Review:

The Atkins Low Carb Diet is based on eating very few carbs (especially during phase 1), and we believe that it's one of the strictest weight loss plans on the market, and it's probably one of the hardest to follow low carb programs ever created.

There is no mistaking this program for anything other than an extremely strict low carb plan which will sap your energy very quickly, since it only allows 80 carb calories per day during the first phase. That's less carbs than you'll find in a decent sized apple.

This program is not for the faint of heart.

What about the South Beach Diet?

The South Beach diet is also a fairly strict low carb program (during the first phase), though perhaps not quite as strict as the Atkins program. But we also believe that the South Beach plan is too strict to be practical for everyday dieters, since it's no picnic either and it has the potential to sap your energy during phase 1 with the severely reduced carbs.

For example, we've observed that the higher carb foods (on the South Beach menu) are severely limited in portions during the first phase of the diet and this prevents a normal amount of carbs from being eaten during the first phase.

In fact, the only foods which dieters are allowed to eat in "unlimited portions" (during phase 1) are protein foods and super-low-calorie vegetables.

For example, the South Beach menu allows unlimited lettuce during phase 1 but yet it limits the portions of "tomatoes" and "onions" and "peanuts".

Additionally, the "sweet snacks" which are allowed on the South Beach menu are limited to a mere 75 calories per day during phase 1.

Can you believe that? Only 75 calories of sweet snacks per day? That's almost ridiculous.

So although the South Beach plan allows so-called "sweet snacks" they are limited to just 75 calories per day (that's less calories than a typical cookie contains).

So although the South Beach program is not as strict as the Atkins diet, it's our opinion that both diets are fairly strict and we believe that both are difficult to follow for average dieters.

Plus, both diets seem to have no "end" in sight since both the Atkins plan and the South Beach diet never allow dieters to return to a normal carb lifestyle (where carbs don't have to be closely watched).

These 2 diets do gradually allow more and more carbs to be eaten as time goes by of course, but even after 6 months dieters are still told to watch their carb intake to some degree each day.

So it's a major lifestyle change which is required by these diets, and many dieters will find it difficult to never be able to enjoy carb filled restaurant meals which can be eaten completely "as served".

So overall we think that both diets are not very practical for average dieters, since we believe that most people will find it difficult to modify their entire lifestyle forever. We therefore strongly recommend against using the South Beach and Atkins programs.