Final Cabbage Soup Diet weigh in…

Here it is. I made it. Kim and I made it an ENTIRE week on the Cabbage soup diet.

Before I give you our finals, I want to talk about  a few things.

1) I loved the soup. I think that made a difference for me. I love vegetables and I spiced it just like taco soup, minus the meat. I’m a big fan of all the vegis that went in the soup. I used the alternative recipe of the 4 cups of the V8 juice and 8 cups of water over just the 12 cups of water. It made it a lot more flavorful. Also, yes, it makes your house smell like vegi soup initially. That goes away in a day. My fridge smelled like soup for a week though. Its because I left it in the pot and put the lid on and put right in the fridge. I am sure if you have Pyrex or something you can seal it off.

2) When you cheat on a diet, or even cheat in regular eating, you only cheat yourself. But don’t give up. Just because I had a chip or a cookie or whatever I did that stepped out of a diet, I didn’t allow that to be an excuse. If you have the ‘extra’, just have it and be done and start fresh that minute. Not an in hour, not tomorrow, not on “Monday”. Willpower is the hardest part about this diet, any diet, or every day eating. You have to want it MORE than you want a cookie.

3) Get a partner. Kim and I don’t live near each other but we talk everyday online. She was someone I could confess to, someone I could complain to, ask questions to, we figured things out together. It was nice to have someone to lean on. I also called her a few times to complain. It felt good to have someone go through the same experience with me.

4) Take vitamins if you go on a diet. Just to make sure, I took vitamins daily. Sure, they were Flintstones, but I wanted to make sure I had some extra nutrients. When you cut out things your body is used to CRAVING, you need to know in your head that it doesn’t NEED anything. When I walked in and saw unhealthy things or even things I love to eat but couldn’t, I wanted to know that it was all mental.

5) The first day on the Cabbage Soup Diet i thought I was starving to death. I am sure you remember. That went away. Once my body had time to adjust, I was fine. No, i did not spend every waking moment in the bathroom. I did not suffer from any bowel problems, and neither did Kim. I had the occasional gas bubble in my stomach from eating vegetables in large quantities, especially the first day, but after that, nada. I am not sure where all that rumor got started. I was fine.

6) Going on this fad diet let me realize and pinpoint my exact weaknesses. The times I would get up and go into the kitchen and take 1 bite. Those 1 bites turn into lots of bites by a scales standard. Eat protein. It fills you up. Don’t eat to eat. Don’t eat because you are bored. Don’t graze. Cut up some carrots and bring them to your desk. Honestly, it was just as easy to do that than it was to grab chips.

7) Take water, unsweet tea, or cranberry juice with you in the car. I found that when I had a drink with me, I was less likely to even think about cheating. I also brought celery and carrots with me in a baggie in the car when I was out.

8 ) Before I did this diet I could have sworn to you that I could NOT LIVE without a coke. I could NOT LIVE without sweet tea. And I would never ever EVER touch something that had the label “diet” on it. I was wrong. I did live. I haven’t had a soda since last Sunday. I haven’t had sweet tea since last Sunday. I have tried sweet n low and it tastes like pure sugar after 7 days of no sugar. Your taste buds change, they really do.

9)  I am the only one responsible for my health. Its easy to be 5’1″ and 111.8 pounds. People still think you are skinny. But being skinny in a society with about 50% obesity is not the best judge either. I was not healthy. I was making bad choices. I dont need to look like a model, but I would be lying to you if I said I enjoyed belly fat. Or thigh fat. Or picking up the past 4 pair of my shorts and not being able to button the button in them anymore. Its a slippery slope once you start telling yourself its OK. Its not OK for my health, my heart, or my Charlotte. I have to make lifestyle changes and this diet showed me that. That eating a healthy dinner and skipping lunch is not ‘eating right’. I am not going to let this diet end in the sense that I go back to old habits. Will I indulge in a few sweets now? Yes. But I am going to find better ways to enjoy food and nourish my body properly.

10) And last but not least, you cannot cheat exercise. You cannot diet your way out of that. Kim and I both had that problem. You have GOT to do some situps, some jumping jacks. Hell, mow the law, vacuum for a half hour, there are things to do— but you have to move. I got an exercise ball this week and I am sticking to it. Its low impact and I have found that I enjoy it. I am also off to buy a gazelle this morning. I started doing crunches and situps about 2 weeks ago and I could literally only do 5 (properly). Then I could do 10. As of the day before yesterday I was doing 35 in a row without stopping. If 5 is all you can do..do 5. You will eventually move up. My goal is to do 50 every day and I hope in the next 2 weeks I can say that.

So final numbers.

My numbers are not nearly as dramatic as Kims, so make sure you stop by and visit her. Her weight loss is beyond amazing.

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Weight Changes

Started at 111.8 (approx 25.6% body fat, 54.5% water. I didn’t write it down but i remember it being really close to that. )

Day #2: morning: 110 even

Day #3: morning:  109.2

Day #4: (today) 108.2

Day #5: 107.8

Day #6: 107.6

Day #7:  107.6

Final Weigh in: 107.8  ,  22.8% body fat, 56.6% water

Total weight loss 4 pounds

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My goal was 5 pounds, so I am not far off. I hit a plateau. The rest of any weight loss will come from good old fashioned hard work. My goal is to get down to my pre-charlotte weight of 104.

I will update you in 1 week on if the weight stayed off after I went off the soup and how my habits may have changed.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me.

Trisha