Hi all,

I've been on this forum a pretty long while. In the past I've mainly done either very low carb plans or some type of carb cycling. At this time, I feel like a more moderate carb plan would work best for helping me to feel better and have more energy.

I got two books out of the library, as mentioned in the title: South Beach Diet (2003) and South Beach Diet Supercharged (2008). I wasn't sure which one is better, so I just checked them both out to be safe.

What's the difference? What would be better to start with?

Thanks so much for any advice.

Alisa

As far as I know the difference in the Supercharged is the food lists should be updated and you add exercise to it, other than that the Principal of the South Beach Diet is the same. Just updated foods and addition of the Exercise.

Judy please correct me if I am wrong

Hi Alisa,
Susanne is right, the Supercharged book has added exercise and updated food lists. Otherwise, they are the same.

We have the food lists here in the weighin thread in case you'd like to print them up for easy reference. It also has the Meal Plan guides which show us how to eat this way. Both are very good tools to print up.

It wasn't until I found the meal plan guides that I really learned how to eat the South Beach way. I highly recommend to everyone to follow them as you learn the plan.

Good Luck!

Thanks, Susanne! In just taking a surface look at the books, this is what I noticed, but I wanted to make sure. Not sure if you're familiar with Atkins, but the 1972, 2001 and most recent versions are all pretty different, to the point that they're almost not the same plan. I did want to make sure there wasn't that kind of discrepancy with SB.

Hi Judy!

I'll make sure to check out that thread. I also took a look at your first journal with all of your food intake. What an incredible resource!

I have a feeling it is going to be hard to mentally make a switch. But honestly, SB isn't that different from what I was doing when I was most successful. I was probably doing phase I-II with some high carb days thrown in.

This is something I'm honestly curious about, because it's the one snag I have. I don't mind low fat dairy that much (I love 0% greek yogurt and low-fat kefir, for example), but I balk at low fat cheese. Is it possible to eat the full-fat cheese, but just at a smaller portion? As in, 2 T. shredded versus a 1/4 cup? Or is that bending the rules too much? I don't mean to already be messing with the plan, but this is one of the few hang-ups I've really noticed.

Thanks so much for the replies.

to be honest, I dont eat low fat cheese at all ( I also cannot stand the taste) I do eat low fat or non Fat yogurt and milk is always 1% in my house. but regular fat cheese is the only thing I can stand, so I usually stick with regular cheese. I dont limit it more than the low fat version, I eat the same amount as the Low Fat allowed. I have not had any kind of problems with it yet.
Today is day 14 for my in Phase 1 and I am happy to say I lost 10.2lbs since I started 14 days ago!

I'm glad that you found it and see its worth. Its not perfect in any way but it is real. I found that my food evolved over time. The more I learned the plan, the better my choices became.

It'll be hard if you think its hard....easy if you think about it that way. Change is good....it makes us think more.



Low fat and non fat cheese are a tipping point for many people. Truth be told, I do try to find cheese that I like that are reduced fat not non fat ever.
Here are the ones that I enjoy:
reduced fat sharp cheddar
reduced fat jarlsberg
laughing cow light, all flavors(soft and spreadable)
2% mexican shredded 5 cheese for chili and other dishes
2% cheese sticks

Blue cheese and gorgonzola are full fat cheeses and I don't like them so I don't eat them. These kinds of cheeses are very calorie dense so if you do eat them, crumbles and very small amounts would be what you need to go for.
I happen to love Brie. It too, is very calorie dense so if and when I do eat it, its a treat and in very small quantities.

Yogurt and cottage cheese: I find that the 2% is fine.
I use H&H in my morning coffee.

These are things that I've figured out for myself over time. I see cheeses as condiments not large parts of my daily food. Less is better in general. This is one of the aspects of SB that I disagree with, that cheeses are an unlimited protein source. It lists cheese, non and low fat, as protein and I count it in with my 2 cup daily dairy totals.
I aim for 2 ozs a day and on rare days, have up to 4 ozs. I like the limit that Atkins sets for cheese at 4 ozs, it makes total sense to me. Especially if and when anyone eats up to 4 ozs of it daily, its high in salt, can be consitpating to some and takes up a lot of total calories.

Because SB is fundamentally on the higher end of low carb, the total calories have to come out of somewhere when we follow the plan. Sat fat is where we cut back. Its just the way it is for those of us who follow the SBD plan so a debate about sat fat is not going to happen here.

I hope this helps and answers your questions.

Totally agree with Judy on the amounts of cheese. I like the full fat versions of cheeses, except the Cottage, Ricotta and Laughing Cow, those I eat non fat or low fat versions.
I do however not eat more than 4 oz of cheese per day, if I use any at all. Usually just a sprinkle of the shredded cheese on my eggs in the morning and maybe a slice of cheese as snack.
I second the Constipation if too much cheese is eaten!
When I first started out low Carb I started with Atkins and ate lots of cheese and had lots of Consipation to the point where I had to almost daily for 1 week take stool softners and such to get me going again. I learned my lesseon the "hard" (pun intended) way!
I guess it all depends on the person and what works for them. Like I said I dont eat very much cheese to begin with so I stick to full fat. Cottage and Ricotta I do not count as unlimited Cheese, I count like Judy as Dairy and those are Non fat versions I use.

Yay Susanne! You're in Onederland! Congratulations!

Cheese does that to me as well. I like it a lot, but portion control with cheese isn't too difficult for me. For a lot of applications, shredding can make it go a long way. And 4 oz. is a whole cup of shredded cheese!



Aww, c'mon! It'll be fun! Seriously, though, that makes sense to me. Anyway, I'm pretty sure even Atkins said that saturated fat was fine, but in the absence of carbs. So SB is just keeping with that.

I kind of doubt there is a Trader Joe's in NYC, but they make a lite Brie that is very tasty. It has 60% less fat, but the taste is not discernibly different (and I like my Brie, so I would notice if something was awry!)

Thank you again for answering my questions. Oh, and as far as your journal not being perfect... that's what makes it great--- you made goal, and are maintaining it, regardless of bumps along the way. And I thought it was really neat how you tailored the plan to yourself over time.

Thanks Blondie!