Do you remember the old cabbage soup diet?  Maybe you have heard of it but have no idea what the diet actually entails?  Well, I want to tell you that it is not just cabbage soup, which will come as a relief to some.  But that doesn’t mean it hasn’t got all of the great qualities which make it a classic fad diet.  Yet, it may actually work to kickstart your weight loss, if used correctly.  Critics of this diet say it isn't a balanced way to eat and it's dangerous since it's low in fat and calories. But let’s get one thing straight: eating less than normal for one week is unlikely to hurt anybody.  Here’s what it entails:

Day One: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas) plus the soup.

Day Two: Eat vegetables, all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice but stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter.

Day Three: Mix of Days One and Two, no baked potato.

Day Four: Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat up to eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup.

Day Five: Beef And Tomatoes: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water this day to wash the uric acid from your body. Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked chicken (no skin) instead of beef.

Day Six: Beef and Vegetables: Eat to your heart's content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day Seven: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Be sure to eat your soup at least once today.

Clearly it has the pattern of a fad diet but here are some of the benefits:

• It doesn't require a lot of special foods or supplements

• It's good to cut back on white bread and desserts

• Most people feel better when they cut back on food intake

• The scale does drop about 10 pounds in a week

• The real benefit to a plan like this is the fast results can motivate you to make eating and lifestyle changes