I am on atkins and decided to look into the south beach diet too. I went out and bought the book and right off the bat I noticed a few things and hope some of you could clear it up for me. He mentions all sorts of things you can have, bread, yogurt(he even mentions frozen yogurt) and you get this feeling of "wow, I can eat a little of my favortie foods on this diet once in a while and still loose 1-2 lbs a week!" but he reverses himself at every turn. you can have "good" bread with breakfast and then 2 pages later he talks about well, you can but you shouldent. It sounds to me like he is trying to make you think you can have all this stuff on his diet but then mentions in a sentence somewhere you really shouldent. I could write a book and have it say eat bread if you want, but you really shouldent because you wont lose weight heh. On the today show he showed a breakfast on the south beach diet and it had a piece of toast with it but after reading his book I came to realize that is far from a typical south beach breakfast according to the book. If anything it would be like eating a treat not to be had often to have toast with your breakfast, considering his books breakfasts tend to be very small in the examples he uses. To make a long story short that book left me more confused then I was before I bought it.

I am one of the many started Atkins switched to SBD, and am ending in a hybrid. I agree the book needs a new edition - there are too many contradictions to the modifications and even between the recipes and the text - I think the recipes were written by a nutritionist influenced by standard low fat diet who barely skimmed over the book - there are numerous examples (eggs are good - the recipes call for egg substitutes - book says don't eat low fat majo, recipes call for it etc.).

You don't say where you are in your plan but all of us on SBD find in the first phase, they are not so different - in a way, South Beach phase 1 is MORE not less restricted than Atkins. You are allowed slightly more salad and non-carb veggies, but have more meat and fat restrictions: no beef, no pork, bacon, ham, brown turkey or chicken or skin, and severe restrictions of fat in dairy, cheese, butter etc.

If the toast was low carb, the example was probably at least phase 2 and it is not good that toast is shown as example.

If you are in phase 1, there should be no confusion. No matter what the recipes say, he clearly says you should eat until satisfied - but be strict on what you eat.

Phase 2 is confusing. Transition to phase 2 clearly suggests to add from the allowed carbs slowly, and to watch your body's reaction. I like that, even though it is confusing, everyone here confirms that every body is different, and that is acknowledged. For me, most additions of allowed carb ended in stalling, so I went back to phase 1, and a lot of people here seem to have the same experience. Maybe it is also because I don't exercise and have not so much to loose.

If you are on Atkins and it is working, I would keep to it. Once you have reached your weight, you can revisit SBD if you think Atkins for life is too restrictive. I like Agatson's attitude: get a good idea what is good food in general, then learn what makes your body gain weight and avoid it as much as possible, but there is no list of forbidden foods (although beer, sugar and white bread seem to be basically off-limit forever). But if there are whole grain/low fat versions of your favorite foods, you should be able to have them.

Yeah a new edition would be great. I am on OWL phase of Atkins but I am pretty much sticking close too the induction carb limits. I eat low carb bread once in a while but that only accounts for 8 carbs for 2 slices) and is almost all I will have that day. I am going to stick to the atkins plan but was just interested in the SBD. I just didnt know what to make of the book. Especially his portionless attitude and then turning around and saying only have this portion of so and so food. It would make me rethink everything I ate and wonder if I ate to much of it. I do love his attitude about cheating though. Granted I havent cheated yet, when reading the atkins book you would swear to god you should be caned 200 times for cheating. A diet that doesnt scold you for cheating but encourages you to come back in is a lot better in my opinion. SBD had that going for it atleast.

I also am on atkins but thought I would just see how different the south beach diet it. I was at costco today so I was skimming through the book but found it to very confusing so thought I better just stick with atkins. I know people are losing weight on it but found it also to be hard to understand.

Penny

There is no doubt that the book is very contradictory. The diet is a great thing with a VERY poorly written book. I too switched to SB from Atkins. I find SB much easier to stick to as I have more variety, but have kind of adapted it to my own style. For example, I don't buy reduced fat cheese, but I do try to limit my intake of full fat. I really enjoy the addition of black and kidney beans, yogurt, etc on phase 1 and now that I am in phase 2 the fruit and grains. Again, I am careful with my portions. It's been nice because I was one of those people who was scared to eat more than 20 carbs a day with Atkins.

Dr A has a great theory but unfortunately, the book is poorly written. PArt of the reason I think the book is that way is that he's trying to teach us how to make better choices, and find what works best for each of us, as we are all different. And to say that this is a lifestyle - so if you mess up it's ok, make a better choice next time. Adapt it to how it fits your life. But if you are looking for strick guidelines, you won't find them. If you are interested in SB I would recommend finding all the info you can on the web about it. This is a site that has been the most useful to me. http://www.mizfrogspad.com/south_beach_diet.htm
I've much more guidance and understanding of the diet from it and support forums on the web than the book could ever give me. Good luck to you.

Hi All...Great thread..

I agree with Emly.I know he left us all with some confusion but I believe that is because YMMV. Everyone is not the same therefore the same foods in the same amounts will not be right for everyone. I,too,dislike the conflicting info in the book.We should at least be given a little better info on which to base our decisions.

I was on P2 and went back to P1,today, because the cravings came back and I ate too much of a good thing.I am still trying to come to terms if I will ever be able to add back more "good" carbs.All I can do is pay attn. to what my body response is and if I stall or gain.I made a lot of mistakes going into P2 so I am giving it another try from the beginning.I only added all of this so anyone reading this will learn from it...careful when you start adding carbs back in!

Hope you all have a great week,
Linda