The South Beach Diet is a food lover's diet. It's about living well and loving what you eat. But it's also practical, flexible, easy, and effective. The South Beach Diet is divided into three Phases. The first Phase lasts two weeks and is designed to eliminate cravings and kick-start weight loss. The second Phase is intended to produce long-term, steady weight loss. You'll stay in Phase 2 until you reach a healthy weight. Then you'll move to Phase 3, the lifestyle Phase. This is how you'll eat and live 365 days a year and it's the key to maintaining your new, healthy weight.

	Phase 1, is the shortest Phase, lasts for just two weeks and is designed to eliminate cravings for sugar and refined starches and to jump-start your weight loss. The purpose of Phase 1 is to stabilize blood sugar making it ideal for people who are prediabetic or diabetic, as well as for those who need to lose a lot of weight.
	Phase 2 is the long-term weight-loss Phase of the plan. It's also the perfect place to start for those people who have 10 pounds or less to lose, who don't have problems with cravings, who don't have excess belly fat, or who simply want to improve their health.
	Phase 3. By now you will have adopted the South Beach Diet lifestyle, making smart food choices that fit the way you live. That's what Phase 3 is all about, and it begins once you reach your healthy weight. In Phase 3, you'll continue to follow the principles you learned in Phases 1 and 2, but because it's the lifelong stage of the plan, it includes almost every kind of food and it allows for additional occasional indulgences. It is the key to maintaining a healthy weight for life.