Cabbage Soup Diet..

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Replies

  • butterflylover527
    butterflylover527 Posts: 940 Member
    I gave up after 1 day cause I thought the soup was disgusting. My mom did the whole thing, lost 9 lbs, and then went back to her old eating ways. Not sure why she even did it in the first place.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    why eat nothing but cabbage soup, when you can lose weight while eating what you want (including cabbage soup if you really like it), simply by eating less than you burn off and including enough healthy foods to nourish your body properly

    see the "in place of a road map" thread, it explains how to calculate how many calories you need to eat for slow, steady fat loss without feeling deprived or damaging your health or slowing your metabolism.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    HELL YEAH!, i have done it quite a few times, it WORKS!
  • witchieboo
    witchieboo Posts: 43 Member
    I tried it once and lost weight, but when I went off it I gained all the weight back. I think cabbage soup is good along side other foods. By itself you are not getting enough of what your body needs. Fad diets work only short term but in the longer run you have to eat less and less to lose weight.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Hope you have a lot of toilet paper handy if that's all you are eating....

    Although, eating less and moving more seems like a better way to lose the weight..and it isn't something you give up and gain the pounds back :) BONUS!
  • BeccaLevine
    BeccaLevine Posts: 315 Member
    The cabbage soup diet is one of the many fad diets I have tried in the past. It left me starving. The soup is disgusting. Sure, you lose weight, water weight. But I quit after 3 days. Would never ever ever do that or any other fad diet again!

    Eating at a calorie deficit and regular exercise has been the only thing that has worked and kept the weight off! Been in maintenance over 6 months :happy:
  • I left in too much cabbage and got fat

    Me too, or maybe it was the way I supplemented it with super-sized meals from McDonalds, no it was the too much cabbage.,
  • NikkiSixGuns
    NikkiSixGuns Posts: 630 Member
    I LOVE cabbage and eat it regularly - as a side dish with lots of other foods. I would never recommend anyone eat just cabbage soup to lose weight.

    The whole reason the cabbage soup diet (along with the Special K diet, grapefruit diet, and other gimmicky diets) work in the temporary is that they give you a very large calorie deficit along with some weight loss from water weight. That combination will give you quick results, but they won't last. They're not what many on this forum would consider "real" weight loss. That's because water weight returns quickly, and weight dropped rapidly from eating a very restricted diet is easily regained when you start eating the way you used to.

    I'd recommend you take the basic principle behind the diet (calorie deficit - burn more than you consume) and apply it in a reasonable way. Learn your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) and subtract 10-20% from that to figure out what you should be eating every day to lose weight. That method will give you sustainable results.

    Good luck!
  • Although this may not be the healthiest alternative to eating healthy and exercising, the reality is it won't kill you, and if done properly you aren't lacking that much except maybe protein for the first 4 days, and vegetarians go their whole lives without meat. SO I am on day 6 of the cabbage soup diet and I am down 6 lbs. I started this diet not false hoping for long term effects, but short ones are fine because I am going to Mexico in 10 days and would like to fit into old bathing suites. I also have had small cheats along the way (ex: 1 tbsp of raspberry vinaigrette with my salads on days 2 and 6, spices on my chicken for day 5, and added probably more chicken broth to my soup then I should.) Even so, a pound a day is pretty good and I will take it! On top of the weight loss, my favourite result is that this diet has put my cravings in check. I have now learned to only eat when hungry(as I am a HUGE in between snacker, usually unhealthy) also I find I am rarely hungry anymore. My advice is to go for it! and GOOD LUCK :)
  • arrseegee
    arrseegee Posts: 575 Member
    There's only one thing I hate more than fad diets.

    And that's cabbage.

    This just seems like the WORST idea in the world.

    Isn't this the point of it? It's so revolting and boring you lose weight because you simply can't consume enough of it to stop losing weight.

    OP, just eat at a deficit. No cabbage required, and it actually works.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
    Has anyone tried the cabbage soup diet that can comment on success rates??

    Can you define success?
  • amyadell
    amyadell Posts: 46 Member
    I followed it and had great results! Day two sucked... But then you get the potato and all is well again! ;D Fruit days are satisfying because of the natural sugar... Bananas are fun, and I made a DELICIOUS banana shake with a spoon of unsweetened cocoa in it... Then you start eating meats again and feel like a normal person... I didnt actually weigh myself but holy cow! I was SUPER impressed with the results!!!! Pants I could barely squeeze into, slipped up and zippered with ease... WITHOUT a muffin top!!! :D
  • amyadell
    amyadell Posts: 46 Member
    Try this version... I am eating it right now and LOVING IT!!! (Yes... It actually tastes good, unlike many other of the recipes!!!)I made a curry version, but easier to follow than the one listed here. I put my 5cups of low sodium chicken broth to boil, then added the cabbage right away (I find the cabbage is always under cooked otherwise). I then added 5 quartered small yellow onions, and four carrots shredded. Next, throw in a 15oz can of diced tomato and a cup of tomato sauce, about 6 tablespoons of wet minced garlic (no, it isnt overly garlic tasting in the big pot of soup). Lastly, I stirred in 2tablespoons of curry powder and placed 2 cinnamon sticks... Simmer away until you are happy with the veggies. I let it go almost an hour... The smell in the house is AMAZING!!!!!
  • RhonndaJ
    RhonndaJ Posts: 1,615 Member
    I'm surprised this diet is still around. I can remember this one back to the 70s.
  • Sarah4fitness
    Sarah4fitness Posts: 437 Member
    Everyone's looking for an easy "fix." There isn't one. For some reason, the one piece of advice people seem most loathe to hear over, and over, is "Eat in a caloric deficit, and exercise more." I know it may seem that eating less and exercising more is a long path to a goal, but it's the only one you need.

    Eating fad diets is a great way to establish disordered eating, negative relationships with food, and a cyclical loss/gain that will mess with your body, your mind, and your perceptions. Why not just cut out the fads, the cycle, and the hype, and do what is scientifically proven to be effective for the long-term?
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    A brothy veggie soup is a great start to a meal but you won't get the nutrients you need with such a limited diet. In weeks that I make a big pot of soup and eat it for lunch I do tend to lose weight. It keeps me full and if you make your own you control the sodium.

    This!^

    It's a side dish..............tha contains almost no protein and no fat.............it just gives you lots of fiber & sodium (depending on your recipe). You can get lots of fiber from other foods too....personally I like a salad (with dressing) & soup with protein for lunch.

    No magic here..........you just reduce your calories overall by following this "limited" foods approach.
  • skeo
    skeo Posts: 471 Member
    I tried the cabbage soup diet a few years, manage to stick it out for 7 days. I lost 10lbs, BUT as soon as I went back to eating "normal" food, I gained 15lbs back. I was miserable, gassy as hell, *****y to my husband, and just always in a bad mood because I was hungry for something else.
    I also did the lemon/cayenne pepper drink diet thing, I tried that, lost 15lbs and then started eating again, and gained quickly and got stretch marks from the fat gain. Then I quickly learned, there is NO quick way to do this, eat a little less, move alittle more, and succeed.
  • DonaldChadDavis
    DonaldChadDavis Posts: 89 Member
    I did this for 5 days and lost 6 lbs :)

    Went back to eating 1200 cals a day and kept it off x
    [ETA: ^ this reply scares me]

    As far as the cabbage soup diet, I enjoy it with a side of green beans, a good slice of roast beef or two, and a roll. Mmm That's a good dinner. Oh, yeah, add a sweet potato and a salad, too.

    As an alternative you can use your raw cabbage as a lettuce replacement in your sammich; it's a different texture but fun to try. My grandfather grows cabbage and uses it this way.

    As far as gas, I'm a little boy at heart so it's bonus but I don't usually get gas from cabbage... then again I've never had the notion to eat only cabbage as a diet.
  • 12adrianna
    12adrianna Posts: 1 Member
    I am on day 4...and it sucks...just the tought of eating cabbage soup, bananas, and drinking skim milk today is discouraging me. I spiced the soup up a little by adding curry powder. If I don't lose a few pounds I will never subject myself to this torture again.
  • stacyjh1979
    stacyjh1979 Posts: 188 Member
    If you want a boring eating plan and tons of gas - go for it.

    Ha! :)
  • Has anyone tried the cabbage soup diet that can comment on success rates??

    I tried to to transition from all the junk food to eating a more clean calorie deficit diet and only did it for a week no more. It worked as a good cleanse however unless you really like cabbage I wouldn't even do it lol Sure I lost some weight but when I was able to eat again it seemed to come back and I felt pretty crabby while on it as well as my husband banning me from ever doing it again lol
  • AskTracyAnnK28
    AskTracyAnnK28 Posts: 2,817 Member
    I'm surprised this diet is still around. I can remember this one back to the 70s.

    It made a comeback in the 90's. I remember my cousin doing it. I couldn't be in a car with her because she farted so much. She lost 8 pounds and gained it all back when she started eating regular food again.
  • tremroy1
    tremroy1 Posts: 90 Member
    Tried it ....lost 5 lbs in one week.......havent touched cabbage since......2 years ago
  • does the soup have meat and potatoes in it? is the cabbage a garnish? so many questions left unanswered...

    NO meat and not potatoes only vegetables no starchy vegetables at that . Well at least the most common cabbage diet there is.
  • HerbertNenenger
    HerbertNenenger Posts: 453 Member
    My mom tried it for a while, made me gag everytime I had to smell the soup (cabbage is blechy!!). She couldn't stick with it for the whole time, partly because she got tired of eating the soup and partly because I kept telling her it was NOT healthy to put your body through it.

    For me, I prefer eating foods I actually like in proportions that are much smaller than I have in the past and making my body move more. And for long term weight loss and to keep it off I know that will work much better than cabbage.:wink:

    "cabbage is blechy". On behalf of all the Polish people in this world, I raspberry you.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Seems like a good way to reach your long term goals

    ^ This.

    We'll be here waiting when you come back after you've started eating real food again and regained all the weight.

    Edit: Just maintain a calorie deficit. I swear it works.

    This^

    There's no magic in the Dolly Parton diet, Cabbage Soup diet, 7 Day Cleanse......whatever they are calling it now days.

    This diet has been around for DECADES......if it were magic.....wouldn't we all be thin already?
  • MKEgal
    MKEgal Posts: 3,250 Member
    I am on day 4... and it sucks... just the tought of eating cabbage soup, bananas, and drinking skim milk today is discouraging me. I spiced the soup up a little by adding curry powder. If I don't lose a few pounds I will never subject myself to this torture again.
    So why are you doing it now?
    Why aren't you making lasting changes in how you eat?
    Don't diet, don't make a temporary change, because when you go back to eating normal foods you'll regain the weight you've temporarily lost.
    Eat less of foods you like, move more to burn more calories. Keep it up for a lifetime.
    It really is that simple.
  • Shimmysista
    Shimmysista Posts: 75 Member
    Everyone used to do the cabbage soup diet in the 70's. Its more or less just a standard liquid diet no different my mother used to swear by it. Im guessing the big weight loss is lack of solid food matter in the bowels and flushing the system of stored water? My mother never really lost weight on it. Soon as she went back to eating after 5 days of the cabbage soup everything went right back. (Not to mention boy did it make her stinky lol)
  • No. If you want to eat some soup before your meal to eat less overall I think that's fine, but no to just the soup. Eat at a calorie deficit and you'll be just fine. :)
  • Chrizzle21
    Chrizzle21 Posts: 95 Member
    I love soup and cabbage. I think it is very easy to be mesmerized by the idea of a quick loss and I have fallen for this as well (hello, atkins induction); however I cannot seem to wrap my head around the idea that limiting your diet so much is going to make a lasting, positive, impact on your health and weight loss journey.