(2003) The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss, By Arthur Agatston, M.D. (ISBN: 1579546463 / 1-57954-646-3)

Book Description: Rodale Press, Incorporated, Emmaus, PA, U.S.A., 2003. Number line on copyright page reads (4 6 8 10 9 7 5). Light Cyan Cover Boards, Dark Cyan Cloth Spine With Silver Text. 310 pages, 6.75" x 9.5" tall, 1" thick. Very Good+. Not price clipped. Real nice copy of book and dust jacket.

Notes: Previously a hardcover ed. was published by: New York: Random House, 2003.

Book Condition: Very Good+. Pages are clean, very tight & bright. No ink names, tears, chips, foxing etc.

Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Has shelf wear. NON price-clipped DJ [$24.95 US].

About This Book: "The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss." A masterpiece! Arthur Agatston, M.D., is a cardiologist who has served on committees of the American Society of Echocardiology, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society of Artherosclerosis Imaging, where he is a member of the founding board of directors. He lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Sari, and their two children. Book looks like a remainder with dust jacket folded inside and very mildly yucked up! Forget those crazy low-carb diets that claim to help you lose ten pounds in two weeks! Here's a sensible one that really works. Florida cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston developed the plan after watching his patients fail to lose weight on one fad diet or another. Although the first two weeks are tough, you get to "add back" all the foods you love, remembering just a few simple rules. Phases 2 and 3 are just normal, healthy eating habits -- habits that you may retain for a heart-healthy, high-energy life. This might be the last diet you ever try!

Synopsis: For years, cardiologist Arthur Agatston, M.D., urged his patients to lose weight for the sake of their hearts, but every diet was too hard to follow or its restrictions were too harsh. Some were downright dangerous. Nobody seemed to be able to stick with low-fat regiments for any length of time. And a diet is useless if you can't stick with it.So Dr. Agatston developed his own. The South Beach Diet isn't complicated and doesn't require that you go hungry. You'll enjoy normal size helpings of meat, poultry, and fish. You'll also eat eggs, cheese, nuts, and vegetables. Snacks are required. You'll learn to avoid the bad carbs, like white flour, white sugar, and baked potatoes. Best of all, as you lose weight, you'll loose that stubborn belly fat first!Dr. Agatston's diet has produced consistently dramatic results (8 to 13 pounds lost in the first 2 weeks!) and has become a media sensation in South Florida. Now you, too, can join the ranks of the fit and fabulous with The South Beach Diet.

Review: The verdict is in: those simple carbs we've been living on are killing us. For good health, we've got to get our blood sugar under control and stop the incessant cravings. Or so says Dr. Arthur Agatston, author of The South Beach Diet. The first half of the book details the science behind the diet. Most of the explanations revolve around why things you thought were healthy—-orange juice, wheat toast, carrots—-are actually evil. To avoid blood sugar surges, Agatston created a modified carbohydrate plan, recommending plenty of high-fiber foods, lean proteins, and healthy fats, while cutting bread, rice, pastas, and fruits. Major differences from other diets include a lack of concern over portion size and a serious indifference to exercise. Feeling full while on a diet is a beautiful thing, but it seems odd that a cardiologist buries his exercise recommendations in a solitary sentence.

The last half of the book covers his three-stage plan; daily diets are mixed with recipes, some of which are from South Beach restaurant chefs. The most restrictive period lasts just two weeks, enough time to stabilize your urges and lose a few pounds; stage two adds fruits and a handful of other carbs, while stage three is meant to last the remainder of your life, with occasional lapses for white bread or birthday cake. While the diet is sound, the book could be better organized. The first half mixes scientific study with anecdote in a seemingly random way, while the mix of meal plans and recipes can be confusing. Still, the recipes are varied and tasty, and you'll never feel deprived, unless you currently happen to live by bread alone. --Jill Lightner

About The Author: Arthur Agatston (born 1947) is an American cardiologist best known as the developer of the South Beach Diet, but also the author of many published scholarly papers in the field of noninvasive cardiac diagnostics. His scientific research led to the Agatston Method and the Agatston Score for measuring blood calcium.

Education: Agatston earned an MD at New York University School of Medicine in 1973, studied internal medicine at Montefiore Medical Center at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed his cardiology fellowship at NYU.

Career: Dr. Agatston started his medical career on staff at New York University Medical Center. After a year, he took a position at the Mount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute in Miami Beach, Florida where he later became director of the Non-Invasive Cardiac lab. He currently practices at South Beach Preventive Cardiology.