Cabbage Soup Diet

Hello, I started the Cabbage Soup Diet 3 days ago. I am riding my stationary bike 3-4 times a week for about 30 minutes at a moderate lever. Also, do exercises with my exercise ball, 5 pd weights, and exercise band 2 times a week for 30 minutes. I have been doing this for about 1 1/2 months. My question is after I started a new diet, (the Cabbage soup diet.)  I just don't feel good. I feel sick alot. Is this diet ok? I am supposed to stay on it at least a week. It was recommended to me by a friend who lost lots of weight on it 10 pounds her first week. I weigh about 160 5'5 and want to get to 130 as quick as possible. Before the Cabbage soup diet I was trying Lean Cuisine's for lunch and dinner and low carb breakfasts such as Ham & Cheese Omlettes with 4 net carbs. Any help would be appriciated.

Thanks,

amyjo

Original Post by nightstar0102:

I just don't feel good. I feel sick alot. Is this diet ok? 

Well, if you're actually feeling sick, I'd say that's a sign it's not okay.  If you're sick from other causes, eating nothing but cabbage soup certainly isn't going to make you feel better.  And neither is losing 10 pounds in one week - it was probably all water weight, and I bet your friend gained it all back.

Here's an earlier thread on it, but the short of it is that the "cabbage soup diet" is little more than a fad diet.  You're better off with Lean Cuisine's and omlettes.

Besides, it's been shown that slow weight loss is not only more healthy, but is more permanent. Eat a healthy balanced diet and exercise.  That's really all you need.

No, the Cabbage Soup diet is a fad diet and even if it helps you lose weight at first, it will just make it harder for you to lose weight in the future. Take a look at the CC site - we don't do "fast" weight loss - just successful weight loss.  There's lots of information in the starred posts at the top of the Weight Loss forum, and also look under the Advice tab at the Q&A.

I strongly suggest you start by reading The New and Improved Calorie-Count "Diet"

what works for one may not work for the other...

I personally feel a wide variety of healthy foods is better for you...cabbage soup, protein, grape fruit etc etc diets work...but once done then what?  And ask, "are you getting all the nutrients your body needs?"

Use the Calorie Counter website as your guide...look at all sections..follow your BMI and calorie limits. It will help you find your way.  With good nutrient rich foods..but low in calorie, sugar, salt and fat.

With a variety of foods you are less likely to gain the weight back after you reach your ideal weight.  Depending on how much weight you need to lose..check with your Doctor or Health care provider if you have a lot of weight to lose or have heart problems.

It is a good idea to Monitor your daily Blood pressure as well as weigh yourself.

There is lot of good things on CC..but I do not think anyone, who has lost weight using the CC diet plan,  would say,  the cabbage soup diet is any good.

It is of course your choice... 

I'm sorry, but this cabbage soup diet is a really bad idea. On a nutritional point of view, it's DISASTROUS!!!

You barely get any protein, any fat or anything from the bread group. All you eat is vegetable.

And besides, you might see some great results while you're on the diet, but I highly doubt that you're gonna eat nothing else than cabbage soup for the rest of your life. Do you have an eating plan for when you reach your goal weight?

You have to find another diet. It should't be as brutal as this one, and the results might take a little longer to come, but it's worth it. If you find a diet that you can maintain your whole life (aka a healthy lifestyle instead of a diet. That means regular exercise, portion control and a balanced alimentation), you're gonna be much happier in the end.

If you lose the weight slowly (1-2 pounds a week max), you'll keep it off! (As long as you maintain your good habits)

Yes, it's frustrating to know that you can't have 30 pounds off you body in a month, but what's a month or two more of wait compared to years of crash dieting - yo-yo weight gains and losses?

Please don't ruin your health! :(

>.<

Stop the diets, stop overloading your system with crap like sodium loaded lean cuisniens twice a day - depending on which ones you're eating, you're cosuming less than 1000 calories per day.  This is very unhealthy.  just eat normally, eat smaller portions, eat more often and count your calories.

Again, what others have said, your friend probably just lost a lot of water, and probably lean tissue too - your body will take protein from your muscles if you don't give it any to build with - ESPECIALLY if you're also working out.

If ANYTHING makes you feel sick - don't do it.  Your body talks to you, listen to it.

So I used to be a wrestler and the cabbage soup diet is one of the tricks that we used to drop weight quickly before we had to weigh in.  However, what people said before is completely correct, it is a fad diet and it is incredibly unhealthy (if wrestlers do it to lose weight it can generally be assumed to be unhealthy).  The reason that it works is that it is a starvation diet.  The cabbage soup is so low in calories that it can be pretty much thought of as zero.  Additionally, it also flushes your body because it ups your water intake an enormous ammount as well as having an abundance of fiber rich cabbage.  The healthy and best way to lose weight is the slow and steady approach.  The whole cabbage soup thing does have a place in dieting, but I use it to maintain my hunger levels so I can stick to my calorie limit.  A big bowl of soup will fill you up, but only for a bit.

Well, I did if for the week.  No adverse reactions, other than some hellacious gas!  If I get stuck on a plateau again, I might try it again.  I certainally wouldn't want or would even consider doing it for more than the week, because it isn't nutritionally balanced.  I did find out that I can not eat more than 7 bananas in one day.  I was sooooo happy to be done with it when the week was over.  It didn't provide a miracle 10 lb loss as some claim, but I've been a nutritional eater already for months, so I didn't have the water weight loss as a beginning dieter would.  Certainally made me appreciate CC a whole lot more.

Have you figured out how many calories a day are you consuming on this diet? That is what worries me, and it's not nutritionally well-rounded.

The Cabbage Soup Diet (aka the Sacred Heart Diet) is a fad diet that has been circulating for many years. The diet was supposedly thought to come from the cardiology department at Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital where it was used for overweight heart patients. However, like most of these diets - this is an urban myth and the hospital initially thought to be associated with it has denied the association and actually given a press release frowning upon the diet.

The Sacred Heart Diet has been called a number of different names (such as the Spokane Heart Diet, the Cleveland Clinic Diet, Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital Diet , Cabbage Soup Diet and the Miami Heart Institute Diet).

This diet is not recommended

• The Sacred Heart Hospital in Montreal Canada (Hôpital Sacre Coeur) issued a press release in 2004 stating that "no nutritionist at the Hospital took part in the development of this diet" (ref - French).
• The American Heart Association have claimed that the diet is phony (ref).
• The Sacred Heart Medical Center also disclaim any association with the diet (read here).

The Sacred Heart Medical Center writes:

"One of our major concerns about this diet plan is it emphasizes the consumption of fruits and vegetables while excluding the consumption of meat or fish, cereal grains and milk products on most days. Any diet that focuses on only certain food groups will be low or deficient in essential nutrients and, therefore, lead to poor nutritional status long-term.

Our experience with any low calorie diets, like this one, is that they do not lead to permanent weight loss. Once individuals start eating in a more normal pattern, the weight is regained. ...."

The Sacred Heart diet is a soup-based diet, and claims that you will lose a lot of weight in the first week. This may be true, but most of the weight will tend to be water - and will be gained right back very soon after the diet ends and you go back to your normal eating habits.

This may lead to yo-yo dieting which can add to frustration, self-esteem issues and a life of constantly going up and down with your weight with no real progress.This diet is very clearly an unsustainable fad diet.

Most of these diets claim some magical fat-burning science is involved, or that there is something special about the combination of foods. This is simply untrue - it is nothing more complex than a reduction in calories!

And if you don't believe me, here is an answer from our in-house resident nutritionist Mary Hartley from the ASK MARY section of Calorie Count:

Is the Sacred Heart Hospital diet good to do?

The Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital diet is used for overweight heart patients in order to lose weight rapidly prior to surgery.  It is a fad diet, which contains very few foods.  It will not meet your long-term nutrient requirements and it is not advised.

Calorie Count is all about sustainable weight loss, this can be done by using the Tools on this site to achieve a healthy reduction in calories leading to weightloss which can be maintained long-term without too much effort.

Also everyone should check out Lalabanana's new thread in the Health & Support forum, it's great for the New Year:

• An Unofficial Calorie Count Guide to a Fad-Free 2009

I suggest that you use the tools on this website to gather the information you need to eat healthily and normally and still lose weight.  Because I am sure you want to keep the weight off, a lifestyle change (rather than a diet) is the way to go. The only good diet is a healthy diet. Many people here, me included, have lost weight by improving our diet. Save yourself many years of trouble and lose the weight- do your research. 

There is a ton of helpful people and info on this site to help you get started on the right path.

well if you want to eat cabbage soup all day long for a month go for it, you'll lose weight if that's your ultimate goal

i on the other hand eat things like pasta, cake, pizza, stir-frys, grilled chicken, baked fish, salads, eggs, bacon, MCDONALDS, ice-cream, yogurt, sushi, bread, fruits.. the list goes on and on

and I have  lost almost 20lbs since February

it's called "The Food Diet"

honestly, what will you do if your friends want to go out for dinner, or to a picnic, or out to drinks, or out to coffee, or family get-together

'oh sorry i can only eat cabbage'?

is that what life is about?

Original Post by thin_girl:

well if you want to eat cabbage soup all day long for a month go for it, you'll lose weight if that's your ultimate goal

i on the other hand eat things like pasta, cake, pizza, stir-frys, grilled chicken, baked fish, salads, eggs, bacon, MCDONALDS, ice-cream, yogurt, sushi, bread, fruits.. the list goes on and on

and I have  lost almost 20lbs since February

it's called "The Food Diet"

 

*high five* The Food Diet is the best diet ever :D I love my ice cream, I love my bread, I love my pasta, my cakes, my pizzas, my fruits, my chicken, my vegetables!

And I've lost 35 pounds. It took me about a year, but honestly I didn't even feel like I was on a diet. And I know for sure the weight is going to stay off and keep off :)

We don't do fad diets here nor do we expect instant results. Healthy lifestyle modifications is the key to permanent weight loss

i think that if the website specifically says "you will feel light headed, unable to concentrate, and weak" that should be the number one thing that drives you away from doing it. it's obviously affecting your body negatively if you feel those things, and why would you want to do harm to your body when you're trying to be HEALTHY and lose weight?

jealous about your food diet... well for me i can eat anything i want thats what my mom says but in moderation and small portions. i briskwalk every morning for an hour. i still dont know how much weight i lost but its been three weeks and i lost 5 inches on my waist... is this a good thing?

thanks everyone for your great advise...I will check out this site...I guess my body was trying to tell me the diet was not a good one...lol...I was hoping to lose most of the weight before we go on vacation the middle of June....will the change the plan to slow and healthy dieting...

thin_girl what is  The Food Diet? I tried to google it and nothing came up...thanks...

Hey!

Please listen, DONT FOLLOW THAT DIET. A friend of mine did it last year. She lost 18lb and everyone thought she looked great yes, all the compliments etc. But 3 weeks later she gained 9lb more than what she started with. Thats 27lb. She said it was one of the worst mistakes she had done- as said above, its a fad diet. As you mentioned, it only lasts a week. So what happens long-term?

I agree with the above said: the food diet is the best

Nightstar

The Food Diet basically means that you do not restrict your foods in terms of the types of food you eat. No one food is classified as 'good' or 'bad'. You can eat any type of food you want, as long as you stay within your calorie limits.

It's really more sensible than going on fad diets like Cabbage Soup, because when you eat different types of foods, you will obtain the proper nutrition your body needs. And if once in a while you get a craving for chocolate or ice cream or cakes, you CAN eat it! But keep in mind the amount you are eating, and always try and log your foods. This way, you will feel satisfied because you aren't missing out on any types of foods that your body needs, and you will find it much easier to follow this "Food Diet" since it's something that you can practice lifelong, and therefore be able to lose weight and keep the pounds off for life.

Hi There!

The cabbage soup diet is definitely not recommended to be taken for more than 1 week at a time.

I would read a book called the "Eat Clean" diet by Tosca Reno..it's a way of eating that can be sustained and is extremely healthy.

The rule for diets generally is, if ou can't afford to stay on the diet forever (or you can't see yourself staying with the diet & same eating patterns for life) then the weight loss will never be sustained.

Lean Cuisines are a very prepared food..try making your own meals (i.e. chicken breast with rice & veggies, etc) and you are likely to see weight loss more quickly.

Diets like Dr. Bernstein, south Beach or Atkins cannot be sustained and the majority of people who do lose weight on these diets gain it all back (and more!!)

I hope this helps & doesn't sound too negative. Im just a big proponent of doing it the healthy way and learning to understand your body.

Good luck in whichever way you choose!

haha well there's really no  such thing as "the food diet".

I made it up to make a point

that you can eat any foods you want as long as you eat small portions, in moderation, and balance them with healthy foods and exercise.

there is no one magic food that you can stick to and lose weight. I mean if you went on a diet of 1200 calories a day worth of ice-cream you'd lose weight too.

you can take "the food diet" and replace the middle word with any word and it'll work if you make enough restrictions.