Souped Up and Sensible: Make Soup Your Secret Weapon

By Catherine Saxelby

Are you trying to lose weight but can’t stomach the thought of flavourless broth every day? Have you found fasting diets impossible to maintain? Catherine Saxelby’s Souped Up and Sensible will help you lose those unwanted kilos while enjoying nutritious, tasty soups.

There’s lots of research showing that soup is a dieter’s best friend, filling you up and keeping you satisfied, but what does this mean for your calorie or kilojoule count? And just how often could you really eat it, anyway? Catherine Saxelby explains how soup can fit any diet or fasting regime, as well as how to keep it interesting, tasty and nutritious.


With sections on how and why soup works for weight loss, and how to choose the best supermarket varieties, this guide is packed with simple recipes and suggestions so you can make your own from scratch or grab something quick from the cupboard. Discover how easy it is to make a nourishing, chunky version out of whatever you have in the fridge, and make soup part of your regular meal plan.

Dieting doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to mean giving up all your comfort foods. Let’s face it, there’s nothing more soothing than tucking into a steaming bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day, but whatever the latest fads claim, losing weight doesn’t mean you have to miss out. Souped Up and Sensible shows you how even the heartiest soup can be a secret weapon for weight loss.

Catherine Saxelby is an Australian accredited dietitian and nutritionist who is a trusted ‘voice of reason' in a world full of food fads, extreme diets and trendy super fruits.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Foodwatch Pty Ltd
• Release date: Jul 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9780987552136

Catherine Saxelby

Catherine Saxelby B Sc, Grad Dip Nutr Dietetics, APD, AN is Sydney-based culinary nutritionist and award-winning author of 12 books. She has contributed to many magazines such as Healthy Food Guide, Prevention and New Idea, and has appeared on TV programs including Good Morning Australia and Today. She runs an informational website at www.foodwatch.com.au where she shares her discoveries about nutrition, diets and additives. Connect with Catherine on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Book preview

About Souped Up and Sensible

Are you trying to lose weight but can’t stomach the thought of flavourless broth every day? Have you found fasting diets impossible to maintain? Catherine Saxelby’s Souped Up and Sensible will help you lose those unwanted kilos while enjoying nutritious, tasty soups.

There’s lots of research showing that soup is a dieter’s best friend, filling you up and keeping you satisfied, but what does this mean for your calorie or kilojoule count? And just how often could you really eat it, anyway? Catherine Saxelby explains how soup can fit any diet or fasting regime, as well as how to keep it interesting, tasty and nutritious.

With sections on how and why soup works for weight loss, and how to choose the best supermarket varieties, this guide is packed with simple recipes and suggestions so you can make your own from scratch or grab something quick from the cupboard. Discover how easy it is to make a nourishing, chunky version out of whatever you have in the fridge, and make soup part of your regular meal plan.

Dieting doesn’t have to be hard and it doesn’t have to mean giving up all your comfort foods. Let’s face it, there’s nothing more soothing than tucking into a steaming bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day, but whatever the latest fads claim, losing weight doesn’t mean you have to miss out. Souped Up and Sensible shows you how even the heartiest soup can be a secret weapon for weight loss.

Catherine Saxelby is an Australian accredited dietitian and nutritionist who is a trusted ‘voice of reason' in a world full of food fads, extreme diets and trendy super fruits.

Disclaimer

The information contained in this book is of a general nature and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. The publisher and author accept no liability for damages arising from information in this book. Always consult your doctor or an accredited practicing dietitian (APD) for advice specific to your individual health requirements.

This book is dedicated to Gordana, who lovingly makes the best vegetable soup I’ve ever tasted.

‘Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.’

Robert Bresson 1901–1999

French film director and screenwriter

Measurement

All figures in this book are given in both kilojoules and in Calories. These are both just the units used to measure food energy – the metric kilojoules (abbreviated to kJ) and the older Imperial Calories (Cals). Like other food scientists, I use the capital C as shorthand for the longer-but-more-correct term kilocalories. So Calories with the capital simply stands for kilocalories.

Kilojoules are smaller units than Calories. One Calorie equals 4.186 kilojoules (4.2 or simply 4 is close enough for a quick conversion). For example, a slice of bread supplies some 290 kilojoules or (290 divided by 4) 70 Calories.

CONTENTS

About Souped Up and Sensible

Disclaimer

Dedication

Epigraph

Measurement

1. Hello and welcome from Catherine

2. 10 reasons why soup is your weight-loss friend

3. Why a soup diet? Where did the idea come from?

4. How the Kickstart Diet put soup firmly on the diet map in Australia

5. Rely on the facts, not the soup fads!

6. Why soup works

7. Using soup sensibly

8. My Ultimate Vegetable Soup

9. 10 more easy, low-kilojoule soups

10. The run-down on chilled, canned, dried and instant soups

11A. Appendix 1: Nutritional guidelines on soup

11B. Appendix 2: Nutrition analyses in detail for the soups

12. References

13. Credits

About Catherine Saxelby

Copyright

1. Hello and welcome from Catherine

Thank you for buying this book.

I’ve always loved soup and I’ve cooked a heap of it over the years, except when our kids were young. For some strange reason, they were reluctant to eat it – perhaps they were suspicious of what might lie unseen at the bottom of the bowl. I never figured it out (and they’ve never told me), but I’m pleased to report both are now hearty, healthy twenty-somethings and love nothing more than a big bowl of Mum’s lentil and veg, or pea and ham, soup!

To my way of thinking, soup is the comfort food par excellence, particularly in the colder months, when it warms your hands as well as your insides. It has all the elements of my ideal food – it’s quick to prepare (if you make it ahead), it contains very few kilojoules (Calories), it’s high in fibre, and it’s easy to incorporate lots of vegetables so you can easily reach that goal of 5 a day. Not bad, I think you’ll agree.

What’s wrong with the Cabbage Soup Diet?

When you say ‘soup diet’ everyone’s thoughts immediately go to the Cabbage or Kickstart Soup Diet. And, you may ask, what’s wrong with that?

Well, first let me say that people on the Cabbage Soup Diet do tend to lose weight while they’re on it. However, it’s not a healthy, balanced way of eating – and it’s so boring that it’s definitely not sustainable. What’s more, it teaches you nothing about eating well or maintaining a healthy weight long-term. It also encourages yo-yo dieting, which can put a strain on your heart and can also ultimately lead to increased weight gain.

That’s why I’ve written this book. It capitalises on the fact that soup is filling for fewer