South Beach Diet (yeah, I know...)

[thestrangequark]

It's a trendy diet, but the science behind it is valid, and it's perfectly nutritious, so I thought I'd give it a go. Has anyone here tried this diet, with any measure of success? I'd love to hear any tips or stories from fellow posters!

I'm on the third day so far, and because I'm diabetic (type 1), I can't exclude carbohydrates entirely as is recommended for "Phase 1" (the first two weeks) of the diet. I have brought my carbohydrate consumption down to 50g or less, though (I'm aiming for 30g but there were a couple of times I had to eat some sweets to counter low blood sugar).
The amazing thing is the difference this is making in my use of insulin. I've never had to take very large doses of insulin because I'm very active (I know people who take upwards of 150 units a day, or more!); I used to inject 17 units of Lantus, the long-lasting, basal insulin (taken each morning and not varied), and anywhere between 12-20 units of humalog, the fast-acting insulin (taken before eating in varied amounts depending on how high my blood sugar is, what I'm eating, and how much exercise I have been or will be doing, among other factors). Right from the first day I had to reduce my insulin intake, which I was expecting, but what I wasn't expecting was how much I'd have to reduce it. I'm now taking 12 units Lantus, and what really blows my mind is that I'm down to 2 units of humalog a day! And if I wasn't addicted to soy chai lattes (the one carb I just can't give up), I don't think I'd have to take any humalog at all! I'm still trying to adjust the lantus, as I had a low blood sugar this morning, so it could go even lower.

Anyhow, this is my experience so far. The diet is not as tough to stick to as I thought, since I come from a family of health nuts, so I'm hoping I'll really be able to stick to it and lose some weight.

 

[DarkHelmet]

Are we talking 50g of carbs per day of carbs? Sweet jesus.

 

[thestrangequark]

^It seems drastic, but yeah. The first phase is supposed to have only 15g of carbs per day, but I've got to be more flexible in case my blood sugar goes low (which I'll definitely have to work on). It's pretty much nothing but non-starchy veggies, lean meat, nuts, cheese, and some beans. After two weeks of that you're supposed to start slowly adding carbs in, which ought to be interesting for me; I'll be able to see exactly how different foods affect my blood sugar.

 

[DarkHelmet]

I think the better question is.. is this "diet" (in phase 2 or 3 - if there is a 3) something you can stick with long term. Or something close to it. Because if not, once you stop, you'll probably put on some if not all of the weight you lose.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Well, that's yet to be seen, of course. Phase three is just healthy eating in general, with an emphasis on complex over simple carbohydrates. It's phases one and two that would be hardest. It's not gimmicky or unhealthy like the Atkin's diet.
I honestly don't know what my chances are of gaining back any weight (if I lose any). I'm very physically active (bike 20+ miles a day at least 3 days a week, walk 6+ miles a day every day, do hatha yoga, etc), and I'm also generally a healthy eater. I just put on weight easily and have trouble losing it because of the diabetes.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It works the same way that every other successful diet works: if you follow it strictly your calorie intake almost certainly goes way down.

In order to sell a new diet, one needs two things:

1) A menu or food list that intrigues people (if it includes something that dieters think of as "forbidden" put that right in the diet name).

2) A rationale that sounds scientific which distinquishes it from other diets with other scientific-sounding rationales.

Given those two you've got at least a shot at a bestseller.

South Beach is just a variation of the low-carb dieting approach that's been in vogue for quite a few years now. Follow it pretty strictly and you'll lose weight because you take in fewer calories. I'm on a low-carb diet right now that works out to about 1400 calories a day and it's working fine - but it doesn't really matter whether I get 200 of those calories from lean meat, oatmeal or by eating tablespoons of white sugar (I'm sticking pretty much with the lean meat and eggs, though. ).

 

[thestrangequark]

^I disagree with that assessment, in part because of the research I've done, but mainly because of the extreme effect this diet is having on my blood sugar (which, as a type 1 diabetic, I monitor diligently); the personal evidence is the most convincing. Though it has an element of fad diet to it (namely the, well, name), the science is far from just scientific-sounding, it is valid.
I didn't bother to buy the book, and I'm certainly not going for any tv dinners or bars (are there bars? Probably)-- that's the great thing about this diet: I don't have to purchase anything to do it. The food guidelines are online, and that's really what the diet is -- a consolidated list of foods grouped mainly by glycemic index. It saves me from having to do the majority of the research into the specific nutritional facts of specific foods on my own (though I still do that research from time to time).

As far as weight gain/loss is concerned your assessment of where the calories come from is pretty accurate. Most scientists and nutritionists agree that in regards to weight gain a fat calorie is really no different than a carb calorie. But as far as health is concerned, the affects of different kinds of sugars/carbs is significant. As evidenced by insulin levels: eating carbs causes one's body to produce insulin, eating proteins does not. And insulin, as any type 1 diabetic will tell you, makes you fat. Also, a couple of days I did not reduce my calorie intake at all, eating a great deal of high-calorie nuts, and though my calorie intake was greater, my blood sugar was unaffected.

Out of curiosity, how is your low-carb diet going? You said you are emphasizing lean meets, which is what the South Beach diet does too (unlike the scary Atkins diet that gives people gout!). Have you noticed any difference in how you feel? Weight loss? etc.
As for me, weight loss isn't my major driving force -- I'm only about 10 lbs overweight. Losing that 10 lbs is more important for me than for others, because losing just 5lbs lowers blood sugar naturally. Ultimately I'm doing this for my health, and I hope I can keep it up, because it's done wonders for my blood sugar levels so far. In just 4 days I've almost halved my daily dose of insulin. It's pretty awesome.