The South Seashore Weight loss plan is understood for producing svelte bikini-clad our bodies on its namesake sands, however now the food plan’s promise to soften away stomach fats is drawing an unlikely group into the low-carb craze: vegetarians.
For years low-carb and vegetarian diets have been on reverse ends of the consuming spectrum — when an Atkins dieter orders a bunless burger, a vegetarian orders a burgerless bun.
However Dr. Arthur Agatston, a Miami Seashore heart specialist who created the South Seashore Weight loss plan, mentioned he developed a vegetarian model of his plan lengthy earlier than it grew to become a best-selling ebook and food plan to the celebs.
Now about 4,000 vegetarians use his diet’s Web site, which presents meatless meal plans and recipes. “Vegetarian Times” journal featured the food plan in its January version. And vegetarians inundate Agatston with calls when he seems on radio and speak reveals.
“I’ve been shocked that so many vegetarians have referred to as,” he mentioned.
He is not the one one.
“I get, ‘What do you imply? Is not that low-carb? How do you do low-carb and be a vegetarian?”‘ mentioned Deborah Pavek, a 42-year-old vegetarian in Salt Lake Metropolis who misplaced 13 kilos after almost two months on the food plan.
David Patlak, a 6-foot-5 retired Coast Guard officer, mentioned he has saved off 50 kilos on Agatston’s plan. The Floridian lives principally a vegetarian life-style however can not help indulging often on South Seashore’s well-known stone crabs.
A household historical past of weight problems and a weak spot for sugar had contributed to his earlier weight of 300 kilos.
“We had been simply consuming sugar,” he mentioned of him and his spouse, Maryanne. “Whether or not it was in root greens, whether or not it was in vegan chocolate, or it was in vegan desserts.”
A part of the attract of the South Seashore Weight loss plan is that it permits extra carbs — followers name it modified-carb, not low-carb — than another diets.
“I have not performed Atkins as a result of I do not eat meat and there isn’t any approach I may eat all that tofu,” mentioned Jann Marks, 45, of the Chicago suburb of Darien. However she’s misplaced 15 kilos on the South Seashore Weight loss plan and is “not consuming a ton of tofu.”
So what does a South Seashore vegetarian eat?
A number of greens, beans, legumes and soy merchandise. Fruit and whole-grain meals – like whole-wheat pasta and old style oatmeal — are allowed moderately within the second and third phases of the food plan.
If the vegetarian eats eggs and dairy merchandise, these are allowed too — so long as dairy is low-fat.
The primary part of the three-phase food plan is probably the most restrictive, reducing out all fruit, bread, pasta, rice, potatoes and baked items. It lasts for 2 weeks and guarantees eight to 13 kilos of weight reduction.
Vegetarians won’t see a dramatic weight reduction within the first part, mentioned South Seashore dietitian Marie Almon, as a result of they’re consuming extra carbohydrates than meat eaters.
Within the subsequent two phases, extra fruit and different carbs are reintroduced.
Daybreak Jackson, a dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, mentioned the South Seashore Weight loss plan is usually wholesome — even for vegetarians — as a result of it helps individuals make higher meals decisions.
However she suggests most vegetarians may simply “take their present food plan and simply make modifications to it.”
Vegetarians is likely to be turning towards the favored food plan as a result of, like different Individuals, many are getting fatter.
“It’s extra within the period of processed carbs that individuals say they seem to be a vegetarian they usually’re nonetheless obese,” Agatston mentioned.
“Ice cream is vegetarian,” notes Lynne Forti, 41, of Middleboro, Mass., who dropped 10 kilos in two months on the South Seashore Weight loss plan. “There’s loads of issues which might be vegetarian that are not essentially good for you.”
The 48-year-old Patlak says he is changed root greens with inexperienced leafy ones and the vegan deserts with a do-it-yourself yogurt-based pudding.
He is gained a lot confidence and motivation from the burden loss he is made different adjustments in his life — together with working for Congress.
By Coralie Carlson
