If you’d like to try a Soup Diet menu, you can choose the Cabbage Soup Diet, the All-You-Can-Eat Soup Diet, or the Chicken Soup Diet. The Cabbage Soup Diet menu is not meant to be a long-term weight loss strategy, while the All-You-Can-Eat Soup Diet and the Chicken Soup can both be followed for as long as you’d like. The drawback to this category of diet is that you run the risk of getting bored or tired of soup. When that happens, you are more likely to “cheat” and eat foods that are not on the Soup Diet menu. In addition, Soup Diet menus often don’t emphasize the kind of permanent lifestyle changes that are necessary to maintain weight loss. Instead, they’re often used as a “quick fix,” which means you run the risk of regaining the weight.

The Cabbage Soup Diet is a 7-day plan that requires eating at least 4 cups of cabbage soup each day. One Day One, eat only fresh fruit (but no bananas). On Day Two, eat only low-starch vegetables, but add one large baked potato with butter at dinner. On Day Three, combine the foods from the first two days, except don’t eat the baked potato. On Day Four, you can eat up to eight bananas and drink skim milk. On Day Five, eat up to 20 ounces of lean meat or fish and six fresh tomatoes. On Day Six, eat only beef and low-starch vegetables. On Day Seven, eat brown rice and low-starch vegetables, plus unsweetened fruit juice.

With the All-You-Can-Eat Soup Diet, you begin with a basic soup recipe that makes enough for a week’s worth of soup. Then, each night, you add different ingredients for variety. For example, on the first night, heat 2 to 3 cups of soup and add 3 ounces of chicken and 3 T. of instant rice. On the second night, add 1/2 c. chickpeas, seasonings, and cheese.

The Chicken Soup Diet menu allows you to eat all of the chicken soup you want. The caveat is that you eat a small breakfast and then only eat chicken soup for the rest of the day. A typical breakfast would be yogurt with diced fruit and wheat germ; high-fiber cereal and orange juice; 1 cup of ricotta cheese, two pieces of whole-wheat toast and 3 dried figs; or a small whole-wheat bagel with fat free cheese and prune juice

• Keep yourself honest by keeping a food journal
• Asking a friend, family member or co-worker to be your diet buddy
• Exercise regularly
• Follow the Soup Diet menu to the letter
• Stay away from condiments and flavorings that contain sugar
• Season your soup so it's flavorful and so you don't get bored
• Stay motivated by posting affirmations on your refrigerator and bathroom mirror
• Celebrating your successes