This is one of the most popular dietsin history. The South Beach Diet was created by Dr. Arthur A Gatston, a well-known cardiologist, he developed an eating plan that his patients would be able to stick to and follow as he noticed many normal low fat diets were really hard for his patients to stick to. This diet helped to improve the cholesterol and insulin levels of the patients with heart disease. It also helped many people lose weight.

Many celebrities have been known to follow the South Beach Diet which include Oprah Winfrey, Bette Midler, Nicole Kidman, Kim Cattrell, and both Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Health Care professionals now agree that an eating plan like this is good for keeping your body healthy and your heart. Eventually the South Beach Diet will become a part of your life and you will not feel hungry or deprived, but you are enjoying eating tasty and nutritional foods. The Diet is suitable for anyone even if they don't have a lot of weight to lose, exercise along with this is just as important. The Diet also approves of desserts and other sweet treats.

The South Beach Diet is divided into three phases. The first phase lasts for two weeks and you can lose around 8-13lbs in this time. The second phase has no fixed period time and you can continue with the diet as long as you are pleased until you get your ideal figure, on average people usually lose between 1-2lbs a week on this phase. Phase 3 is just to be continued for life.

Phase 1

In phase one you will be annihilating many foods that you are used to eating like bread, pasta, potatoes, fruit, rice, alcohol, sugar and baked foods. Nonetheless after the two weeks are up you can start to gradually add the foods back into your diet that you weren't able to eat before.

Foods allowed

• Meat and Nuts- lean ground beef, sirloin, boiled ham, peanuts and pistachios
• Poultry- Turkey and chicken breast
• All Seafood- all types of fish
• Dairy Products- Fat-free cheeses, whole eggs
• Green Vegetables- Salad, tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli and asparagus
• Others- Avocado and Olive Oils
• Lots of Water

Foods to avoid

• Poultry- Chicken wings and legs, poultry products processed and duck
• All Dairy products except low fat cheeses- all yoghurt, ice cream, milk including whole, low-fat, soy, and all full fat cheeses
• Carbohydrate laden vegetables- Carrots, corn and potatoes
• All Fruits and fruit juices
• All Alcohol
• All Starchy foods- such as oatmeal, rice, pasta, bread, cereal, crackers etc
• Sweets or Sugar- Cake, biscuits, ice cream

Phase 2

After two weeks you can start to add the foods you previously weren't allowed back into your diet such as potatoes, bread, paste, you can even add fruit too. You are obliged to pick what food you can add back to your diet, but you can't include it all or the food that you choose to disregard. The point it to reintroduce these foods back into your diet however you should only choose foods that have a low GI (wholegrain, bread, apples, berries etc) but eating them in moderation and not as much as before you embarked on this diet.

Phase 3

This is the final stage of the diet and it's a lot less restrictive than the first two phases. Dr A Gatston says all you need it to follow the simple rules and you will be able to maintain your weight. He also states that you will forget you were ever on a diet and that it's just part of the way of life.

South Beach diet rules for all phases

• All Portion sizes should be normal sized and enough to keep you satisfied and not hungry for more.
• You should drink at least eight glasses of water a day or decaffeinated drinks with no added sugar though this includes tea and coffee.
• If caffeine based drinks are desired then only 1 cup of it should be drank per day.
• Daily Multi-Vitamins and Mineral supplements as well as Calcium supplements are recommended. 500mg a day for both men and women.