End of the Shangri-la diet, and on to diet #24, the Kick Start Diet, aka 'Aussie Cabbage Soup Diet'

I will grudgingly admit that there may be some logic to the Shangri-la diet. The two-hour, 'taste-free window' twice a day prevented me from eating too much crap, and the spoonful of ELOO stopped me feeling too hungry, and made me feel like I was doing something. Small problem is that the something clearly wasn't enough, as I didn't actually lose any weight...

I have to admit that I didn't actually read the book, so I might have missed out some key things. I can probably guess how it goes, though. Three hundred or so pages: Start by establishing credentials of author (Doctor, Professor, lifestyle coach...) and then slag off all other diets (Atkins, of course, and probably Grapefruit, Weightwatchers, Cabbage Soup and Maple Syrup for good value). A few reminders about drinking water (lots), doing exercise (lots), eating sugar (not a lot), and throw in  some recipes for good measure (the more random ingredients and the worse tasting, the better). I might be being unfair, but I'm willing to stake at least a tenner on it...

On to Diet #24. I've looked at the Cabbage Soup Diet a few times. It's been around since the 80's, and been made famous by various slebs and supermodels, but mostly, it's always the source of ridicule for the other diet writers who I've been *lucky* enough to have read over the last 24 weeks (see above).

Brief explanation, if you've been living under a rock or not read a celebrity magazine recently. Make Cabbage Soup according to widely available recipe, and then on day 1, as much soup as you like, plus as much fruit as you like (excluding bananas). Day 2, unlimited cabbage soup plus vegetables including 1 baked potato with butter. Day 3 unlimited soup plus fruit and vegetables (but not potatoes or bananas), day 4, cabbage soup plus up to eight bananas (!!) and as much skimmed milk as you like. Day 5, soup plus up to 10 ounces of beef and up to six tomatoes, day 6, cabbage soup plus as much beef and vegetables (excluding potatoes) as you like, and then finally, day 7, soup again plus brown rice, vegetables (not potatoes) and unsweetened fruit juice.

I've been avoiding this as it sounds so grim, and is notorious for making the dieter gaseous. Never a good look when you commute on the tube and work in an open plan office. So when Nerissa, my lovely "step-aunty" who's in London from Australia celebrating her 40th birthday, suggested the latest craze sweeping Oz - the The Kick Start Diet - I was excited to find out more. Which is when I realised that it's just the Cabbage Soup Diet but replaced with Tomato Soup. The "Tomato Soup Diet", if you will.

But I've been kind of dying to give this a try, so now's a good excuse to start.

It's literally exactly the same as the cabbage soup diet, above, except with a slightly different soup recipe, and you can replace the beef with chicken (lucky for me, as I'm allergic to beef, but that's a story for another blog).

Here's the recipe for soup:

One packet of powdered soup mix/stock, two 800g cans of tomatoes, 3 large fresh tomatoes, 4 cups of water , bunch of celery, bunch of spring onions, 3 green capsicums (peppers), 2 cups green beans, 1kg carrots. Dice veg, add all ingredients to pot, bring to rapid boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Preparation is the key here, and I'm not at all prepared. I'll start after I've been to the supermarket tomorrow to buy the ingredients...