Cut Calories With Soup

Start your meal with a low-cal soup.

Starting your meal with a low-cal soup may help you reduce calories, say nutrition experts at Pennsylvania State University.

After serving lunch to 60 normal-weight men and women once a week for five weeks, the researchers reported that when participants started with a soup of broth and vegetables, then waited 15 minutes before the main course, they consumed 20% fewer calories than when they did not start with soup. “Essentially any broth-based, veggie-filled soup would be good, ideally one with 100 to 150 cal per 1- to 1.5-cup serving,” says Julie Flood, Ph.D., co-author of the study. “We recommend people steer clear of cream-based soups, as the calorie counts of these soups tend to be fairly high.”

Here’s the researchers’ recipe. Combine the following to make two 1.5-cup servings (129 calories per serving).

2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup steamed broccoli
1/2 cup boiled potatoes
1/3 cup steamed cauliflower
1/4 cup steamed carrots
1 tsp. salted butter (for flavor)
Spices (such as rosemary, garlic, thyme) to enhance flavor without adding more salt or calories

Smart Pizza You would not eat two Big Macs at one sitting, but if you order your favorite pizza, do you stop at one piece? Of course not. When you order, shave off calories and saturated fats by asking for light cheese and veggie toppings. To help you calculate how much a piece of pizza sets back your diet, here is some nutritional info from Dominos.com, based on a portion size of 1 slice (1/8) medium pizza.
Pizza	Cal	Tot.Fat/Sat.Fat	Protein	Carb
Cheese Pizza, Thin Crust	140	7 gm/2.5 gm	5 gm	14 gm
Cheese Pizza, Deep Dish	220	10 gm/3.5 gm	8 gm	27 gm
Add the following toppings:
Pepperoni	40	3.5 gm/1 gm	2 gm	0
Sausage	45	3.5 gm/1.5 gm	2 gm	1 gm
Onions	0	0	0	1 gm
Green Peppers	0	0	0	0
Mushrooms	0	0	0	0
Black Olives	10	1 gm/0	0	1 gm
Pineapple	5	0	0	2 gm