All of us are looking to lose a few pounds now and then. Most of my life I have experimented with different fad diets and some have been more successful then others. My most recent diet is the Whole30 diet that restricts cheese, carbohydrates and dairy: basically everything I was raised on learning to eat. We used to have a milk man growing up in the 80’s, which was awesome, but I didn’t realize the negative effects of dairy until I got older and did more research.
Below are 5 fad diets that I have tried over my lifetime that helped me lose weight fast:
- The Cabbage Soup Diet
As you can imagine this diet is obvious as to what it is and it helps you to lose weight fast! I lost 10 pounds in a week the first time I tried it, and it helped me fit in my bridesmaid dress. Bad part is you need to cook the soup yourself to make sure there are not any other ingredients than what is required.
Ingredients to make Cabbage Soup:
- 2 large onions
- 2 green peppers
- 2 cans of tomatoes
- 1 bunch of celery
- 1 head of cabbage
- 3 carrots
- 1 package of mushrooms
- 6–8 cups water
Directions on what to do:
- Chop all vegetables into cubes.
- In a large stock pot, sauté onions in a small amount of oil.
- Then add remaining vegetables and cover with water.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Let simmer until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
You can use salt, pepper, hot sauce, herbs or spices, and you may want to consider adding other green veggies like, brussel sprouts, spinach or green beans.
You can only drink water and unsweetened tea during this diet, no soda, etc.
Here is the day to day breakdown of what you need to do:
- Day one: Unlimited cabbage soup and fruit, except for bananas.
- Day two: Soup and vegetables only, no peas, corn and beans. You may have one baked potato with butter or oil as well to help as a meal replacement.
- Day three: Unlimited fruits and vegetables and all the soup you can eat. No baked potato today.
- Day four: Unlimited bananas, skim milk and cabbage soup.
- Day five: You can eat up to 20 oz of beef, chicken or fish. You can also eat up to six fresh tomatoes and unlimited cabbage soup. At least 6–8 glasses of water.
- Day six: Soup, beef and vegetables. You may substitute the beef with broiled fish if you did not yesterday. Focus on leafy greens. No baked potato today.
- Day seven: You may have vegetables, brown rice, unlimited fruit juice, but no added sugar. And of course, cabbage soup.
Do not repeat this diet for more than 7 days, but you can repeat it after a few weeks, just make sure you consult your doctor beforehand.
2. The Whole30 Diet
Just started this new Whole30 diet, and really excited because I already lost 6 pounds within 3 days. This diet does not allow any dairy products, carbs or sugar at all, but does allow protein and veggies. The first day I made an avocado, tomato and tuna fish (canned in water) salad, and the first night I made chicken with potatoes, onions, brussel sprouts and a little olive oil and popped it in the oven for an hour. It was great! This morning I had an eggs and bacon scramble with olive oil and almonds as a snack. There are many different meal ideas here and my body has definitely gone through sugar withdrawal however I am hoping that the diet overall gives me more energy which it said it was supposed to do!
3. The SlimFast Diet
I literally learned about this diet when I was in elementary school, I wasn’t a fat kid, however I must have either heard my mom talking about it or saw the commercial on TV and wanted to try it. The power of suggestion is strong with this one! On this plan you eat two Slimfast meal replacements, along with 3 100 calorie snacks, and only one 500 calorie meal that you make for yourself at night. Get ready to eat a lot as you eat up to 6 times a day, however you kick start your metabolism and can lose up to 2 pounds a week.
4. The Hollywood 2 day Miracle Juicing Diet
Nope this is not a wine only diet as you would have hoped in Hollywood, the bottle actually looks like this:
It works, but it tastes pretty bad. This diet would be for desperate measures only.
5. Master Cleanse Diet
This diet is recommended by the queen Beyonce herself, and consists of a herbal detox tea in the morning, throughout the day you drink two liters of lemonade. This special concoction consists of the following: 1 tsp of ground cayenne pepper, 4 tablespoons of syrup, 2 lemons, and 1 liter of water. I tried it and had major stomach pains but if you are up for the challenge give it a whirl.
Happy Dieting! 🙂
