The South Beach Diet book became tremendously successful when the diet book with the obvious name was published and grew with rapid succession among friends, families and fellow dieters. Each with their own dieting success stories to brag about, the South Beach Diet book, officially titled as, The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss, continues to grow in popularity, but The South Beach Diet phase one keeps confusing readers.

The South Beach Diet phase one is the shortest of all phases of the diet, only lasting for a fourteen day period. It was designed to be confrontational, kick-start your body and your mindset about eating from that now on. The opposite to popular thinking and one of the more difficult to grasp parts to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, you do not have to hold yourself back only eating low carb foods.

In a nut-shell, Phase 1 instills in you the thinking to: get rid of bad carbs that are not doing anything nutritionally for your body, substitute the bad carbs that are found in surplus in the American diet with substantial amounts of protein, good fats and low glycemic index (G.I.) carbs that entertain your hunger and balances your blood sugar.

Foods that do more harm than benefit: fruit, candy, cereal, potatoes, grains, etc. all are eliminated, or the dieter must wean themselves off of during The South Beach Diet phase one. A safe bet, if you should have any difficulty, just consume all the salad, greens, and (most) vegetables you want, as they are on target because of their nutritional benefit.

It's during this stage that Doctor Agatston believes that your body's resistance to insulin will lower, so depending on your current weight and current health, you may lose 3 to 8 pounds initially, even in the first two weeks, as your body begins to eliminate surplus body weight.

The major purpose of The South Beach Diet phase one has two objectives: to push you into a routine that you stick with that keeps you from being hungry and to lay the groundwork for a mindset that ensures you get rid of the bad foods and move towards the food that sheds pounds, deliver energy and better your quality of life.