’ because they can eat more
often and not worry about calories.

Even though concentration on carbohydrates is very important for one on the South Beach Diet, it does not mean you
can eat all of fat that you want. Unhealthy fats are not allowed while healthy fats are encouraged.

Phase 1
For the first two weeks, the induction phase, all fruits, breads, cereals, rice and pasta are completely banned.
Alcohol, corn, beets and carrots are also not allowed.

You will lose your craving for the high sugar carbs in this phase. You get to eat six times a day which includes
the 3 main meals and three snacks. If you feel hungry you are allowed to increase your portion size.

Phase 1 can be extended to 3 to 4 weeks for more weight loss.

So What Can You Eat?

The number of different foods one can eat is surprisingly numerous. Low fat, natural foods are recommended.
These include all lettuces, leafy vegetables, beans and lean meats. Low and non fat dairy is also recommended, up
to two cups a day.

It is easy to come up with a great tasting meal of meat/tofu and vegetables with a cup of no sugar Jello or other
dessert and still stick with the diet.

Phase 2

In phase 2 you can start to have low sugar carbs. This is the phase that you will stay in to lose 1-2 pounds a
week until you are at a healthy weight.

Whole grain carbs are gradually introduced such as whole grain breads, whole wheat pastas and whole grain rices.
You can introduce fruits and sweet potatoes. Stay away from the white breads which are highly processed. Corn,
carrots, potatoes and beets are still off of the list as well as fruit juices and canned fruits. Red wine is
allowed, but beer and hard liquors are still to be avoided.

Phase 3

You should no longer need the 3 snacks since you can indulge a little more in your meals. More foods are allowed
in this final phase which is considered an ongoing phase for the rest of your life. Keep an eye on your sugar
intake and stay away from white flour based products.

If you are starting to gain weight, regulate the intake of carbs until your return to your desired weight. You
can even return to Phase 1 if you wish.

Overall the South Beach Diet is a great way to lose weight, eat healthy and not have the hunger pains that other
dieters suffer.

Barry is a happy man living a normal healthy life. This however was not always a fact. Just less than 12 months ago, Barry was a sad victim of depression. He was grossly overweight at 120 kilos. At just over 6 feet, all these weight was too much pressure for his frame.

The doctors diagnosed obesity as well as chronic backache, cholesterol and heart problems. Barry thought all hope was lost until he heard about The South Beach Diet. At first, he was skeptical but he gave it a shot and managed to lose a lot of weight.

The South Beach Diet is one of the few diets that managed to shine through. It has thousands of loyal followers. Dr. Arthur Agatston, a cardiologist from Miami, created the South Beach diet. This controversial diet made its debut in the form of a book titled ‘The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss.’

The secret of the South Beach Diet is instead of reducing the amount of food eaten, the different types of carbohydrates and fats are regulated.

The South Beach Diet revolves around taking control of the intake of consumption of bad carbohydrates. Bad carbs are complex and are high on the glycemic index. These bad carbs can be found in processed food, soft drinks and foods containing refined flour. These bad carbs are broken down quickly and absorbed into the bloodstream. The glucose levels are controlled by the high doses of insulin secreted by the pancreas. There will be leftover insulin once the carbs are burnt up and this leftover insulin left in the body will cause to crave more food.

The consumption of bad carbs and saturated fats are restricted in the South Beach Diet. The South Beach Diet is divided into three phases. In the first phase, there have been reports of South Beach Dieters losing up to 14 pounds. This phase lasts for two weeks. The second stage is carried out until you reach your desired weight. Usually 1-2 pounds per week is lost during this phase. The third phase is carried out for the rest of the lifetime.

South Beach diet asks the sacrifice of burgers, pastries, pizzas, soft drinks in return for a slim and healthy body. Indeed a small price to pay for a lifetime of health and fitness.

The South Beach Diet is the hottest diet around today. It is made up of a collection of foods that you have to adhere to if you want to be successful. Some of the foods can be substituted but you mush not go overboard or else the diet will not work out.
The South Beach Diet is made up of three different stages. The foods involved in these stages are all nutritious and wholesome foods.

In the first phase of the South Beach Diet, you will be restricted to eating only lean meats, mono, and polyunsaturated fats like canola oil, olive oil and peanut oil. Carbohydrates with a low glycemic index can also be consumed.

In the second phase of the South Beach Diet, some of the healthy carbs that were banned in the first phase can be reintroduced. These include whole grain bread, fruits, whole-wheat pasta, whole-wheat rice and sweet potatoes.  

Once you reach stage three, it is all downhill from there as there is no strict food plan or restrictions. Phase three is purely maintenance and it is simply using the knowledge and concepts garnered from the first two phases of the South beach Diet.

The phases of the South Beach Diet can be made more bearable by being more creative when thinking up new alternative recipes or trying new foods. It is vital that you do not get sick of the foods in your new diet.

The three different phases of the South Beach Diet have different but similar aims. You may switch between the phases based on how fit you consider yourself to be. The South Beach diet was created with your health in mind. It allows for you to eat foods, which are healthy and at the same time delicious.

In the different phases of the South Beach Diet, there are also different levels of acceptable foods. The list of acceptable foods in phase one include lean cuts of beef, all kinds of seafood, skinless poultry, lean cuts of veal and pork, lunchmeats and cheeses that are low-fat or fat-free, tofu, eggs, legumes, low-glycemic index vegetables, canola oil, olive oil, peanut oil, seasonings and spices without added sugar, and some sugar-free treats.

The list of foods allowed in phase two is a little different and wider ranged. It includes all the acceptable foods from phase one as well as the addition of whole grain bagels, whole-wheat pasta, high-fiber cereal, high-fiber breads, popcorn, and whole-wheat pita.

The South Beach Diet is basically, an eating plan that revolves around the concept that the right carbohydrates and fats must be consumes if you desire a healthy and fit life. The South Beach Diet is one of the hottest diets around these days. But what exactly is the South Beach Diet? And that are the good and bad foods to take and avoid in this diet?

The principal of the South Beach Diet is the key to all its magic. Understanding the principals equals to understanding the diet itself. There are three different phases in the South Beach Diet. Each one is specifically designed to serve a different purpose but all aim to achieve the same goal in the end. Understanding the key to the diet lies largely in the first phase of the South Beach Diet.

In the first phase of the South Beach Diet, the most will power is needed, as there are so many restrictions on foods in this stage. It is the most challenging and strict phase of the diet. The foods to avoid in this phase include beef rib steaks, honey-baked ham, breast of veal, all yogurts, ice cream, milk including whole, low-fat, soy, and full fat cheeses, beets, carrots, corn, yams, fruits and fruit juices, all alcohol.

Aside from that, it is also important to realize that there are some ingredients in the food to avoid as well. These ingredients are all starchy foods such as bread, cereal, oatmeal, matzo, rice, pasta, pastries and baked goods among other similar foods.

The foods one should avoid are carbohydrates. This is apparent because of so many factors. The most important of all is that the South Beach Dieters begin to metabolize carbohydrates properly and the longing for carbohydrates will consequently disappear.

The dieter is actually encouraged to eat three balanced meals a day instead of the self-starvation that is required by most conventional diets. This is to ensure that the dieter does not feel hungry throughout the day. The average amount of weight expected to be lost during this phase is 8-13 pounds!

In the second phase of the South Beach Diet, most of the foods that were restricted in the first phase are gradually reintroduced. This phase is maintained until the dieter reaches the desired weight. The dieter is expected to lose 2-3 pounds a week in this phase.

The final phase of the South Beach Diet is maintaining good eating habits for the rest of the dieters life. By the time the dieter reached this stage, healthy eating would already have become second nature to him.

Your desired body weight can be achieved simply by following the South Beach Diet. By knowing the correct foods to consume as well as those to avoid, you can stay healthy and have a great looking body for the rest of your life!