As a cardiologist who developed this diet to help my chronically overweight heart patients, I'm always looking at the reasons why people fail on the South Beach Diet in order to find ways to improve it. Most find that taking the plunge is surprisingly easy, partly because this diet doesn't require you to give up everything you love. But we also recognize that it's easy to be gung-ho at the beginning of any new eating regimen. You're feeling motivated, and in the first few weeks the pounds are melting away. But then what happens?
Looking for a Quick Fix
To a degree, failure is a result of the program's success. After two weeks, you begin reintroducing some of the carbs you cut out completely in Phase 1. You continue losing weight in Phase 2, but not at the same speed. Depending on how much you want to lose, it may take up to a year or even longer. For some, that's a disappointment, so they decide to stay on Phase 1 until they reach their goal. Now, I know plenty of dieters who have made that decision and succeeded — but I know plenty more who have failed.
Here's why: Phase 1 isn't meant to be a long-term eating plan. You're limited to a fairly small palette of foods, which — after two or three weeks — gets a little dull. That's when dieters begin to improvise — improperly. They mix in their old bad habits. They follow Phase 1, but they add in a handful of cookies at night, a small bag of corn chips one afternoon, or pizza and beer on the weekend. Before long, you're cheating more than dieting. When you realize how badly you've strayed, you might try Phase 1 again, only now it seems even more monotonous than it did the first time. You may just surrender. If you're lucky, you won't end up weighing more than you did before you started the diet.
This is why we strongly urge everyone to switch to Phase 2 after the second week, no matter how tempting it is to remain on Phase 1. This is a long-term diet, and the three-phase approach is an important part of its success. It may take longer to lose the weight, but your chances of keeping it off are much better.
Daily Challenges
Another reason for failure has to do with how everyday life intrudes on our plans. Travel, work, stress, and other daily challenges can make it easy to fall back into comforting old habits. At home or on the road, the disruption of normal mealtimes can lead you to overeat when food finally arrives. Or maybe you're one of those who look to comfort foods when they feel psychological or emotional pressure. Many people went off the diet after September 11, 2001, when weight seemed like an awfully trivial concern in the larger scheme of things. That's the kind of anxiety and insecurity that seeks comfort in a sweet mouthful or a brimming dinner plate.
However, plenty of people are able to give in to temptation on special occasions and then make up for it the next day.
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