Reading Journal Entry: The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatson MD

Reading this book was a waste of my time. It might not be a waste of yours.

I will get some blood tests back soon which may tell me whether or not I need to go on a low glycemic index. I might be insulin resistant. The doctor mention the South Beach Diet and The Omega Diet as possibilities.

So off I go to the Bat Library. I've been reading about Atkins, South Beach, Omega Diet, FI, etc. for years (why? because that's what I do, read about stuff! duh!). I considered myself fairly well educated about the South Beach Diet. Basically the same dealie as the Atkins diet with a few exceptions:1) more emphasis on portion control, 2) more focus on avoiding saturated fats 3) three phases, including an extremely strict introductory two week period where your body is weaned off carbs, followed by the gradual reintroduction of complex carbohydrates.

In short, it's not too much fun but it's one of the more realistic 'low-carb' diets. It's really focused on lowering the glycemic index of the foods you eat.

Frankly, I eat a low glycemic index diet now, except for the jelly beans and cupcakes. But I keep getting the mantra repeated to me: read the book, read the book. Reading the book will make everything clear. Until finally I didn't trust myself.

Even though I already knew thorough what the theory behind the South Beach Diet was, I started hoping that maybe there was some magical secret in this book that would explain how eating nothing but eggs for breakfast for two weeks is going to not suck.

There isn't. It will suck.

Agatson's claim that since he has a sweet tooth he incorporated 'lots of desserts' is a big fat lie. What he really means is that you can eat all the sugar-free jello you want (mmm, artifical sweeteners) OR you can mix up some revolting concoction of ricotta cheese every night. If you don't like ricotta, or jello, or you don't want to eat 10 servings of artifical sweeteners a day, then you're out of luck in 'Phase 1'.