How Do You Choose a Diet?

Hi, and thanks for interesting thread.

I have looked at the South Beach Diet and it is not that different from Atkins is it? it is a little less strict on carbs but from my perspective it is still too strict. During phase 1 you are meant to go on a very limited amount of carbs.

The first time dieter will probably have lots of problems with this. Getting tired and such.

There are too many fads that are based on non-behavior (non-carb, non-fat and so on) and these are extremely hard to follow because our body have needs for the variety of foods.

Eating too little carbs means that our brain runs on fat and to me it is like running your brand new car on low grade petrol.

Well, thats my opinion and also my first post here! English isn't my primary language so you'll probably find some grammar and spelling errors.

/Jennifer Olsen

I don't agree exactly when you say:

--
My commentary: This type of eating might be healthier. But if you don't eat in moderation, you're not going to lose weight.
I don't think you can eat 2500 calories a day, from this list of foods, and lose weight.

Eat 1500-1700 a day, depending on your height, weight and activity level and yes you can lose weight. Whether you can eat high amounts of these foods and be healthier has not been determined. My guess is no, not without a lot of exercise.
--

I was born in Sicily, Italy and I can clearly tell you that by eating the Mediterranean diet you won't gain weight.

It depends by 3 points:
1. Metabolism ( http://thyroid.about.com/od/loseweightsuccessfully... )

2. Start the main meals (lunch and dinner) with a salad can help you being less hungry

3. The foods are so complete that you won't need to eat big quantities to absorb more nutritional

I'd like also to read this article that compare other diet pyramids ( http://www.mediterraneanbook.com/2007/09/30/medite... )

Thank you!

Valeria

Down with diets, up with real foods and let's commit to eating healthier for good.

That being said, I lost 20 lbs a year ago on WW and have kept if off (give or take a few holiday pounds that I'm working on shedding right now). For me, WW wasn't so much a diet as it was a way to help me re-learn how to eat healthy. WW re-introduces you to appropriate portion sizes (we've forgotten what a real serving size is) and helps you keep track of what you put in your mouth (ever add up those little "bites" and "nibbles" you take throughout the day -- you'd be surprised). WW's online tool makes counting so easy, it does the counting for you. After doing WW for a year, I can pretty much maintain my weight without having to log my points because I know what my limits are. And I can eat anything I want as long as they're within those limits.

Amy S.
Up With Moms (http://upwithmoms.blogspot.com/)

That's just how I feel about South Beach too! I went to look at your blog thinking, "I might want to link to this blog on my own site" and realized I already have a link to you!

Good luck with the exercise program. I am a pretty committed exerciser, but I still get in slumps where I don't exercise for a while. It always feels good to get back to it.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

Thanks for including my blog in your roundup article.

I have to say, I've tried lots of diets in the past (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, cabbage soup, etc.) and the South Beach Diet is the one that seems to make the most sense to me. The book really made me understand how sugars are processed by the body. It's logical and realistic.

It is also the first diet that doesn't have me obsessing over food. No counting points, etc. I eat low carb, low fat foods when I'm hungry, and that's that. I don't have to constantly think about how I'm going to squeeze in 4 more points at 11pm at night. I know which foods I should avoid and which foods I should include. It's really been easy.

Now that the food is easy, I have to begin an exercise program in earnest so that I can see even greater results on the scale.

As you mentioned, no matter which program people choose, the best way to be successful is to follow it whole heartedly. You have to make the commitment to yourself and know that you're doing this for life -- a more healthy life.

Bella
http://bellasboldbrilliantblog.wordpress.com
http://southbeachtrio.wordpress.com

Diets without Carbs just sound weird to me. I think the diets that say meat, meat and more meat are going to cause major health concerns in the future. We need fiber which is associated with Carbs to make our bodies work right. I like the Maker's Diet idea and that is just to eat as natural as possible. I shop around the outside of the grocery store and try to avoid the inside as much as possible. Lots of fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat and whole grains as possible but like I said in anothe post NO WHITE FLOUR and actually I don't even do alot of wheat in general. My father looks at me funny when I say that because he is a farmer.

Sheila Rae
http://www.sheilaraellc.com

Sheila Rae
www.bizzylizzybakery.com ( http://www.bizzylizzybakery.com )

I am not against diets but I do think this industry is not very kind to all of us that need to loose a few pounds. All the gadgets and books we could read to make the process so easy. And the people that stand up there and say yes, I lost weight in just 10 days using this machine or that. Weight loss is holistic. It is a combination of a bunch of components. The right foods and of course exercise and I think NO POP, which by the way I love. My New Years resolution is just to leave out White Flour products. I have been doing a lot of reseach on this topic and have found ties between Diabetes and White Flour and of course the food allergies that are associate with it. I think if we take the life out of food which is what happens in the removal of the germ from white flour it just is not good for us. I also don't believe in seedless-fruit. ]

best wishes on dieting??

Of course I have to weigh in on this one (no pun intended). Great job Denise, although there are a few things I don't agree with (what a surprise!).

Of course I'm sold on the South Beach Diet or I wouldn't be writing a blog about cooking that way. I'm also a total believer in eating "real food" not packaged meals. I love that South Beach allows me to still be creative in the kitchen, eat "gourmet" food and maintain a size 8-10 (which I've been able to do since 2004, with a few returns to phase one when the size tens are getting a bit snug.)

Another blogger I'd recommend for anyone who has a lot of weight to lose is PastaQueen who writes the blog Half of Me ( http://www.pastaqueen.com/halfofme/ ). She has basically lost half her body weight on South Beach, and she didn't even cook when she started, although she's learning. She's writing a book about the experience of losing a lot of weight. She's a great writer, and her blog is always a good read.

Now, my two cents worth on what Denise said and some other comments.

First, everyone in the comments who is having heartburn about the word diet, you're forgetting there are two meanings to that word. Your "diet" is simply what you eat. I plan to eat the South Beach Diet way for the rest of my life, for me it is a complete lifestyle change. I will always be grateful to Dr. Agatston for helping me to understand why it mattered what I ate as much as it did how much I ate.

Second, South Beach is basically the same as a low-glycemic index diet. For the most part, on South Beach food lists whether foods are considered "good", "limited", "very limited" or "avoid" is based on the glycemic index of that food and/or whether it contains saturated fat. I've been amazed to watch more and more "low GI diets" spring up, which are just different incarnations of South Beach.

Third, Denise you know I love you to death, but you're just wrong when you say this about phase one: "That really deprived feeling you get from a very restrictive diet is what tends to cause you to stop using the diet plan, why Dr Agatston puts people through that is beyond me. "

I've had many people tell me (and have experienced it myself) that when you stick to phase one you will develop almost a "high" feeling with lots of energy and not feeling hungry. The truth is, when you're on phase one you feel so great (and are losing weight so quickly) it's hard to get yourself to move on to phase two. Dr. Agatston made that claim in the book, and I was so skeptical, but I've experienced it several times now when I've gone back to phase one for a "tune-up" after I've over-indulged (which I still do sometimes, I'm human!) Also, if you read the South Beach Diet book it explains how eliminating starchy vegetables, fruits, grains, and alcohol for a period of time (all things that turn to sugar quickly in the body) actually causes your body to stop craving those kinds of foods. In my own experience, when you go to phase two and start to add things like brown rice or converted rice, low-carb or whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, and fruit back into your diet, it's much harder to regulate what you're eating without overdoing it than it is to stick to phase one. (That is where knowing the glycemic index comes in. Once you understand it, there is no counting, measuring, or weighing. You will intuitively know which foods are best.)

The advantages of eating the low glycemic way are more energy, greater feeling of well-being, elimination of mood swings, and elimination of cravings for sweets and overly-starchy foods.

Thanks for starting a great conversation about this topic. As someone who lost over 40 pounds (and I was over age 50) I can tell you that life is a lot more enjoyable when you're at a healthy weight. I also believe (as Alanna mentioned) that everyone has to choose a diet based on their own food preferences. I don't find the South Beach way of eating that hard to stick with, I feel better when I do stick to it, and I'm happy to have found a way of eating that works for me.

Kalyn Denny
Kalyn's Kitchen ( http://kalynskitchen.blogspot.com )

I'd argue that the problem is that people don't know how to MAKE food, not they they don't know what they should be eating. Even with packaged food, the rules apply - if you don't know what the hell it is, you probably shouldn't be eating it. Yeah, there are generations of pre-fab food eaters, but it's not a huge stretch to go from eating prefab food that has weird-ass ingredients to eating prefab food that we can understand. Salad in a bag is a better veggie than boxed mashed spuds, surely we know that.

Admitted: I live in a lefty, foodie, west coast ghetto, not in a place where Canadian Bacon is a vegetable. :-)

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )

and I try to avoid using it.

I made a lifestyle change, one step at a time. I did it slowly and cautiously, and it worked.

The word "diet" indicates a beginning and an end. What are you going to do when the diet ends, and your real life returns? You have to learn to eat the right foods, in the correct amounts. And move more.

---

Keep posted with my life on my blogs:
www.momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com ( http://www.momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com ) - a story of one woman's insanity with her six kids
www.theelffdiet.com ( http://www.theelffdiet.com ) - how I lost 80 pounds with a New Year's Resolution

Count me in as a "cringer."

I live in the world of eating disorder advocacy and dieting by any name sounds bad, bad, bad. And a little scary.

Part of that is the PTSD reaction to living with someone (now recovered) whose eating disorder sounded to the ear so much like a dieting commercial.

But also because there is no evidence I've seen that any sort of restrictive eating makes permanent body composition change. Except, in some cases, to result in higher fat/lean mass ratios.

The two authors great to read on this are Gina Kolata of the NYT, who wrote "Rethinking Thin" and the blogger Sandy Szwarc at junkfoodscience.blogspot.com

And you're absolutely right, picking the "right diet" for one's taste is so important. I love Weight Watchers and can't imagine giving up fruit or bread. Kalyn loves South Beach and can't imagine only using a tablespoon of olive oil for a salad dressing serving four. (Yes, we do compare notes! I've learned a ton about how diets work differently with different people since knowing her.)

But the "best diet" is one I saw detailed (if you can call it that) is from Escape from Obesity ( http://escapefromobesity.blogspot.com/2008/01/janu... ), STOP EATING SO MUCH AND START MOVING.

It's just so basic, reminding me of my godson when he was about five and wanted to be a basketball star. I asked what what it would take to become one, thinking he'd say, "Grow tall", "Work hard", etc. Instead he said, "Well, I guess I'd have to be able to make a lot of baskets".

Right on. So basic!!!

BTW the Weight Watchers "core plan" doesn't require counting points. Basically, you eat from a list of certain foods so in that way it's more like South Beach/others that focus on WHAT you can eat first.

Alanna Kellogg, A Veggie Venture ( http://kitchen-parade-veggieventure.blogspot.com/ )

I know what you mean. Many of the "big diets" that used to be labeled "low carb" are now calling themselves GI diets and that makes me nervous. It's another gimmick to sell books and eating programs. And, I think it can dilute the entire GI issue for those with health conditions that really do call for Glycemic Index monitoring.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net )

I won't join your monthly food challenges, because for me that's just like the diet/nutrition obsession and I do not do food obsessions. Yuk. But I can also guarantee you that I'll be reading them and it's very likely that I'll be blogging them too.

Thanks for posting your link. I'm subscribing now.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net )

Interesting to see the GI values as a "diet" - I was familiar with them as an approach to eating reputed to be good for the prevention of diabetes and good health ( http://www.glycemicindex.com/ ), but was unaware they were being marketed primarily as a weight-loss regime.

That worries me a bit, because I'm skeptical that diet marketing will be as accurate as the peer-reviewed research tables that the GI folk present and diet marketing will probably make this approach to eating seem more regulated and less flexible then it is.

- Kuri
Thought, Interrupted By Typos
http://www.thoughtinterrupted.ca/

Oh good, another "anti-dieter".

The bigger question is, do we really know what to do?

Americans my age and my childrens' age grew up eating pre-packaged junk food and prepared foods. It is quite possible that there are people in this country who really don't know how to eat without buying their food in packages with "seasoning" envelopes and "all contents included in box, just add meat" on the label or "diet frozen dinners".

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager

Flamingo House Happenings ( http://www.flamingohouse.net )

Our obsession with "nutrition" and weight-loss has come at the expense of our understanding of real food. See Michael Pollan's NYTimes article "Unhappy Meals" ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutri... ) for an exhaustive history of this process. It's a great story on how the agricultural-industrial complex has totally obscured the seven-word rule that leads to a healthy diet and body: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.

I'm fighting industrial notions of health and diet in 2008 with a series of monthly food challenges. ( http://www.burghilicious.com/2008/01/january-chall... ) I'd love some company!

Lauren
Burghilicious ( http://www.burghilicious.com )

There are two really good books out, one's called What to Eat and the other, I have totally forgotten the name of, dammit. But they both say the same thing.

Quit complicating your food, already.

Eat food that's high quality, shop the outside of the supermarket only, stay out of those inner aisles, don't buy food that's got more than five ingredients in it, don't buy food that contains stuff you wouldn't use in a home kitchen, eat food that's made from ingredients your gramma would understand.

We all know this. We do, I'm sure of it. And we're feeding ourselves weird power bars and shakes and obsessing over glycemic counts as though we have time to do home science.

No no no no no. Don't pick a diet, because that's a temporary, non sustainable, complicated solution. Choose instead to eat thoughtfully and simply all the time and spend the money you'd spend on diety gadgety solutions on better quality food.

Before I get off my anti-diet soapbox, lemme tell you, I could drop some weight, it wouldn't kill me. But I'm still not buying. Pick an exercise plan and eat right. You know what to do. You don't need packaged "experts" to tell you.

Nerd's Eye View ( http://www.nerdseyeview.com )