Soup is the ultimate comfort food, but if you are watching your weight it can also be your biggest downfall. While it might appear to be a healthy option on the outside, soup will not help you lose weight if it is high in calories and loaded with fat. Repeat out loud: “Liquid form does not equal diet friendly!”
Research has shown that people who start a meal with soup eat 20 percent fewer calories over the course of their meal. But while starting your meal off with a bowl of soup might seem like a healthy idea, many soups on restaurant menus contain as many (or more!) calories and fat as the entrees themselves. That means you could be weighing yourself down with 700 calories and way to many grams of fat before your entrée even arrives. Just for some quick examples one serving of New England Clam Chowder at Panera is 630 calories and 54 grams of fat. Cream of tomato and basil at Cheesecake Factory is 427 calories and 34 grams of fat. Even California Pizza Kitchen’s tortilla soup is 480 calories and 32 grams of fat. These 3 examples alone can sabotage a day for someone trying to lose or maintain their weight.
If soup is one of your favorite foods, stick to cream-free vegetable soups or clear broth soups, and read the nutritional value and serving size whenever possible. Soup is an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, and there are so many delicious and healthy soup varieties that can help you lose weight because of the fiber and water-rich veggies. My go-to when the weather starts to get chilly is my FittChick Almost Zero Calorie Vegetable Soup. And if you aren’t sure about the nutritional info of your favorite soups, click HERE to make sure you are making smart choices. If you want to EAT MORE & WEIGHT LESS, healthy soups can help you lose weight by filling you up and keeping you full.
Eat Yourself Skinny!