Don't Be a Sourpuss, Try the Grapefruit Diet

There are several foods I can't look out without thinking of dieting: cottage cheese, Melba toast, celery sticks, and grapefruit. As a child I watched my mother go on numerous diets, but they all seemed to involve a half of grapefruit in the morning with Sweet'n'Low and a cup of black coffee.

Sweet, sour, and bitter--the taste of diet in the days of yore. It was not uncommon to have a half a grapefruit as a choice as an appetizer on a menu either back before enormous piles of fried cheese and monstrous salads became the norm at your standard generic American restaurant.

So while numerous of diets have advocated the eating of grapefruit, there is one particular old standby crash diet that revolves around the yellow orb. The Grapefruit Diet. According to eDiets.com:

"Researchers at Scripps Clinic found that participants who ate half a
grapefruit with each meal in a 12-week period lost an average of 3.6 pounds. The
study indicates that the unique chemical properties in this vitamin C-packed
citrus fruit reduce insulin levels, which promotes weight loss. "

The Grapefruit Diet is your classic, extremely low-calorie crash diet. This is not a diet for the long term, but for a quick start to a more healthful diet or to lose the last pesky five pounds.

As with any popular diet, many variations abound, but this is the general standard Grapefruit Diet Menu:

WARNING: Before you proceed, if you are on any type of medication, please contact your doctor before even thinking about eating grapefruit, drinking grapefruit juice or taking any other grapefruit derived product. It is known to cause serious adverse events with various medicines. Please read this article from the Mayo Clinic for more details. As always please contact your physician before starting any diet program!

Note: if you dislike the taste of grapefruit, there are grapefruit pills designed to replace the fruit on the Grapefruit Diet.

The Classic 3 Day Grapefruit Diet Menu

Day 1

Breakfast:

1/2 a grapefruit with Splenda, Nutrasweet or Sweet'n'Low

2 slices of bacon, drained and blotted. Turkey bacon is even better.

1 egg cooked anyway you like, but don't use any oil or fat.

Water, coffee or tea. Scant drop of milk is OK, no sugar!

Lunch:

1/2 a grapefruit as above

Salad of lettuce and any green vegetables with lemon juice or vinegar

Any meat or fish you'd like, as much as you'd like. Don't go overboard. Choose wisely like a grilled chicken breast without skin. Broiled not fried.

Dinner:

Repeat either lunch or breakfast.

Snacks: 8oz of tomato juice, another grapefruit half or small cup of grapefruit juice or 1/2 cup skim milk

Drink lots of water. You can drink diet sodas, but try to find the low-sodium versions. The less salt you use, the more weight, at least water, you'll lose. So chose pepper. No one said this was a tasty diet!

There are other versions, you can, at breakfast omit the bacon, and replace it with 1 slice of whole grain toast or light white with butter flavored spray, and 1/2 cup skim milk

Unless you're a masochist, you're going to want to stay on this diet very long, but if you're in a jam, give it a go.

If you know other versions of the diet, please post your scoop in the comments!

Cabbage Soup Diet - Crazy As It Sounds It Tastes Good!

Ok, there is nothing pretty or cute about the Cabbage Soup Diet except how cute you'll be, according to those who have tried the diet, when you're done.

What's so crazy about cabbage? Well really nothing, but you can't help by think of it's noisy reputation.

The Cabbage Soup Diet is a great stand-alone diet, or even just use the soup as a snack on other diets. Chock full of veggie, the high-fiber soup fills you up, you can eat as much as you want, and it can be modified within reason for your own particular tastes.


As always check with your doctor before starting this or any diet!


The basic cabbage soup diet itself goes as follows:

Eat as much of the soup when you want.
Drink at least 8 12 oz glasses of water daily
Day One: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For drinks- unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.

Day Two: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today.

Day Three: Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato.

Day Four: Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets.


Day Five: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. . Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked skinless chicken or broiled fish with lemon instead of beef you wish.

Day Six: Eat as much beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day Seven: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Again stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.




EXTREME Cabbage Soup Diet for the truly CRAZY!


Day 1-7 Breakfast 1 small piece of fruit, including a banana, 8 oz of milk
Day 1-7 Lunch and Dinner--All the Soup you can eat. Plus as much steamed veggies and raw veggies as you like. No butter. No potatoes, turnips, or any other root vegetable, nor avocados. No corn or beans!


The SOUP

Everyone and their mother has their own version of the actual soup. If you're not into cutting up all the veggies, go for the bagged veggies in the produce aisle, even bags of shredded coleslaw cabbage mix and shredded broccoli can be used.



Here's one of mine:

Please note, you're going to have to eyeball the amounts according to the size of your pan.



1-2 heads of cabbage or two bags of shredded slaw mix

1 head of broccoli florets and stems cut up (or one bag of shredded broccoli)

1 medium or large bag of baby carrots

2 cans of crushed tomatoes (it is best to use salt free, or low sodium, especially if you use boullion or soup mix)

3-4 onions diced in large pieces

1 package of sliced mushrooms

Optional: sliced zucchini or summer squash, green beans, spinach, anything EXCEPT potatoes, corn, or beans

1-2 chicken, beef or vegetable bouillon cubes OR 1 package onion soup mix (remember these are high in sodium which will make you retain water)

Black pepper and/or red pepper to taste

Optional: crushed garlic, oregano



In a LARGE Dutch Oven (Tall Stock/Sauce Pot) dump all the veggies except the tomatoes. Leave at least an inch on top. Pour cans of tomatoes on top, drop in your bouillon cubes or soup if you wish, dilute with a can or more of water. If there is no room, you can add some as it boils down.


Bring soup to a boil and stir as it gets going. When it is boiling, cover and put on low and let simmer. Check periodically and stir soup completely each time, make sure to get to the bottom of the pot. As it cooks, you may want to skim the foam off the soup, and if it is too rich or too heavy dilute with water.


This is truly a do-it-yourself job. If you like spicy foods, by all means liven it up with hot peppers. If not, don't bother. Garlic is always great. If you have problems with the acidity in the tomatoes, use half the amount and water.


Once all the vegetables are tender, let the soup cool. You may now store it in your fridge, put it in containers, whatever you wish.


Other versions of this recipe use V8 or tomato juice instead of tomatoes. Remember these too are high in sodium.


For more in depth information and details on the cabbage soup diet, I recommend you check out this cabbage soup diet book!


Here is some other info on the csd as well:
Cabbage
More Cabbage
Even More Cabbage
That's a lot of Cabbage

diet cabbage soup diet weight loss crash diet