Dr. Arthur Agatston, the creator of the South Beach diet, did not design his diet for any special group of people. His presentation of the South Beach diet foods, however, certainly appealed to one small group of southern Californians. Several members of the Culver City Interfaith Alliance found it easy to carry-out Dr. Agatson’s suggestions. In his diet book, the doctor had recommended that those who have chosen to loose weight by eating South Beach diet foods then incorporate such foods into their post-diet menu.
In essence, Dr. Agatson suggested that those who go on a South Beach diet should not hasten the removal from their daily intake of South Beach diet foods. He suggested that such dieters should make the rules of the diet a new “way of life.” That new way of life should include a reliance on the consumption of more healthful carbohydrates. That suggested adoption of a new “way of life” appealed greatly to some members of the Culver City Interfaith Alliance.
The members of the Interfaith Alliance found it easy to stick with the foods on the South Beach diet menus. The members of the Alliance had daily contact with others who had chosen to use a restricted diet during all or part of the year. For example, the Alliance membership included Hindus, who had sworn-off meat. It also included Jews, who could not eat leavened bread during the Passover. Both the Jewish and Muslim members of the Culver City Interfaith Alliance refrained from eating pork during any period of the year.
While members of the Alliance did not actually prepare dishes that reproduced the offerings given in the South Beach diet menus, they did give their dieting friends plenty of other support. They praised their friends, when they noted a hint of weight loss. They even prayed with their friends, helping them to steer clear of temptation.
For that reason, the dieting members of the Alliance could easily complete the first two weeks of the South Beach diet. During those 2 weeks, they did not eat any carbohydrates. With that phase of the diet, phase 1, behind them, the dieting members of the Alliance then concentrated on the re-introduction of complex carbohydrates. During that second phase of the diet, the dieting members of the Alliance satisfied their hunger by eating foods with a low glycemic index (GI).
In that way the members of the Alliance managed to make the South Beach diet foods an integral part of their daily life. In that way the members of the Alliance demonstrated to their friends the development of their reliance on the effectiveness of the diet. That reliance took a back seat to only one other strong reliance. The dieters’ reliance on the effectiveness of the South Beach diet was second only to their reliance on God.