Shhhh…..It’s a secret

I think when it comes to losing weight specifically, everyone has their own method – their own little secret.  I’ve heard a number of them from friends, online websites, gym instructors, doctors, etc. All sharing their hints and tips, and swearing that theirs is the best, theirs works.   The thing is – I believe that amongst all of it, you have got to find your own – one that works for you. We’re all so different from each other – doesn’t matter how many similarities there are in our lives, appearance, genetic make-up – we’re all individuals – which is why what works for one person, even though on the face of it should work for another, doesn’t. So what’s my little tip…..my little secret…..  mine…. mine is soup.

Do you recall that saying – Breakfast like a King, lunch like a Queen and dinner like a pauper. Personally I think there’s a lot of truth in that.  I mean why the hell do you need a three course meal or even a 1 course – that’s heavy meat and two veg, plus pudding of course – at 6pm in the evening, when all you’re going to do is lounge about on a sofa for a couple of hours, before going to sleep.  There’s no opportunity at all to work-off those massive amounts of calories.  Doesn’t matter how much exercise you’ve done during the day, how physically you’ve been working – you should fuel up before. After all, you don’t fill up the car with petrol after you made the journey, no?

Now, I’m not the sharpest knife in the draw, plus like many people, sometimes you just have to arrive at the destination yourself to see the truth. When I started to think about it, I’ve realised that part of my issue with trying to lose weight was not necessarily when I was eating or even what – but how much. (although we get to the when in another post)

Having finally made my own discovery in this field, that’s when I switched to soup for dinner; and I don’t mean that stupid cabbage soup fad.  Oh cabbage soup works, but only as part of overall regime (it’s a strong word, need to find another), not on its own, and not just cabbage soup.  Ridiculous fad. I cook a cabbage soup too, don’t get me wrong, but it’s one of many varieties in my arsenal. I make a whole host of other soups – some more filling and chunky almost the consistency of stews, others light and practically drinkable, like a miso soup with few noodles. 

 The thought process being – I find soups easier to portion control.  There’s only own size bowl in my house and I only ever serve one a bowl – that’s it.  Regardless of which soup I serve – light laksa, or heavy leek and potato – it’s only ever one bowl. I batch-cook the soups once or twice a week and what is not eaten on the evening, is portioned into a 400gr capacity box and frozen, to be defrosted another evening, without having the stress of cooking, or worrying about how much I need to weigh out. Occasionally when I can’t be bothered to cook, there’s a fabulous brand of soups call Cully & Sully – oh yummination. It’s their old soup boxes that I keep for my own batch-cooking. Their soups are also very light, perfectly portioned and low in calories. It’s been a combination of my own soup-batch-cooking and the Cully & Sully smoked haddock chowder (yum, just thinking about it), that’s played a huge part in my weight loss last year.

The other thing about soups, is that by the sheer fact that they have more liquid/water in them, their calorie content is reduced – making them a lighter meal, and thus allowing me to still have my sweet fix in the shape of a biscuit and 2 pieces of celebrations a bit later on. 

I know some people find soups boring and how can you just eat soup for dinner every night.  Well – I don’t think of it as soup – it’s a meal.  That’s it.  Plus, my soup cooking has expanded to cover almost all corners of the world, and I’ve even experimented with making certain stews into a more soupy consistency, e.g. chilli con-carne.  With that one, I throw a handful of rice into the pot, to bulk it up, but in the end it’s still not as heavy as a chilli-con-carne meal.  I mean, have a think about it – most of us, if we have a chilli-con-carne dinner –  that usually involves several big spoons of heavy chilli, plus rice, on a big plate.  Often there are some extras – creme fraiche, cheese, maybe some nachos.  Make that into a soup – and it becomes a smaller meal.

But shhh…….don’t tell anyone, soup is my secret. What’s yours?

BTW. Cully and Sully sometimes share some of their recipes on their website. Really easy to follow. Don’t want to put these guys out of business – and unlikely, as there are days when I still can’t be bothered to cook and they are my go to comfort – but I can highly recommend. If you like fish – their Smoked Salmon & haddock chowder – finger licking good.