About the Infamous Cabbage Soup Diet
I want to emphasize that the goal of the 90 Day Renewal, as set forth in my book Becoming the Woman I Want To Be, is gradual dietary changes. However, I’m including this "crash diet" for two reasons. First, it’s a great detoxification program which is wonderful to undertake prior to fasting. When you fast with a toxic body, you experience a range of side-effects from nausea to dizziness. So if you haven’t fasted in years, and you plan to do so in conjunction with the 90-Day Renewal, I think spending a week on the Cabbage Soup Diet can make a huge difference in your overall well-being.
Second, I know the way women are! We want results immediately or we tend to get discouraged and give up. So The Cabbage Soup Diet is designed for those women who are undertaking the 90-Day Renewal primarily to lose weight–and are anxious to see results. But let me offer a word of caution: you didn’t put on all those extra pounds in a week. It’s naive to expect to take the weight off–and keep it off permanently–by spending a week on the Cabbage Soup Diet. On the bright side, by detoxifying your body, you will enable your digestive system to work more efficiently, thus helping with future weight loss efforts.
Some women have opted to use the Cabbage Soup Diet for the first week of the 90-Day Renewal. In that case, you should ignore the Diet section in the book and follow the instructions below instead. Do not eat BOTH what’s listed in the book AND what’s listed below. You should know that, when we conducted a test group, quite a number of women had a tough time following the Cabbage Soup Diet. It’s definitely a challenge! If you aren’t up for a challenge, that’s fine. Start out slow. Just focus your efforts on cutting back refined carbohydrates and caffeine, while increasing your intake of vegetables.
The easiest way to decrease your caffeine intake is to switch from coffee to Teecccino and to take dehydrated fruits and vegetables (in capsule form) rather than vitamins.
Personally, I LOVE the Cabbage Soup Diet and follow it at least twice a year. It was recommended to me by my former neighbor, Dr. Allan Spreen, a U.S. Olympic diving coach and author of the book, Nutritionally Incorrect (Woodland Publishing), from which the following is adapted. Dr. Spreen says this diet is safe and can be repeated as often as you like, as long as you take two weeks off in between. He says you can expect to lose anywhere from 10 to 17 pounds.
Cabbage Soup Diet
- 6 large green onions
- 2 green peppers
- 1 large head cabbage
- 1 bunch celery
- 1 or 2 cans tomatoes
- 1 pkg. Lipton soup mix
- Season to taste with spices, including salt, pepper, parsley, boullion, etc.
Cut vegetables into small pieces. In large pot, add vegetables and soup mix, cover with water. Boil rapidly for ten minutes.
Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. (Vita-mix owners: blend & store in serving size portions)
This soup can be eaten anytime you are hungry. Eat as much as you want, whenever you want. The more you eat the more you will lose.
Day One
All fruits except bananas. Cantaloupe and watermelon are lower in calories than most fruits. Eat only the soup and fruits. For drinks, you may have water, unsweetened tean or cranberry juice (I recommend Trader Joe’s or Knudson’s) Do NOT drink a cranberry juice cocktail.
Day Two
All vegetables. Eat all you want! Try to eat leafy veggies and stay away from carbohydrate-rich veggies like peas, corn or beans. At dinner time, you may have a baked potato with butter. Do not eat any fruits.
Day Three
Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. Do not have a baked potato today! If you have followed the diet for three days, and have not cheated, you will find you have lost 5-7 pounds.
Day Four
Bananas and skim milk. Eat as many as three bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you want, along with the soup. Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates and so is the milk, but on this particular day, your body will need potassium and carbohydrates, protein and calcium, to lessen your craving for sweets.
Day Five
Beef and tomatoes. You may have 10-20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes or as many as 6 fresh tomatoes on this day. Try to drink 6-8 glasses of water to wash away the uric acid in your body. Eat the soup at least once today, but remember: the more you eat, the more you lose.
Day Six
Beef and veggies. Eat to your heart’s content of the beef and veggies. You can have two or three steaks if you like, along with leafy green vegetables. No baked potatoes (easy on carb-dense veggies) Don’t forget to eat lots of soup.
Day Seven
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice and vegetables. Eat as much as you like of all the items listed today. But be SURE it’s brown rice and UNSWEETENED fruit juice!!!
Beverages: You may drink water, unsweetened tea, black coffee, teeccino, unsweetened fruit juices, unsweetened cranberry juice and skim milk. Your best bet is always water.
