I read recently that Arnold Schwarzenegger eats soup for dinner several nights a week. At 75 years of age, he’s rockin’ it pretty well, so I decided to look into “souping” it! Souping incorporates healthful soups as a regular staple in your diet.
Benefits of Souping:
- Digestive re-boot and de-bloat
- Water weight and volume satisfies hunger without calories
- Gastric emptying slowed by binding water into food–keeps stomach full longer
- Comfort food
- Easy prep
- Easy cleanup
- Cheap
- Can lever it up with leftovers or other ingredients
I’ve started eating soup for dinner three nights a week, and I’m loving it! The typical can of soup only has about 250 calories. I add water for volume. Because 250 calories is such a low base, I have plenty of room to lever it up. For example, to various premade soups I have added ingredients such as whole wheat penne noodles, green beans, black beans, a pinch of shredded cheese, a dollop of low fat sour cream, and pieces of whole wheat tortillas. I also usually kick it up a notch with cayenne pepper and ground black pepper. Even when I add ingredients, two deep bowls of soup still come in under 500 calories, combined. Satisfying, nutritious, and low cal!
One variable I’m still figuring out is sodium content, which trends high in many premade soups. I’ll need to spend some time in the soup aisle hunting for low sodium soups. What could be more fun that that!?!
With Love,
P. Gustav Mueller, author of the Present
Relevant link:
Should you try ‘souping’?, by Lisa Drayer, CNN