Down 12 Pounds,Now What?

You've just come off the first two weeks following the diet, your 12 lbs. lighter, now what?

Your clothes feel loose, your waist line has shrunk and most of all you have made it through South Beach Diet Phase 1! Congratulations! Let celebrate right?

Well not so fast. You didn't cut down the amount you ate but you made choices about what you ate. The menu during Phase 1 was very limited and because of that became repetitious and possibly boring.

Well it is time to start reintroducing some of those things you have been missing during the last two weeks. If you really liked pasta you can have pasta, bread also, how about potatoes?
Have the sweet tooth? How about chocolate? You can have all these things in phase 2, but a little differently than previously and not as often.

You want to start eating healthy carbs during this phase. Things like whole grain bread, rice and pasta. Fruit can be added back as well but you should switch to sweet potatoes for you potato fix.

You should be drinking low fat or 1% milk; you can start having cereal again but make sure it is high in fibre such as Fibre One or Kellogg's Extra Fibre All Bran. Oatmeal (not instant) and sugar free bran muffins work well for your breakfast to start the phase. Remember you can still have the foods you had in phase 1 such as lean bacon and eggs as well. The choice is yours.

You can have as much lean protein as you want with your lunch and dinner, you should also include low glycemic vegetables and you can start slowly introducing certain starches. Start slow with the fruits and pay attention to the ones to avoid. Again consult the glycemic index. You may also have a glass of wine, red or white now and then.

For desert you can have bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate as well as sugar and fat free pudding.

Consult the book or the on-line website to see the gycemic index, a list of the foods you are allowed to have and foods to avoid and numerous recipes to use during the phase. There are also meal plans for those who are so inclined.

The amount of weight you lose slows in phase 2 of the diet. You stay in phase 2 until you reach your target weight. One to two pounds per week is possible. Keep eating the healthy carbohydrates and you will reach your weight goal.

Should you happen to stop the diet and suddenly regain all that weight you lost in phase 1, you simply start over. Everyone knows how hard it is to go on vacation and diet, or how about stressfull situations that you encounter now and then? It is hard to to stick to the diet during these times. But that is the beauty of this program. You just start over at phase 1 until you lose the weigh you put back on and get back to where you were.

As always consult with your doctor before starting this or any diet. If you are able, simple walking
or more brisk forms of exercise will assist you in attaining your weight loss goals.

1. Prev:Diets Dont Work So What Does?
2. Next:5 Home Exercises To Flatten Your Stomach