Admit it you want to lose weight. Fast. But unfortunately, losing weight is not as easy as ABC. It would take years, tremendous amount of effort, and sacrifice. There are various commercial diet plans, supplements and weight loss products that are available in the market and you can even browse the internet if you opt for do it yourself diet tips. All of these may or may not be effective for you and you should consider your budget and lifestyle as well.
Cabbage Soup Diet
One of the conventional, inexpensive and proven ways to lose weight is called the Cabbage Soup Diet or known as the GM (General Motors) Diet. This is a low fat, high fiber diet that is designed to make you lose 10 pounds in one week without requiring exercise and surprisingly, eating unlimited quantities of certain fruits and vegetables along with the cabbage soup. Furthermore, this diet is known to help in increasing the body’s metabolism, help shed fat fast and commonly prescribed to obese patients.
Cabbage is very healthy because it contains fiber and has immense amount of antioxidants content that can make you lose weight faster, make your skin glow and therefore, making you feel good about yourself. It is true that it can be quite boring to eat just plain cabbage and water for 7 days so you can mix and match flavors to make each meal interesting. You don’t have to worry about losing less with the additional flavors because it doesn’t affect the outcome as much.
Normally, when you are on a diet you have to be contented with eating bland foods with just salt or pepper because of the common notion that extra salt and pepper or other flavorings can make you feel bloated and can cause water retention. Also, you have to control yourself to limited quantities which can be very hard and can make you feel light headed and tired forcing you to go back to your previous eating habits. With Cabbage soup diet, you are not restricted to just cabbage and water but you can be creative in preparing this food therefore making it more fun and pleasant to consume that you feel like you are not really on a diet at all. Because of the variation of taste and flavors, you are less likely to undergo hunger pains during the process.
Make Your Diet Fun
Unlike crash diets where in you have to starve yourself just to lose weight, this diet can be fun for you. You can eat to your heart’s content and still shed weight. It only takes 10 to 25 minutes to prepare and you don’t have to be a cooking expert to make this diet a success. You just have to have your cooking pot, the right ingredients (which are very cheap by the way) and enjoy your journey to losing weight.
Here are some tips that can help your Cabbage Soup Diet far from boring:
- You can eat your cabbage soup with rye bread, plain crackers and a cup of brown rice.
- Experiment adding a variety of vegetables to cabbage for that to have that playful flavor and different colors of the vegetables can add to the palatability of your soup such as:
- Onions
- Celery
- Carrots
- Tomatoes
- Garlic
- Mushrooms
- Beans
- Coriander leaves
- Basil
- Oregano
- Broccoli
- Red or green peppers
- Lemon juice
- Parsley
- Cucumber
- Mustard
- Dill
- Spinach
- Zucchini
- Leeks
- Water cress
- Flavorings and seasonings can also pop up the taste of your soup.
You can use the following:
- Beef or chicken broth
- Mixed herbs
- Cumin
- Turmeric
- Curry powder
- Cayenne powder
- Soy sauce
- Bouillon cubes
- You can cook separate sets per day that are composed of different ingredients aside from the cabbage.
Sample Recipe for Cabbage Soup
What you need:
- ¼ cabbage, chopped into small pieces
- ½ onion
- 1 rib celery
- 1 head broccoli, chopped
- ½ carrot, sliced
- 2 small red tomatoes
- 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
- 2 mushrooms, sliced
- Handful of green beans, sliced
- Coriander leaves
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- Water
- Olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 bouillon cube
How to prepare your cabbage soup:
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan.
- Put the garlic and onion, fry until golden brown.
- Put the tomatoes and stir-fry until the juice of the tomatoes comes out.
- Put the cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, bell peppers, celery, broccoli, beans and coriander leaves and stir-fry.
- Put 1-½ cups of water or just enough to immerse the vegetables.
- Put in the bouillon cube and mix.
- Put on the lid and to boil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour in a bowl and enjoy your Cabbage Soup! You can add lemon juice for that extra flavor. Serve hot. Remember, you can mix and match the ingredients for that delectable taste that suits you!
This may seem very exciting and quite easy compared to other diets but it does not replace the fact that it would take a lot of determination and an ample amount of self-control to complete the Cabbage Soup Diet. Take note that it is advised by experts that you should do this diet for 7 days only and if you want to repeat it for better results, allow a one-week gap before starting again. And of course, make sure you follow the diet plan and not cheat on eating junk foods or flavored drinks for you to get amazing results in just a week. And oh! Don’t forget to drink lots and lots of water!
