The Cabbage Soup Diet is actually good for you.  

Hard to believe, but true!  Many people are skeptical of The Cabbage Soup Diet.  You may be one of them. But I promise, it's healthy and it works.

I want to emphasize that the goal of the 90 Day Renewal, as set forth in my best-selling book  Becoming the Woman I Want To Be,  is gradual dietary changes.   However, I'm including this “crash diet” for two reasons:

1. It's a great detoxification program that is wonderful to undertake prior to fasting. 
   
   When you fast with a toxic body, you experience a range of side-effects from nausea to dizziness. So if you haven't fasted in years, and you plan to do so in conjunction with the 90-Day Renewal, I think spending a week on the Cabbage Soup Diet can make a huge difference in your overall well-being.
   
   
2. I know the way women are! 
   
   We want results immediately or we tend to get discouraged and give up.  So The Cabbage Soup Diet is designed for those women who are undertaking the 90-Day Renewal primarily to lose weight–and are anxious to see results.
   
   But let me offer a word of caution: you didn't put on all those extra pounds in a week.  It's naive to expect to take the weight off–and keep it off permanently–by spending a week on the Cabbage Soup Diet. 
   
   On the bright side, by detoxifying your body, you will enable your digestive system to work more efficiently, thus helping with future weight loss efforts.

Cabbage Soup Diet

• 6 large green onions
• 2 green peppers
• 1 large head cabbage
• 1 bunch celery
• 1 or 2 cans tomatoes
• 2 containers of Wegman's low sodium organic free-range chicken broth
• Season to taste with spices, including salt, pepper, parsley, bouillon, etc.

Cut vegetables into small pieces.  In a large pot, add vegetables and soup mix,  cover with water.  Boil rapidly for ten minutes.

Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender.  (Vita-mix owners: blend & store in serving size portions)

This soup can be eaten anytime you are hungry.  Eat as much as you want, whenever you want.  The more you eat the more you will lose.

 

Day One

All fruits except bananas.  Cantaloupe and watermelon are lower in calories than most fruits.  Eat only soup and fruits.  For drinks, you may have water, unsweetened tea or cranberry juice (I recommend Trader Joe's or Knudson's)  Do NOT drink a cranberry juice cocktail.

Day Two

All vegetables.  Eat all you want!  Try to eat leafy veggies and stay away from carbohydrate-rich veggies like peas, corn, or beans.  At dinner time, you may have a baked potato with butter.  Do not eat any fruits.

Day Three

Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want.  Do not have a baked potato today!  If you have followed the diet for three days, and have not cheated, you will find you have lost 5-7 pounds.

Day Four

Bananas and skim milk.  Eat as many as three bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you want, along with the soup.  Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates and so is the milk, but on this particular day, your body will need potassium and carbohydrates, protein and calcium, to lessen your craving for sweets.

Day Five

Beef and tomatoes.  You may have 10-20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes or as many as 6 fresh tomatoes on this day.  Try to drink 6-8 glasses of water to wash away the uric acid in your body.  Eat the soup at least once today, but remember: the more you eat, the more you lose.

Day Six

Beef and veggies.  Eat to your heart's content of the beef and veggies.  You can have two or three steaks if you like, along with leafy green vegetables.  No baked potatoes (easy on carb-dense veggies)  Don't forget to eat lots of soup.

Day Seven

Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice, and vegetables.  Eat as much as you like of all the items listed today.  But be SURE it's brown rice and UNSWEETENED fruit juice!!!

Beverages:  You may drink water, unsweetened tea, black coffee, teeccino, unsweetened fruit juices, unsweetened cranberry juice and skim milk.  Your best bet is always water.

I LOVE the Cabbage Soup Diet and follow it at least twice a year.  It was recommended to me by my former neighbor, Dr. Allan Spreen, a U.S. Olympic diving coach and author of the book, Nutritionally Incorrect (Woodland Publishing), from which this is adapted.   Dr. Spreen says this diet is safe and can be repeated as often as you like, as long as you take two weeks off in between.  He says you can expect to lose anywhere from 10 to 17 pounds.

Additional Resources

You might also enjoy my Healthy Eating Plan for Busy Christian Women.