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Hello Gorgeous Souls,

I am starting an “Ask HealthNutGirl” series of posts and a FAQ page on my website. So please send me your questions on FB, or email me at contact@healthnutgirl.com

Hi HealthNutGirl,

What do you think about diets like the cabbage soup diet?

~ Joyful Jennifer

Hi Joyful Jennifer,

I get that question a lot

In many forms

And I actually did the cabbage soup diet

And the grapefruit diet

And the pineapple diet

And many other diets

Diets that limit our food intake to one particular food

Or cut out a food group or two

Or give us a very limited list of food to choose from

My general approach is that if you can’t live like that for the rest of your life:

DON’T DO IT!!!            

WHY?

~ Cabbage is a great vegetable

Super healthy!

And I love cabbage soup!

But a diet that asks you to eat a particular food exclusively

For a short amount of time

For the purpose of accelerated weight loss

Will usually  result in weight gain!

You’ll eat cabbage soup

(or whatever else the diet dictates)

For a day, two, five…

You will feel deprived of everything else you’re not eating

Your body will be missing important nutrients

Your cravings will likely cause you to “break” the diet

And even if you “stuck” to it with sheer will power

And had some weight loss results

When the diet is “done”

You will probably eat everything in sight

Gain the weight back

Plus some

~ Our body is very smart

It interpret “diets” as famines

And gets better at being “fuel efficient”

Which means

More calories preserved

Less calories burned

For the purpose of helping you survive

And it all translates to:

SLOWER WEIGHT LOSS!!!

~ You can get sick of cabbage

Which will be too bad

It’s a great vegetable!

BUT WHAT ABOUT CLEANSES???

Cleanses are different than diets

They are also limiting

And are done for short periods of time

BUT THEIR PURPOSE IS DIFFERENT

While the purpose of a diet is weight loss

And the reason behind it is often

Dissatisfaction with yourself and with your body

Cleanses, if done right

Have a purpose of creating better health

And are a great way to heal a variety of health conditions

Cleanses were traditionally used as a way to increase spirituality

Many religions have cleansing and fasting rituals

There are many ways to practice cleanses

And they CAN trigger over eating and even binges

In people that have food compulsions

So I highly recommend to follow a cleanse

With the guidance of a health coach

A cleanse is NOT a good way to achieve weight loss

Even though it can result in weight loss

The only way to achieve effective and permanent weight loss

Is to create

NEW
EXCITING
DELIGHTFUL
habits

Slowly and gradually

That will help you create

And fall in love with

A healthy life!

Hope that was helpful

And please contact me at contact@healthnutgirl.com if you would like more support

Xoxoxo

~Rachel

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