You carry on and hope the problem resolves itself without involving you.
But then something triggers your mind; either its a new year (that's my case), a wedding coming up (my case too) summer will be here eventually(another reason for me) and all these reasons give you the kick up your ass you need to make a change.
I did a lot of research as I didn't want to go on a crash diet but I needed something that boost me in the right direction. There was a lot of stuff on the internet!
I do not believe in crash diets, I do not believe in some pill that will make me weigh less but I can eat whatever I want, I do not believe in becoming a vegan or living on celery and carrot sticks. I believe that it takes hard work, discipline and dedication and that means a good diet and exercise...plain...simple...difficult. I LOVE FOOD TOOOOO MUCH to say AU revoir
My goal is to shed at least two kilograms on the cabbage soup diet, by doing this diet I will be able to retrain my brain on what healthy eating is all about, I hope to curb my sugar cravings. I also hope to instil discipline in my day to day and realise the consequences of what I put in my mouth. I hope this diet isn't easy so that when I get through the week I look back and I realise it was hard work but worth it and when I get that feeling it will help me maintain good eating habits. I hope to cleanse my body and give it a good new start for the new year. I then plan to add more foods to my diet following the seven days but stay away from sugars, biscuits, cake, chips, chocolate, ice cream and bread. I will also change my milk to skim milk going forward and start eating oatmeal and each morning as my breakfast.( highly recommended by dieticians and health sites) I plan to eat more simply at night; ie: soup, baked potato, salad and stay away from heavy foods that leave me bloated. I plan to cook more simply using fresh herbs and spices and stay away from sauces and condiments. Through following this way of living; I plan to shed my last kilogram and maintain my weight.
GOAL: shed 2KG
CURRENT: 59.6KG
AFTER: 58
DIET: Cabbage soup diet
TIME: 7 days
START: 7 January 2013
END: 13 January 2013
INITIAL EMOTION: frustration
END EMOTION: happy
NEED: willpower, discipline and not cheat yourself
READ MY PROGRESS OVER THE LAST FOUR DAYS AND WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED THE REST OF THE WEEK.
THE SOUP
Directions:
Slice green onions, put in a pot on medium heat and start to sauté with cooking spray. Do this until the onions are whiter/clearer in color (about 4-6 minutes).
Cut green pepper stem end off, then cut pepper in half to take out the seeds and membrane. Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.
Clean carrots, mushrooms, and celery, cut into bite size pieces and toss them in. Add tomatoes now, too.
If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now.
For seasonings, you can use a spice soup packet of your choice (no noodles!) or use beef or chicken bouillon cubes. These cubes are optional, and you can add spices you like instead (make sure not to add much salt, if any at all).
Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the 48 oz of Low Sodium V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup simmer for a long time – about 2 hours or until vegetables are tender.
DAY BEFORE DIET - PREPERATION
I am a very organized individual and in order for me to see something through, I need to feel prepared. I had already planned to go on this diet a week before and so I already had it in my mind and everyday I reminded myself about the dedication I would need.
The day before came and I did the following:
- I cleaned out the fridge of any items that would be tempting. I threw out items that I knew would not be fresh in a weeks time.
- I prepped my jars of vitamins on the kitchen counter so that I would remember to take them each morning. It is essential that you take a multi vitamin during the 7 days to make sure your body gets an extra something
- I went grocery shopping for all my ingredients and lots of bottled water
- I made a pot of soup on Sunday night and stored it in the fridge
DIET PLAN OVER 7 DAYS
Day One:
Fruit: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For drinks- unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.I drank green tea in the morning to wash down my vitamins, I would make a fresh batch of soup each night so that my ingredients were fresh and made slight alterations so that the taste wasn't the same everyday. Day one was about breaking habits, I often found myself reaching for something and then realising I wasn't allowed to eat.
Day Two:
Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today.When day one was over it was a relief, day two meant a potato, if you do this diet, you will realise how much a potato means to you. I got a big potato, scrubbed the skin and sprinkled with coarse salt (naughty but I had too) and poked it eight times before putting it in the oven at 250 degrees for 60min. the skin came out perfect and inside was flaky and soft. I poured some of my soup over the top to add flavour
Day Three:
Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato.I started day three with some green tea and a bowl of fruit in the morning. By this stage you will experience headaches, mild but constant. day three is tough as you feel like you are half way there and then you remember its seven days, your sugar tooth is gonna cry blue murder but don't give in. I saw a woman on the metro with a bag of cupcakes and I nearly became a criminal that night. By this stage you are dreaming of croissants and pastries with a good cuppa coffee. On this day I grabbed a salad for lunch as I couldn't bear to eat soup for supper and lunch. my salad wasn't exactly angelic, I added a few blocks of feta and cashew nuts because I couldn't bare a bland salad. for supper I had a big bowl of soup - incredibly filling. I also had a fruit salad to quieten down my sweet tooth to a light punishing scream.
Day Four:
Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets.today...you live the dream. you get to eat bananas...despite the fact that you kinda feel somewhat like a silly monkey for doing this all in the first place...you will also feel like a monkey and delve into those bananas as if it was your staple food. I had a banana for breakfast, soup for lunch and skim milk and two bananas for supper. My tolerance for eating more soup is diminishing. Its also difficult when you make it every night and eat it everyday, for me there is something about making your own food and eating it that can become tiresome. Today is meant to curb your sugar tooth and when I was in the stores, I looked at chocolates and didn't feel like it...I call that PROGRESS! To assist myself in actually swallowing these dietary requirements; I added cinnamon to my bananas and I heated my skim milk up and put literally a raindrop of honey and cinnamon on the top... I had to do it in order to drink it.
I had some butternut left over from last night so I added it to my soup today
Day Five:
Beef And Tomatoes: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water this day to wash the uric acid from your body. Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked chicken instead of beef (but absolutely no skin-on chicken). If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for beef on one of the beef days (but not both).Today was testing, instead of soup for lunch I had a salad and substituted the beef with salmon. The migrane I had today was intense, previous days proved to have a mild headache but today it was bad and I had to take a pain killer.
Day Six:
Beef and Vegetables: Eat to your heart’s content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.I had chamomile for breakfast , soup for lunch. Felt very light headed and so I munched on some popcorn out of sheer desperation. For dinner I had beef and veg.
Day Seven:
Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Again stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.Today I cannot bare to even look at soup, although it is the last day of the diet and it counts, I have decided to resume normal eating in moderation, breakfast will be oats, no sugar and skim milk.
SOME GOOD TIPS FOR YOU TO SEE THIS THROUGH
- PREPARE YOURSELF MENTALLY AS TO WHEN YOU WILL DO THIS DIET, IF YOU HAVE A DINNER OR DATE TO GO TO, THEN DONT DO IT THAT WEEK. THE TEMPATATION WILL BE STRONG TO ORDER WHAT YOU LIKE AND THE MENU WILL NOT BE SERVING CABBAGE SOUP...I CAN PROMISE THAT
- DRINK LOADS OF WATER, IT WILL ALSO FILL YOU
- DONT KID YOURSELF AND THINK YOU CAN TEXTBOOK DIET THIS, BY ADDING CINNAMON HERE AND THERE OR A SMIDGE OF HONEY WONT DO HARM.
- ADD VARIOUS SPICES TO THE SOUP TO ENHANCE TASTE
- CINNAMON IS A GREAT SPICE, IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY HEALTH SITES.
- KEEP A DIARY OFYOUR PROGRESS AS TO WHAT YOU HAVE EATEN AND TICK OFF WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED, THAT WAY YOU LOOK BACK AT THE DAY AND YOU CAN HONESTLY SAY YOU DID IT.
- PREPARE YOURSELF FOR A MILD TO STRONG HEADACHE.
After the diet, I maintained a no bread and no sugar restriction for a week. I only drank water and ate normally. I lost a further 1kg by doing this. I am currently maintaining healthy eating, and having small doses of sugar and restricting myself on carbs. I continue to eat three meals with no snacking.
