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" It seems to happen every year. You spend the winter months cuddling up with high-cal comfort food. Meanwhile, the only sweat you manage to break in that time is the one you work up trying to jimmy into what used to be your fat jeans. But don&amp;#039;t worry, Cosmo has a plan for getting you back to your flirting, er, fighting weight. And here&amp;#039;s the best part: You won&amp;#039;t have to starve yourself to within an inch of your life to do it.  We asked Arthur Agatston, M.D., the author of the best seller The South Beach Diet (five million copies sold to date), to adapt his fat-melting plan to meet the needs of the Cosmo girl who&amp;#039;s looking to drop just a few pounds -- about five to seven in a month -- without having to forfeit all the foods and drinks you love.  We know, it sounds way too good to be true, but Dr. Agatston explains that the South Beach Diet&amp;#039;s flexible rules are precisely what make the diet work. &amp;quot;This plan is about getting you to eat healthy, tasty foods that will make you feel satiated, so you&amp;#039;ll never be hungry or tempted to overeat,&amp;quot; he says. And it&amp;#039;s that simplicity that sets it apart from the trendy, super-restrictive diets out there. You don&amp;#039;t have to give up carbs cold turkey, weigh your food, count calories or limit your portions to the size of a deck of playing cards. There are officially three phases to the South Beach Diet (the first two are the most strict), but Dr. Agatston says by adhering only to the sound principles of Phase Three, outlined on the following pages, you can lose a pound a week (or more, depending on your size, how badly you were eating before and whether you exercise). You do the math: By the time winter&amp;#039;s over and swimsuit shopping begins, you&amp;#039;ll have a hot bod. What else would you expect from a diet that&amp;#039;s named after a part of the country where bikinis are the uniform of choice?   Now keep reading...  Carbs vs. Protein Banish Bad Carbs Thanks to Atkins and other here&amp;#039;s-the-beef diets, carbohydrates have become the redheaded stepchildren of the food pyramid. But according to Dr. Agatston, not all carbohydrates will add junk to your trunk. &amp;quot;Good carbs (such as whole-grain breads and cereals, brown rice and many vegetables) are full of fiber and thus take longer for the body to break down. For this reason, they make you feel full for a long period of time so you don&amp;#039;t overeat,&amp;quot; he says.  But bad carbohydrates, he explains (sugar, beer, white rice, white bread, white potatoes and flour), are a major problem. They zip through your stomach and flood your bloodstream with sugar, causing your insulin (a hormone that influences the way we metabolize food) levels to spike. &amp;quot;When you&amp;#039;re eating a lot of bad carbs, your insulin is so busy processing the sugar that it doesn&amp;#039;t have time to do its other job, which is to help the body burn fat,&amp;quot; says Dr. Agatston. So guess what? The fat ends up sticking around. Not to mention the fact that the insulin spike is always followed by a drop, &amp;quot;which results in tough-to-control cravings for more bad carbs.&amp;quot; One additional factor: &amp;quot;Carbohydrates cause the body to retain water, so eliminating them altogether for a limited amount of time will cause you to quickly shed a few pounds of water weight,&amp;quot; says Dr. Agatston. &amp;quot;And seeing the number on the scale go down is incredibly motivating.&amp;quot; Make Lean Protein Part of Every Meal Meat fills you up and slows down the speed at which your body digests carbs, making it an essential part of this diet. But Dr. Agatston says that contrary to what your friends on Atkins may tell you, it&amp;#039;s impossible to maintain long-term weight loss on an all-you-can-stand bacon-cheeseburger diet. &amp;quot;A lot of meat is full of saturated fat, which also seems to have an adverse effect on insulin levels,&amp;quot; he explains. &amp;quot;And studies have shown that women who eat a lot of fats tend to be heavier.&amp;quot; So pass on the burgers and incorporate skinless chicken and turkey, lean pork, fish, shellfish, nonfatty cuts of beef (such as tenderloin and sirloin) and Canadian bacon (instead of regular bacon) into your diet. Eggs, nuts and beans are also good sources of protein.  Avoid Fat-Free Labels &amp;quot;While saturated fats will cause weight gain, the unsaturated fats found in salmon, olive oil, canola oil and avocado probably won&amp;#039;t,&amp;quot; says Dr. Agatston. &amp;quot;These good fats, when used in moderation, actually help slow down the digestive process, which prevents the insulin spike caused by carbs. Plus, they fill you up and make your food taste better.&amp;quot; That&amp;#039;s why, says Dr. Agatston, it&amp;#039;s actually beneficial to your waistline to have a little fat with your carbs (such as a drizzle of olive oil on your whole wheat bread).  It turns out that the real thing to fear when it comes to fat is actually fat-free foods. The fat content is almost always replaced with a much greater evil: sugar, which as we know is a bad carb that wreaks havoc on insulin levels. And while these mock treats may be fat-free, they often have as many calories (if not more) than the real thing. One exception to this rule: dairy products. Since cheese and yogurt have a lot of saturated fat and calories, stick to low- and no-fat versions.  Eat Six Times a Day Yep, you read that correctly. It may seem counterintuitive, but Dr. Agatston swears that eating three substantial meals a day, plus three snacks (check out our snack chart, below) will actually help you slim down. &amp;quot;Eating frequently stabilizes your blood sugar and prevents it from dropping to the point where you resort to an uncontrollable binge,&amp;quot; he explains. &amp;quot;It also keeps your metabolism revving, so your body doesn&amp;#039;t go into starvation mode and start conserving calories.&amp;quot;   Snack Attack  Instead of this: A package of peanut-butter crackers Eat this: Celery sticks with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter   Instead of this: Chips and dip Eat this: Bell pepper strips with 1/4 cup hummus   Instead of this: A handful of jelly beans Eat this: 15 almonds or cashews   Instead of this: A cookie Eat this: A cup of sugar-free gelatin   Instead of this: A small bag of cheese puffs Eat this: One low-fat mozzarella cheese stick   Instead of this: A bag of pretzels Eat this: Two slices of turkey wrapped in lettuce (with a little mayo)  Say Yes to Smart Dessert Dessert and diets rarely go hand in hand, but Dr. Agatston cites that a big reason other diets fail is because they forbid sweet stuff. Every night for dessert (which counts as your third snack of the day), try one of the luscious low-cal recipes below or opt for a no-sugar-added fudge pop or gelatin dessert. The key is to keep desserts sugar-free and under 100 calories.   Chocolate-Dipped Apricots Melt 1 ounce bittersweet chocolate in the microwave until melted. Dip 4 dried apricots halfway into chocolate, then lay them on waxed paper. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon chopped pistachios. Chill until chocolate sets.   Vanilla Ricotta Cr\u00E8me Mix together 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese (chilled), 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1 package sugar substitute.   Strawberries in Balsamic Vinegar In a bowl, toss 6 strawberries (stemmed and halved), 1/2 packet sugar substitute and 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar. Serve with mint sprigs and a little ground black pepper.  Don&amp;#039;t Get Hung Up on Portion Control Eat too much of anything and you&amp;#039;ll gain weight, but according to Dr. Agatston, &amp;quot;when you&amp;#039;re eating the right things, portion control takes care of itself.&amp;quot; In other words, once you start eating more protein and fewer carbs, you&amp;#039;ll start to feel fuller faster, and you will want to eat much less. One exception to this liberal rule: nuts, which are healthy but high in fat. Be sure to limit your intake to 15 a day.  Mind Your Fruits &amp;amp;amp; Veggies Beware of Starchy Vegetables If a veggie tastes sweet (corn, yams and peas), it&amp;#039;s more likely to have a higher glycemic index (a measurement of how much a food raises blood sugar). Go online to find the glycemic index of any food. &amp;quot;Starchy vegetables break down into sugar more rapidly than other vegetables, so they cause your insulin to rise,&amp;quot; explains Dr. Agatston. You don&amp;#039;t have to eliminate these nutrient-packed varieties from your diet, just eat them in moderation. You can, however, fill up on green leafy veggies, tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, artichokes, cauliflower, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini and onions, all of which have a low glycemic index.   Forgo Certain Fruits  Fruit may seem like a friendly diet food because it&amp;#039;s low-fat, but here&amp;#039;s an example of how having too much of a good thing can sabotage weight loss. Pineapple, watermelon and bananas have a high glycemic index. So stick to berries, apples, oranges and grapefruit, which have a lower glycemic index. Fruit juice can be another wolf in sheep&amp;#039;s clothing. &amp;quot;It takes a lot of fruit to make one glass of juice, so the juice is loaded with calories and sugar,&amp;quot; explains Dr. Agatston. Plus, when you eat the whole fruit, your body has to do more work to break down the skin and pulp.  Drinking Dos and Don&amp;#039;ts Skip Beer and Mixed Drinks  Beer contains a sugar called maltose, which raises your blood sugar. If you absolutely have to have one, opt for a low-carb version. Hard alcohols (vodka, gin and whiskey), on the other hand, have less potential to raise your blood sugar, though they certainly aren&amp;#039;t virtuous. &amp;quot;Hard alcohol itself isn&amp;#039;t a huge fat trap, but sugar-packed mixers, such as orange and cranberry juices, are what will get you, so it&amp;#039;s smart to stay away.&amp;quot; Drink Wine Instead Dr. Agatston gives wine, especially heart-healthy red, the go-ahead. &amp;quot;Wine will slow down the speed at which you digest a meal,&amp;quot; he explains. &amp;quot;So it&amp;#039;s actually beneficial to your weight-loss goals to have one glass with dinner.&amp;quot; Now we&amp;#039;re talking! But unfortunately, banking your drinks for the week and downing them all on the weekend won&amp;#039;t help your waistline. Binge drinking puts too many calories into your body at one time for your metabolism to handle.  But the problem with drinking alcohol extends beyond the cocktails themselves. Self-discipline goes out the door the minute you start getting tipsy -- making devouring a whole pizza seem like a good idea.  Say Sayonara to Soda...or Switch to Diet Ever check out the label on a can of cola? Soda is essentially nothing more than sugar and caffeine (which stimulates hunger). Although water is best, Dr. Agatston says diet caffeine-free soda is a better choice if you can&amp;#039;t resist.  Go for Flavor Reach for Zingy Condiments   Hot sauce, salsa, horseradish, mustard and balsamic vinegar add flavor to even the blandest foods. These extras aren&amp;#039;t high in calories, and even if they were, it&amp;#039;s unlikely that you&amp;#039;d eat a large amount of food doused with them. One condiment caution: Curb your use of ketchup and honey, which are loaded with sugar. Make Cheating Worth Your While   Every few weeks, go ahead and have what you&amp;#039;re really craving (like, say, a piece of chocolate cake) and enjoy every last bite. When you try to be a &amp;quot;virtuous cheater&amp;quot; by opting for the diet version of what you desire, you tend to eat more of the fake-out food because you don&amp;#039;t feel satisfied. Ultimately, you&amp;#039;ll likely cave and consume the real thing anyway. And don&amp;#039;t be too hard on yourself if you cheat every once in a while. Dr. Agatston says just to get back on your horse and forget about it. (We knew we liked this guy!) A little indulgence every few weeks never killed anyone...or anyone&amp;#039;s diet.  What to Eat When You&amp;#039;re Out There&amp;#039;s lean cuisine on every restaurant menu that will allow you to stick to your get-slim plan.   Italian: Start with a hearty escarole or vegetable soup, then order veal or chicken piccata. You can even have a side order of pasta with marinara sauce.   Mexican: Always go for chicken, beef or shrimp fajitas, but be sure to pass on the flour and corn tortillas. Add guacamole and plenty of salsa for extra flavor.   Chinese: Stick to stir-fry (chicken, beef and seafood), prepared without cornstarch, and a side of brown rice (many restaurants have it even if it&amp;#039;s not on the menu).   French: Bouillabaisse (fish soup), chicken paillard, coq au vin (a chicken dish cooked with wine) and tuna ni\u00E7oise salad (without the potatoes) are all safe bets.   Japanese: Sashimi is a better choice than sushi (it&amp;#039;s not wrapped in white rice). Round out your meal with miso soup, a bowl of edamame and a salad with ginger dressing.   Fast food: Opt for a grilled chicken salad (skip the croutons) with any kind of dressing except honey mustard, which is loaded with sugar. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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