How The Cabbage Soup Diet Works

Losing weight is a difficult struggle; naturally, most people are always searching for fast ways to take weight off. The Cabbage Soup weight loss trend is known to many people as a popular "fad diet" that offers a rapid way to lose weight, but does it truly work? The diet regimen is described here, along with the keys to permanent weight loss.

The Cabbage Soup diet involves, as its name suggests, consuming cabbage soup for seven days. During this period, dieters only eat reduced cabbage soup and a few other specific foods for weight loss. The program is not a lifestyle changing plan like some other popular diets, and requires no long-term lifestyle changes beyond the week-long duration of the diet regimen.

There are numerous versions of the recipe for cabbage soup. Most contain spices, cabbage and other vegetables, such as bell peppers, mushrooms, celery, onions, and tomatoes. Some people like to add spices to make the soup tastier. Other dieters concerned with sodium intake want to use a low-sodium recipe. Many popular versions of the diet incorporate healthy sources of protein to make the diet program more satisfying.

Besides cabbage soup, there are very specific guidelines for which additional foods are allowed on each day of the diet. As a general guideline, dieters eat cabbage soup every day, plus fruit on day one, vegetables on day two, vegetables and fruit on the third day, skim milk and bananas on the fourth day, tomatoes and beef on the fifth day, beef and vegetables on the sixth day, and brown rice, fruit juice, and vegetables on day seven. Those using the diet then resume normal eating habits, hopefully now weighing a few pounds less.

Is the Cabbage Soup diet truly effective? Although no official scientific study has examined the diet conclusively, people who have used the diet report varying success. For many dieters, the diet resulted in weight loss (up to ten pounds, typically less), but only for a short while, as the pounds gradually returned as the dieter resumed normal meal plans. Some dieters reported weakness, lack of focus, and light-headedness while on the Cabbage Soup diet. Other dieters experienced no effects at all, seeing no weight loss, but no illness either.

The Cabbage Soup diet is just one of countless "fad diets" that dieters can try. However, because this diet does not always work, for many overweight people it just adds to the difficulty of being overweight. A better method of dieting does not rely on fad diets or quick-fix dieting techniques. It takes consistent work and lifelong commitments to maintain a healthy permanent weight. For most, this means eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise.

Unfortunately, many of us struggle to maintain the healthy habits needed for weight loss. Countless frequent dieters struggle to lose weight because of their intense cravings, uncontrollable appetites or eating habits, or a simple lack of motivation. Hypnosis therapy is effective for resolving these issues and supplying the motivation required for losing weight.

Among the many reasons hypnosis is excellent as a weight loss aid is because hypnosis can be used for natural appetite suppression. Many people suffer from uncontrollable appetites because have a habit of emotional eating which makes them have an unconscious drive to eat and eat even when they aren't actually hungry. Hypnosis therapy helps re-train the unconscious mind to extinguish the urge to eat too much, resulting in natural appetite control without pills or drugs.

Another way hypnosis can work to make you get the weight off is by reducing the anxious thoughts that make you want to overeat and sap your motivation to get physically fit. When you start to think negative thoughts, hypnosis taps into your unconscious to naturally think positively instead, which allows you to become more relaxed.

Your exercise motivation can be greatly enhanced through hypnosis and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). First, you pinpoint what the most important aspects of your life are. Then you use NLP to lead you into believing that the things that are most crucial to you will become enhanced when you exercise, or placed in jeopardy if you fail to do so. Thus, it becomes easy to stay motivated to exercise and stay physically fit.

Everyone has the ability to learn NLP and hypnosis techniques from a good hypnosis weight loss CD program. The techniques in hypnosis CDs use the power of the unconscious to help dieters extinguish their cravings. By ending urges and cravings, the appetite is suppressed or eliminated. Weight loss hypnosis programs also keep you strongly motivated to exercise to lose weight.

By reprogramming your unconscious mind, hypnosis makes weight loss a natural process. It is an excellent tool to make you feel motivated and naturally committed healthy habits. So before trying a fad diet, consider a healthier approach to weight loss through physical fitness, healthy eating, staying positive, and using hypnotherapy to make it happen.

Alan B. Densky, CH is an NGH Certified Hypnotherapist. Visit the self-hypnosis website for Free hypnosis newsletters, videos, and downloads. He offers several ways to lose weight, including NLP to lose weight DVDs and lose weight self improvement CDs.