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South Beach Diet

South Beach Diet

Overall Rating

1.2

41 Customer Reviews

Summary

The South Beach Diet is a low-carb wellness plan designed to help you reach and maintain your goal weight. The program promotes healthy eating but implementing drastic changes to your diet on your own are not without risks.

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South Beach Diet Reviews - Is It Safe & Effective?

By Lydia Noyes

Updated on: Jul 2, 2020

Medically Reviewed by Anthony Dugarte, M.D., C.S.C.S

What Is The South Beach Diet?

Created by cardiologist Arthur Agatston in 2003, the South Beach Diet began is a best-selling book and has since expanded into a commercial weight-loss program. The goal of this plan is to boost your metabolism so that it burns fat more efficiently for lasting weight loss.

It’s possible to follow this plan by cooking your own recipes or by signing up for a subscription service that delivers pre-made snacks and meals to your door each month.

South Beach diet’s central premise is that following a low-carb, high protein diet will keep you satiated without consuming too many calories, which consequently helps you to lose weight without having to count carbs.

This review examines the scientific backing of this diet to help determine if it's the right choice for you.

How Does This Diet Work?

Rather than branding itself as a ticket to fast fat burning, the South Beach Diet emphasizes sustained weight loss that produces results you can maintain for the long term.

“It’s not a ‘get slim quick’ fix,” says Gabriella Mancella, a corporate wellness dietician for Orlando Health. “It is a focused pattern of eating that highlights eating more well-rounded and does not restrict any one food group [after Phase 1].”

Contrary to popular perception, the South Beach Diet isn’t carb-free. Instead, the plan distinguishes between “good” carbs and “bad” and guides you towards ones that are optimal for health and weight loss.

You’ll eat a lot of vegetables, fish, dairy, eggs and other forms of lean protein, and will focus on carbs that are low on the glycemic index, which means they don’t overly affect your blood glucose levels and won’t elevate your blood sugar.

In its classic form, the South Beach Diet is split into three phases:

Phase 1: Reboot Week

For your first seven days on the plan, you will focus on lean protein and healthy fats while avoiding fruit, starches, most carbohydrates, sugar, and alcohol. This is the hardest stage for many people, but it serves as the foundation for losing weight for the rest of the time.

Phase 2: Steady Weight Loss

During this part of the plan, you reintroduce healthy carbs (preferably from whole foods) into your diet. You’ll eat three meals and two snacks per day, either that you make yourself or order via meal subscription. Simple sugars still aren’t recommended, but a serving or two of alcohol a week is permitted.

Phase 3: Maintenance Phase

Designed as the transition from dieting to a lifelong eating plan, this phase allows you to enjoy all foods in moderation, preferably by taking portion control into account when you indulge.

Exercise is also an essential component of the South Beach Diet, and the plan recommends getting at least 30 minutes a day during weight loss (Phase 1 and 2) and 60 minutes during the weight maintenance (Phase 3).

The plan’s website includes a variety of fitness tips and exercises to help you get started.

Meal Shipments

While it’s possible to follow the South Beach Diet with your own food, the plan promotes using their meal subscription plan through Phase 2 to give you support and help you form new eating habits.

Though you can purchase extra food a la carte, each plan provides space for your own cooking with two DIY breakfasts, lunches, and dinners each week.

Below are the membership tiers available:

Plan Cost Features
Diabetes Gold Plan Women: $10.99/day ($304.61/4-weeks) Men: $11.87/day ($332.30/4-weeks)*
  • Foods that help you lose weight and manage Type 2 diabetes
  • A high-protein, low-carb, low-sugar approach
Silver Plan Women: $9.56/day ($267.68/4-weeks) Men: $10.88/day ($304.61/4-weeks)*
  • Four weeks of fully prepared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
Gold Plan Women: $10.88/day ($304.61/4-weeks) Men: $11.87/day ($332.30/4weeks)
  • Four weeks of fully prepared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners
  • Option to choose from 101+ chef-inspired dishes and junk-free snacks
Platinum Plan Women: $11.87/day ($332.30/4-weeks) Men: $12.86/day ($359.99/4-weeks)
  • Four weeks of fully prepared breakfasts, lunches and dinners
  • Option to choose from 101+ chef-inspired dishes and junk-free snacks
  • 20 keto-friendly South Beach Simply Fit shakes (20g protein, 3g carbs each)

*Men’s plans cost more per day because they include an extra snack.

When you sign up for a membership tier, you are automatically enrolled in an auto-delivery service.

This provides you with free monthly shipping and 35% off each meal compared to purchasing them a la carte.

You can pause, update or cancel your order at any time, though the company terms and conditions state that you will pay $125 if you cancel your subscription before you receive your second order.

You can also purchase South Beach Diet meals from other retailers such as Amazon or Walmart, though only the plan’s official website offers a membership option.

South Beach’s meal options differentiate between the phases with package coloring, which is teal (Phase 1) and light purple (Phase 2).

Many of the meals will arrive frozen and should be kept that way until you eat them. Ready-to-go foods, such as shakes and bars, don’t need to be refrigerated.

Available Meal Plans

South Beach Diet offers hundreds of premade meals and snacks at the time of writing. Below is a small sampling of some popular options.

Breakfast options:

  • Turkey sausage and egg muffin
  • High-protein pancake mix
  • Beach shack strawberry shake
  • Just-add-eggs ham and cheese scramble

Lunch options:

  • Chicken with apricot glaze
  • Moroccan-inspired chickpea stew with pork
  • Tuna salad
  • Caribbean-inspired coconut soup with chicken
  • Garlic cheese flatbread

Dinner options:

  • Mushroom parmesan soup
  • Artichoke and spinach stuffed chicken breast
  • Chicken fajita bowl
  • White bean chicken chili
  • Roasted turkey with herb gravy

Snack options:

  • Decadent chocolate muffin mix
  • White cheddar flavored popcorn
  • Salt and vinegar multigrain chips
  • Original flavor meat snack stick
  • Salted caramel protein puffs

Shake options:

  • Vanilla or chocolate shake five-pack

South Beach Diet recommends mixing in fresh vegetables and other plan-approved ingredients into your meals, especially on DIY days, to add balance and variety.

Who Shouldn't Use This Diet

From what we learned on the plan’s website, the South Beach Diet is designed to comply with a variety of different eating approaches and can be modified to be gluten-free and keto-friendly. Due to the nature of how the meals are assembled, it suggests vegans look elsewhere for losing weight.

Some health conditions exclude people from qualifying for their eating plan. The program isn’t suitable for anyone:

  • Under the age of 18
  • With a history of eating disorders
  • With a Body Mass Index under 19
  • With peanut, soy or latex allergies
  • With heart conditions, celiac disease or who are on dialysis
  • Who is breastfeeding an infant under four months old

Regarding pregnancy, following Phase 2 and 3 is considered safe with a few dietary modifications, but pregnant women or those who are trying to become pregnant should avoid Phase 1.

Is There Any Science Backing Their Methods?

In this section, we’ll discuss the available research for the weight-loss methods they offer.

Low Glycemic Index Foods

The South Beach Diet is based on the principle of opting for healthier carbohydrates, those with a low glycemic index (GI). This classification system provides details regarding the quality of the carbohydrates present in a particular food by assigning a number based on their ability to raise your blood sugar levels.

Quality carbs, those that provide a good source of fiber, generally have a scores of 55 or less. Larger numbers on this scale are associated with foods that cause more drastic spikes in your blood sugar and insulin levels.

By including a diet that focus on low GI foods, you can avoid the negative cycle associated with repeated blood sugar spikes – one that places you ate greater risk for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, depression, and some cancers.

As you can imagine, this area has been a hot topic for research.

An expert panel confirmed a need to offer information to both the general public, as well as healthcare providers, detailing the importance of the GI, as many chronic conditions are linked to poor diets.

Adopting a low GI diet improved blood sugar regulation but did not significantly reduce weight in 210 diabetic patients when compared to a high-cereal fiber diet. In 109 obese patients, a low GI diet did reduce fat mass, however.

A low GI diet did not result in weight loss for 162 diabetic patients, though it did lower post-meal glucose levels. In another study, a low GI diet did not burn fat, preserve muscle, or boost metabolism over 17-weeks.

Overweight and obese subjects that adopted a high-protein, low GI maintenance diet for 26-weeks were more likely to stick to the diet and maintain weight loss.

The big takeaway here is that there is a clear association with high GI foods and many chronic medical conditions. Low GI diets seem to benefit the regulation of blood sugar, though the weight loss benefits are less clear.

Portion Control

Current dietary guidelines provide recommendations for portion control, particularly in relation to calorie-dense foods. Another popular method of weight loss, this strategy has also been well studied.

In a study of weight loss in 186 obese women, the subjects were assigned to either a portion control strategy, a pre-portioned food group, or traditional healthy eating counseling.

While those that were provided pre-portioned foods (a service the South Beach diet offers) lost weight the quickest, they also regained it the quickest. At 6-months, the weight loss achieved did not differ between groups. At 1-year, the average weight loss for all was about a 6% reduction in their body weight.

Keep in mind these patients received professional guidance, a method proven effective in helping people achieve weight loss whether offered in person or over the phone.

This service is available with certain weight loss programs, though it doesn’t seem that the South Beach Diet provides this level of guidance.

The South Beach Diet and Lifestyle Change

In 2007, the weight loss effects of the South Beach Diet were specifically investigated.

Over 12-weeks, 20 overweight and obese patients that adopted the South Beach Diet experienced reductions in body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and body fat.

The levels for insulin and hormones related to appetite were also positively affected, confirming the potential metabolic benefits demonstrated in GI research.

In addition to their low GI food and portion control methods, the South Beach Diet suggests other lifestyle modifications.

Exercise is also recommended throughout each phase of the program. They suggest up to 60-minutes daily while in the maintenance phase. These recommendations are in line with national guidelines.

Safety

Implementing a healthy meal plan and daily physical activity can only improve your health. However, making changes to these factors are not without risk.

Making drastic changes to your diet can have various unwanted effects. It can impact medications you may take regularly. You may consume less energy-dense foods than what you are accustomed to, resulting in fatigue.

These dietary changes can also lead to electrolyte or hormone imbalances that can be unsafe.

Your exercise plan should begin at a level that is appropriate for your current fitness level. A plan that is too rigorous can unsafely stress your heart if you are not accustomed to intense exercise.

For these reasons, it’s important to include your physician in any plans for weight loss as they can track progress and monitor safety.

The Bottom Line

In our opinion, there are plenty of reasons to consider the South Beach Diet—especially if you are intimidated by the idea of planning and preparing your own meals.

This low-carb, low sugar, high protein diet is a balanced way to eat that most likely won’t feel overly restrictive for most people.

“This diet essentially is not a diet,” says Mancella. “It is a focused pattern of eating that highlights eating more well-rounded and does not restrict any one food group. Typically, if a diet requires a restriction of any sort on certain food groups, I am hesitant to recommend it. The South Beach Diet is one that promotes the consumption of healthier food items compared to other diets that focus on restricting and limiting items.”

According to Jason Machowsky, a board-certified sports dietician at Hospital for Special Surgery, there’s a good chance you will lose weight on the South Beach Diet if you follow it correctly.

“There are many approaches to losing weight, of which the South Beach Diet is one of them. There is some research showing that the South Beach Diet promotes weight loss, but the same goes for plenty of other weight loss approaches - the key to all of them is staying consistent with the adopted eating habits. Otherwise, the weight will come back”, he said.

What makes the South Beach Diet stand out from many other plans to us is their subscription meal service. If the idea of paying in advance for a month’s worth of food appeals to you, then the convenience of this plan and how easy it is to stay on track is worth it.

However, sticking to pre-made meals for Phases 1 and 2 can lead to problems if you decide to go on your own for Phase 3.

It takes time to master a new eating style, and if you aren’t cooking many of your own meals from the beginning, you might not develop a realistic sense of portion control and could potentially backside and regain the weight.

For that reason, it’s important to cook for yourself at least two days a week while on the South Beach diet so that you ensure you learn what it takes to follow the plan for the long term.

Customer Reviews

1.2 Stars out of 41 Reviews
5 Star:0% 4 Star:4% 3 Star:0% 2 Star:2% 1 Star:92%
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Posted on Apr 22, 2020

Do not buy

By Bernadette M., Massachusetts, Verified Reviewer

Company is really Nutrisystem. South Beach charges way more. Food is horrible. They lie. They say you don't have to make any of your own meals but you have to make 6. They put in phase one and phase two food with no explanation. When asked they said, no longer use that. How would I know? Food arrived in a mess. They promised clear instructions. Instructions are weak. Within 2 days I asked to return it all, they promised a full refund and now refused. I asked them to listen to their own recording of the sale to show I am right and they have refused. DO NOT BUY.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Posted on Jan 8, 2020

Don't buy the food, cook it from the book.

By Paul V., Florida, Verified Reviewer

I have used SBD for years and years and return to it to lose weight. The concept is sound. But this new system of prepared foods, shakes, etc. is such a scam. They default to automatic reorders that cost you hundreds each month and don't let you cancel. Plus, it took 3 weeks to get my first order - not helpful when you're motivated NOW.

The prepared food is tiny and awful. I have to wonder who owns SBD these days because I hope Dr. Agatston would not be a part of this current scheme.

My advice: Buy the book or go online and get the approved food list and unofficial recipes.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Posted on Oct 1, 2019

Horrible experience

By Briggite M., San Diego, CA, Verified Reviewer

I bought this diet thinking food was going to be as advertised, instead it looked like dog food. The lady I spoke with was very rude, stated she explained that you had to buy a 2-month supply, if you canceled early, within the first month, you had to still be charged $120 for cancelation fee. DONT buy the product!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 3 People Have Voted

Posted on Jul 1, 2019

Terrible

By Beth B., Tallahassee, FL, Verified Reviewer

DON'T DO IT! I ordered the one month plan, and the "meals" are skimpy, mushy 6 oz. portions. The "snacks" are mostly shakes or other sweet, tasteless bars. It's awful, and now I have a freezer full of this nasty stuff. I paid too much to throw it all out, so I have to keep eating this awful stuff. Don't do it!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 2 People Have Voted

Posted on May 30, 2019

This is not a keto or diabetes friendly diet high on carbs!

By Josephine R., New York, Verified Reviewer

1) I was debited for ordering a la carte without permission.

2) I wanted to cancel my whole delivery and was told that I would be penalized $125 something, unless you take delivery of two orders you'll be penalized.

3) Food too high on carbs and too many snack bars loaded with sugar.

4) The cancellation charge is not clear you have to go hunting for it. This is the most ineffective program.

5) What you are not being told from the TV starts to push this program that they have personal trainers and diet consultant.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 2 People Have Voted

Posted on May 3, 2019

The food is horrifying, the customer service is horrifying, stay away from this company

By Francine M., California, Verified Reviewer

I did the South Beach Diet plan when it first came out a couple of decades ago. It was TERRIFIC. I saw this new food program by South Beach and while I was skeptical of frozen food, I thought I would try it because I've been so busy, not cooking was a welcomed idea for a while.

What a mistake!

FOOD:

I am horrified by the items they call "food". I wrote a lengthy and thoughtful email three days into the South Beach Diet because of how disappointing and actually disgusting the three dinner meals I had were. And, the portion size is definitely not for an adult, even if you are losing weight. This is starvation. I explained that while I understand packaging images are often somewhat different than the actual product, the images in no way remotely represented what was provided. I took pictures of the box and placed the food item in the same picture. I took and sent it to South Beach. No one would be able to disagree with my assessment.

CUSTOMER SERVICE (if that's what they call it):

I also stated that I called "Customer Service" to cancel my next order and was informed that I would be charged $125 if I did so. I was again, appalled. The sales guy "Joe", told me it would be better if I ordered the $159 plan just so I didn't get penalized. I knew I wasn't going to get further with Joe, so I had him make the adjustment.

In the meantime, I then receive an email back thanking me for the email I sent and if I had any other issues, I should call. WHAT? After describing my displeasure, that's the reply? After showing them the quality of food they sent, THIS is how they treat people? NOW, I was pissed off.

This morning, I call and get "Anna". I tell Anna that I don't want to waste her time, and would like to speak with a manager or supervisor.

Anna: Can you tell me why?

Me: I briefly explained about my email, the response and that this is not acceptable and I'd like to speak with someone who is a supervisor.

Anna: Let me see if a supervisor wants to take your call. (I AM NOT KIDDING.)

I am put on hold. Anna returns.

Anna: We looked at your email and it appears there is no content in the email.

Me: What? If that's the case, you're telling me that customer service just sends out blanket statements without even reading the email. I would like to cancel my account and the next order.

Anna: The supervisor said I could cancel your order, so, my next order was canceled.

This is absolutely the worst experience I have had with a company in a very, very long time. The food quality is horrifying, the quantity is not meant for an adult female. Portion size is ridiculous. There is one package that apparently has a hamburger and it is less than the size of the palm of your hand. That is stunning.

Poor quality.

Poor customer service

Grade: F

There are plenty of options. Don't go this route.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 5 People Have Voted

Posted on Apr 30, 2019

Scam

By Jacqueline D., Brick, NJ, Verified Reviewer

I was on SBD all the way to phase 3 and when I tried to cancel my plan they tell me I have to pay a $125.00 cancellation fee. So now I have to delay my order for who knows how long. Do not trust this company.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 2 People Have Voted

Posted on Mar 19, 2019

An unethical company with bad business practices!

By Tone J., New Mexico, Verified Reviewer

I can't say I am jazzed about the New South Beach Diet at all. There are several issues, and as the food concerned, I am disappointed. It was problems from the beginning. The sales representative I spoke to when I signed up wrote my email wrong, so I never received a welcome email which probably had a lot of information stated in it. I called the South Beach diet and asked if perhaps they could resend it to the correct email address, but they never did, oh well, probably not the worst that could happen, but it would have been nice to have it.

I did know that the food dishes came frozen and like the salesperson suggested when I signed up, I have taken out a couple of food dishes from the freezer the night before and let the food thaw, so I don't have to microwave the heck out of it before I eat it. I told the salesperson that I did not feel like eating frozen and microwaved food at the same time since that did not sound very healthy to me. I also mentioned to the sales representative when I signed up with the New South Beach Diet that I have severe food sensitivities to beef and pork (my digestive system can't digest it due to health issues), and frankly after have not eaten this type of food in 30 some years, it feels disgusting eating it. The sales person told me not to worry since I would be able to replace any of the red meat dishes. However, I have several times now thawed a food dish, warmed it up/cooked it on the stove top only to find that it had indeed had ham or beef in it; I am so disappointed!

I was starving and was looking forward to eating something. I thought to my self that diet certainly can be stressful but doing a diet the way South Beach intended it to be, dieting is supposedly less stressful. I ended up not being able to eat many of the dishes and had to wait until I had thawed a new meal (or microwave the food which I was not happy about), or until they sent me a replacement. The result was that I had to go to the store to buy more food.

I ended up making countless calls that were very frustrating for the most part. I wanted to cancel the South Beach Plan, but I was informed that I would have to pay additional money to do so. I thought to myself, that after all the frustration I now have to pay this unethical company more money? The ethical thing to do would be to state that the New South Beach Diet is not for people who have a food sensitivity to beef and pork because their meal plan is full of it! Their food/protein shakes, the casing around their sausages, and not to mention the many dishes.

After making a phone call regarding finding pieces of ham in a breakfast dish I was told that I would be contacted via phone the following day by sales representative after he had spoken to a supervisor, I said to them that the nutritional information did not mention it had ham in the dish. However, no one called (I was told that I might be able to cancel without the additional cancelation fee).

There are more awful things to mention, but I am not going to that at this time, other than saying that the New South Beach Diet company has unethical business practices, and that their sales representatives and diet counselors need to be trained more dealing with potential problems that may come up.

I do not recommend the New South Beach Diet to people with food sensitivities since you only end up wasting a lot of money for nothing besides this company would make anyone weight loss regiment a raving hell. I wish there were nice things to say, but unfortunately, there are none.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 3 People Have Voted

Posted on Feb 21, 2019

South Beach Diet food tastes disgusting and a waste of money

By Linda B., Florida, Verified Reviewer

The South Beach Diet plan is too restrictive in Pase 1, and the food tastes HORRIBLE. I had a significant headache when I followed the program according to their instructions and knew I was hypoglycemic. I contacted the company requesting them not to send the next month's delivery and ended up arguing with the customer service rep who attempted to change my mind which further aggravated my headache. They have a hidden $125.00 charge for canceling your order, so it cost me $425.00 for a terrible experience, and I have a freezer filled with food that I'm going to trash. Stay away from this program!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 5 People Have Voted

Posted on Feb 10, 2019

Don’t do new South Beach Diet

By Michelle V., Camas, WA, Verified Reviewer

I am so glad I found some similar reviews to mine and hope if anyone is considering doing this they will think twice.

I’ve done the original South Beach Diet twice and the process works well for my body type. However, being in a busy season I thought we would do the pre-prepared meals to save money and time. They advertise "4 weeks plan with pre-prepared meals," so I thought this meant three meals a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks.

When it arrived there was only one bit of information as to how to start and minimal information in the website. As it turns out the "plan" is only preprepared for you for the very first week. After that a booklet is provided (not included in mine but I found it online later), that is basically blank and you have to plan your meals yourself. I didn’t want to do this because of time. The ease of a pre-prepared plan and meals as advertised was why I purchased in the first place.

I was also startled because the first week is basically a lot of shakes and bars and tiny meals. We were soooo hungry the whole time. My husband noticed the amount of sugar in the bars and shakes too - quite a bit more than any Atkins or low carb, low sugar shake/bar. Meals were pretty small and disgusting - I had to throw it in a pan and season to make it edible.

Throughout the first week we lost about 3-5 lbs of water weight but our clothes fit tighter and our faces puffed up. This is when I took a serious look at the amount of sodium in the food - off the charts for anyone who doesn’t already eat a full diet of junk food. So while we lost a few pounds, I believe due to the 64 ounces of water per day, we both looked fatter. We both only needed to lose about 10 lbs each. We also were both bloated and constipated the whole time.

But I figured they had just updated the original plan and we stuck with it as we’d paid for it. But we ran out of food after 2 weeks. Then I noticed through website we were supposed to be doing a couple do it yourself meals - didn’t realize this and hasn’t budgeted for it. But this was all in the fine print and while it’s misleading, I wasn’t going to complain. I hadn’t ordered a second box and was just planning to do the rest independently.

Once we stopped eating the pre-packaged meals and started doing the diet independently according to the original south beach diet, we started to lose real weight. I had learned a lesson but wasn’t going to complain - I’m usually an avoider in customer service situations. But then I see a pending charge on our statement for a second box. I called in and told them we only wanted one box. They said the fine print stated I was signing up for 2 and I’d agreed to it. I felt that the fine print was different from the advertised print. I also mentioned that you see "keto friendly" everywhere on the website. This in combination with fact that the original South Beach Diet is truly low carb and low sugar, even no sugar the first two weeks, seems to be false advertising because the items in the box contain more sugar than either of the other two diets.

Like other reviewers have said, they told me there was a $125 cancellation fee. This would be $300 for two of us. I’ve never heard of a diet plan that didn’t offer money back guarantee. Or at the least free cancellation. The agent kept asking me how much weight I'd lost and after telling her a number of times that I didn’t want to discuss my weight, I just wanted to cancel, and she repeatedly asked me that, I told her it was none of her business. She then went in a tirade of shouting, I tried to intermittently interrupt to ask, "Are you seriously working in customer service?" She refused to transfer me to a manager but seemed to be putting me on hold to speak to one. I called back to try to speak to someone else because she had told me my account was "marked" as a combative customer. I said, "You mean like Elaine on Seinfeld?"

I did after an hour get to talk to someone else, kinder but still wouldn’t let me cancel, only said he could defer my payment a couple of months before the next shipment. But that was only on one box, the other had already shipped and they still want us to pay for it. This guy said why don’t you talk to customer service? I thought I was talking to customer service, but I agreed still trying to get through to a manager somehow. But the next customer service lady was as worse as the first. No matter what question I asked, she cut in and have robotic answers. The answers did not match the questions I’d asked and I wasn’t able to get through one sentence.

Hung up, called back in, waited almost two hours, got through to a kinder gentleman who essentially gave me the same information. He said at the end though, "Between you and me you are not the only customer who has had this complaint. My hands are tied, I literally can’t transfer you to a manager without losing my job, but I do know that some people have contested this with their credit card company." So that’s what we are doing.

Please note, this new South Beach Diet is not the South Beach Diet! It will pump you full of sugar and carbs. I’m convinced that those who lose weight on it have come from a diet of fast food and processed food. Don’t try it. I still stand by the diet from the original book. It still works!

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 4 People Have Voted

Posted on Jan 16, 2019

Original diet works...home shipped ripoff!

By Chuck W., Ohio, Verified Reviewer

I went on the book version of the South Beach Diet seven years ago. It worked very very well. Recommended to many. I purchased the prepared ship to your home version several months ago. They did not ship 60 items upon the original order. After contacting them about the shortage, they did ship them eventually. The meals and desserts were marginally eatable. I realize that diet programs might not be 5-star restaurant quality, but it should at least be as good as "healthy choice" and others for the price. The book diet recipes are very good.

The coup de gras was the $125 cancellation fee. If you thought the food left a bad taste in your mouth...the fee put it over the top. Unfortunately, some marketing genius has destroyed the reputation of a great diet. Buy the book and make it at home, it really works and is far cheaper.

Bottom Line: No, I would not recommend this to a friend

Helpful Review? 7 People Have Voted
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