Cabbage Soup Diet (stop laughing!)

by Wendy, Retirement Enthusiast/Coach

7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet

This is the first time in my LIFE that I've tried a diet... and yes, I chose the Cabbage Soup Diet!

I am at my all-time high of 152 pounds, not bad for a tall gal, but I wanted to lose a few pounds before the holidays (even though it is unlikely anything is happening)!

A friend at work, Rich, used to do this once a year... lost ten pounds in seven days. I was always amazed at his discipline to stick with it!

I mean -- cabbage soup for seven days! :)

So COVID and 2020 hits -- and after seven months of being mostly indoors and eating to soothe my tired soul, I suddenly remembered good ole Rich and his diet. Googled it and found many sites about it, ok, so it is a real thing!

I told Terry that I was dieting on Cabbage Soup for five days (yeah, seven sounded like a bigger challenge) and he chose to do the same. This was BIG for us. Fun fun, something to focus on for a week!

Day 1: Cabbage soup tasted fantastic! Delightful. Beef stock with lots of tomatoes, carrots, onions, beans. Great day -- ate it three times and nothing else. I felt empowered. :) I didn't even eat any fruits which were allowed.

Day 2: OK, we were a little tired of cabbage soup this morning... sheesh, already! But -- we were having fun all day, joking all day about the Baked Potato we were getting for dinner! :) We did have soup for lunch and it really was good, then a baked potato for dinner... it was a good day!

Day 3: Fruits, Veggies (no bananas). Fine. Terry went and got oranges, grapes, strawberries (monster-sized), and fresh pineapple. We ate soup for lunch. My sister suggested a veggie stir fry -- and Terry had also picked up a bag of stir-fry veggies so that worked and was so good for dinner. Oddly enough, it was yummy! like veggies, but usually with meat and potatoes/rice/pasta. :)

I spent the night at Mom's and took 5 big grapes, 2 monster strawberries -- to assure I wouldn't grab the chocolate, or her cookies, while there. I will admit, it was a bit of a mental struggle, they had gone to bed, and I kept thinking -- Dark Chocolate! Nobody would know! Just one! BUT I am happy to report, one bite of that sweet strawberry and I was fine.

The odd thing -- it was sooo freakin' sweet! Like I had never tasted a strawberry before.

-- Were they particularly good strawberries (winter in Michigan?) -- or -- did my taste actually change in three days?

-- Did my lack of sugar products (oh, I love my sweets) really change my palate in only three days so it tasted as it should, much sweeter than my old loving-sugar palate thought it did?

Day 4: Bananas, Milk and Yogurt -- Terry, who never ate yogurt in 40 years of marriage, ate yogurt and liked it! :) Too funny! Yes, I had a few too, and, of course, our cabbage soup. Terry also had a banana and was surprised how much one simply banana filled him.

Day 5: Tomatoes and Meat (protein) -- we had meat and fresh sliced tomatoes for dinner. Again, so delightful!

Day 6: Meat (protein) and veggies -- oops! We ate pineapple last night. I guess I forgot, innocent error.

We had soup for lunch and I will admit - I am sooo over cabbage soup. I can't even stand smelling it! :)

Chicken and salad for dinner, and pineapple at night. The salad was so refreshing too, we both totally enjoyed it.

Day 7: Woot!

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