Cabbage Soup Diet. What your experience? Thoughts?

Well, you've got to admit he has a point. Why bother to justify a diet that you know is unsustainable? It's like arguing just to argue.

It's not a sustainable diet. It's not good for long-term healthy and sustainable weight loss. So, what's the point in doing it at all?

I'd go as far as to say it IS unhealthy. It's not always about the ingredients in the soup or the fact that you can eat some additional foods. It's unhealthy because it promises unsustainable levels of weight loss. Inevitably, the OP will gain the weight back. Then she will do the diet again. Then she will gain it back. That kind of yo-yoing is terrible for your physical and mental health.

No, I don't have to admit he has a point. He is being ridiculous. And I'm not justifying any diet.

What a diet promises can't make it unhealthy. Causing health problems makes it unhealthy. How's that for semantics? When I say "healthy" I'm talking about "health".

First of all, I realize you make it a point every day to come on here and argue with people over semantics and whole lot of other crap. That's cool. Whatever makes you happy.

I was actually very reasonable in my response to you.

Rather than arguing over semantics and, obviously, subjective definitions of "healthy," I'm into giving advice that promotes a long-term, sustainable approach to weight loss. A fad diet that lures people in on the premise that they will lose a lot of weight in a short period of time is unhealthy to me for the reasons I explained above, which are all very logical.

Actually, you were more rude and insulting than reasonable in your replies. I just don't happen to believe that "healthy" is an opinion, or something that is based on what you think might happen later. I was discussing this 7 day diet. It's unlikely that a person of normal health would become unhealthy after doing it.

And I also provided advice on what I believe is a sustainable way to lose weight.

But you're missing the big picture. I've read all of your replies and what you're confusing is the other posters aren't saying this 7 day will kill you but rather that it's a waste of a week that could go to doing what in the end really needs to be done. She isn't going to die or anything, but she isn't going to lose real weight so why even bother? Why not just do what needs to be done and have those 7 days under her belt instead of wasting it on a pointless, short term gut-busting diet? Because unlike one poster, I have yet to meet a single person who ate cabbage in massive quantities and didn't have issues. What everyone is saying is not to waste that week -- not that it in and of itself is bad, just that it's a WASTE and not REAL and not EFFECTIVE and not LONG TERM.

I don't feel it's up to me to decide what is a waste of time for the OP. I posted that I knew several people that did it and didn't lose much weight, and that none of them sustained the little they did lose. I posted the method that I thought was best for sustainable weight loss (which does not include this diet). I don't feel the need to post things I don't believe to be true, like this diet causing health problems.

*sigh* I'm not saying, and I don't believe the other posters were saying, it would cause 'health problems'. More that it is a waste of time when she could skip the fad diet and go into the real plan and do it the healthy way from the get-go. That's what I got from it. It may not be a 'waste of time' because she will learn from it that it isn't permanent, but from the stand-point of weight loss (which, btw, this forum is about weight loss and healthy habits to include diet and exercise), it's a waste of time because it isn't real and doesn't lead into real changes that last. If you're saying that she can try it just to figure out that it won't work, then move on to something else, then just say that. But the reality is she's wasting a perfectly good 7 day period where she could be losing real weight instead of wasting it on 7days of a fad.

I'm not sure what response you want from me, and I assume you want something since you keep quoting me. I understand what you are saying. I understood it the first time you said it. I just don't feel the same. I don't feel it's up to me to tell the OP what to do or what she should consider a waste of time.

She asked for experiences. I told her of my second hand experiences.
She later asked for a good diet. I replied with what I believed to be a good diet.

6ish monthes ago, i was eating low calorie diet. (1300 calories) and worked out hard every single day for 2 monthes. i lost 5 pounds that whole time. I saw no improvements in my body.

5 lb in 2 months sounds like a pretty good and sustainable loss.

The arguments in this thread are just getting silly and annoying.

This is to be expected when certain elements are in play.

"elements"

*high five*

What 's even in cabbage soup? Other than the obvious lol.

Everyone is different. It isn't a very expensive risk if you don't make it through. I did the GM diet with cabbage soup and made it 2.5 days. I think fasting is easier than eating all that stuff (for me anyways).

Agree 100 %

I'd want to add some beef broth and beets, and make it borscht, which is delicious.

Firstly, this ^^ sounds great. : ) I think I will actually make something like it - thanks for the suggestion.

And secondly, I like soups and cabbage and cabbage soup and soup with cabbage in it. But not as the mainstay of my diet. There are so many good foods and not enough days to eat them all as it is. lol

Honestly, I would consider it a very nice meal or addition to a meal on occasion, but I personally don't want to fool with anything that is extremely limiting, boring, unsustainable, and actually not even good for me in spite of the level of torment.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that you would be better off spending this time finding other foods that you really like and learning what long-term solutions will work for you, including eating a healthy amount of calories and losing actual fat instead of just "weight."

I do hope everything goes well for you, but I can't say that I think this is going to be the answer....or be the least bit enjoyable after the first couple of bowls.


ETA: This is from WebMD:

The Cabbage Soup Diet is a strict list of what to eat each day for a week. Of course, cabbage soup is the main item. A few other low-calorie foods are also on the list.

You're only supposed to do a week at a time. Still, because the menu is so limited, you may get bored. And because you won't make any lasting changes in your eating habits, you may go right back to your old habits afterward.

The Cabbage Soup Diet: What You Can Eat

The seven-day Cabbage Soup Diet plan includes two daily bowls of fat-free cabbage soup and a short list of fruit, vegetables, skim milk, and meat. The plan encourages drinking plenty of water and avoiding alcohol.


The cabbage soup recipe varies slightly among different versions of the diet. But it basically includes cabbage and assorted low-calorie vegetables such as onions and tomatoes, and is flavored with onion soup mix, bouillon, and tomato juice.

The Cabbage Soup Diet: How It Works

The Cabbage Soup Diet has so few calories that people will lose weight rapidly on the week-long plan. There is nothing magical about cabbage or cabbage soup that fosters weight loss. It's the low-calorie nature of the diet plan that does the trick.

The problem is that most of the weight lost comes from fluids, not fat, and you'll get it back when you start eating normally.

There are two other big issues: boredom and not enough nutrition.

First, boredom: Are you OK with eating virtually the same foods every day for a week?

More importantly, the calories on the plan are dangerously low (approximately 800-1,050) calories per day. Experts agree that any diet under 1,200 calories per day is unsafe unless you're under a doctor's care. It's almost impossible to get all the nutrients you need and satisfy hunger in so few calories. A bottomless bowl of cabbage soup, along with a restricted list of allowed foods, doesn't give your body the nourishment you need each day.

Expert Advice

"It is a monotonous, short-term fix, severely lacking in nutrients, which will result in a weight loss that is primarily water and not the essential fat loss that is so important to improving health," says Connie Diekman, MEd, RD, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis.

Diekman worries that diets like the Cabbage Soup Diet keep people in the "yoyo" cycle of losing and regaining weight.

As a registered dietitian, she urges dieters to find another plan that is balanced, varied, and includes regular physical activity. The only positive aspect of the Cabbage Soup Diet plan is that it may get people to eat more vegetables, Diekman says.

I actually enjoy cabbage soup ...once a month. Every day and it's too much. As other said, eat healthy and track your calls.

Now you have me thinking of stuffed cabbage rolls.

Hey there. I just got done with a week of cabbage soup diet. I stuck to it 100%, I was so proud of myself and honestly, it wasn't so bad after all, I varied the soups a lot and I still thought it was yummy. I'm not a person that needs a lot of change I guess. But what happened to me is that the first three days I lost 2 pounds each day, then the next day it was 1 pound, the next day it stagnated, and the next day it even went up a pound! My last weigh in stayed the same, so my weight is pretty much where it was after day 3... Now that made me a little upset, hoe can I gain weight by only eating cabbage soup and a small chicken breast ot brown rice?! Anyways, I am going home with a 6 pound loss in a week which is good but if I'd ever do it again I think I'd just do it like a three-day-cleanse. We'll see if I'll gain it right back, I am planning on eating healthy and about 1200 cal a day.

NikkiL0v3L1f3 wrote: »

Im bad at thinking of low calorie foods, lol.

Reading labels helps. Try that for a while.