South Beach Diet Plan

I walked right past my friend Cindy in the mall a few weeks ago. She’d lost so much weight I literally didn’t recognize her. So of course I had to know how she did it. She laughed and said she had “gone to the beach!” Then she told me about the South Beach Diet. (By the way, you can click on that link to the left to go to the site. To make it easier for you to see what I'm talking about, you can click on any of the links in this story and go right to the site I'm referring to.)

I recognized the name, but I assumed it was just another diet plan, and I learned a long time ago diets don’t work for permanent weight loss.

We wound up walking down to the bookstore where she showed me the South Beach Diet book. I learned about Dr. Agatston, the cardiologist who designed an eating plan for his patients to improve their cholesterol and insulin levels. Not only did their levels improve dramatically, an unexpected but pleasant side effect was weight loss.

That got my attention.

I was intrigued with what I saw and wanted to know more. I was ready to buy the book right then and there, but Cindy told me to skip that and just go right to the South Beach website. -- Click on the link :)

So that’s exactly what I did. I was impressed with all the site had to offer. I signed up for a free personalized diet profile and registered for a free week of the program. If I didn’t like it, all I had to do was cancel. At the end of 7 days I didn’t like it. I LOVED it!

I lost 4 pounds the very first week! For $5.00 a week, the decision to become a member was a no-brainer. I was amazed at all the benefits for members.

One of the first things I did was to sign up with Cindy as my beach buddy, as well as two other ‘beachers’ I met through the Beach Buddy Program.

I found a lot of support on the message boards and could send any questions I had to registered dieticians online. No book can do all that.

I use their meal planner to design my menus for the week, and the shopping list generator to print out my grocery list based on my meal plan. And with hundreds of recipes in their database, I’m never at a loss for ideas.

South Beach online (click on the link to check it out) even offers a dining guide for making healthy choices when eating out.

There are other easy-to-use tools like a weight tracker and a calendar, even an online journal. Every day I look forward to the newsletter, chock full of healthy tips, diet news and lots of inspiration.

For me, the best part of the South Beach diet is that it’s not really a diet. It’s sensible, healthy eating. I never feel hungry or deprived and I’m still able to enjoy my favorite foods. I’ve never felt better and I’ve certainly never looked better! It’s been several months since I first went to the Beach.

I’m 26 pounds lighter and immeasurably healthier. I enjoy delicious meals three times a day, including dessert if I want it. I can indulge in a good-for-you snack twice a day and still fit in my ‘skinny’ jeans.

The funniest thing, the other day I saw my friend Janet at the grocery store. She walked right past me! I called her name and when she turned around, a second or two passed before I saw recognition in her face. She said she hadn’t even recognized me and had a fit over how great I looked. Of course she was curious to know how I did it. I wish you could have seen her face when I told her I had “gone to the Beach”!