Soup diet

troelsandtheis

Soup tends to be filling due to the broth. You'd get the same effect if you drank a complete glass of water with a solid meal. A soup diet may help with appetite suppression, but it's still all about calories in/out, no matter which way you slice it.

Actually you don't get the same effect. I saw some tests about this on a medical science programme a few years ago and the took two identical meals. One they blended with a glass of water to make a soup of sorts, one they ate solid followed by a glass of water. The people who had the soup version stayed fuller for much longer. Can't quite figure out why as it all goes down the same!

jr235

I eat a lot of soup. We probably have soup with our meal nearly every day. I think its a great tool for weight loss and maintaining weight. Some people want to have air popped popcorn as a snack, but I prefer soup.

Bonus, soup is really easy, can go straight in the crock pot, and kids usually like it. My knowledge of pureed soups has gone through the roof since having a kid.

I wouldn't do anything drastically different from how you would normally live your life.The key there is drastically. But if you like soup anyways and all you're doing is subbing a portion of a meal with a bowl of low calorie soup I don't see how that is so drastically different from what you are normally doing.

troelsandtheis

I rely a lot on soups when dieting as they're delicious, satisfying, filling and as long as you're not choosing silly high fat ingredients then they're very low in calories. I love soup! I'll generally have soup for one meal of the day then I have more calories to play with with the rest of the day plus I know I can have a few snacks throughout the day - I normally have crackerbread with avocado hummous if I feel like I want something 'solid' after my soup. On days when I eat soup it feels so easy sticking to my calories, like so easy that I feel like I must have logged something incorrectly or cheated because I'm not hungry and I can graze on things all day if I am.

If you make your own soups then obviously you can control the butter/oil/salt in them (I have next to none, and I never add salt to anything) BUT if you by ready made soups this is when the sodium is an issue. I couldn't believe how much sodium was in a pot of store bought soup - but now I realise all prepackaged food is like this and now I feel terrible for the amount I used to eat! So home soups are much better but if you're sticking with store bought I wouldn't have them for more than one meal in your day.

Whatever works for you anyway. I don't see soup as a staple being a fad diet at all but like I say I have it one meal per day (but I also have a smoothie for breakfast so I guess 2/3 of my day is liquid). They're a great way to get your vegetable quota and lovely and warming. Whatever works for you as long as you're getting your recommended calories each day.

bcattoes

Thanks to all the sensible suggestions!
I knew I'd get some stick about wanting a 'diet' rather than healthy eating everyday.

Everyone who is losing weight is on a "diet", whether they like the word or not. Restricting calories for weight loss is what dieting means.

Most of those against your plan seem to have no reason other than they wouldn't like it. "I hate soup, so you shouldn't eat soup." "I would be miserable if I did it, so you shouldn't do it"

There is nothing wrong with a soup diet if that's what you want to do. But your second sentence quoted above is a little worrisome. Whether you eat soup or some other food, you should still eat healthy. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about soup.

SoDamnHungry

It's not about eating healthy, it's about eating less calories than you burn. Do that and you can eat soup or any other food.

SLLRunner

Thanks to all the sensible suggestions!
I knew I'd get some stick about wanting a 'diet' rather than healthy eating everyday.

Everyone who is losing weight is on a "diet", whether they like the word or not. Restricting calories for weight loss is what dieting means.

I hate the word "diet" because of its association with food type restriction when I was a kid and young adult. The egg diet, the soup diet, the slim fast diet, etc. etc. However, after much argument with the wonderful folks of MFP, even I have to admit that calorie restriction to drop weight, even if it is just less food rather than cutting out certain foods, is a diet.

So, I've resolved to say it really took a lifestyle change to get me to stick to a diet long enough to lose my 44 pounds to where I learned how to maintain my weight.

fwhittaker

Yep. I lost 7kg in one week doing a 7 day soup diet. Crazy right? Well it was kind of like a liver cleanse diet in that you basically eat vegetables and water in the form of all sorts of different soups. Seriously I'm not into fads at all. After hearing all about it from my brother who really liked it, I thought I'd give it a try. I LOVED it.

2kg came back on in the next couple of days which the fluid I had lost coming back, but I quickly lost that again using MFP and a 1200 calorie limit.

So.... its obviously a VERY low calorie diet, which, as all of us know is not healthy in the long term and can do weird things to your metabolism... BUT it was a really great kick start for me. I wasn't hungry at all, gained a lot of energy, and most exciting of all, I COMPLETELY lost the terrible food cravings I was having on a daily basis. Now, on my balanced diet using MFP, I'm finding it so much easier to completely abstain from fatty and sugary foods. OH and no alcohol cravings either.

I don't think it's for everyone and you have to be careful and make sure you ease back into eating meat and carbs (otherwise your body will just suck up the calories).

Anyhoo.... there you go. True story.

skittle316

If you can't sustain it for the rest of your life, don't start you'll never keep the weight off.

wannakimmy

Hi all. Does anyone think I would lose weight doing a soup diet?
I'm not talking about a silly cabbage soup diet or anything like that, I mean homemade soups packed full of fresh vegetables, chicken, beef, maybe even the odd nut.

And before anyone pipes up about needing to learn healthy eating habits, I have no problem there, I usually am a sensible eater. I need to lose 2 and a half stone I gained during twin pregnancy and I just need something to kick me up the bum and spur me on. So has anyone tried living off healthy soups? Did you lose much weight?

I'm desperate to get back to my old self!

I did not do a "just soup" diet, but I did bring soup as my lunch every day for 7 months. I made a variety of flavors and froze them, so I could bring a different one daily if I wanted. It was good and filling, but after 7 months, I had my limit for soup. I am currently looking for different ideas for lunch for work. Brought stir fry last week... It was a great change and very much needed. Soups can be very nutritious, I just wouldn't want to see you get sick of it... We should be doing things that will be sustainable in the long run. Remember slow and steady wins the race. You can do this OP.

fwhittaker

Hey ho again.

Just wanted to let you know that you do transition out of it, slowly introducing meat etc back. I didn't starve my self at all. There were too many soups and too much variety. I also took a multivitamin while I was on it.

It's six weeks later - one week of soups and five weeks of MFP, and I've lost 11 kgs. My fat% has gone down by 7%. The soup diet didn't need to be something that you sustain for the rest of your life. It's not meant for that. It's just supposed to be a cleanse and a kick-start.

Although it's not healthy for you to eat such a low calorie intake on an ongoing basis, the general thought out there is that it's good for your body to be derprived of calories for short periods now and again. After all, we were once cave men who didn't eat every day.

Sabine_Stroehm

Thanks to all the sensible suggestions!
I knew I'd get some stick about wanting a 'diet' rather than healthy eating everyday.

Everyone who is losing weight is on a "diet", whether they like the word or not. Restricting calories for weight loss is what dieting means.

Most of those against your plan seem to have no reason other than they wouldn't like it. "I hate soup, so you shouldn't eat soup." "I would be miserable if I did it, so you shouldn't do it"

There is nothing wrong with a soup diet if that's what you want to do. But your second sentence quoted above is a little worrisome. Whether you eat soup or some other food, you should still eat healthy. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about soup.

Such a sensible woman.

Sabine_Stroehm

If you can't sustain it for the rest of your life, don't start you'll never keep the weight off.

Why? Why must he eat soup for the rest of his life?

365andstillalive

Thanks to all the sensible suggestions!
I knew I'd get some stick about wanting a 'diet' rather than healthy eating everyday.

I have already lost 6lb so far through sticking to a 1200 calorie a day intake but because I haven't noticed a difference in myself, I feel disheartened. That probably makes no sense at all to most of you.
I guess I wanted something that would give me a quick result so I can see a difference, therefore spurring me on to carry on with the healthy lifestyle.

And I was always a size 10 before pregnancy... Through a healthy lifestyle so I do know how to eat a sensible diet. The only reason I piled on the pounds was through my pregnancy and having a hard time after while my babies were in hospital for 4 months.... I ended up comfort eating and eating late at night because I was at the hospital all day....
Maybe some people on here should think of people's circumstances before posting a comment.
I didn't gain weight through pure gluttony.

But thanks for all your info, all the comments were helpful in their own way.

Please calculate your BMR and TDEE. Unless you're incredibly short with a very small frame, you're eating too little, which could be stalling your weight loss.

If your BMR is somehow actually around 1200, I apologize, but it's a very small percentage of the population that needs that few calories to sustain themselves.

Iwishyouwell

I wouldn't do an exclusive soup diet personally, but I am surprised more people don't utilize soups in their weight loss journeys. Soups are extremely filling and a great way to get a taste of a variety of different foods without dealing with a high calorie meal (unless you really want to make the soap high calorie).

There's a reason why soups are served regularly in places, or times, when food is scarce. It's a great way to fill you up even if the calories aren't plentiful. Seems like dieters dream.

brewinggirl_butskinnier

Not as your sole diet if that's what you're asking but for me soup is a pretty darn tasty way to eat a lot of veggies. I also make my from scratch, use small amounts of lean meat and try to keep it low sodium.

It's a pretty good lunch.

aliciadavidson36

Some people can be so rude! I am on here looking at soup ideas as I have my Wedding in Sept so need to loose weight over winter(only want to loose around 5-10kg), winter is my downfall in my healthy eating. So thought soup would be easier, thanks to everyone who was positive about the soup diets, Ill definitely only be on a "diet" for my wedding, after that Im happy with my normal size

Alatariel75

Strong first post on a near-year old topic. So crash dieting should be encouraged if it's for an event only? If you're happy with your normal weight, why wouldn't you be happy to be that weight for your wedding?

Sued0nim

why would taking food and making it a soup be any different

if you like soup eat it - I find it less filling than chewable food personally

just stick to your calories with an eye on your macros

Sued0nim

JumboGembo wrote: »

Thanks to all the sensible suggestions!
I knew I'd get some stick about wanting a 'diet' rather than healthy eating everyday.

I have already lost 6lb so far through sticking to a 1200 calorie a day intake but because I haven't noticed a difference in myself, I feel disheartened. That probably makes no sense at all to most of you.
I guess I wanted something that would give me a quick result so I can see a difference, therefore spurring me on to carry on with the healthy lifestyle.

And I was always a size 10 before pregnancy... Through a healthy lifestyle so I do know how to eat a sensible diet. The only reason I piled on the pounds was through my pregnancy and having a hard time after while my babies were in hospital for 4 months.... I ended up comfort eating and eating late at night because I was at the hospital all day....
Maybe some people on here should think of people's circumstances before posting a comment.
I didn't gain weight through pure gluttony.

But thanks for all your info, all the comments were helpful in their own way.

OK look - we all have reasons we were overweight .. and many of them for many of us can tug at your heartstrings .. but it boils down to one simple fact - you need to lose weight because you ate too much

circumstances don't matter and don't give you any special dispensation

there are no quick results, it takes time and continually focusing on your goals

there is just commit and do