South Beach Diet Resources on Danica's Kitchen
Why does this site talk about The South Beach Diet?
I started Danica's Kitchen in 2005 after Iād lost over 40 pounds on The South Beach Diet. I followed the original South Beach Diet for many years, and it was life-changing for me so youāll find a lot of recipes here that are suitable for South Beach. Through the years, my personal way of eating has evolved from the South Beach plan, especially regarding restrictions on saturated fat, but I still consider South Beach a healthy way to eat.
Currently Iām focused on carb-conscious eating in general, and my personal way of eating is generally low in carbs, with a few treats once in a while. On this site Iām not promoting one certain type of diet.
My goal is for this website to be a resource for anyone whoās following a low-carb, carb-conscious, or low-glycemic eating plan, whether itās for weight loss, controlling blood sugar, preventing or treating insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome, or any other reason a person chooses to limit carbs in their diet. I also have recipes that are suitable for other types of restricted eating plans such as gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegetarian, and my site makes it easy to find recipes that work for your personal way of eating.
How the South Beach Diet Changed My Life
If you want to see what I looked like before I discovered the South Beach Diet, hereās more about me from an article that appeared in Womanās World Magazine.
If Youāre Considering the South Beach Diet, read the book:
From Kalyn: Getting Started on the South Beach Diet
Buy the South Beach Diet Book (affiliate link)
The South Beach Diet Supercharged (affiliate link) has more extensive food lists than the earlier editions.
Update on The South Beach Diet
In 2016 the South Beach Diet brand was sold to Nutrisystem, which now sells packaged food that fits the South Beach Diet principles.
Original South Beach Diet Support Groups on Facebook:
There are two active groups on Facebook for people who still follow the original South Beach Plan:
South Beach Diet Support Group on Facebook
South Beach Diet Friendly Recipes Group on Facebook
Diet-Type Indexes on Danica's Kitchen:
Low Carb Recipes that are low in carbs.
Keto The lowest carb/highest fat recipes on the site, suitable for Ketogenic diets.
South Beach Diet These are recipes for Phase One or Two of the South Beach Diet; sometimes they might need to be modified to use lower-fat dairy. Youāll find tips in the recipes about the phase. (Remember any Phase One recipe can be eaten for Phase Two.) The South Beach index also has recipes suitable for Low-Glycemic Diets.
Dairy Free Recipes with no dairy products.
Gluten Free Gluten-Free recipes.
Vegetarian Both Vegetarian and Vegan recipes.
Low-Carb Recipe Round-Ups on Danica's Kitchen:
There is a visual index for all the Recipe Round-ups on the site. My site does some kind of recipe round-up featuring recipes from Danica's Kitchen (and often from other blogs around the web) almost once a week.
My South Beach Story Featured Elsewhere:
Danica's Kitchen Featured in Womanās World Magazine
27 Comments on āSouth Beach Diet Resources on Danica's Kitchenā
Are you still actively posting? I have been successful with south beach in the past and am trying to get back to a higher protein lower carb lifestyle. Have lactose issues and donāt want high fat though ā or fake cheese! Just looking for a non Facebook support system.Ā
Yes, I am still actively posting here, although the focus on the site is now more carb-conscious than South Beach Diet recipes. I canāt leave a link in these comments, but if you search for āfiltered recipe searchā you will get a post that explains that way of searching that will let you choose low-carb + dairy-free or South Beach + dairy-free. Hope that helps.
Thank you very much for this amazing compilation!Ā
Kalyn, I can never thank you enough for this website. One of the reasons I became obese is because I never learned how to cook. So I had quite a hurdle. It was not a matter of simply changing my current style of cooking to a healthier style ā I had to learn to cook from scratch (and am still learning). You have so many simple, easy to prepare recipes that ACTUALLY TASTE GOOD! I went from 215 lbs to 170 lbs and I'm still plugging away. Thank you for not just learning and losing yourself ā but for going to such lengths to share what has worked for you. If "karma" is real, you've sure earned a boatload of good karma. Thank you again.
Kristin, I am so happy to hear the recipes are helpfull for you. And even though I know how to cook, I love simple recipes. Best wishes to you in achieving your goal!
Could you please explain how your personal way of eating has evolved and what you do follow? I have done many diets starting with Weight Watchers, I lost a lot of weight doing it, but a lot of muscle and hair loss too. So I switched to Atkins and grew tired of the limits. Then on to Carb Cycling which I am currently doing. I found you somehow, and I wonder you say you have only stuck to this diet. Could you explain what you do stick with currently? I would greatly appreciate knowing what you have found to be a new way of life. I need to find the same. Thanks in advance, and for your site. Alison
Alison I don't have time to go into a long reply about this, but I'll share a few things. First, I've been writing the blog for 10 years, and during that time I've gone from a very strict South Beach approach to more of a carb-conscious way of eating that includes a little more whole grains, a little more saturated fat, and probably more treats (although I try!) I haven't stuck with it 100%, in fact at different times on the blog I've talked about gaining weight and going back to a stricter Phase One eating plan for a while.
In general I still like the South Beach approach better than most other low-carb plans, partly because if the way they allow dried beans and other "good carbs." Where I don't think South Beach has kept up with the diet research is their insistence on low-fat dairy and limits on saturated fat. Not that I want to eat things drenched in butter or high-fat foods all the time, but for me personally the South Beach approach is not realistic and I'm no longer convinced it's the healthiest.
But what I believe most is that the only successful diet is one that fits your personal eating preferences. That's one reason I've never tried to create menus with my recipes or give much diet advice.
Good luck!
Thanks for your time. If I did a diet with my personal eating preferences I would be 65 pounds heavier and eating big bowls of pasta! Alison
Alison, that's not what I mean of course. I mean that any eating plan that helps you lose weight is not going to work unless it includes foods you enjoy. For example, I could never do weight watchers because I love cheese, olive oil, etc. So any plan that works for me has to permit those things.
Which baking soda do you recommend?
I just use Arm and Hammer Baking Soda from the grocery store, nothing special.
I tried baking the peanut butter cookies and sad to say that they came out dry.
What did I do wrong?
Rosa I am sorry to hear that, but without seeing what you did and what ingredients you used, there's no way for me to know what went wrong.
Thanks Kimmy. The only thing that comes to mind is "cauliflower rice." I have a recipe for cauliflower rice with Sumac but you could also make it more plain.
hi there
i love rice..can you tell me a good substitute to use in phase one?
Thank You
And AMAZING blog
I live in India n I m trying to lose weightā¦ Your recipes are very helpfulā¦.I just love your recipesā¦they are so simple n easyā¦most of all I like that you put pictures of every recipes, which really helps a lot ā¦I love youā¦ You did a great job ā¦you are really helping so many peopleā¦keep it upā¦.god bless youā¦ š
Patty, that's great. So glad the blog has been helpful.
Hi Kalyn. Just wanted to let you know how helpful your section on South Beach has been. Both my boyfriend and I are a bit overweight, and he has cholesterol problems too. He wasn't keen on "dieting," but I managed to convince him to give SB a try, as I had a lot of success with it a few years ago. I happened upon your site one day and sent him the link, and that night when I got home all he could talk about was the great sounding recipes you have that he wants to try! LOL. We've made a few so far and like them all. We started SB just over a week ago and he's already lost 9 pounds and I've lost 4. š
Today is my 1st day on South Beach. I have such a sweet tooth and I found your almond coconut cookie w/ splenda.
Thanks.
Can I have whitefish salad on phase 1?
I would adjust your portion sizes for everything based on whether you're still losing weight. If you are, eat as much as you'd like of the allowed foods.
Kalyn,
I know there are no portion size limits for meat and fish, but is that to be taken literal? Can i eat a whole steak, whole salmon filet, more than one chicken breast, etc if i am still hungry? I load up on veggies too, but still might want some more protein.
Same with salads too. Can i make a nice big salad with SB friendly toppings and eat the whole thing?
Thanks,
Rebecca B.
LL, wishing you all the best with your weight loss program. So happy my blog is helpful for you.
I just started South Beach 2 weeks ago. My mother bought the book years ago and I never bothered to look at it. Now that I just had my second child and turning 32 soon, I finally decided to do something about my weight. I was trying to stay motivated, but getting tired of the same ole foods until of course I came across your website. I LOVE IT! Thank so SO much for all these great recipes. Now I'm even more motivated and excited. Thank you! =)
Thanks Jake. Glad you are enjoying the food!
I'm the same as above. As a guy it's not easy to convince myself to start eating well. In my mid 30s and my wife and I decided let's TRY a diet. We're in phase 1 and running out of meal options. Then I googled and found this site and guess what, I could eat this stuff no problem. I have to change my relationship with food and not think of stuffing myself at every meal. Thanks Kalyn for your excellent blog š
Thank you so much for all these wonderful recipes. I`ve been meaning to start South Beach since New Years Day but wasn`t very motivated. Then I found this website with all these AMAZING recipes and now I`m super excited to try them. I have all my meals mapped out for the next two weeks. Thank you again!