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YAWT: South Beach Diet for trimming phase?

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WhiteKnight

Platinum Member
I've been lifting regularly for about a year and a half now (lift MWF, cardio TTh) and I've managed to put on some muscle, though not quite as much as I had hoped, probably because I haven't been eating enough to keep up with all the exercise. Anyway, I have gained some weight, and I am planning on going into a fat burning phase in January or so. Would the South Beach Diet be a good idea hear? I plan to continue working out during this phase of course, but would dropping a lot of the carbs from my diet help out here? I don't drink regular soda or anything like that, but I certainly don't avoid carbs. I'll regularly eat pasta and cereal and stuff like that.

Update: Well, I decided to start earlier than planned and it's been a little over a week now. I am doing SBD, and so far I've dropped about 5 lbs. and there is a noticible change in how I look. Muscles that were lurking under the surface are more visible now and for the first time in my life my six pack is starting to show. I haven't noticed any appreciable difference in my strength or energy. I've still been lifting like normal, and there has been no change in the amount that I have been lifting or the number of reps and sets. We'll see how it goes this week, but so far it's looking good.
 
I heard that Bill Clinton was on the South beach diet since he left office, and recently he has been having heart problems. Is there a connection?
 
Well, I'm not planning on going nuts on the bacon and lard like Atkins allows. I'm still going to eat veggies and stuff, just those allowed on the diet.
 
Originally posted by: Nimloth
I heard that Bill Clinton was on the South beach diet since he left office, and recently he has been having heart problems. Is there a connection?
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I would guess that people who are on ANY diet are more likely to have heart problems due to the fact that they have a history of being overweight.

Also, a case study for you: after being on South Beach for 4 months and eating an average of 1.5 eggs per day for breakfast my cholesterol dropped 60 points.
 
Originally posted by: KoolAidKid
Originally posted by: Nimloth
I heard that Bill Clinton was on the South beach diet since he left office, and recently he has been having heart problems. Is there a connection?
Click to expand...

I would guess that people who are on ANY diet are more likely to have heart problems due to the fact that they have a history of being overweight.

Also, a case study for you: after being on South Beach for 4 months and eating an average of 1.5 eggs per day for breakfast my cholesterol dropped 60 points.
Click to expand...

I should point out, I am not, nor ever have been (well, maybe some chubiness in middle school...) overweight. I'm not looking to get skinny per se, I just want to trim down some fat before going back to weight gaining.
 
Phase I of South Beach is very restrictive, and allows most people to drop about 10 pounds in 2 weeks. But I believe this is mostly water weight, and the problem is that it can be quickly gained back if one returns to "regular" eating habits. But you could definitely try it out and see how it works for you.

Or you could not do anything extreme, but just apply some of the basic principles for a few weeks or months, and see where it gets you. I'm referring to things like:
- reducing/eliminating sugar and simple (refined or enriched) carbohydrates
- avoiding fried foods and "bad" oils
- adding in fruits and vegetables (they're all fine IMO)
- choosing only whole grains (for cereals, whole wheat pasta, etc.)
- "pre-emptive" snacking - regular snacking on healthy foods to prevent cravings and the subsequent binge on junk food

Good luck. SBD has helped me out quite a bit. It's not perfect, but it got me pointed in the right direction. Eight months and 49 pounds later, I'm still getting there. 🙂
 
Well, my fiancee is going to be starting South Beach so unless anyone can point out any blatant problems that I've missed, I figure it can't hurt to give it a shot. At least I'll be helping her out. I realize that the inital (phase 1) weight loss will be a lot of water, but I'll try continuing phase 2 for a while and see how it goes.
 
Originally posted by: DeafeningSilence
Phase I of South Beach is very restrictive, and allows most people to drop about 10 pounds in 2 weeks. But I believe this is mostly water weight, and the problem is that it can be quickly gained back if one returns to "regular" eating habits. But you could definitely try it out and see how it works for you.

Or you could not do anything extreme, but just apply some of the basic principles for a few weeks or months, and see where it gets you. I'm referring to things like:
- reducing/eliminating sugar and simple (refined or enriched) carbohydrates
- avoiding fried foods and "bad" oils
- adding in fruits and vegetables (they're all fine IMO)
- choosing only whole grains (for cereals, whole wheat pasta, etc.)
- "pre-emptive" snacking - regular snacking on healthy foods to prevent cravings and the subsequent binge on junk food

Good luck. SBD has helped me out quite a bit. It's not perfect, but it got me pointed in the right direction. Eight months and 49 pounds later, I'm still getting there. 🙂
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Holy christ, that's a lot. And quick. :Q

- M4H
 
if you do any of those low carb diets, you are going to lose a noticeable amount of muscle mass along with your fat, simple as that.
 
Originally posted by: purbeast0
if you do any of those low carb diets, you are going to lose a noticeable amount of muscle mass along with your fat, simple as that.
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Well, that's going to be true just about any time you are losing weight. What I am concerned with is if my weight gain/weight loss cycle will result in a net gain of muscle and a net loss of fat.
 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
Originally posted by: purbeast0
if you do any of those low carb diets, you are going to lose a noticeable amount of muscle mass along with your fat, simple as that.
Click to expand...

Well, that's going to be true just about any time you are losing weight. What I am concerned with is if my weight gain/weight loss cycle will result in a net gain of muscle and a net loss of fat.
Click to expand...

well you will always lose some muscle mass when doing the cut cycle, but not always noticeable. with the SBD you will lose it noticeably more than you would if you did some other type of diet that just cut down some carbs and included more of a high intensity cardio exercise. not to mention, when going on a low carb diet, you will not have NEARLY the energy at the gym as you previously would, and that also will make you feel a lot weaker when lifting weights.
 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
So you're saying cut down on carbs, just not as much as is required by SBD phase 1 (in particular)?
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Well, I'm saying that the little layer of fat you want to lose probably isn't what could be lost during the 2-week introductory phase. So I think that moderate improvements, that you can sustain for a period of time, would be your best bet.
 
Well, maybe I'll try it out and keep a close watch on my strength and if I start to take a major drop then I'll make appropriate adjustments.
 
The south beach and the atkins diet are worthless. Either diet you're going to feel like absolute **** and probably gain even more weight back than you lost. Happens with most people it seems.

I'd just advise you to kill the simple carbs(ie pasta and ceral, they are going straight to your gut) and go with complex carbs that will be absorbed into energy over a longer period. So instead of eating a bowl of pasta, go for some brown rice. Instead of cereal go for a bowl of oatmeal...or whole grain cereal.

I cut the simple carbs from my diet and lost 20 pounds and that was without exercise.
 
Intial weight loss on any programme is water weight.

Just eat 10-15-20% less food and do 5hrs extra of cardio a week. You will shape up quick. It IS NOT EASY to eat less and add in 5hrs of cardio a week and continue the weights. BUT I can gurantee you results.

Or just eat the same and add in 5hrs of cardio a week.

Koing
 
I've been on South Beach since July. It's really a great diet. The idea behind the diet is getting rid of processed foods and starches as your main source of calories. I've dropped 15 pounds and it's pretty easy to stick to. Call BS to anyone that says it's bad for you because of all the fatty food you have to eat.

1) You can only eat limited quantities of certain types of fats
2) The diet actually wants you to go low fat where ever possible


I really recommend it. You get plenty of vitamins (unlike Atkins) and I see no what how the diet can be bad for you.
 
Originally posted by: purbeast0
if you do any of those low carb diets, you are going to lose a noticeable amount of muscle mass along with your fat, simple as that.
Click to expand...

South Beach is not low carb. Common misunderstanding.
 
That's true, Fritzo. By phase three, carbs are very much a part of the diet, it's just the right carbs that matter. You can even have the "bad" carbs once in a while, as long as it isn't a habit. That's what makes me think that maybe SBD isn't such a bad idea. Even if the first two weeks are rough, I can't see what would be wrong with phases 2 and 3, when complex carbs (whole wheat bread and such) come back into the diet. Thoughts?
 
Bill Clinton did the South Beach Diet - then he required heart surgery. Go figure!

In all seriousness, the South Beach Diet makes way more sense than the Atkins diet. Then again, many people have been successful on both of them.

 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
That's true, Fritzo. By phase three, carbs are very much a part of the diet, it's just the right carbs that matter. You can even have the "bad" carbs once in a while, as long as it isn't a habit. That's what makes me think that maybe SBD isn't such a bad idea. Even if the first two weeks are rough, I can't see what would be wrong with phases 2 and 3, when complex carbs (whole wheat bread and such) come back into the diet. Thoughts?
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How is that really any different than Atkins that introduces carbs slowly until weight loss stops?
 
Atkins allows you to have all the bacon, grease, etc. that you want. South Beach seems much more moderate to me. You eat carbs, just avoiding processed stuff like sugar and white flour and such. Fruits and veggies are in, whole wheat stuff is in, high fiber stuff is in.
 
Originally posted by: WhiteKnight
Atkins allows you to have all the bacon, grease, etc. that you want. South Beach seems much more moderate to me. You eat carbs, just avoiding processed stuff like sugar and white flour and such. Fruits and veggies are in, whole wheat stuff is in, high fiber stuff is in.
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hhhmmmm...I must have missed that page in the book.
 
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