As a little jump start to my year, I decided to try a rendition of the Cabbage Soup diet, and guess what! 10 POUNDS IN 5 DAYS!!!
Yes, I am aware that most of that weight is water weight and that this is not a "long term" solution for weight loss.. but for someone who has been struggling with willpower and shedding the weight I put on while managing restaurants and during pregnancy, this was a perfect little kick in the pants!
If you're interested in the original cabbage soup diet, you can easily find hundreds of different versions and recipes with a quick google search. If you want to shorten it by two days and use the plan I did, here's what I did!
First, make a big batch of cabbage soup. I "cheated" a little bit and made my first batch of the week using the following recipe (*Please note that most of the veggies used in this can be omitted if you don't like them):
- 1/2 medium head of cabbage, chopped
- 1 bunch celery, chopped
- 1 cup baby carrots, chopped
- 1 Large Spanish onion, chopped
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 large zucchini, chopped
- 1 Cup chopped bell peppers
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 Can healthy choice Tomato Soup
- 1 Quart low- sodium Vegetable stock
- 2 Cups Water
- 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- Black Pepper to taste
To make this, I just combined everything in a crockpot and let it cook on high for 4-5 hours. **For my second batch, I replaced the tomato soup with low sodium V8, used two cans of diced tomatoes, and added a pint of home-canned tomato puree. I liked the first recipe better, but the tomato soup contains a lot of sugar that was eliminated by switching to V8.
Here's what I did on a daily basis:
Day 1. Cabbage Soup and Fruits. This sounds harder than it is and again, I "cheated" a little bit. For breakfast, I had sauteed spinach and a BIG glass of water. I snacked on an orange and some cinnamon stick tea, then had cabbage soup for lunch and of course, more water. In the afternoon I had an apple, cut up and sprinkled with apple pie spice. Dinner was a big salad with greens, mandarin oranges, blueberries, pineapple, bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and a dash of raspberry vinegar.
Day 2. Cabbage Soup and Vegetables + Baked Potato for Dinner! Again, I had sauteed spinach for breakfast, this time with some bell peppers added in. For a snack I had tea, celery sticks and some fresh broccoli florets with lots of water! For lunch, cabbage soup and in the afternoon I snacked on Italian spinach chips and for dinner I had a baked potato with a teaspoon of margarine and a salad loaded with veggies and topped with a bit of balsamic vinegar.
Day 3. Cabbage Soup, Fruits and Veggies. This day is essentially what I should be eating every day. Fresh, clean, colorful foods. I had my normal breakfast and snacked on a granny smith apple. Again, LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER. Lunch was cabbage soup and I had some steamed broccoli drizzled with lemon and cracked black pepper. For dinner, I had this AWESOME veggie saute loaded with green beans, zucchini, peppers, asparagus, broccoli, baby carrots, onion and tons of deliciousness.
Day 4. Cabbage Soup, Bananas, Plain Yogurt and Skim Milk. This will probably not be the easiest day of your life, unless your spirit animal is a monkey and you LOVE bananas. For breakfast, I had a BIG banana smoothie.
- 1 small fresh banana
- 1/2 frozen banana
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 6-8 Ice cubes
Add it all in a blender and blend until smooth. Add more ice if it's too runny. Mid morning, I snacked on a banana. Lunch, I had cabbage soup and a big glass of skim milk. In the afternoon I snacked on a banana sprinkled with cinnamon and filled myself with water. For dinner, I had another banana smoothie and I was STUFFED!
Day 5. Cabbage Soup, Skinless boneless chicken breast & vegetables. This day was super easy. For breakfast, I returned to my normal sauteed spinach breakfast and added in some roasted chicken breast. I snacked on some roasted asparagus with Italian seasoning and a nice big cup of tea. My lunch, again, was cabbage soup and lots of water. I made some roasted ranch cauliflower to snack on and had some roasted tomato, asparagus, green beans, bell peppers and zucchini with grilled chicken breast for dinner.
That's it! I was never hungry and finally felt like I was actually hydrating myself. The morning of day 6 I hopped on the scale and was down 10.2 pounds!!
It has been 2 weeks now, and I have eliminated processed flour and refined sugar. I'm continuing to eat fresh, clean ingredients while drinking a minimum of 100oz of water per day and I have lost another 2 pounds.
This 5 day diet gives some awesome perspective on clean eating and makes you really pay attention to what you're putting in your body. It stresses hydrating and not allowing yourself to binge eat when in reality, you are just thirsty!
The diet gave me a wonderful kick start for the new year and kicking my weight loss journey off with a bang! Hopefully it'll do the same for you!
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