Agatston - The South Beach diet quick and easy cookbook : 200 delicious recipes ready in 30 minutes or less

This cookbook offers many easy and delicious foods that you can enjoy while you lose weight and improve your overall health. As you eat better, you'll not only look and feel better but also improve your blood chemistry and reduce your risk for prediabetes and a host of other diseases.

If you're already familiar with the South Beach Diet, you'll know that it's divided into three phases. Phase 1, which lasts for the first two weeks, will help you kick-start your weight loss while you learn what foods to enjoy and which to avoid. You'll be losing weight and improving your blood chemistry by ending the cycle of insulin resistance associated with cravings. While you eat plenty of lean protein, veggies, nuts, reduced-fat cheese, eggs, and low-fat dairy, you'll cut out all starches, including pasta, rice, and bread. You'll also eliminate sugar, which includes all fruits and juices. You'll eat three meals a day plus two snacks, and even a dessert snack.

In Phase 2, your cravings will have subsided, and you'll continue to lose weight at a steady rate. You'll gradually add more of the right carbsincluding whole-grain breads, whole-wheat pasta, and brown riceback into your diet, and you'll reintroduce fruits and some root vegetables that were off-limits during Phase 1. You'll start to reintroduce these foods slowly and see how much you can enjoy while continuing to lose weight. Note that you can also start the diet in Phase 2 if you don't have much weight to lose (generally 10 pounds or less and don't have a significant problem with cravings) or are following this plan primarily for health rather than weight-loss reasons. Remember that even if you don't have any weight to lose, following the principles of the South Beach Diet is still the healthiest way to eat.

Finally, once you reach a healthy weight for you, you'll enter Phase 3. At this point, you'll know what you can eat while maintaining your health and your weight. Since there is no list of forbidden foods in Phase 3, you'll have more latitude when it comes to enjoying occasional items you were not allowing yourself in Phase 2. As long as you stick to the principles of your South Beach lifestyle and remember to monitor how your particular body responds to the foods you are eating, you'll continue to improve your health and maintain your weight, while enjoying a host of wonderful foods and a way of life that has now become second nature.

If you're looking after your family's health as well as your own, you're in luck. Kids will love the home-cooked meals you'll make from this book. Dishes like Baked Barbecue Chicken (page ) will appeal to the whole family. It is important that they learn the principles of good eating as early as possible.

I know how easy it is to resort to convenient drive-through restaurants, especially when time is limited. So I've included many recipes throughout this book that take less than 15 minutes to prepare, plus quick-cook ideas that don't even require a formal recipe (see page ). In the same amount of time that it takes to pick up an order at a fast-food restaurant, you'll be able to prepare delicious, healthy meals. You'll see that it is possible to have a fast-food lifestyle that is also nutritious. In fact, the meals in this cookbook are so flavorful that your family may not even realize that they are also good for them!

If you're a busy person who loves food but doesn't have a lot of time to cook, this book is for you. Designed to save you both shopping and cooking time, the majority of dishes in the book require just 10 ingredients or less and take less than 30 minutes to cook. As in the South Beach Diet Cookbook, chapters are arranged by type of meal or central ingredient; you'll find everything from savory breakfast and brunch dishes to scrumptious soups, snacks, and salads; fantastic fish, chicken, and meat entres; and delectable desserts.

Phase 1, 2, and 3 designations are clear, so you can add new recipes to your repertoire as you reach your desired goals. Remember that once you move into later phases, when the South Beach Diet has become a lifestyle, you can still go back and enjoy your favorite meals from earlier phases. And as with all South Beach recipes, no matter what phase you're in, you'll find that the portions are ample and the ideas are exciting and fresh.

You'll notice that each recipe in this book includes prep and cook times, so you can plan your time accordingly. On those days when you want to fit in a class at the gym or run an extra errand, you'll probably turn to a recipe that takes 15 minutes or less from start to finish (look for the icon that denotes a superfast recipe). When you have a little extra time to prepare a meal, you may choose a recipe that requires a 20- or 30-minute cook time.

We've included just a few recipes that are just as simple as the others but may require a 30- to 40-minute cook time. We felt they were too good to leave out! If the recipe does take more than 30 minutes, you'll see a note in the introduction explaining why it's well worth devoting a little extra time to achieve the wonderful results you'll get.

It is my hope that by having the approximate times you'll need for each recipe, you'll have a multitude of great choices that work well with your schedule on any given day. And to make things even easier, I've provided Quick Tips and Smart Cook suggestions throughout this chapter, plus a special section on getting ahead (see page ) so that when you're ready to prepare meals, you can significantly reduce your prep time.

If the key to achieving your goals is simple, fast, and tasty meals, I feel confident that you'll find success (and plenty of delectable dishes that will easily fit into your lifestyle) in the pages of this book.

Time and time again, I notice that the people who struggle most with a healthy eating plan are those who haven't organized in advance. If you arrive home from a busy day at work and your cupboards are bare, you're more likely to call out for a pizza or hit a drive-through on the way home. If you have unhealthy snack foods lying around the kitchen (like cookies, candy, snack cakes, potato chips, and sugared sodas), you're more apt to consume them instead of enjoying nutrient-dense foods, like nuts, low-fat cheeses, and fiber-rich fruits that are healthier than commercial snack foods and will satisfy you longer.

The same goes for quick lunches. Putting together meals to take with you to the office or to school helps you resist the urge to eat processed convenience foods and vending machine snacks. Best of all, since you've prepared your lunch in advance, no matter how busy you become during the day, you can rest assured that a nutritious, energy-replenishing meal awaits you.

So how do you get organized? You'll begin by clearing the bad foods from your kitchen and replenishing your cupboards and fridge with good South Beach-friendly items. In the pages that follow, you'll find a glossary of essential ingredients you'll soon become familiar with, if you're not already. We've put these items into an alphabetical format so that you can find helpful information fast when you're unfamiliar with an ingredient or when you want to know more about its health benefits.

With these essential ingredients on hand, you'll be able to put together a quick and easy South Beach meal anytime. Use this glossary both as an informative guide and as a shopping checklist, to help you to keep your pantry, fridge, and freezer stocked with good staples.

With the exception of cereals, grains, pastas, and fruits (which are reintroduced in Phase 2), most of these ingredients are fine for any phase of the South Beach Diet. Though the majority of these items can be found in most supermarkets, we've clearly marked specialty store or Internet purchase items so that you'll be able to easily find them, too.