... If you now want to continue to read about my unfortunate and regrettable experience with the infamous ‘Cabbage Soup Diet’, then please feel free to read on.
Approximately three years ago I decided to experiment with my own version of the Cabbage Soup Diet. We were fast approaching a family ... Read review
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A review by mightymuffin on Cabbage Soup Diet June 3rd, 2007
Author's product rating:
Taste
OK
Effectiveness
Poor
Price level
Very low
Advantages:
None
Disadvantages:
Bloating, wind, pain, IBS, possible loss of friends
Recommend to potential buyers:
no
Full review
Perhaps I should begin this review with a ‘warning’ that it may perhaps, at times contain references to bodily functions, which some readers may find disturbing. If you now want to continue to read about my unfortunate and regrettable experience with the infamous ‘Cabbage Soup Diet’, then please feel free to read on.
Approximately three years ago I decided to experiment with my own version of the Cabbage Soup Diet. We were fast approaching a family holiday to Orlando, Florida and with only five weeks to go, I’d had no success in shifting the excess weight I felt I needed to lose in order to look and feel good during my two glorious weeks in the States. I only needed to lose about five to seven pounds, and I’d read on numerous occasions in magazines and heard from friends who’d successfully used this diet and gone on to lose a lot of weight very quickly. So, in my ignorance (and desperation) I decided to give it a go – nothing ventured, nothing gained, I figured.
I checked on the Internet exactly what the diet consists of and how I was meant to approach it. I’d read various testimonies, some good, some not so good and some absolutely terrible accounts of the side-effects of this ‘miracle diet’, but in my ultimate wisdom, I resolved that I’d be fine and my experience would be a positive one! How wrong I was!!
I set to work buying the ingredients for the week ahead. It’s recommended that you should not stay on this diet for any longer than one week but that within that week I could be guaranteed to lose between five to seven pounds – sounded perfect. Off I trundled to the supermarket to buy my provisions. The basic recipe for the soup is very straightforward, as it consists primarily of cabbage and not a lot else. I bought all organic ingredients, believing this would be healthier and more beneficial for my system and body overall. There are many variations in the basic recipe for the soup, and I decided to modify mine according to taste.
I cooked a whole head of cabbage, together with one onion, several litres of water, two stock cubes, two sticks of celery and a few mixed dried herbs. Once the soup had cooked for approximately thirty minutes, I used my hand blender to make it into a more pleasant consistency to taste. Upon first tasting the soup, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It certainly wasn’t as bland as I’d been lead to believe. On the contrary, I found it rather tasty and even went back for seconds.
There is a misconception amongst some folk that a person who’s on this diet is ONLY allowed to eat cabbage soup and nothing else. I’d like to set the record straight here and say that this isn’t actually true. During day one, I was allowed to eat as much soup as I liked, including all the fruit I desired (but no bananas for some reason). As I’m not overly fond of bananas anyway, this didn’t particularly bother me. I also had to consume as much water as I was physically able to manage.
Day two I could eat no fruit, but could eat as much cooked or raw vegetables as I liked along with as much cabbage soup as I desired, always remembering to drink, drink, drink as much water as possible. This evening I was also allowed the treat of having a baked potato (with butter)! By the time I was at day three I wasn’t feeling too good. I woke with a headache that just wouldn’t budge and my tummy felt bloated and uncomfortable. The prospect of being able to eat a combination of unlimited fruit, vegetables AND more cabbage soup didn’t do much to lift my spirits either.
By day three it was Monday and I was back at work. It was fairly tricky as I suddenly realised the evening before that I had no thermos flask so wouldn’t be able to take my soup with me into work. I figured I’d just eat fruit during the day and have more soup and vegetables once I got back home from work – remembering to buy a flask on the way home for the following day!
Day four arrived and my ‘instructions’ told me I was allowed to eat as many bananas as I liked to today, along with as much skimmed milk as I wanted – apparently eating this combination is supposed to lessen my desire for sweet food. As I stated previously, I’m not a fan of bananas and don’t drink milk either so just stuck to the soup all day. By mid morning I was having problems – real problems. My tummy was swollen beyond belief. My trousers looked stretched around the midriff and I have to say that from stepping out of bed that morning, the desire to pass wind for the duration of the day never once left me.
It was fine in the privacy of my own home and on the journey to work in the car, but I was panicking that once at work I would be unable to stop. I was feeling weak, giddy and I had an extremely short temper. I wasn’t going to stop though. I figured that I’d got this far and with only three more days to go, I’d be mad to give up at this stage. I had several meetings at work that day, during which time, the urge to fart was unbearable. I had to keep on making excuses to use the loo just so I could get some relief. My stomach also seemed to be going into what I can only describe as tight spasms. By the end of the day I was feeling the urge to open my bowels (at work), which is unheard of for me – and I had to use the staff toilets on two occasions even before lunchtime had arrived. I had an early night that night and hoped I might feel better the following morning.
During the night I was in agony as my tummy continued to spasm and again I needed the toilet on several occasions during the course of the night. By day five, I felt a little better on waking but fairly groggy and light-headed – almost as though I had a hangover. My husband by this stage was nagging at me to give it up, saying that he was tired of my constant moaning and my daughter objected to the hideous smells I was emitting all over the house. However, as today I was allowed to have a little chicken or beef added to my menu, I felt somewhat invigorated. Once again, though I was having problems at work in trying to cover up the nasty smells, although most of my colleagues were sympathetic. Fortunately, I have a job which allows me to leave the office for long periods of time during the day. For me this was pure bliss, as I could parp to my heart’s content in the privacy of my car.
Day six was a bad day for me. I was allowed to consume both beef and vegetables today along with as much soup as I could manage. To be honest, I was so full on this diet from the soup that I rarely could eat the small amounts of protein that were allowed. My tummy was swollen to the size of a football and I felt absolutely dreadful. I remember day six ended in an argument with my husband shouting at me that I was making myself ill but couldn’t see it for myself. For this reason, and the fact that I felt absolutely terrible, I never actually reached day seven. I was in pain, felt bloated beyond belief, was irritable, bad tempered, giddy, light-headed and terribly weak. I would have killed for a glass of wine and just wanted to curl up in bed and die. The only (slight) consolation was that I’d lost four (almost five) pounds in weight.
Approximately two weeks after having finished the Cabbage Soup Diet, al the weight I’d lost had gone back on (plus one more pound) and worryingly, I was still having problems with my bowels. I’d thought that it was just my system getting used to being back on ‘proper food’ again. But once I started to get into week three after the diet had ended, and I was still experiencing spasms, bloating and wind, I decided enough was enough and I paid a visit to my GP.
My doctor asked me if I’d experienced any stressful situations recently, what other symptoms I was having and if I’d been dieting. I mentioned to him the fact that I’d been on the Cabbage Soup Diet and he was appalled when I explained to him what the diet had consisted of and how I’d felt whilst I was on it. He told me that the diet had probably caused a ‘disturbance in my gut’ and that I was now experiencing irritable bowel Syndrome (IBS). He prescribed me Fybogel and peppermint oil capsules and told me to take it easy for a little while and eat only bland food – nothing spicy.
I followed his advice to the letter, but unfortunately my condition didn’t improve. I continued to spend the following two weeks in pure agony, with stomach cramps, pain, bloating and the urgent need to open my bowels sometimes as much as eight to ten times per day. I had to take a fair amount of time off work, as it just wasn’t possible to be able to work properly when I had to rush off to the toilet so many times throughout the working day.
I returned to my doctor a few weeks later and he agreed to send me to a consultant at our local hospital for a ‘flexible sigmoidoscopy’. (This is an internal examination of the lower bowel via a camera inserted into the rectum, on the end of a flexible tube). Not a pleasant procedure, I can assure you, and not one I would like to repeat in a hurry, however, the results did clarify that there was nothing ‘untoward’ up there, and that my symptoms were typical of ‘simple IBS’. My holiday to Florida was spoilt as a result of my Cabbage Soup experience as I was in pain most days and felt it difficult to relax and properly enjoy myself.
Over time, however, my unpleasant symptoms did finally clear up of their own accord, but my GP made it very clear that it was highly likely that they were induced by my silly attempts to lose weight quickly, on what he termed as a “stupid and dangerous diet”.
I would urge anyone to think very carefully if you are considering embarking on this diet. I would also urge you to consult with your GP beforehand, make sure you are on leave from work and other commitments for the duration of the diet (for obvious reasons), and that ultimately to remember that the best and most effective way in which to lose weight (and keep it off) is to eat sensibly and exercise.
Advantages: Great way to loose weight Disadvantages: Hard to resist temptations from the normal world of food
...great big plate of the cabbage soup remembering the slogan, 'the more you eat the more you burn'. Also i exercised my way into shape, as they say, simply because whenever i exercise, i always tend to feel more toned up....strange i know. The first day went well and i didn't cheat...in fact to put everyone out of their misery i didn't cheat at all...therefore got my dad back...and the big bonus is i didn't moan throughout....ha ha dad!!
Well the ... ...someone eat something delicious that i really wanted a munch of....i would quickly warm my soup and grab a fruit, cut it into pieces and decorate it on a plate with gorgeous pattern...and sit down and eat it thinking i was eating what i crave for. It obviously didn't kill my craving but it did make me full which is good because 'the more you eat, the more you burn'...fantastic.
Throughout the whole diet i enjoyed the soup the best, surprisingly ...
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Advantages: None avoid it Disadvantages: None avoid it
...and was intrigued by this cabbage soup diet that is very low calorie.
The soup I have the recipe for, which is enough for three portions is made from 3 onions, 1 green pepper, 1 head of celery, half a cabbage, 2 tins chopped tomatoes, 1 pack of onion soup mix and three pints of vegetable stock.
The diet claims to lose you up to 10lb in 7 days and an intake of about 800 calories daily this more or less guarantees it.
Most people are confused about ... ...well it is just the cabbage soup is allowed in unlimited quantity daily. You can eat rice one day and a baked potato another day. Bananas is also a good thing to fill you up and unlimited raw vegetables as well.
This is the regime I followed when I did it last and I wondered if this section was what the members wanted me to add? I think adding it is good as you all now know what food can be eaten along with the soup so I hope you agree it now gives ...
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Advantages: GREAT FOR SHIFTING WEIGHT Disadvantages: BLOATED TUM AND NASTY ODOURS
Having read the other cabbage soup write-ups, I thought I'd add my own, so here goes!
Cabbage Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
6 large onions 2 green peppers 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
3 Carrots 1 bunch of celery Couple of bunches of watercress (adds flavour)
A cabbage (surprise!) A couple of vegetable stock cubs.
1 can V8 juice (optional) Garlic, pepper, parsley (whatever herbs you like - chopped chillies are always good)
Optional: mushrooms (but ... ...a bit more flavour)
Other veggies can be added (for example, I know there's a lot of celery-haters out there!), but not carbohydrate ones, e.g. spuds - sorry!
Directions:
Chop onions, put in a saucepan pot and saute with a little olive oil (about a tablespoon). Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out. Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot. Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut ...
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Advantages: You lose weight easily Disadvantages: no alcohol, no chocolate
...They call it The Cabbage Soup Diet - mainly because most of the diet consists of cabbage soup, I was immediatly put off at the sound of this, I HATE CABBAGE!!! But willing to try I made the soup, suprisingly I liked it.
I trip to the supermarket was in order now. Ingredients bought and I was ready.
THE RULES OF THE DIET
Follow the diet, no alterations whatsoever.
Eat as much soup as you want, The more soup you eat, the more weight you lose
Drink ... ...No need to excercise
No Bread
THE SOUP
1/2 Cabbage
1 onion
1 green pepper
3 carrots
1 bunch of celery
1 tin of diced tomatoes
1 pack French Onion Soup
Mushrooms (optional)
2 vegetable stock cubes.
TO PREPARE First of all, make up the french onion soup. This is all the water that you will need. Then add the stock cubes.
Dice all the vegetables in small cubes and then add them, one by one to the soup.
Allow the soup to boil and then simmer ...
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Advantages: Does help you lose weight, cheap Disadvantages: wind
...Why?
The Cabbage Soup Diet.
If you want have friends, relations, or colleagues near to you, then don't even go there! This diet causes severe flatulence. No other description is needed here...imagine.
This diet is based on low calorie intake and some users have claimed huge weight losses of 12-18 pounds in a week. I'm not convinced that this is possible and I am also concerned about the safety of such rapid weight loss.
I didn't even get that ... ...for me. The soup is simple to make and there are slight variations on the theme but basically this is how I made the 'evil concoction':
Take two medium sized onions, 1 green pepper,
Half a large white cabbage,
Half a dozen sticks of celery,
Two pints of stock.
An onion soup mix.
Chop everything up and boil until cooked. Yuk!
This soup alone is not all you can eat. The soup can be used as required but you also need to stick to a calrie controlled ...
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Advantages: Learn to eat healthily, easy once you get the hang of it, good support structure Disadvantages: You will need to buy new smaller clothes
..., fruit and veg, diary products, nuts, cereals, bread, to name a few.
I'm not going to go into the ins and outs of exactly how it works, because firstly, others have done it in their reviews, and secondly, its better to go to the group and have it explained to you.
The reasons I like this system (in comparison to, Weightwatchers, cabbagesoupdiet and calorie counting which I have also tried):
You don't have to weigh and measure everything which goes in your mouth
You can eat huge quantities of food, not be hungry and lose weight consistently week on week
You get the support of your group members and consultant (I am very fortunate to have stumbled across one of the top consultants in the country, who will respond to my text messages within minutes, often by calling me back and chatting for as long as I need)
You can eat...
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Advantages: Fast results, apparently weight stays off, shakes tasty and filling Disadvantages: You may miss chewing
...LIPOTRIM IS AWESOME!
I'm in my 3rd week to now and have lost 1st 9lbs. I have 2st 7lbs to lose (you have to be 3st overweight to go on the diet so I wore virtually everything I owned and ate nothing but low fibre foods, and drank 2 litres of water before regsitering and the first weight in!)
I've tried every diet under the sun, atkins, cabbagesoup, weight watchers, slim fast, slimmers world - the WHOLE diet spectrum. I did lose weight, but some diets weren't quite strict enough and I'm a bit of an all or nothing girl.
The lipotrim female programme consists of three shakes/drinks a day. The flavours include strawberry (yum!), chocolate (yum!), vanilla (yuck!), and chicken soup (I daren't try it). The meals come as sachets of powder which you mix with water (I use a blender and add ice), and I think taste pretty good.
I don...
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Advantages: Great way to meet new people, great way to lose weight and not feel hungrey Disadvantages: can be a bit tricky to pick up to start with
...I must tell you all about a little secret I discover a litte over 2 years ago.
I had always been fairly slim as a young girl and until I reached 18 was a happily a size 10 to 12. I could eat what I wanted and generally did. That was, as I said, until I reached 18. Things started to go drastically down hill from there. I suddenly started piling on weight and it finally dawned on me that I was getting out of control when I was finding it difficult to fit into a size 18 at the age of 20. So I decided to do something about it. My whole family are of the larger size so I know it was going to be hard. I tried every diet and fad in the book with no joy. The cabbagesoupdiet (poo!), the egg and grapefruit (somebody FEED ME!) Slimmfast (yeah like f*"! are they delicious, blackboard chalk in water comes to mind!) I even tried slimming...
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Production Year: 2000 - Comedy - Director: Ian Sharp - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Pauline Collins, John Alderton, Paul Freeman, Peter Capaldi, Anna Wilson-Jones, Gwenllian Davies, Sheila Reid, Frank Mills
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