Quick Weight Loss

Popular diets of today are the Atkins diet and the South Beach diet. Lets have a look at the two and see what each one does and how it may be of some benifit.

The Atkins Low Carb Diet

The Atkins Diet is based on eating very few carbs, and this is especially true during the first stage of this diet.  The Atkins low carb diet is one of the strictest low carb diets on the market, especially during the fist stages. 

To think that this plan was anything less that a strict low carb plan would be a mistake as this would set you up to fail before you have even started. The Atkins diet only allows 80 carb calories per day during the first stage (20 grams of net carbs is approximately 80 carb calories per day)……..that is less carbs than you will find in a large apple.

Stage 1 of the Atkins Diet is now detailed as ‘optional’. But even if you missed this stage it is still felt that the overall carb limitations make it a very strict low carb diet. 

The Atkins diet should be started with a 100% comitment to succeed as only truly committed dieters will probably be able to withstand the first stage of this program.

The South Beach Diet

As the Atkins diet was the South Beach diet is also a fairly strict low carb program (again especially during the first stage) although it is probably not as rigid as the Atkins program.

Like the Atkins diet we find that the South Beach plan is also a bit too strict, in tearms that it limits carbs too much to be practical for everyday dieters. This is particuraly evedent in stage one with severely reduced carbs and other rules forbidding many foods.

For example, it has been noted that the higher carb foods available on the South Beach menu are limited in portions during the first stage of the diet. This prevents a normal amount of carbs from being eaten during this stage.  

In fact, most of the foods which dieters are allowed to eat in “unlimited portions” (during stage 1) are protein foods and super-low-calorie vegetables.

For example, the South Beach menu allows unlimited lettuce during phase 1, but yet it limits the portions of “tomatoes” and “onions” and “peanuts”. 

Additionally, the “sweet snacks” that are allowed on the South Beach menu are limited to a mere 75 calories per day during stage 1.  

So even though the South Beach plan allows “sweet snacks” they are severely limited to just 75 calories per day! that’s less calories than a single large cookie contains. 

So although the South Beach program is not as strict as the Atkins diet, it’s our opinion that both diets are fairly strict low carb programs — and we believe that both plans will be fairly difficult to follow for average dieters who are not truly committed, especially during stage 1.

Also both of these diets seem to have no “end” in sight — since both the Atkins plan and the South Beach diet never allow dieters to return to a normal carb lifestyle (where carbs don’t have to be closely watched). 

Both of these diets do gradually allow more and more carbs to be eaten as time goes by of course (as time goes by the rules are relaxed a bit), but even after 6 months dieters are still told to watch their carb intake to some degree each day, and both diets seem to require a lifetime commitment of some sort.

So it’s a permanent lifestyle change which is required by these diets, and many dieters may find it difficult to never be able to enjoy their favorite carb-filled restaurant meals (which can be eaten completely “as served”, and without any restrictions).

So overall we think that both diets are not very practical for average dieters who are not 100% committed to making huge sacrifices for the long term, since we believe that many people will find it difficult to modify their entire lifestyle permanently.