Little Ribbon's SAFER Cabbage Soup Diet
Written: Nov 10 '07 (Updated Nov 13 '07)
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Pros: Adjusted for healthy nutrition, this one week diet can take off and KEEP off pounds.
Cons: You'll need time and creativity, preparing your own meals is the way to go.
The Bottom Line: If you need a recharge or kick start to weight loss, try this! But you must add protein, without it, it's just a crash diet that will backfire.
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| little-ribbons's Full Review: Cabbage Soup Diet |
CABBAGE SOUP DIET/AKA the DOLLY PARTON DIET
My experience:
I love the cabbage soup diet. Years ago, I lost over 75 pounds the old fashioned way (eating better and exercising regularly), and have maintained most of that loss with continued healthy eating and regular exercise, give or take about 20 pounds. Mostly give. I am at a relatively healthy weight for my height, but when some of my habits lax and I need a recharge, the cabbage soup diet is perfect. Gets me super motivated, back on track, and breaks those stubborn plateaus. I had never done a fad or crash diet before and generally feel them to be unsafe and foolish. But I reached a point where I needed some serious structure, so I made some health-minded modifications to the classic cabbage soup diet and it worked really well for me. I began writing this review and guide to help get me amped up for my next go at the diet, and as a way to organize a lot of disorganized information about the diet. I hope it helps some folks out. I will never be accused of brevity.
How to crash-proof the diet:
The cabbage soup diet is a short-term diet, just seven days, that essentially allows unlimited portions of a very low calorie soup that you can prepare to your liking from a basic recipe, along with a strict allowance of additional food groups on each of the seven days, menus below. Two important variations in my cabbage soup diet method: 1) I am a vegetarian, but that doesn't mean you have to be. Tofu was substituted for meat on days when allowed, but proper allowances for meat eaters are included in the daily menus I’ve provided. 2) This is the important part! DON’T SABOTAGE YOURSELF. This is a crash diet that DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A CRASH DIET. Instead of using the traditional cabbage soup diet as an unhealthy, negative-calorie deprivation crash diet, ADD ESSENTIAL VITAMINS AND PROTEIN TO THIS REGIMEN! On its own, the cabbage soup diet is lacking critical nutrients. A negative calorie deprivation diet will make you lose tons of weight, but you will be losing muscle, not fat, and you will be sending messages to your body that you are “starving”. Your body will take this message and go into panic-mode. Not only will all your hard work be wasted with rapid regain, but you will likely gain back MORE weight than you started with because your body thinks it needs to store up for the next drought. I am not a dietician, but I have devoted years to maintaining proper nutrition, healthy weight and good habits, so I feel confident in making this recommendation. This diet should be supplemented with at least 40 grams of protein daily, and respectively less on days that include milk or tofu (or meat). GNC makes a good unflavored, unsweetened protein powder that can be tossed in a blender with your coffee, juice, or bananas (depending on the day). The calorie impact is minimal, but the nutritional impact is huge. Any protein powder will do (whey or soy, etc) as long as it is doesn’t contain any sugar (very important). Without the protein supplement, you can also expect to be very tired, light headed, and certainly should not attempt daily workouts.
Criticisms of the diet and how to work around them:
I read a lot of critiques and warnings about this diet before attempting it, and I believe I resolved most concerns for my own needs. First, many dieters complained of gross smells- both from constantly cooking cabbage and from the unfortunate gaseous after affects. I didn’t experience either of these problems. First of all, I think a lot of people make the soup in the wrong proportions. The typical cabbage soup recipe floating around makes enough soup for the ENTIRE WEEK. It is not a recommended batch size, especially since you will want to spice things up and make the soup a little differently now and again. With a reduction of the recipe to 1/4 its original size (still lasts 2 days!), you will not use more than ONE head of cabbage for the ENTIRE week’s worth of soup. Your digestive system should be able to handle this easily and without going haywire on you. Second, you also have to make important reductions in the soup base, which if done improperly will have incredibly high levels of sodium (and therefore cause water weight gain). No more than two packages of soup mix should last the whole week, proper reductions are noted in detail in the recipe section. Also, I think it’s important to note that you should not attempt to combine this diet plan with another. This is essentially a low calorie, high fiber diet. Low-carbers should not feel guilty about eating the fruit, potato, rice, etc. These foods are necessary for this diet. A low carb dieter can likely abandon their usual rules for these 7 days and still lose weight. These things taken into consideration, along with protein and vitamin supplements, should account for any of the legitimate criticisms I’ve read about the ol Dolly Parton Detox Diet.
The Basics for Optimal Results:
• Follow the daily menu allowances strictly. Don’t cheat!
• Unlimited cabbage soup daily – MUST have at least one bowl per day. Expect to make about 4 batches of soup in the full 7 days, prepared roughly every other day
• Variations allowed within cabbage soup recipe – experiment!
• Unlimited spice allowance for all days, including calorie-free (or virtually-free) condiments such as mustards, soy sauce (reduced sodium strongly recommended), Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, etc
• Cooking sprays allowed in moderation
• Unlimited vinegars
• Unlimited coffee (black, except Day Four), tea, and water
• Unlimited artificial sweetener, concentrated food flavorings (such as coconut, almond, etc) and sugar free gum
• NO soda, alcohol, or other beverages unless stated, diet or otherwise
• Vitamin supplements strongly advised (Individual needs vary, but a quality multi-vitamin is a good start, and women ought to take an additional 1000 mg of calcium at minimum!)
• Protein supplement strongly advised: Three 13 gram unsweetened protein powder shakes throughout the day (39 grams total), made with coffee, or other stated daily allowances, such as with banana milkshakes or fruit juices. Banana/Milk Day only needs one or two protein supplement shakes (13-26 grams total). Days Five and Six (Tofu or Meat Days) only one or none (0-13 grams total). These taste best blended with artificial sweetener and without ice, then poured over ice. These allowances are sufficient for the average woman, with or without daily workouts. Men should increase grams to about 60.
• Keep a daily journal of what was eaten, ease of daily performance, any side affects, general frustrations or enjoyments, etc
• Shopping lists: be sure to have plenty of protein powder, coffee, artificial sweetener, sugar-free gum, and your preferred foods as allowed. ONE cabbage should last the ENTIRE seven days (4 batches). Shop for Days One through Three before start, and shop for days Four through Seven on Day Three (for optimal freshness)
• Diet-proof kitchen before beginning: throw out any terribly offending items, and “lock up” any temptations that can be healthfully consumed after completion of diet. For example, cheeses and other temporarily off-limits goodies can stay in fridge, but put them in an out-of-sight, out-of-mind bag and store them in back of fridge. Of course, this assumes that you live alone and don’t have spouses or children who eat pudding and cheeseburgers all day long. Good luck to those people. Just in general.
• Weigh in ONLY on the morning of Day One and after completion on the morning after Day Seven. The anticipation will keep you motivated!
Daily Menus:
Day One: FRUIT Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Unlimited fruit: fresh, canned, or frozen. Canned fruit should be in juice only, not heavy syrup, and drained. Consider saving juice for Day Seven
• Unlimited unsweetened/light Cranberry Juice
• NO Bananas
RECOMMENDED PREPARATION FOR DAY TWO:
Bake carrots or other time consuming vegetable dishes.
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES:
Fair amount of coffee, cranberry juice, and chamomile tea. 2 Protein shakes. Big fruit salad. Cabbage soup, traditional recipe, 3 bowls. Raisins.
“Protein powder gross blended with whole fruit… Totally stuffed myself with fruit. Not entirely enjoyable… First batch of soup made without deviation from recipe. Not terrible, but not good.”
Day Two: VEGETABLE & POTATO Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Unlimited vegetables: raw, canned, or cooked
• One moderate size baked potato for dinner with small amount of butter or olive oil: may be added to soup for variation
• NO fruit, beans, peas, or corn
RECOMMENDED PREPARATION FOR DAY THREE: Make a fruit salad, bake any time consuming vegetable dishes.
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES:
3 total protein shakes, 2 with iced coffee before mid-day, 1 with decaf in the evening. Large stirfry of frozen vegetables, straw mushrooms, banana peppers and Chinese hot mustard. Large tossed green salad with fresh vegetables and dressing made from apple cider vinegar and Dijon mustard. Put baked potato in soup, 2 bowls. Celery with mustard vinegar.
“Lots of peeing… Iced coffee protein shakes are tasty. Much better than with fruit. Stirfry was delicious, but I already miss fruit.”
Day Three: FRUIT & VEGETABLE Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Unlimited fruit
• Unlimited vegetables: raw, canned, or cooked
• NO bananas
• NO potato, beans, peas, or corn
RECOMMENDED PREPARATION FOR DAY FOUR: SHOP for days four through seven. Slice one or two bananas and sprinkle with artificial sweetener and cinnamon, etc, and freeze.
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES: 3 total protein shakes, 2 with iced coffee before mid-day, 1 with decaf in the evening. Giant fruit salad. 2 bowls soup. Carrots, zucchini, and onion baked with garlic, etc. Peppermint tea and raisins.
“I bought way too much fruit. Made a batch of soup, pureed half the stock. Note to self: let soup cool before putting in the blender, otherwise the heat will blow the top off the blender no matter how hard I’m holding it down. Cooked my hand, cabbage all over the walls. But this version of the soup is yummy. Feeling exceptionally fat though. Very light headed by evening. Baked carrots ruled.”
Day Four: BANANAS & MILK Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Up to 8 medium size bananas: may be frozen, blended, or plain
• Unlimited skim milk: may be blended with bananas and/or added to coffee
• One 8 oz serving of nonfat plain yogurt or sour cream may be considered as part of milk allowance: recommended to add to soup for a creamier variation
• NO additional fruits or vegetables
RECOMMENDED PREPARATION FOR DAY FIVE: Bake several portions of tofu (or meat).
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES:
Coffee with milk. 4 total banana milkshakes, 1 with protein. 2 plain bananas. 1 frozen cinnamon banana. Several cups decaf with milk. Curry/yogurt version of soup, 2 bowls. Made a new batch of soup, Italian style, 1 bowl. Herbal tea.
“Banana day! How exciting. Banana protein shakes REALLY good. Curry/yogurt cabbage soup not very exciting. Banana shakes are filling as f***. Still feel like I’m GAINING weight.”
Day Five: TOFU (MEAT) & TOMATO Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Up to 1,000 calories worth of tofu, prepared as desired. (Meat eaters: 10-20 oz of beef allowed. Baked or broiled chicken may be substituted, but NO skin. Baked or broiled fish may also be substituted, but not for both meat days)
• Up to SIX whole tomatoes: may be fresh, cooked, or canned
• MUST drink at least 8 glasses of water. Keep a tally throughout the day to keep track (this is to wash out the uric acid from the beef, but I found it particularly useful to have a few days with increased water consumption anyway)
• NO other fruits or vegetables
RECOMMENDED PREPARATION FOR DAY SIX: Bake several portions of tofu and any time consuming vegetable dishes.
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES:
Lots black coffee. 4 tofu steaks total, some baked with mustard, some diced and added to soup. 2 bowls soup. 3 tomatoes, fresh, sliced, with basil and vinegar. Baked tofu fries (soy and Worcestershire).
“Suddenly feel notably thinner today. Not very hungry today.”
Day Six: TOFU (MEAT) & VEGETABLE Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Unlimited tofu, prepared as desired. (Meat eaters: unlimited beef allowed. Baked or broiled chicken may be substituted, but NO skin. Baked or broiled fish may also be substituted, but not for both meat days)
• MUST drink at least 8 glasses of water. Keep a tally throughout the day to keep track (as prior day)
• Unlimited vegetables: raw, canned, or cooked
• NO fruit, potato, beans, peas, or corn
RECOMMENDED PREP FOR DAY SEVEN: Decide how much rice you’d like to eat on final day and cook in advance, along with any time consuming vegetable dishes.
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES:
Black coffee. Large tossed green salad with fresh vegetables and vinegar/mustard. 2 tofu steaks. 2 bowls soup. Frozen vegetable stirfry with hot mustard.
“Tired of eating vegetables and tofu and virtually no desire to eat either. Feeling plenty of energy though. Made one last batch of soup, a pureed version with rosemary and a lot of mushrooms.”
Day Seven: BROWN RICE & VEGETABLES & FRUIT JUICE Day
• The Usual Unlimited Items: Black Coffee, Tea, and Cabbage Soup
PLUS:
• Unlimited brown rice (but 600 – 1200 calories is recommended): instant minute rice not recommended, at least 30 minute cook time variety
• Unlimited vegetables: raw, canned, or cooked
• Unlimited unsweetened fruit juice
• NO whole fruit, potato, beans, peas, or corn
WHAT I HAD and HIGHLIGHTS FROM MY DAILY JOURNAL NOTES:
Black coffee. 3 protein ‘Orange Julius’ style protein shakes (some variation of mandarin orange juice, pineapple juice [from leftover fruit cans], regular orange juice, coconut flavoring). Pan ‘fried’ rice with frozen vegetables, fresh vegetables, sun dried tomatoes, hot mustard, etc. 1 bowl soup. Cranberry juice. Baked garlic carrots and celery with rice and spices. Herbal tea.
“Oof. Last day. OMG. Orange Julius awesomeness (orange juice protein shake with pineapple juice and coconut flavoring). ‘Fried’ rice delicious. Jeans feel really loose today. OMG. Brown rice is so delicious. I think the cabbage soup diet is making me dumber. Made the rice yesterday. Portioned out 4 servings worth (800 cals) so I won’t go overboard. Despite serious sleep deprivation (schedule related, not diet related) actually feel really good. Looking forward to weigh-in tomorrow!”
Day Eight: WEIGH IN!
• Analyze your results and congratulate yourself for making it through the whole week
• Use your newfound or renewed dedication and motivation to resume a healthy, balanced diet right away. Obviously, if you decide to have a noodle and ice cream marathon beginning on Day Eight, your weight is going to come back
• Celebrate with a big, fat glass of red wine. If you’re like me, you missed that the most!
• NEVER do the cabbage soup diet for more than 7 days. If continuing the diet is desired, wait at least one week before starting again
My results:
I’m in the middle of my second go at this, which I am doing 1 month after the first (journal entries above from my first attempt). I plan to do it roughly once a month until I get through the holidays, and then maybe seasonally or as needed. My results the first time through were pretty good. I lost 4 pounds. Keep in mind, I eat well and exercise all the time, but have not been able to lose a single pound in upwards of six months of the stubborn 20 pounds I need to lose, so 4 pounds in 7 days was fantastic. This was finally the first plateau breakthrough for me. Those who have typically unhealthier diets and much more weight to lose will see significantly higher numbers, as many as 10-15 pounds after the 7 days. I was very happy with the results. Those 4 pounds have NOT come back either. I hope to have similar results this month.
I wouldn’t exactly say that I ENJOY the cabbage soup diet, or that it’s particularly easy, but it’s only 7 days, and not without its good times. I actually do enjoy some of the weird food combinations, and the strict structure feeds my OCD tendencies nicely after I've faltered way off track. I like that it forces me to cook more creatively and in some cases I actually get to eat foods that are not a part of my typical diet (yay, potato!).
Recipes:
CLASSIC CABBAGE SOUP
This recipe was designed after much digging. Variations on the cabbage soup recipe abound, but this is the most consistently listed recipe, just reduced in quantity. This reduced batch still makes a lot of soup but can be prepared in a moderate sized 2 quart soup pot. For one person, it should easily last two days.
Prep soup broth:
1 package vegetable or onion soup mix
8 - 10 cups of water (depending on whether you’d like to add V8, optional) (Yes, this is significantly more water than the package will call for. This is to keep sodium levels reasonable. Instead of salt, try using lots of garlic or cayenne- great for the metabolism!)
This will be your soup base for AT LEAST two batches of soup. Use 3 cups of prepared broth per batch of soup. Store remainder in fridge for next time.
Classic Cabbage Soup, Stew-Style:
1&1/2 green onions
1/2 green pepper
1/2 can stewed or diced tomatoes
1 carrot
1&1/2 celery stalks
Handful of mushrooms (1/4 fresh container, sliced)
1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
3 cups of broth (may be 2 cups plain broth one cup V8, optional)
Small portion (1/4 block) of finely diced tofu (optional)
Season to taste (for this classic version, I like to use the old standards: garlic, sweet basil, oregano, black pepper, cayenne pepper, parsley, and one bay leaf)
For this proportion, a 2 quart saucepan with lid will do (but it will be to the brim). The soup is best after a good 2 hours on the stove. Start with bringing the carrot, celery, cabbage and broth to a boil (with bay leaf, optional). Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for one hour. For the second hour, add remaining seasonings, green onion, green pepper, tomato, and mushrooms. Return to simmer for one hour. If desired, add tofu before serving.
Some variations and ideas to alter classic recipe:
This is all trial and error. When I first made the soup, it was pretty unappealing and bland. 7-8 batches later, I'm an old pro and have found great flavor combinations and think it's often quite tasty. Great winter food.
Try pureeing all or part of the soup: My favorite version cooks all the cabbage and half of the carrot and celery for 1/2 hour with lots of rosemary and basil. This early portion is pureed with the broth in a blender (allow to cool first), and then the remaining carrot and celery is added and soup is cooked 45 minutes more. Then tofu and tons of mushrooms added, cooked an additional 45 minutes. Canned tomatoes added just before serving.
Be creative. Flip through recipe books for ideas of good spice combinations. On Day Four, try a curry/yogurt version, or experiment with something like a cream of mushroom. Try cumin and chili powder for a southwestern flavor. Substitute vegetables when it is reasonable to do so. Substitute the variety of onion if desired. Tomatoes and V8 add a very distinct tang, eliminate them if you wish. Just make sure you use 1/4 head of cabbage in every batch of soup (1/4 head of cabbage to every 3 cups of broth used) and are roughly sticking to the same volume of the approved vegetables. If you don’t like carrot, double the celery, or something to that extent.
Recommended:
Yes
Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 75-100/wk
Food Variety Restrictions A short list of allowed foods
Restrictiveness of Portions Gorge all you like
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Epinions.com ID:
little-ribbons
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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