Hi everyone!

I am trying to learn portion sizes and what is reasonable - to eat enough, but not too much.

What would you consider a good size for a portion of vegetable soup? One cup with a salad? 2 cups when it's the meal itself?

What is a good size to feel full, but lose weight?

I think it depends on the soup and on the person eating it. If you are eating canned soup, the nutrition label should tell you how much is considered a portion. You should eat when you are hungry and stop when satisfied, not stuffed. A cup of vegetable soup and a salad would probably be a good lunch, but for dinner, you would probably need more to be sure you don't get hungry again in a little while. Also, if it is just vegetable soup and you eat a salad with it, there is no protein in your meal. You should have a serving of protein with it if it is dinner. Hope this helps.

hi agree with wannabehealthy that there are different circumstances and different soups!
You're right lotsbutstilltrying that it's difficult to know what's appropriate.
But then, what's a portion anyway? And what does it mean? If you have a portion of soup and a portion of bread and a portion of sausages and a portion of chips and a portion of icecream is that all ok because you've had the recommended amount for each thing? No, it's not - two portions of soup on their own would have been better for a dieting goal.
But a cup of soup (250ml) sounds quite light-on to me, and if I was just having soup i'd have more. But consider your total food for the day. (Not easy either if you're unfamiliar with these things! I personally count calories in everything, which is maybe a bit old-school, but working for me)
Sorry that's probably not a very enlightening response, but great to see you're starting to figure this out and asking the right questions.

thank you both, I will keep working towards both listening to my body and also finding appropriate portion sizes