Cabbage Soup Diets - Do They Work?

Just about everyone who has considered losing weight has heard about cabbage soup diets at some time or other. Many people, when they first hear about this diet believe that it is new or revolutionary. The diet claims to help you miraculously lose 10-15 pounds in 7 days. But is this true? Let's take a look.

There are a lot of misconceptions about cabbage soup diets, including the origins. Some sources claim that it was created by a famous doctor; some sources attribute it to a respectable hospital but there is no proof either way. The true origins are unknown.

The diet seems to have first surfaced in the 1980’s and spread by word of mouth an through the media. Once the Internet arrived, it quickly spread that way. This is one of those diets that seems like it will never die or go away.

What is the cabbage soup diet?

It's a 7 day eating plan that revolves around a soup which is comprised mainly of cabbage. The eating plan is below:

Day 1 - Cabbage soup and any type of fruit that you would like to eat, except for bananas.

Day 2 - Cabbage soup and any vegetables that you care to eat. You may also have a baked potato that has a small amount of butter on it.

Day 3 - Cabbage soup plus any fruits or vegetables that you care to eat, with the exception of potatoes or bananas.

Day 4 - Cabbage soup and bananas. You may eat up to 8 bananas. You may also drink as much skim milk as you want too.

Day 5 - Cabbage soup and beef. You may have up to 20 ounces of beef this day along with the cabbage soup. You may also consume up to 6 tomatoes.

Day 6 - Cabbage soup and unlimited beef. This day you can have as much beef as you care to eat. You can also have as many vegetables as you want, except for potatoes.

Day 7 - Cabbage soup and brown rice. You may also have any vegetables that you want this day, except potatoes. You may drink unsweetened fruit juice this day too.

It should be noted that you may eat as much of the cabbage soup that you want on any of the days. You must eat the cabbage soup at least 3 times per day. There are also slight variations of this diet. The main ingredients usually consist of the following: cabbage, onion, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and seasonings. The ingredients for the cabbage soup also tend to vary.

Does this diet work?

Yes and no. The diet can work, if you actually stick to it for the 7 days. You are severely limiting your calorie intake. Given that you have to eat the same thing daily, will probably tend to make you want to eat less of the soup, which will even further restrict your daily calorie intake.

If you’re expecting the weight loss to be long term, don’t. Most of the weight you lose from this diet will be water weight, not fat. Once you resume your normal eating habits, the weight you lost will return. In fact, it is probable that you will not only gain the weight you lost while being on this diet, but you may even gain more weight. You could wind up heavier than before you started this diet after you resume your normal eating habits.

Is this diet safe?

Ask your doctor for his recommendation. Chances are, he will question the nutrional soundness of it and be totally put off by the lack of daily calories. It is possible to become malnourished while on this diet. Being on this diet would mean you're close to consuming less than 1200 calories. Even though it is only a week, it is a questionable practice regarding your health.

Cabbage soup diets live on because there will always be an allure and an attraction to a diet that will help you to lose weight rapidly. But there are many other safe, nutritionally sound, diets out there that will help you to lose weight if you put the effort into them.

Pilates Exercise Program - Picking The Best Class For You

If you're interested in a Pilates exercise program, congratulations. You should probably have a variety to choose from, unless you live in a very small area where there may be only one or two instructors. Otherwise, there should be several different types of Pilates exercise programs available to you. Know that not all classes are the same and you should look into the different ones and find the class that is a good match for your exercise needs.

Many more areas are offering classes with the Pilates Reformer. The Reformer is a Pilates machine that you use to do various exercises. All Pilates started out using these machines, but their cost lead some people to develop Pilates routines using movements like you would use on a machine. Each class won’t offer the same thing, nor will each one give you quite the same benefit.
There are classes that don’t use the machine but still offer all the benefits of the Reformer. The movements are just more under your control and can be less structured. But they should all mimic a type of movement you can do on the Reformer machine.

Some classes involve a large group in which everyone brings his or her own mat. The instructor leads the group through the gentle Pilates movements. Some classes do have mats available, but if you choose this type of workout class be sure to invest in a mat right away. They’re inexpensive, and you won’t have to use a mat that someone else has sweated on!

Other programs use a variety of equipment instead of a Pilates Reformer machine or just mats. Balance balls are a popular item for not just Pilates these days but all types of exercise classes. Using a balance ball does what it says — it forces you to balance yourself, which works a variety of tiny muscle groups (your core muscles) that are hard to exercise in any other way.

Resistance bands are excellent for mimicking the movements of a Pilates machine and offer adjustable resistance. You’ll get more benefit out of movements with a band or some type of resistance than you will making the movements on your own. Classes that use bands are the closest to the type of workout you get on a machine.

Pilates Exercise programs for certain conditions are usually available where a variety of classes are offered. Pilates for seniors, for instance, might be a choice. It is naturally low impact, but classes especially for those with arthritis or mobility problems may be available.

Combining it with some type of dance or a more active workout is becoming popular. Pilates for pregnancy is also a type of class that’s becoming more popular as the benefits of exercise for expectant mothers is becoming more and more clear.

You could also take a session or two of private instruction to learn the basics. Try a few different classes, and you’ll better be able to tell which type of Pilates exercise program is right for you.

Weight Loss Before and After Stories of Success

What happens after you become determined to lose weight and successfully do it? Weight loss before and after stories of success are common. When you lose a significant amount of weight, your life can change in many pleasant ways. Here are some of my favorite stories.

Margie had gained 30 pounds after her second pregnancy. She was sluggish – and not just because she had to keep up with a baby and a toddler. She felt that her weight was keeping her from being the mother she wanted to be.

So Margie went to a dietitian to help her change her food choices. One of the things her dietitian suggested she eat was a variety of whole foods that were low in fat and high in fiber. Margie had been making a variety of quick meals and picking up fast food because of her duties as a mom.

She decided that it was important to start cooking wholesome meals for her family. She started losing one, maybe to two pounds a week. Within 4 months, she was back to her pre-pregnancy weight.

Another factor that was important in her weight loss was wanting to create a family of healthy eaters. She didn’t want her kids to think that food came from McDonalds. Fast food should be an occasional treat not a mainstay of their diets.

Margie’s weight loss success story is an inspiration to all new moms struggling to lose the baby weight. It can be done!

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Rob is another of my favorite weight loss before and after stories of success. He is a teacher at an exclusive public school. One of the perks of teaching at the school is that it provides a catered lunch each day. In addition, fellow teachers often brought specialty foods to share at lunchtime.

The camaraderie in the lunchroom was one of the strengths of the school program, but it was killing Rob’s waistline. He decided that he would bring a low calorie sack lunch and begin walking during 20 minutes of his lunch break. He worried that skipping the lunchroom would mean he would distance himself from his fellow teachers.

But, when they saw that he was losing a significant amount of weight on his program, many of the other teachers joined in. Soon, there was a teacher’s walking club at lunch time. A social scene based around an unhealthy eating pattern was replaced by a healthy one.

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Kerry was a busy mom and she also put in 50+ hours a week at her job. When she wasn’t working, she wanted to spend time with her two boys, ages 9 and 11. She felt guilty about going to the gym because that was an hour and a half she should have spent with her kids.

But as she crept up near 200 pounds, she knew something had to change. One thing she did was get up a half hour earlier in the morning to take a walk. Then, when she got home in the evenings, she made a point of playing 20 minutes of basketball with the boys every day. Her new physical activity combined with a low fat, lower calorie diet, led to her losing 55 pounds over the course of a year.

Being able to increase the time she spent with her kids as well as losing the weight was a win-win for Kerry. That’s a truly great weight loss before & after story.

Do you have your own weight loss before and after story? I hope you were inspired by these and you're on your way to creating your own. When you have one, be sure to share it with others to encourage them to lose weight as well.

Safe Appetite Suppressants: A Naturally Appealing Approach

Did you know that you can structure the way you eat to trigger your own safe appetite suppressants? You don’t have to take potions or pills in order to curb your hunger, you just have to eat the right foods at the right times. That, in fact, is the key to natural safe appetite suppressantas.

Processed foods tend to be high in refined carbohydrates and low in fiber. When you eat a donut or drink a soda, you will have dramatic swings in your blood sugar levels. This then causes a hunger spike. So, while you may grab a candy bar in the middle of the afternoon to curb a hunger pang, you may actually be causing yourself to become hungrier shortly afterwards.

If you have common nutritional deficiencies, these problems become worse. Did you know that many Americans are deficient in zinc, vitamin D, various B vitamins, magnesium and other important nutrients? People have these deficiencies as a result of eating the wrong mix of foods. And many people with these deficiencies satisfy their hunger with more of the bad foods, making the problem even worse.

So what should you eat for safe appetite suppressants? What you want to do is get your calories from whole foods. In other words, shop around the outside of the grocery store and don’t go down the middle isles.

Aviod all refined carbs such as white bread, rice, flour, high fructose corn syrup, sugars, tortillas, and cereals for a month and see how the natural appetite suppressants change your hunger patterns.

This does not mean that you have to go on a low-carb diet; you can still have the carbs found in most fruits and vegetables in unlimited quantities.

Plan to eat a salad of leafy greens each day. You can use an olive oil or vinegar based dressing. Add meats such as chicken or grilled salmon to make it a meal.

When you just need something to munch on, try pickles. An entire jar of pickles has only 50 calories in it.

An apple a day keeps the diet away. Their bulky fiber makes apples great appetite suppressant diet foods.

When you start to add a variety of fruits and vegetables to your diet, you will also get the variety of vitamins and minerals you need. As you correct your nutritional deficits, you will notice your hunger diminishes.

Finally, you should start to drink more water each day. Men should have approximately 12-13 glasses (8 ounces) of water-based liquids each day while women should shoot for 8 to 9 glasses. Don't drink soda as it has a dehydrating effect which is the exact opposite of what you want.

It is possible to lose weight with these naturally safe appetite suppressants. Fill your pantry and refrigerator with foods that are good for you rather than going for the quick and easy solution of processed foods high in refined carbohydrates.