For the next three days, I'm trying a modified version of the cabbage soup diet--by modified, I mean it's a Piper version. The registered nurse inside me doesn't like the "eat all the bananas you want on Day X," nor does Nurse Ratched like fad foods or cleansing diets.
So I shut her up and developed my own plan.
Yeah, it's still unhealthy and unbalanced...but what could be worse than my present eating habits?
Cabbage soup beats a steady diet of donuts, pizza, Cheeze-Its, and Reeses Cups.
My husband is an MD, and he says cabbage has negative calories--and the soup is filling, which puts a damper on the appetite.
While I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, I always make cabbage soup when I'm in a hardcore writing mode, mainly because it's simple and Zen-like--and it's healthier than donuts and peanut butter crackers.
No Coke Zero or Crystal Lite, just green tea and water with lemon.
But I don't adhere to the strict and strange food combinations; I add salad, baked potatoes, salsa, lean meat, and yogurt.
The point isn't to lose weight (though I wouldn't complain), but to force myself to detox from fast food.
I can't drink milk, so I take a calcium supplement.
Piper's Version of the Cabbage Soup Diet
1 head of cabbage, cut into 8 chunks
4 green/red peppers, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
2 cans diced tomatoes (don't drain)
1 cup chopped celery
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
1 48-oz can tomato juice
1 cup green beans
1 cube bouillon
parsley, chopped
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, Tabasco (if desired)
Water
Spray bottom of a Dutch oven pan with Pam.
Saute veggies until soft; add a little tomato juice if the mixture gets too dry.
Add tomatoes and tomato juice. Stir. Add dry onion soup mix.
Fill pan with water and add condiments.
Cook, covered, for an hour, then uncover and simmer another hour (or until carrots are tender).
Eat all the soup you want throughout the day.
(Each cup of soup has approximately 60 calories.)
Breakfast: 1/2 cantaloupe, 1/4 cup strawberries, plain yogurt, green tea with lemon.
Lunch: fruit kabobs and salad with low cal Honey Dijon dressing or vinegar
Dinner: small, baked chicken breast (skinless); salad with lo-cal dressing; 1 baked potato (no butter--spoon a little soup over the potato, salsa, or salad dressing).
Alternate: potato with cut-up chicken, broccoli, salsa.
Drink lemon water and green tea.
Play Angry Birds as a reward for avoiding donuts.
Walk around the farm early in the a.m.
Daily calcium supplement and vitamins.
Tasty variations for cabbage soup--chicken stock, ground beef, or kielbasa.
Disclaimer: I do not advocate this diet for weight loss or for a path to better writing. What works for me might not work for you.
Do not try this program without your doctor's approval and supervision.
