Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few years, you've heard of The South Beach Diet. For whatever reason though, you've not yet tried it. Maybe you're worried that it's a low carb or no carb diet plan, or maybe you figure it's just popular because it's new. Or maybe... like many others... you're just plain tired of trying every new diet plan that hits the market.

This article is designed to introduce you to some of the basic concepts of The South Beach Diet, and encourage you to think about trying it again. Because it works.

Now technically The South Beach diet can be considered a low carb weight loss plan. That's because in the beginning, one of the first steps to starting this diet plan is to cut down your carbohydrate intake. There's a reason for this though. In fact, there are many good reasons for this. In reality, you're simply cutting out junk food. You're not starving yourself and you're not denying yourself sweets all together, but you are drastically reducing the amount of junk you put into your body.

The majority of junk food, quick snacks, and easy meals on the market today are very high in sugar, and very high in quick starches. Convenience foods make us fat. If you can cook something or eat something very quickly, your body can break it down very quickly too. And this leads to massive weight gains, flab, and ugly body fat.

So the South Beach Diet starts you off by restricting the amount of simple carbs you eat each day. Note I say simple though. You're not getting rid of carbs from your diet completely. You're just getting rid of the bad ones.

In the beginning you're told to restrict your daily carb intake to no more than about 30 grams. This technically is both a teaching period as well as a detox period. By watching how many carbs you eat, you start learning about the differences between good carbs and bad. You also destroy the major cravings you have for sweets every day. Once you kill those cravings, you're able to make much healthier eating choices, and you're able to lose weight much easier too.

Part of the South Beach Diet is teaching as well. You learn how carbs work in your body to create fat, and you learn how to choose carbs that actually help burn fat instead of creating it. You learn about the glycemic index, and how various foods will either help or hinder your weight loss goals.

In fact, the entire diet plan is focused on teaching you how to lose weight in a healthy manner. You're not cutting out fruits and vegetables entirely, you're simply selecting the best ones to eat while still losing weight. You're also not eating fat indiscriminately. You're choosing healthy, satisfying fats that will help move you forward with your weight loss goals.