The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life

If you have never read The South Beach Diet, buy this book instead: It's much more helpful due to the exercise section and latest research on healthy eating and physical activity. If you already have a copy of The South Beach Diet, you need to buy this one as well so you can do the exercises. I'm a big fan of The South Beach Diet. It helped me lose a lot of weight when nothing else worked. I felt comfortable losing the weight and looked great when I was done, rather than like a survivor of starvation. Whenever I gained a bit of weight since then, returning to Phase 1 quickly took it off. But there was a problem: I clearly wasn't exercising enough. In the past, I've done a lot of walking and weight lifting . . . but I didn't get much benefit in terms of medical measures like reduced triglycerides. In fact, eating oatmeal and taking omega-3 supplements does more for my cholesterol level than exercise. I know that I need something different. My eyes opened wide when I got to the section of this book that talked about how moderate amounts of walking (20 minutes every other day) with short intervals of fast movement spaced between moderate walking would do me more good for burning fat than doing all that walking that I used to do at one speed. Now, that sounded great! Between walking days, you do some moderate body toning. Here is where I had some concerns about the book: The photographs show a lot of stress being put on the back. That's not a good idea for me: I have back problems. I'm not quite sure what to do, but I've ordered the DVD to see how these exercises are to be done and hope there will be detailed instructions there for people with bad backs. In this book, Dr. Agatston does a good job of describing the various physical ills in joints and feet that baby boomers develop from the wrong kinds of activity and exercise. He even helped me understand how I create vast shoulder pain when I shovel snow the wrong way . . . and now I know what not to do. If you are under 30, you can probably use this book just as is. If you are older, be careful with the body toning! The remainder of the book is the same wonderful material on eating good carbs and good fats while avoiding bad carbs and bad fats . . . plus the latest validations of scientific research supporting the assumptions underlying the diet. There are lots of phase 1 and phase 2 recipes, and you can buy separate cookbooks if you want more. But the best part of the book comes in reading the personal testimonies. They make the book come alive. Great work!

Dr. Agatston's new book "The South Beach Diet Super Charged" is an excellent way to lose weight and get in shape. Like his first book, "The South Beach Diet" this book explains how to eat for a healthy lifestyle, choosing high fiber, nutritious carbohydrates, good unsaturated fats, lean protein and low fat dairy. This book takes the South Beach Diet to the next level by explaining a very simple yet body transforming exercise plan. Agatston explains how just 20 minutes of exercise a day done correctly can give the beneficial results of revving up your metabolism, overcoming weight loss plateaus and burning fat and calories. The book includes a healthy eating plan and a daily exercise regime that is very doable! I am sure Dr. Agatston is a busy man and had help writing this book. I have to applaud the ghostwriter(s) for their very clear, concise way of explaining things. Many diet and exercise books are confusing; what to eat, when and where. This book lays everything out. There is a fitness plan that tells you exactly what to do in Phase 1, 2 and 3. Clear photographs support the plan. The eating program is laid out so it is simple to understand with easy to follow lists of exactly what you can and cannot eat during each Phase. Two full weeks of meal plans are included in the book along with recipes such as "Chicken and Lentil Stew", "Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies" and "Stir Fried Chicken with Soba Noodles". No pics for the recipes but nutritional information is included. The 337 page hardcover book also includes tips and tricks on success for the plan. And a section on how to maintain your weight loss and an index for easy search. Overall an excellent, healthy plan. I also recommend and love the DVD that supplements the book, "The South Beach Diet Super Charged Workout". ~ Lee Mellott

Book has a lot of good tips for carb control

This book helped me so much, after struggling with my eating habits. It really made it simple! Eat nutritious foods but low fat. It has now become a lifestyle for me and has helped me eat way better, and my body feels great! I use to get really bad headaches, get really sleepy in the afternoon, and just felt bloated all the time. I lost about 12 pounds in the first month, all simply eating properly. The first 2 weeks is the hardest, during the detoxification process. After probably keeping a bad habit of lots of carbs, junkfood, processed foods, the 2 weeks really felt like withdrawal from all the high fat, carbs, sugars. After that when all the foods were reintroduced, it felt great. I don't have crazy hunger pangs, like i use to where I wanted sugar, chips/carbs, or processed foods. You actually feel different when eating the whole foods that you cook, rather than all the highly processed stuff. I actually eat more frequently, but healthy. It's been 6 months and I feel fantastic, never better! I've also added in gluten free, and this has been even better for my digestive tract! No more bloat.

For over twenty years I have read every scrap of printed paper dealing with health food and health related issues, so when I saw the advertisement to this book I thought there couldn't be much in it which I didn't know. I was completely wrong. I was feeling out of shape at the time. I had seen my doctor and done all the required medical tests and they were all good, yet I felt exhausted, I could hardly eat and yet I was putting on weight and I was generally feeeling unwell. I had received the free online edition of the South Beach Diet for a long time, so I thought I would buy the book all the same and try to find the remedy to my ailments. I started reading it and I could see at once that it was one of the best of its kind. The explanations are very clear and helped me understand my own body. When I came to the part about metabolism I understood for the first time what I had done wrong and why no diet was helping me, on the contrary. I also understood why the kind of exercise I was doing had so little effect. The next morning I started interval walking and the workout for Phase One, following the diet recommended for Phase One as best I could, because this happened during my summer vacation and I was staying at a hotel. I was doing long walks and with interval walking, although I was running sometimes, I suddenly didn't get tired any more. I didn't lose as much weight as the book promises, but the kind of exercise it recommends is extremely useful. At the end of four days I was feeling better than I had felt in years, at last I felt my muscles working and aching a bit - I didn't know I had so many of them - and, most important, I could suddenly concentrate better and read more efficiently (I was doing some reading connected to my work). The workout is more difficult than I thought at first, so I didn't do all of it at once, but I did a little more every day until I managed to go through the whole program. I am very happy to have this book, now I am doing interval walking every day and the workout whenever I can and I feel a lot better than before. Living in Europe, I also appreciated the good recipes where the quantities are given in grams as well, so we don't have to convert. The book is very thorough and helpful, as it includes an explanatory part, workout and diet plans and recipes. It is certainly worth buying.

I misread the description, thought this was an original print, larger copy of the book. However it was a small paperback. I imagine it would be difficult to keep a page open when making recipes. Had to send back. But thats my mistake for not looking more closely at description. But it is an exact copy of his original book, again, just a thick book because smaller scale. 5 stars for quick shipping and quick return. No hassles.

I was intending to write something in detail on here but the previous reviewer beat me to it, and I agree with it completely. My partner and I have just completed the first week of Phase 1, I have 5 stone to lose in total and have lost 1Ib per day so far, she has a stone and a half or so to lose and has lost 3lb this week. I appreciate we should not and probably cannot continue to lose weight at this pace but knocking off a stone in two weeks makes for a huge boost for the lenghthier Phase 2 to follow ( please don't mention its probably all just water, I couldn't care less,I've not noticed the medical profession knocking a stone off your weight because "its just water" when they weigh you in the surgery before the lecture begins). I cannot stress enough that you do not and must not be hungry on this diet, even in phase one. We're eating some very healthy food and I don't feel remotely deprived, the only thing that we've both found a little difficult to manage in Phase one are the breakfasts which tend to be cooked and involve eggs in a variety of forms which even after a week becomes a little tedious but frankly if thats all I have to worry about for a 1lb a day weight loss then I fine with the eggs, apart from anything else there is the possibility of having cereal again in Phase 2. I've tried Atkins ( this is NOT a watered down Atkins) and actually put weight on. I've been an on-line member of weight watchers for longer than I care to remember and know my points inside out, I flirted briefly with Tesco diets and then investigated having diet food delivered, I've lost weight and put it back on, never very much lost and then put on more than before...familar to anyone? However I could keep eating like this for ever and apart from a short term egg thing I cannot criticise the approach at all. Also speaking as someone who could eat half a pack of biscuits and call it a snack my sweet tooth has gone as has the bread and butter (to fill me up) with every meal and I've hardly noticed, I'm also a veteran salad dodger, but its OK now because I just garnish the salad with a sirloin steak and lose a 1Ib by the next day!. The book is great for the theory and explains the basic rules, the recipes are American and a little odd, ignore them, its easy to create meals if you follow the basic approach.

Le livre pourrait être plus "moderne" mais le contenu est exactement ce que je voulais !

Got it faster than expected. Well, my sister forced me to buy it and I haven't read a lot, just list of products I'm allowed to eat. Recipes aren't to my taste, but you can't agree with everything in a bible.