eating soup before a meal= weight loss??

okay i read this is Cosmo one time, yeah i know its not the most reliable source for diet tips. but i was wondering is this just because it helps you get fuller quicker? like the soup has lower calories than your meal so you end up eating less of the higher calorie stuff since you are already full? or is there another reason for this? or is it just crap? thanks!

It's like you said, it just helps you control your appetite. The key is to eat a broth based soup, rather than something creamy or heavy.

thank you fadeaway. it did make sense to me as long as it is a lower calorie soup (like you said, the broth based ones). The soup i eat is about 200-350 cals. i normally cant eat much after the soup anyways. I needed some confirmation on it and you helped :)

Make sure to wath the sodium level of the soup you are eating if you plan to eat it often. Many broth based soups are high in sodium and can cause water retention.

The idea is that soup, the lower calorie option, fills you up so that you are less hungry by the time you get to the rest of your food and don't eat as much?

For myself, I know that one of my issues is that I have very little internal cues when it comes to portion control. I can eat well past when i should have been "full". As do many people. I have found that the most effective means of controlling portions is to be super aware of what I am eating. I weigh and measure everything, I make balanced meals and make sure they are close to my daily targets of carbs, protein, fat, fibre, and sodium. I eat what I have calculated is the right amount for a person of my height/weight/age/sex/weight loss goals. I do not depend on "full" cues, with or without soup, because i know from experience that I can't trust my body with that.

The only advantage I can possibly see with the soup thing is that you are getting extra veggies into your diet, if its a veg soup. Other than that....if you think this theory would actually work for you...you would be better off having a couple of glasses of water before dinner. You will get that same temporary full effect and not have all the added sodium.