This particular article has been requested so many times, it has almost become and annual event all on its own. Obesity is the scourge of the developed world, and I am not pointing fingers at any one country in particular. Our diets are far from healthy, and the death rate from heart attacks is intimately related to diet.
The interest in this diet came after I noticed a friend of mine had dropped some weight. “Fifteen kilos in two months,” was his proud reply. He had done this by following a diet – and one that had obviously worked! This is put forward as a seven day diet, and although I am not always in favor of ‘crash’ diets, this one does merit some study. It is reputedly from Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital and is used in their cardiac care unit for overweight patients to lose weight prior to surgery.
It states the first no-no’s as being bread, alcohol, soft drinks, fried food or oil. Agree totally. Unfortunately, for a number of people, those no-no’s are their everyday dietary items!
After that there is a concoction called Fat-Burning Soup (FBS) which you make up and keep in the fridge. You can have as much FBS any time you feel hungry and have as much as you want. You are also advised to drink plenty of water – 6 to 8 glasses a day along with tea, coffee, skim milk, unsweetened juice or cranberry juice.
The physiology of hunger works that when the stomach is empty, messages are sent to the brain to send down food. Fill the belly with non-fattening food and the hunger pangs will be less, but the weight does not go on.
Here is the recipe for the Fat-Burning Soup:
4 cloves garlic
2 large cans crushed tomatoes (810gms)
2 large cans beef consommé
1 packet vegetable packet soup
1 bunch spring onions
1 bunch celery
2 cans French beans (or fresh)
2 green capsicum
1kg carrots
10 cups water
Chop all veggies into small pieces. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes stirring well and then simmer until veggies are tender. Add water if necessary to make a thinner soup.
Now the other downside to dieting if food boredom. A week of FBS, water and cranberry juice will sap the resolve of most overweight people, so what this diet does is allow you to add different items on a daily basis. Here are the suggestions.
Day 1, any fruit except bananas. Eat only soup and fruit today.
Day 2, all vegetables. Eat as much as you like of fresh, raw or canned vegetables. Try to eat green leafy vegetables. Stay away from dry beans, peas, and corn. Eat vegetables along with soup. At dinner reward yourself with a jacket potato and butter.
Day 3, eat all the soup, fruit and veggies you want today. Don’t have the jacket potato today. If you have not cheated you should have lost approx 3 kg.
Day 4, bananas and skim milk. Eat at least 3 large bananas and drink as much milk as you can today. Eat as much soup as you want. Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates, as is the milk but you will need the potassium and carbohydrates today.
Day 5, beef and tomatoes. You may have 600 gm of beef or chicken (no skin) and as many as 6 tomatoes. Eat soup at least once.
Day 6, beef and vegetables. Eat to your hearts content of beef and veggies. You can even have 2-3 steaks (grilled) if you like with leafy green vegetables. No baked potato. Be sure to eat soup at least once.
Day 7, brown rice, vegetables, fruit juice. Be sure to eat well and eat as much soup as you can.
By the end of day 7, if you have not cheated, you should have lost 7 kg. The theory is good, but I caution against losing too much, too soon.
