Cabbage Soup Diet- The Seven Days is not that Hard if You Know the Tricks
Losing 10 pounds a week can be very enticing for a lot of people. That could explain the popularity of many fad diets such as the cabbage soup diet. This diet has been around for over 2 decades and promises you can lose 10 pounds a week by following this strict meal plan for 7 days eating mostly cabbage soup.
This is the cabbage soup meal plan that would be followed for 7 days:
Day 1: Fruit; consist of cabbage soup, fruits (except banana), protein shake, fat burner drink, and water with lemon or herbal. Day 2: Vegetable; consist of cabbage soup, vegetables, protein shake, fat burner drink, baked potato, and water with lemon or vegetable juices. Day 3: Fruit and Vegetables; consist of cabbage soup, fruit, vegetables, protein shake, fat burner drink, and water with lemon or vegetable juices. Day 4: Bananas; consist of cabbage soup, banana, low fat dairy, protein shake, and water with lemon or herbal. Day 5: Fish and Tomatoes; consist of cabbage soup, fish or poultry with tomatoes, protein shake, fat burner drink, and water with lemon or herbal. Day 6: Poultry Day; consist of cabbage soup, poultry or fish, vegetables, protein shake, fat burner drink, water with lemon or vegetable juices. Day 7: Rice Day; consist of cabbage soup, vegetables, protein shake, fat burner drink, mushroom risotto, and water with lemon or vegetable juices.
You can eat as much cabbage soup as you want during any given day. On days 3, 5, 6 and 7 you can eat as much fruit, fish, vegetables and chicken as you want. The cabbage soup recipe is simple and consists of: cabbage, peppers, onions, carrots, tomatoes and any seasonings you want to add. Please keep in mind that you cannot have: alcohol, carbonated drinks, or bread.
Despite the fact that the diet is centered around cabbage soup there isn't any evidence to suggest that cabbage burns more fat than any other vegetable. The real reason people lose weight on this diet is due to the extremely low daily calorie intake, between 800-1,000. The soup is just the 'main course' and the diet would probably work the same way with many other types of vegetable soups as the center piece.
Pros
Rapid weight loss; an average person will lose up to 15 pounds over the 7 day course of this diet.
Inexpensive; the required ingredients for this diet plan are very inexpensive to buy.
Easy: all you have to do is follow a simple diet plan. No other life style changes are needed and it only lasts 7 days.
Eating more fruits and vegetables, which is always a good idea.
Cons
The extremely low daily calorie of this diet is not a healthy way to lose weight. There is a very small percentage of protein in the diet plan which can actually hurt you due to the lack of proper nutrition. Most people should get at least 1200 calories a day, unless specifically told otherwise by their doctor.
Eating this fairly bland soup almost exclusively for a week will get really boring which might make you want to skip meals and lowering your already dangerously low calorie intake.
The cabbage soup recipes usually contain high levels of sodium or MSG (Monosodium Glutamate).
Most of the weight loss with the cabbage soup diet comes from water weight, not fat loss, which will be easily put back on once you start eating the way you normally do.
Most cabbage soup recipes are very bland and dieters have reported feeling ill just by the smell of this bland soup after their 7 day diet is over.
Causes gas.
If you eat out it's tough to follow the meal plan in a restaurant.
From the facts, it is obvious that this diet has many drawbacks and not recommended; many experts will suggest a traditional long term healthy diet. But it is also true that fast weight loss is really tempting and many will still try it. If you do plan to try this diet program, here are a few things to consider:
This diet is for adult, it is not suitable for children and adolescents.
Only go on this diet a week at a time, do not try to prolong it.
Talk to your doctor about any health concerns.
During the diet, keep remind yourself that the program only last for seven days and it will result on significant weight loss.
Stay hydrated. Drink at least 5 glasses of water every day.
Use spices and seasonings to liven up your meals and help prevent boredom.
No matter how bored you get with the soup, don't skip meals. You aren't taking in very many calories as it is, you can't afford to lower your caloric intake any more.
Try to keep stay at home, you will probably too weak from the low calorie foods and to gassy from mass quantities of cabbage. If you are away from home, carry your cabbage soup with you.
Consume food supplement tablet to complement this diet.
Make a journal to keep track your weight loss from day 1.
Make sure to keep careful track of what foods you are supposed to eat each day.
Keep steady supply of the ingredients, fruits, and vegetables in your refrigerator.
Consume protein shake to avoid lack of protein.
If you can stay motivated and focused for the 7 day plan you can lose between 10 -15 pounds. Not bad for a weeks worth of work!
