Eat Soup, Not That!

This is a quick tip ahead of your lunch break – eat a soup!

I’m a massive proponent of soup – it’s a quick and easy meal, it’s warm and when it’s home made, it’s an easy way to cram in a whole load of vegetables into one hit. Not only that, but soup is known to keep you fuller for longer.

In another part of this blog, I share all kinds of recipes that I cook at home. They aren’t from books – they are tried and tested by myself, so I know they work or they taste good and they work. I have posted over 30 recipes in the section, 5 of which are soups.

Click here for soup recipes.

I know you won’t always have time to make your own, but now most work places have a microwave and the supermarkets have upped their game in terms of the soups they offer. I particularly like the Waitrose Soups and Tesco do a few good ones too.

Since it’s post-Christmas and we are all feeling a bit chubby, soup for lunch is a great way of saving a bunch of calories every day. I have been eating different soups from this range at Tesco…

This soup has a clean sweep of ‘greens’ in the traffic light system foods are labelled with in the UK – says it’s healthy!

Soup is really tasty, it’s hot (always nice in the winter), far more appealing a cold sandwich put together in a factory using poor ingredients and weighs in at a fraction of the calories. There are also vegetables in most soups, improving the nutrient profile. Oh and it’s cheaper too (this was on offer for £1.20, but usually it’s £1.99-£2.49).

In the petrol station earlier I quickly looked at the calories in the sandwiches for sale – they ranged from 300-600 calories, but were sold in a meal deal which added crisps and a drink. You’d be looking at best part of 800 calories for your lunch. Not a crazy amount, but you could eat this whole soup and still only have consumed 378 calories.

Saving nearly 400 calories per day would add up to 20,800 calories per year, or in fat terms, enough to lose 6lbs without changing a single extra thing. Eat soup, lose weight. Simple eh?

Financially, if you worked 245 days per year (calculated by 49 weeks x 5 days per week) and usually spent £4 on your lunch, you could buy one of these soups at £2.49 (top price) and save nearly £400 per year on your usual lunch.

The afternoons would be far easier at work too. If you usually have a sandwich for lunch and feel tired in the afternoons, swap to a high protein, low carb soup such as chicken and vegetable and you’ll notice a massive difference in your afternoon energy levels.

You may be sceptical about eating soup and wondering whether or not it would fill you up, but give it a go. You’ll be surprised at the calories and money you save.

If you want to make soup at home, try this tool…