The Oxo Diet

A British man has lost over 200 pounds by swapping pasties for bowls of Oxo broth.

Oxo cubes are small blocks of stock that can be dropped into soups and stews.

He swapped pasties for bowls of Oxo broth every breakfast, topped up with more Oxo drinks, as well as vegetables and fruit.

Of course there was also a few other changes to Steve Kay’s life:

He said: “It was tough, but I had a lot of vegetables too and a lot of exercise.”

The diet is reminiscent of the ever popular “soup” diets that seem to fall in and out of fashion every few years.

Why Soup Diets Work

These diets work, at least short term, for one simple reason.

Calorie reduction!

There is nothing magical about Oxo stock cubes, they are just salty, beef bouillon.

In the case of the man above, he went from eating a pasty (a meat pastry) that was around 550 calories and swapped that with an oxo soup that is only 15 calories per cube.

Over the course of the week, we’re talking about major calorie reduction compared with his normal diet.

Does the Weight loss Last?

If the man mentioned was able to continue to eat more vegetables and fruit while not returning to the pasties, then perhaps.

However, most people on soup based diets eventually return to their old eating habits.

Eating Oxo soup day in a day out gets boring and the “pasties” come calling once again. Research shows that people even tend to gain more weight back than they lost with fast, low calorie, diets like this one.

Alternatives?

Slow constant weight loss is always best using diets that focus on healthy eating, smaller portions, and exercise.

Diets that are the least restrictive are usually the ones that can become lifestyle. A Popular diet like Weight Watchers is formulated with this in mind and is the reason for its ongoing success.

The Oxo Diet may seem like a quick way to lose weight, but there may be undesirable consequences with these soup based diets.