So, I know you are all wondering how I managed on the 7-Cabbage Soup Diet. Well, I survived and lived to tell about it!
Two days into the diet, I woke up with a horrible metallic taste in my mouth and I felt achy. I knew that was my body detoxing and suffering from sugar withdrawals. While I don’t eat a lot of sugar, I do drink A LOT of alcoholic beverages, which of course is my diet downfall. On the first few days of this diet, I felt like an alcoholic experiencing the DTS. It was pretty bad, but thank goodness for a banana filled day to help combat the aches and sugar withdrawals.
As much as I love bananas for breakfast or post-run, six bananas was a bit of a stretch for me on Day 4. However, I found an enjoyable way to survive the strict banana & milk day with a banana milkshake I concocted. Basically, I blended two bananas with a cup of milk and two cups of ice until it was smooth and creamy like a milkshake and it was DELISH. I drank one in the morning, one a lunch, one for an afternoon snack and one after dinner for dessert.
As thrilled as I was to be eating meat again on Day 5, eating only beef and tomatoes was a bit tough; however I substituted the beef for leftover grilled chicken from Sunday’s dinner and I also found these amazing Applegate turkey burgers in the freezer section at Publix which I ate with sliced tomatoes as a bun. So delicious! I also ran out of soup and Iron Chef Allan made me a second batch but he substituted the green bell pepper with a jalapeno pepper for some heat, ‘cause mama loves her heat!
On Day 6, I was glad to be balancing out the meat and tomatoes with some other veggies, although I really wanted some fruit again which I’m sure is a sugar craving again. Today is Day 7 and I’m permitted to eat brown rice, fruit and veggies. This morning, I made a brown rice cereal with some milk and cinnamon which fooled my brain into thinking it was oatmeal. For dinner this evening, I’ll eat some more brown rice.
For the record, I did not workout at all last week due to still recovering from a stomach bug and following this very low calorie, very restricted diet. Tomorrow I will weigh myself to see the results, but I promised myself not to get disappointed with the numbers since I’ve been struggling for months to lose weight. I’m not expecting miracles! Having said that, I feel a whole lot lighter and less thick around my middle, if that makes sense. So for that result alone, I feel pleased. Plus, this strict diet forced me to give up alcohol for a week, which I will continue this week to keep my calories under control.
Overall, the 7-Day Cabbage Soup Diet is totally doable but I do not recommend doing it more than a week out of pure boredom. I also learned the importance of meal planning. While I do, plan out my family’s dinners every week, I pretty much wing it for breakfast, lunch and my snacks. Through this process, I realized the importance planning out what to eat for each meal. I mean, I do eat fairly healthy for the most part, but I really need to be more careful about my portion sizes and limiting my carbs.
So on that note, I’ve been really giving a lot of thought about my next course of action to lose weight and I devised a 1200 calorie meal plan. After taking drastic measures with this diet to kick-start my metabolism, I feel like now I have a good baseline to start.
While I’m no nutritionist or dietician, there are plenty of resources out there to help devise a decent meal plan, such as the Doctor Oz Total Choice 1200 Calorie Diet or the Good Housekeeping 1200 Calorie 7-Day Diet. In fact I have a whole new Pinterest board full of 1200 Calorie Meal Plans and Weight Loss Tips. However, for me with all my allergies, I can’t follow many of the diet plans so closely and I have to swap certain meals. Given that, I crafted my own 7-Day nut-free, egg-free 1200 Calorie Meal Plan which borrows some meals from a variety of different meal plans.
The good news is that my husband is on board with this plan and will join me in trying to lose a few pounds. I’m so glad to have his support through this process! (For men, this meal plan should be bumped up to 1800 calories.)
Run DMT’s 7-Day 1200 Calorie Meal Plan
Sunday
- Breakfast ½ cup brown rice with ¼ skim milk and a tsp of cinnamon
- Snack – 1 grapefruit
- Lunch – Cabbage Soup
- Snack – Roasted Broccoli
- Dinner – Roasted Veggie Kabobs with ½ cup brown rice
- Snack- 1 cup of mixed berries
Meatless Monday
- Breakfast ½ Old fashioned oats with ¾ cup skim milk
- Snack – 3 Tb hummus with 2 stalks of celery
- Lunch – Cabbage Soup
- Snack – Apple and 2 Tb sunbutter
- Dinner – Lasagna Rolls (1 roll) and a mixed greens salad
- Snack- 1 cup of mixed berries
Tuesday
- Breakfast – Sliced of Seed Your Soul Bread with 2 Tb sunbutter and ½ sliced banana
- Snack – 3 Tb hummus with 2 stalks of celery
- Lunch – 1 Leftover Lasagna Spinach Roll
- Dinner – Ground Turkey Taco Wraps (1/2 cup of meat with 2Tb sp of Reduced Fat Sharp cheddar)
- Snack –1 cup of mixed berries
Wednesday
- Breakfast – 1 cup non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt with Strawberries
- Snack – 3 Tb hummus with 2 stalks of celery
- Lunch – Leftover Ground Turkey Taco Salad (1/2 cup of meat with 2Tb of Reduced Fat Sharp cheddar, chopped tomatoes on mixed greens)
- Snack – 1 small apple and sunbutter
- Dinner – Chicken Caprese ( 1 – 4 oz chicken breast, sliced tomatoes, 1 mozzeralla slice, basil)
- Snack – 1 cup cubed watermelon
Thursday
- Breakfast – Sliced of Seed Your Soul Bread with 2 Tb sunbutter and ½ sliced banana
- Snack – 3 Tb hummus with 2 stalks of celery
- Lunch – 1 Leftover Lasagna Spinach Roll
- Snack – 2 slices of Applegate Turkey with Cucumber wedges
- Dinner – Vegetti & Ground Turkey Italian Meatballs
- Snack – 1 cup cubed watermelon
Friday
- Breakfast – 1 cup non-fat Plain Greek Yogurt with Strawberries
- Snack – 3 Tb hummus with 2 stalks of celery
- Lunch – Cabbage Soup
- Snack – 2 slices of Applegate Turkey with Cucumber wedges
- Dinner – Homemade pizza (2 slices) and 1967 Salad
- Snack – 1 cup cubed watermelon
Lovely. Meal Plan
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