Cabbage Soup Diet

My Version of Cabbage Soup:

6 green onions sliced

2 green bell peppers, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

1 1/2 pounds lean hamburger (I used deer meat)

1 bunch of celery chopped

10 ounce mushrooms

28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

2 cup low sodium beef broth

2 cups water

1/2 head of chopped cabbage

1 teaspoon white or black pepper

1 tablespoon oregano

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed (optional)

Brown hamburger is big pot; drain grease. Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer on medium to low heat for 45 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

You can add any herbs or spices that are your favorite, to give it the taste you like. This turned out good. I like to have meat in my soup to add to it and make me feel like I ate something. Below is the Cabbage Soup diet. I didn't do it. My problem with a "diet" is sticking to what they say to do. ha! I love food, so I'm trying it my way. Still stuck at 6 pounds. I gained back 1 pound. I dread getting on the scales this morning; had cheat night last night and Steve took me to Copeland's to eat. Since our meal was late, they gave us cheesecake. I couldn't pass that up. I did order  the lite plate though for portion control. Back to it today. 

• CABBAGE SOUP:
• 6 large green onions (also called “spring” onions)
• 2 green peppers
• 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
• 3 carrots
• 1 container (10 oz. or so) mushrooms
• 1 bunch of celery
• half a head of cabbage
• 1 package spice only soup mix (In the US, Liptons is a good choice)
• 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)
• 1 48oz can Low Sodium V8 juice (optional)
• Season to taste with pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc. (Little to NO SALT!)

Directions:
Slice green onions, put in a pot on medium heat and start to sauté with cooking spray. Do this until the onions are whiter/clearer in color (about 4-6 minutes).
Cut green pepper stem end off, then cut pepper in half to take out the seeds and membrane. Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.
Clean carrots, mushrooms, and celery, cut into bite size pieces and toss them in. Add tomatoes now, too.
If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now.
For seasonings, you can use a spice soup packet of your choice (no noodles!) or use beef or chicken bouillon cubes. These cubes are optional, and you can add spices you like instead (make sure not to add much salt, if any at all).
Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the 48 oz of Low Sodium V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup simmer for a long time – about 2 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Remember: This diet should only be followed for 7 days at a time, with at least two weeks in between.

Day One:

Fruit: Eat all of 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 Two:

Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables 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 Three:

Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato.

Day Four:

Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight 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 Five:

Beef And Tomatoes: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6 to 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 beef on one of the beef days (but not both).

Day Six:

Beef and Vegetables: Eat to your heart’s content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day Seven:

Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Again stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.

TESTIMONY! If you're interested in going gourmet AND losing weight, try the following suggestions, recommended by Bobbi B. from California: "To make the soup not so...so...impossible to eat three times a day; try making the first batch with red onions, red cabbage and red bell peppers, leave it chunky like a minestrone. The second batch make with yellow onions, green cabbage & green bells (I left out the tomatoes in second batch) and pureé it. The taste and texture change makes it so much more palatable. Also, on the skim milk day; add non fat plain yogurt to the soup as one of glasses of milk...tastes wonderful!!! Hey! I lost 10 lbs. in 7 days, I feel great! I can't imagine it not being healthy for you, keep the foods fresh and be creative when you cook." Or how about chef Karen Larkin who makes soups from scratch every morning at her McKinleyville, California, café: "I love this diet! It really works! I add a few different herbs and spices to each batch to give it an international twist. For example, I add chopped cilantro, a little chili powder, and cumin to give it a Southwestern flavor; some oregano, basil, and fresh garlic for an Italian taste; a little curry powder mixed into the cooking soup and chopped fresh mint leaves for garnish on top when serving to give it a unique Moroccan flavor; shrimp or fish boullion, a little soy sauce, and some fresh bean sprouts, minus the tomatoes for an exotic Oriental sensation; chanterelle mushrooms and a pinch of thyme and rosemary minus the tomatoes for a wonderful French taste. All very yummy!"
Jane B. from High Point, North Carolina, says "The version of this that I got had no carrots, green beans, herbs or vinegar. It did have boullion added and the daily instructions were the same. It was called the American Heart Association diet. I was told if you lost less than 17 lbs. in one week you could stay on it. Lost 10 lbs the first week, 7 lbs the second. I've been following it casually since then and have lost a total of 35 lbs so far and feel great - all within about a month and a half time frame."
Natalie from Nixa, Missouri, says: I haved used this soup many times, and lose about 10 pounds each week! My family likes it too, so I add ground beef or diced Chicken to it and we have a meal! It is a great way to clean out your system and make you feel great, if followed correctly! I use it for a week, off a week, on a week, and off a week, and usually can keep the weight off for a year or 2, if I am careful! Just be sure to take your vitamins, and eat all the stuff it calls for...
Alister Moffit says: Everyone told me I would be listless and low on energy, when in actual fact I felt like all the toxins were being washed out of my system and I was full of energy and alert, I kept riding my bike to work and back every day for 25 km round trip while on the diet and lost 3 kg. I also kept taking Lecithin to clear out cholestrol.
Or how about Sherrie Blount's variation from Oakland, California: "Use the original cabbage soup diet recipe for all three meals. Add brown rice,one fry egg to your soup. (EAT IT LIKE IT IS STEW) Do not add any other foods etc. Drink 8 glasses of water, no tea or juice. This really works."
Laurie W. from Berks, UK, says: "You cannot fail to lose weight on this diet (as long as you don't cheat!). I lost 8lbs the first time, then on my second go 5 weeks later, I lost another 7lbs! Providing you don't stuff yourself silly on the first day off the diet, then eat sensibly, there is no reason why you should put the weight back on! Good luck."
Lenia Kallis from Nicosia, Cyprus, says: "You may omit the peppers mushrooms also-you may use them otherwise-and use fewer onions to make a lighter soup. Also cutting the cabbage into big chunks makes you feel fuller as you are eating something solid. Also you may add one tablespoon of non fat grinded hard cheese on top of every plateful just before consumption, for variation. And yes it tastes great and you still lose the weight.I also agree that yogurt makes it much better in taste. On the fruit day I make a nice big fruit salad with a little orange juice and consume it the whole day. On the vegetable day I saute the vegetables in a non stick pan and add a little soya sauce to fool myself I am eating chinese. I use light margarine for the baked potato.On the banana and milk day I make nice banana milk shakes in a shaker and add a little sweetener if the bananas are not sweet enough.On the beef day I eat a little mustard with the steaks or make a sauce with mustard and mushrooms too since I do not use them in the soup. Yes I too lost 9 pounds on it. And it is not that difficult either with the above recommendations. It is imperative that you have one multivitamin a day , plus one water soluble vitamin C whenever you feel light headed.It really helps the energy levels. All the above make the diet easier to follow and the results are drastic. It motivates me also to go on a better and more nutritional diet the week after. I feel that it is good for me as I do not consume any meats for the first 4 days of the diet. Good luck to all."

Be Sweet and Stay Sweet!