Fad Diet Favorite — The Cabbage Soup Diet

Cabbage Soup Diet –

Some of you may have tried this already, some may not have. The one thing about this soup diet is that if you spice up the soup a little and give it some oomph, it can be pretty tasty.

TIP: When beginning this diet remember to take your vitamins — because this diet is not something that is balanced enough for you to use on its own long term.

 Diet Directions

Day One:
Fruit: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For drinks- unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.

Day Two:
Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today.

Day Three:
Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato. Sounds boring, but try throwing some berries and pears in a blender for a sweet, thick salad dressing… or if you feel like your missing something hearty, try grilling large Portobello mushrooms over spinach.

Day Four:
Bananas and Skim Milk: Drink as much skim milk as you wish, and eat up to 7-8 bananas. Eat your soup today at least once, have your multivitamin. The milk and bananas supposed make you crave less sugar.

My take: If you want to get creative, try throwing some ice, bananas, the milk and a dash of cinnamon in a blender for an instant treat.

Day Five:
Beef And Tomatoes:

Eat 10-20 ounces of beef today and six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6 glasses of water and take your multivitamin. You may also substitute chicken for beef on this day. Make some kabobs with grilled tomatoes and beef if you’re bored.

Day Six:

Eat all the beef and vegetables you want on this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like. Eat a lot of of vegetables, making sure you have a lot of leafy green ones. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once. Drink plenty of water and take a multivitamin.

Again, try kabobs, or grilled vegetables with some varied spices.

Day Seven:
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Fill up on soup. As much as you can stand. Take your multivitamin.

Recipe

• 6 large green onions
• 2 green peppers
• 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
• 3 Carrots
• 1 Container (10 oz. or so) Mushrooms
• 1 bunch of celery
• 1/2 a head of cabbage
• 1 package Lipton soup mix
• 1 48oz can V8 juice (optional)
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, hot sauce etc. , you can also add 1 or 2 cubes of boullion

** though not in the popular standard recipe I add some chopped spinach in toward the end for added natural vitamins..

Directions:

Saute green onions with cooking spray

Chop 2 green peppers into bite size pieces, make sure to remove stem and seeds

Chop 1/2 head of cabbage and toss in the pot.

Clean and chop carrots — add to pot.

Slice mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot.

If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry, cayenne pepper, or a little red pepper flakes now.

Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup cook for a long time – two hours works well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

My Experience

I tried the cabbage soup diet on more than one occasion over the last 20 years. I lost about about 7 pounds each time. What I found, however is that my energy level was very low and I was extremely bored with my food. I love the soup, but eating the same thing everyday is not something I like to do. I usually gained 3 pounds back immediately when eating regular food again, which I attribute to the salt in most foods and getting back the water you flush out of your body on this diet. Works for a quick tummy flattener though as the fiber you get leaves you with not much left in your stomach/colon.