The South Beach Diet

Former United States president and first lady Bill and Hilary Clinton both found success with the South Beach Diet. So what does it entail?

The Phases of South Beach

To gain an understanding of how this diet program works, we must first address the phases.

1. Kick-Starting Your Weight Loss

   During phase one (a period of 14 days) you are permitted meat (i.e. chicken, turkey, fish, and fish), eggs, cheese, nuts, salads (with olive oil dressing only) and vegetables. You are encouraged to eat three meals a day and to indulge in snacking mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

   Sounds good to me! But wait, we have yet to tackle the list of foods that are taboo to partake in. This list of forbidden items includes fruit (interesting, I thought fruit was healthy but apparently it contains carbohydrates), bread, rice, potatoes, and foods that are obviously unhealthy such as candy, cakes, cookies, and ice cream. Absolutely no sugar is permissible, nor is any type of alcohol (puts a damper on the weekend party). Fortunately, all of this eradication is not indefinite because then along comes phase two.

2. Reintroducing the Right Carbs

   The basic objective of phase one was to rid you of the cravings for sweets and carbohydrates. In phase two you should still shed pounds even though you are now permitted to eat some carbohydrates. You are still on the diet, but if you have an occasional craving for a particular food such as chocolate or a dinner roll, you are now allowed to have it—in moderation of course. For example, you cannot eat a piece of chocolate and a roll in one setting. Baby steps, my friends, baby steps.

3. A Diet for Life

   This is the infinite phase of the diet. At this point, the South Beach claim is that if you diligently followed the diet, you have eliminated the desire to eat unhealthy foods, whereby making South Beach no longer a diet but more of a lifestyle change.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet has actually been around for the past three decades, but only in recent years has it jumped to the forefront of all diets. Celebrities linked to Atkins such as Jennifer Aniston and Nick Lachey have helped propel it to its popular status. Also, clever marketing of Atkins brand products in stores everywhere and many restaurants offering "Atkins-friendly" menu choices have done nothing but fuel its notoriety. So what is all of the buzz about?

The Principles of Atkins

Atkins is driven by four basic principles: weight loss, weight maintenance, good health, and disease prevention.

1. Weight Loss

   Weight loss is achieved through the burning of both carbohydrates and fat as fuel for the body\'s energy needs. Carbohydrate is the initial fuel to be metabolized. However, when you drastically reduce the amount of carbohydrate consumption (no carbs or sugar allowed in the initial phase of this diet so be prepared to munch on nothing but meats—no processed meats like bacon or ham—some cheeses, and some veggies), your body transitions from the metabolic outlet of burning carbohydrates to burning fat as its primary energy source. This results in weight loss.

2. Weight Maintenance

   For each person there exists a tightly regulated carbohydrate threshold below which fat burning and weight loss occurs. If your carbohydrate consumption exceeds this threshold, carbohydrate burning is more prevalent and fat is allowed to accumulate, resulting in unwanted weight gain. Each person also has a level of carbohydrate that is a neutral point whereas he/she will neither gain nor lose weight.

3. Good Health

   Individuals pursuing a personalized, restricted carbohydrate nutritional approach that includes foods rich in nutrients are more prone to meet their nutritional needs and encourage good health than individuals pursuing low-fat, calorie-restricted diets. Regular exercise is also a necessity for maintaining weight, toning muscles and maintaining a sense of well-being.

4. Disease Prevention

   By pursuing a personalized controlled carbohydrate nutritional approach that both lowers carbohydrate intake and insulin production, people who are at high risk for or diagnosed with chronic diseases can see improvement in clinical parameters.

The Zone Diet

Even though the Zone diet originated twenty years ago, I had never heard a word about it until reports surfaced that Renee Zellweger utilized it as her tool for shedding the pounds gained for her role as Bridget Jones in the Bridget Jones\' Diary films. What is the Zone Diet? How does it work?

The Zone Diet Concept

This diet actually originated 20 years ago. It was initially developed for treating heart disease in Type II diabetes patients. Its basic objective is to stabilize insulin level within the body by treating food like a drug.

It is not a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, and there are no phases to trudge through. In fact, the foundation of this diet is carbohydrates, primarily attained through fruits and vegetables. The recommendation is 10-15 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, over three times the amount recommended by the United States government.

Protein is supplemented through meat servings; rule-of-thumb is meat should not exceed palm-size.

All in All

Obviously, each of these diets, if followed closely, proves effective as there are living testimonies everywhere singing their praises. However, the more research I performed for each program, the more I discovered how similar they really are. Each diet not only addresses weight issues but also health issues in general. And as with any diet, they each have the potential for major regression and disappointment if not diligently followed. So now it is up to you to decide which end of the bandwagon you wish to jump on. Good luck!