Cabbage Soup Diet: Plan and Recipe

The cabbage soup diet is an excellent way to kick-start your diet program and to help point you in the right direction for a more moderate long-term eating plan. The diet is low fat and high in fiber, and it will help curb your cravings during the critical first week of your weight-loss plan. This guide will help you learn more about the cabbage soup diet so you can decide if it is right for you.

The Cabbage Soup Diet Plan

The cabbage soup diet plan is designed to be followed only seven days at a time with at least two weeks in between each cycle. While you can find different variations of the soup online, the base ingredients all include tomatoes, cabbage, green peppers, onions, and bouillon. You can play around with spices to change the taste, and you can add additional vegetables or even meat on certain days.

• Day One: Eat all the fruit you want—except bananas. Eat only the soup and the fruit for the first day. Drink unsweetened tea, cranberry juice, and water.
• Day Two: Eat all the fresh, raw, or cooked vegetables you want. Choose green vegetables and stay away from dried beans, peas, and corn. Continue to eat as much soup as you want. At dinner, reward yourself with a baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit.
• Day Three: Mix days one and two. Eat all the soup, vegetables, and fruit you want. Do not eat a baked potato.
• Day Four: Consume as many bananas and as much skim milk as you want along with your soup. This will help curb your desire for sweets.
• Day Five: Eat ten to twenty ounces of beef or broiled or baked chicken without skin and up to six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least six to eight glasses of water, and continue to eat your soup at least once. You may also choose broiled fish on one but not both of the meat days.
• Day Six: Eat all you want of beef and vegetables. Do not eat a baked potato. Have your soup at least once.
• Day Seven: Stuff yourself with brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices, and vegetables. Eat your soup at least once.

Benefits

This diet has been around for a long time because it offers fast and effective short-term weight loss, and it revolves around the consumption of soup every day. You consistently add new foods each day throughout the plan, which makes it easy to continue without getting bored. Although the plan does not provide you with a completely balanced diet, and the liquid in the soup will keep you hydrated. The soup alone offers a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, including:

• Vitamin C
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin D
• Antioxidants

One of the main reasons people cheat on other diets is due to hunger and cravings; because you don’t restrict the amount you eat on this diet, you shouldn’t become hungry. While many diets require a lot of expensive foods and extensive menu plans, this diet is relatively inexpensive and simple to follow.

Cons of the Diet

The cabbage soup diet is essentially a fad diet. It works because the large quantities of cabbage and broth act as a diuretic. In cabbage soup diet reviews, some people have reported feeling lightheaded or weak while on the diet. This could be from dehydration, so you should make sure you drink plenty of water if you decide to try it. Another complaint about this diet is the fact you have to eat the soup every day. While it is flavorful, the soup can get old when you have to eat it every day over the course of a week. For this reason, the diet is not suitable for long-term weight loss. It is also not a good choice for vegans or vegetarians, because on the fifth and sixth days you must consume large quantities of beef.

Cabbage Soup Diet Before and After

The majority of the weight loss you experience will be water weight, which will be regained the minute you start eating a normal diet again. Proponents of the diet claim you can lose up to ten pounds in a week. This is excellent for those who are looking to drop a few pounds for a special event. For long-term weight loss, select a diet that helps you aim to lose one to two pounds each week.

Keys to Success

To achieve the best cabbage soup diet results, there are a few things you can do to ensure the most weight loss. Make sure you follow the diet exactly. If you sway even a little from the original plan, you will sabotage your results. Drink at least four glasses of water a day to stay hydrated and to flush your body of toxins. Whenever you feel like giving up, remember it only lasts for seven days. Print out the directions to the diet and leave them in plain view in your kitchen—this will give you no excuse to cheat. Make sure you eat plenty of soup. The more soup you eat, the more weight you will lose. Don’t try to starve yourself, or you will end up cheating.

Cabbage Soup Diet Recipe

• 6 large green onions (1 bunch)
• 2 green bell peppers
• 14.5-ounce can of diced or whole tomatoes
• 1 large bunch of celery
• 1/2 large head of cabbage, chopped
• 1 package of dry onion soup mix (Read about the health benefits of onions)
• 1 to 2 bouillon cubes (optional)
• 49-ounce can V8 juice or 6 cups water, light chicken broth, or vegetable broth
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, or cayenne pepper.

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot and cook on low until all vegetables are tender. If slow cooking, add seasonings approximately one hour before the soup is done. Once the soup is ready, you can begin the cabbage soup diet the very next day.