Weight Loss – Why Women Cannot Live On Soup Alone

One of the issues we face dieting is learning how to manage
hunger. Whether its that mid afternoon slump, or mid morning
cravings, being hungry for too long is a fast way to derail all
our good intentions to turn over a new lettuce leaf.

Different strategies have in the past been proposed to deal with
hunger. Some people find drinking a glass of water every time
they are hungry helps. The model Gisele Bundchen is a real
advocate of this approach. And judging by her stunning figure,
she’s a good poster girl for increasing your fluid intake. Water
has many benefits for the body, and people often simply don’t
drink enough. There’s even a book on the subject that presents
the view that many diseases in old age are related to a kind of
entrenched state of dehydration (“Your Body’s Many Cries for
Water” by F.Batmanghelid,MD).

Whilst diets composed mainly of soups are fairly common (think
the Cabbage Soup diet and Liz Hurley’s favorite, the Watercress
Soup Diet), this is not the healthiest way to approach soup. Nor
is it likely to lead to long tern success. Diets that focus on
just one vegetable or type of food are not only very boring to
go on, they do not provide the range of nutrients that the body
needs to function well. Could hunger actually be the body’s way
of saying, ‘I need some nutrients’. Sustainable weight loss is
not achieved by setting up an unrealistic eating plan that is
painful to follow for more than a week and leaves you
fantasizing about food all the time. Unless of course you don’t
mind going to bed hungry for two years like Liz did after her
son was born.

Starvation and nutrient restriction lead to loss of muscle mass
and bone density. Not to mention fatigue and other possible
health problems if followed long term.

The irony is that soups, including cabbage soup and watercress
soup, are really good for you. They are easy to digest, and can
be prepared ahead and frozen. That way you have a low kilojoule
snack that is often high in fiber ready at the helm as a quick
pick-me-up when hunger strikes between meals.

And some soups have surprising health benefits. For example, the
Japanese Miso soup has been linked with preventing liver cancer,
breast cancer and skin cancer, with theories also proposed about
a benefit to skin due to linoleic acid. Whether this is found to
be true, it is a delicious base for your favorite vegetables,
and very easy to prepare from scratch. It takes only about ten
minutes to prepare, and when garnished with grated ginger is a
fantastic energizing soup when you are tired.

Neither soup nor water alone will lead to weight loss, and
neither should these strategies be used to extremes and become a
substitute for following a healthy, balanced diet. But they
provide a way to minimize excursions into old habits we are
trying to change as we address the lifestyle choices that led to
gaining excess weight in the first place. And by providing the
nutrients your body actually needs, you’ll be creating a change
in the quality of life experienced day to day.

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