Day 1 Cabbage Soup

I decided to do a very unique diet/detox this week. It is called the Cabbage Soup Diet and is a 7 day plan. Bear with me, it has very strange limitations. My mom's friends did this diet and had great results. I hope to lose 8-10 pounds this week (water weight), and then follow it with an incredibly healthy diet, complete with tons of veggies, fruit, and lean protein. If you want to do something out of the ordinary and get a jump on your weight loss, try this diet! I'm going to keep a log this week to let you know how my progress is going. I will let you know how many pounds I have lost for the day and my experiences throughout the diet. Feel free to join me - below is the recipe and 7 Day Plan! Check it out for yourself HERE.

Day 1 Log: Today was the start of my diet. We made the soup yesterday and I started eating it today. The soup is very tasty, but I can see getting sick of it by the end of the week. Breakfast was a grapefruit and cranberry juice. Lunch was soup, a few strawberries, and unsweetened ice tea. I added chipotle hot sauce to my bowl of soup for lunch, which gave it a little zing. So far, so good. Snack will be a pear and grapes, and dinner will be soup, water, and an apple. Before bed will be a cup of hot tea.

Cabbage Soup Recipe
6 large green onions
2 green peppers
1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
3 carrots
1 container (10oz or so) mushrooms
1 bunch of celery
Half a head of cabbage
1 package of Lipton soup mix
1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)
1 48 oz can V8 juice (optional but recommended)
Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc.

1. Slice green onions, put in pot and start to saute with cooking spray
2. Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out. Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
3. Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bit size pieces, add to pot.
4. Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.
5. If you would like spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper (or add it per bowl).
6. You can use beef or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings.
7. Add Lipton soup mix.
8. Cut celery into bite size pieces and add to pot.
9. Add tomatoes to pot.
10. Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice).
11. Cover and put heat on low. Let soup cook for a long time, 2-3 hours. Season to taste.

The 7 Day Plan
Day 1 - Fruit. Eat all 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 2 - Veggies. Eat until you are stuffed with all the fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. try to eat leafy green vegetable 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 3 - Fruit and Veggies. Pair day 1 and 2. Eat all the soup, fruits and veggies you want. No Baked Potato though.

Day 4 - Bananas and Skim Milk. Eat as many as 8 bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets.

Day 5 - Beef and Tomatoes. 10-20 oz of beef and up to 6 fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6-8 glasses of water this day to wash the uric acid from your body. Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked chicken instead of beef (but absolutely no skin on chicken). If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef one of the beef days (but not both).

Day 6 - Beef and Veggies. Eat to your heart's content of beef and veggies this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green veggies. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day 7 - Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and veggies. Again, stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.

*This diet should only be followed for 7 days at a time, with at least 2 weeks in between. It is great for quick weight loss, but not suitable for long-term weight loss. It is is a low-fat, high-fiber diet that will get you into shape fast before you embark on a more moderate long-term eating plan.