Review of the Cabbage Soup Diet

I did the Cabbage Soup Diet for 12 days in total. For each of those days I also exercised for forty minutes - a combination of HIIT, Cardio, Pilates and Weight Training (not all jammed into those forty minutes - that would be insane - no, on alternate days).

Soooooo how much did I lose? Well I weighed myself whilst still....on that time of the month....so that may add to the quite poor weight loss results.

-3lbs 

Not exactly inspiring stuff right? For a diet which claims to help you lose 11lbs in 7 days I think this is a pretty poor result. My boyfriend said I shouldn't be so quick to judge as through my exercise maybe I gained weight in muscle. However, I don't really see how with only 12 days of exercise I'd have gained much muscle weight.

So time to way up the pros and cons of this diet. I followed it TO THE letter. Only replacing the last two steak days with leaner meats instead like fish and chicken (probably should have made me lose more weight no?)

Pros

Clearer skin - the diet makes your face look fresh and young no matter how many hours of sleep you have had. I think this is due to the amount of vitamins you are intaking and the amount of water.

Got rid of previous cravings - I used to like ketchup and salt on....nearly all of my food??? I also used to love diet fizzy drinks. However, after 12 days on this diet, I have decided to cut salt and ketchup from all of my food and I have barely touched a fizzy diet drink (Saving me a lot of money). I just carry a bottle of water around with me and drink from that. 

Lost a bit of weight - Well..kind of said it already in the title. Lost a bit of weight. 

Lost inches - I don't know if it was through the diet or the exercise but I've lost inches around my waist and my hips. My before and after show quite a bit of difference in my body shape. 

If hungry, eat more - If you were hungry you could always much on something. No time limits or food limits. 

Cons

Don't do what it says - You don't lose that much weight to be honest. Just as much as if you were dieting. 

Headaches and occasionally feelings of nausea 

Constipation / Lots of gas

COST - It actually is quite expensive. The entire recipe only lasted me four days maximum (if I was having only 2 bowls of soup a day). It was stupid. Add all the ingredients together and it is expensive on a student diet. PLUS all the stuff you have to buy on top of that like the water fruit/ salad/ vegetables/ meats. It is an expensive diet so I would not recommend for student purses. 

Conclusion?

It is good for a detox. You do feel like you are eating pure vitamins and it is nice and refreshing. You do lose inches around your waist and your shape does change. 

HOWEVER, it is not cheap. You do not lose an amazing amount of weight. Sometimes you can get quite bored of the same kinds of food over and over again. And it can make you feel constipated, gassy, light headed and nauseous. It also teaches nothing about portion control or snacking carefully in the day.

So if you want to feel a bit more healthy, take in your vitamins, and lose a bit of weight I'd advice it but otherwise DON'T DO IT. There is no point. 

Cabbage Soup Diet - Days 3,4 & 5

Thought these blog posts needed a bit of colour - Cabbage Soup Ingredients

Can I just say....

I GOT TO EAT FISH TODAY!!!

*jumps around and does a little dance*

I have never thought fish tasted so good in my life. It was such a delight and I was over the moon!!!!!! But anyway, bit of a reverse. Now time to talk about the other days.

Day 3 - FRUIT AND VEG

Exercise : Kettlebell Workout (FitnessBlender)
                 Tank Top Arms Workout (FitnessBlender)

I woke up feeling quite nauseous on this day. Apparently this is quite common on any day of the diet but that didn't really help the symptoms go away. I finally felt a bit better after chewing down an orange and lots of water.

I felt pretty weak after doing so much exercise involving heavy weights but I still had quite a clear head. I ate a lot of oranges in morning as I had missed fruit so much the day before and had a bowl of soup for lunch.

In the afternoon, I continued to feel constipated and actually couldn't stop myself falling asleep as I tried to work. I fell asleep for about three hours. I hadn't slept much the weekend previously so I am not too sure if that is because of that or because I am doing this diet. However, after I woke up I had that sick 'i have just had a nap, why do I now feel worse?' feeling so I downed some ice cold water and had some more soup.

It was a good day. I loved cooking myself some mushrooms (using One Calorie Olive Oil Spray which I think is ok to use). Definitely a yummy treat that I didn't realise tasted so goooood. So I will have that on my vegetable days again.

Also I went and bought myself a little pot of pineapple from Tesco as a treat (I checked it was all natural - no added anything JUST chopped up pineapple) and a little pot of melon (likewise) and had those. They were divine and definitely left me feeling more energetic than I had felt.

Day 4 - UP TO 8 BANANAS AND SKIMMED MILK

BANANAS! I have never been a great fan of bananas but this was amazing. I loved how yummy they felt. On other fruit days you're not allowed to eat bananas so this was an extra treat. I also didn't need a nap today and I had only had four hours sleep so the bananas must have really helped me push through.

SKIMMED MILK also meant I could have milk with my tea!!! Never enjoyed my cups of tea more and certainly drank more of them today than any other day (Which is good because technically tea helps my water count for the day).

Exercise - Can you HIIT like a Girl? (FitnessBlender)
                  Hips, Bums and Thighs (Blogilates)

I had two bowls of soup because I still found myself very hungry throughout the day which was difficult but I finished the day having had 6 bananas, lots of tea and two bowls of soup.

It was good. HOWEVER, a minor issue occurred during today that has made this diet even harder. I am trying to think of a ladylike way of putting this on the internet. Ok, if anyone has watched Clueless?? I began surfing the red wave.....ok and if you didn't get that LADY MONTH ISSUES. Yes basically. So my tummy not only felt constipated but I also had the cramps. So lots of hot water bottles were run that day :D.

I will still push through with this diet though! However, I am scared it will effect my weigh in next week as I always gain weight during this time of the month. So it might not be a fair test of the diet :S

But ah well :D

The Cabbage Soup in its Plastic Tupperware Box (which I then put in the fridge)

Day 5 - ONE TYPE OF MEAT + VEG

Now you are really meant to have beef on this day. Beef and vegetables. But I am a student and this diet is already quite ridiculously expensive anyway...so I went and bought fish (you are allowed to replace the beef with chicken or fish). I also would like to point out it is better for you so I am just making the diet slightly more intense right??

It was yum. I had soup in the morning (which I put in the microwave whilst I made my boyfriend his ham and cheese toasties - utter torture) and then an early lunch - fish salad. Grilled Mackerel, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot (the only thing I can really have on this diet in a salad). It was SO YUMMY. I felt so happy. And it actually kept me full till dinner. I suddenly wasn't snacking on carrots constantly or feel hungry quite a lot of the time! I wasn't full but I wasn't hungry. It was brilliant!

I had a fish salad this evening (same ingredients) and it was once again, really yummy. Felt so good!

Now i am feeling happy and refreshed. I should probably have some more soup so I will probably have a bowl before bed but other than that I am feel on top of the world! Tomorrow is another meat day so I am happy! I brought chicken, however, because this day should really be beef again. But I AM A STUDENT! So I bought some cheap chicken.

YUM YUM YUM IN MY TUM x

Love to you all x

Day 1 & 2

So I am at the end of Day 2 of the Cabbage Diet Soup diet.

So far it has been ok. I felt extremely light headed this morning when I woke up but I ate a carrot and drank some water and felt ok.

Day 1 

Today I was only allowed to eat fruit and cabbage soup. I ate lots of oranges :D I love them so much. It is also advised that one eat lots of water-type fruit so I ate a lot of Honeydew melon. It was so yummy. I haven't had Honeydew melon in so long so it felt like a real treat. I like that I don't have to limit my fruit intake, I can eat as much as I like. The thing is, fruit has lots of fibre so you don't actually want to eat too much because you start to feel bloated.

The soup is nice. It is really nice but it does make you constipated. Just a quick warning ! It makes you feel very constipated and therefore you feel bloated.

Other than the diet I also did another Fitnessblender work out (I LOVE THESE). It was a HIIT exercise but not as intense as my usual HIIT exercises. It was fun :)

Day 2

Apart from waking up feeling lightheaded today was ok. It was hard making my boyfriend's dinner because it was a jacket potato and baked beans and I used to eat this regularly last term. It smelt amazing! But I didn't touch a single bit of it. Not even a lick of the Baked Bean can lid!

Today I was allowed vegetables, soup and a baked potato. However, I don't like potatoes at the best of times. I especially didn't want a dry jacket potato. You're allowed a little bit of butter with the potato but I don't like butter....soooo it would be a dry jacket potato for me. I'd rather just eat vegetables so that is what I did.

In the morning I also did my Kettlebell Workout (FitnessBlender again) and a Tank Top Arms Workout. It was hard work. I was sweating like crazy and was pretty tired afterwards.

I took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and then had some beetroot to wake me up a bit.

I ate a lot of vegetables today - lots of carrots, beetroot salads, soup. It was very yummy but once again I got a bit constipated and my tummy hurt a lot. However, I had a detox tea (IT IS DISGUSTING. Tastes of liquorice. I had to hold my nose and drink it. I also drank a lot of water and it made my tummy ache go away.

So at the end of Day 2 I am feeling happy and positive :D. Looking forward to the rest of the week :)

x

A Fad Dieter

WELCOME!!!

This is my new blog. Not much to see yet but over the next few months you will see me trying all sorts of fad diets to tell you if any of them give the results they promise on the tin.

I am going to do two weeks at a time on each diet. Furthermore, I will blog lots, tell you the truth and hopefully not find anything to terrible. I will allow myself one to two cheat days during the two weeks. These cheat days will be used if I have a birthday party to go to or something special is happening.

I have already decided on a few diets so I will detail them below. Comment and suggest more you'd like to see.

January 20-3rd February: Cabbage Soup Diet

February 4th - 8th: The Hollywood Diet (ok, I won't be doing this for two weeks because that would be DANGEROUS. Some diets you are not advised to do longer than a week but I will push that. This one NO. I will go crazy not chewing something for longer than four days. You're only meant to do this for two days so I am pushing it doing it for four. If it gets too much i'll stop.

February 9th - 23rd: The Egg - Only Diet

Those are some of the crazy diets are I am going to do till mid Feb!!!

:D x