I have used this diet before and it really does work. Its healthy and is what doctors recommend for patients that are overweight and need to lose weight before a heart operation. It is also known as the Healthy Heart Diet.
The key is keeping it off. To keep the weight off, replace one of your regular meals (after the diet) with the soup. Keep in mind you can eat all the soup you want. The more you eat, the more you lose!
The key to this diet is that your intake of calories is less then what you burn in a day. It is healthy and you could conceivably do this diet for the rest of your life without any health issues.
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 16-28 ounces canned tomatoes, chopped
- 2 green peppers
- 4 stalks celery
- 1-2 packages Lipton onion soup mix, or any dry onion soup mix (optional) or Beef or Chicken broth.
- black pepper
- any fresh herb(s) of your choice, chopped
- 6 carrots, sliced
- 1/2 pound green beans, sliced on diagonal
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (optional)
- 1 cup of mushrooms (optional)
Put all vegetables in a big pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, stir in the soup mix (if desired), and boil gently for 10 minutes. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until all the vegetables are soft. Stir in the black pepper and chopped herbs (saving some for garnish). To change things up a bit I puree all the vegetables and everything else together and turn it into a TOMATO Soup. Much more bearable by day 3!
Eat as much of the soup as you like, as often as you like. Drink as much water as you like and non-caloric drinks including coffee, tea, and herbal teas.
Here’s what else you eat on each day of the diet.
DAY 1: Fruit Day – All fruits except bananas.
DAY 2: Veggie Day – All vegetables, raw or cooked. This includes baked potato with a LITTLE butter.
DAY 3: Fruit and Veggie Day – Fruits and vegetables, but no potatoes or bananas.
DAY 4: Bananas and skim milk–eat as many as 8 bananas and drink as many as 8 glasses of skim milk.
DAY 5: Beef, skinless chicken, and/or fish–as much as 20 ounces, total. You can also eat 6 tomatoes. And you must drink 8 glasses of water. Don’t forget at least one bowl of soup.
DAY 6: Beef, skinless chicken, or fish and vegetables. Drink 8 glasses of water and eat at least one bowl of soup.
DAY 7: Brown rice, vegetables, and unsweetened fruit juice.
If you’re interested in going gourmet AND losing weight, try the following suggestions, recommended by Bobbi B. from California: “To make the soup not so…so…impossible to eat three times a day; try making the first batch with red onions, red cabbage and red bell peppers, leave it chunky like a minestrone. The second batch make with yellow onions, green cabbage & green bells (I left out the tomatoes in second batch) and pureé it. The taste and texture change makes it so much more palatable. Also, on the skim milk day; add non fat plain yogurt to the soup as one of glasses of milk…tastes wonderful!!!
