Oh, hey I always forget about Pacific Natural Foods (thank for reminding me Jill.) They make a good butternut squash soup too. Yummy!

That is brand of soup is basically what my recipe is based on! I love those soups. They are so easy, healthy and adaptable! There is another brand that makes the same type of soups but I can't recall the name.

EDIT: It is "Imagine" that's the brand name! They make great organic and vegan low fat soups :)

Vegetables really fill me the most. I can get a huge plateful for very few calories. Much more so then fruit. For lunch I eat 3 cups of cooked cauliflower almost every day. For breakfast it's a combo of Fiber One Cereal and Kashi Go Lean cereal. EXTREMELY filling.

Protein can't be beat as well. I eat grilled chicken breast or fish every single night with veggies.

:carrot: On behalf of your colon, let me say "Way to go!" :D

Seriously, cruciferous veggies are one of the best things we can include in our diets to help prevent many cancers, keep regular and be healthy!

I just have to say, i disagree with Bargoo. You in fact CAN NOT assume because it is creamy it is bad. :nono: I make LOTS of "creamy" things that stay within my calorie range. From soups to dressings to dips. Creamy does not always = out of calorie range. :dizzy: I find creamy stuff much more to my personal liking than watery stuff. Sorry Bargoo but i dont think it is ever wise to make a blanket statement like that, saying Creamy = bad is kind of presumptive isnt it? ;)

Yup, 3 cups of cauliflower has 12 grams of fiber. Which is what makes it so satifying and filling. AND healthy. Great stuff.

Ugh. I have a firm principle: I eat NO members of the cabbage family. 3 cups of cauliflower each day sounds like a form of torture!

But I'll grant you that that is alot of fiber and a TON of volume for the calories :)

For me NOT eating 3 cups of cauliflower a day would be torture. I couldn't imagine what I would replace it with that is just as tasty, healthy and satifying. In fact had I not eaten as much cauliflower as I have, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have lost as much weight as I have. And then of course there's the brussel sprouts that I have about 2 x a week, broccoli about 4 x a week and cabbage salad which I have once a week. I'm sorry that you feel so strongly about it. We all have to stick to our principles after all. But ya know, one person's torture is another person's pleasure. Different strokes for different folks and all that stuff. :smug:

I'll vote for protein. Keeps me feeling full longer. Egg whites, protein powder, ff cottage cheese, tuna, sardines, salmon ....

It varies with me personally.

I like cauliflower, but only in small amounts, and on rare occasions. :lol: I couldn't do Robin's 3 cups a day. ;)

Here are some of my staples...I am more of a fruit person than a veggie person, though. :D

~Strawberries-they are one of the higher fiber, lower calorie fruits. 45 calories and 3.9 grams of fiber for 1 cup. I often eat 2 cups of them with a cup of vanilla flavor yogurt (100 calories) for a total of 190 calories for the mini-meal, and I am full.

~Green beans-a very low calorie veggie. I like them steamed best, with a small amount of salt/pepper.

~Oatmeal

~Blueberries-also a lower calorie fruit, very high in antioxidants as well. If you feel like cheating and having pie, put some in a bowl with a dash of Splenda, and microwave until they are cooked through. Tastes like pie filling. :)

~A slice of whole wheat toast, with 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter. (about 200 calories for the mini-meal)



I personally have to avoid refined carbs, and things with high fructose corn syrup in them, because they make me want to eat more/have more cravings later. But, I also have issues with eating only protein/veggies, because if I don't have carbs a few times a day, I am left unsatisfied. So, fruit and whole grains are the only carbs I will eat on most occasions-no white bread/pasta/rice, etc. It all has to be whole grains, or carbs from fruit and veggies. Sugary stuff and refined carbs means binging for me later...

I also have to have a little protein, and a little fat at each meal to be satisfied.

While I generally make healthy choices, I do have the 'hunger' problem some days where I just don't feel as satiated as I like to feel. It always amazes me to read posts where people say things like, "Boy, I had to really force myself to eat a handful of almonds so I could get over a 1,000 calories today." I NEVER ever have that problem until I am very ill. I try to stay between 1200-1400 a day, of course some days I do better than others. I do like to get the most bang for my buck calorie-wise and try not to waste calories on drinks, processed foods, etc.

Anyway, Robin, I've been wondering for a while how you prepare your daily cauliflower? I do fortunately love veggies and eat lots, but I could add more cauliflower to my diet. HOw do you fix and eat it?

Thanks!

I've lately gotten into lentils. Filling, high in fiber, good nutritional stats, and tasty to boot.

Stacy, please note, I actually said,Creamy soups with croutons =lots of calories. I never said creamy soups are bad. It is a fact that cream soups contain more calories than clear soups. As a general rule clear soups are a better choice,if one wants to consume more calories by eating cream soups with croutons , be my guest. , but please do not put words in my mouth.

Creamy soups even with croutons do not have to equal lots of calories. Clear soups do tend to have fewer calories, but for "food value" they're not always a better choice. Broth for example can be very low in calorie, and will fill you up about as long and with about as much food value as a cup of tea.

While you can eat more broth based soup for the calorie buck than cream based soups, it doesn't mean that broth based soups are always the better choice, or that you should automatically discount cream based soups. They're often still a better choice than solid foods, because a serving may be no more calories than a small sandwhich, but fill you up longer.
Wonderful cream soups can be made and purchased with fewer than 300 calories for quite a large bowl. A few fat free croutons (or I like wheat or multigrain chex instead) or even a sprinkling of grated cheese can add alot of flavor without a lot of calories. As a meal, cream soups often aren't that bad a choice for the calorie/satisfaction ration, and can even be a better choice than a broth based soup in some situations. You may be able to eat six bowls of consomme for the calories in one bowl of homemade cream of mushroom soup, but the cream soup might be a way to get in a calcium serving if you don't like drinking milk. It really does depend more on the individual soup and why you're eating it than the category.

As examples provided have shown, I don't think a mere 10-20 calories more per serving is going to break the calorie bank for soup ;) As experienced calorie counters here, I'm sure we all know how to read a label and make the best choices for our own individual needs :^:

Robin, I'd die if I had to eat that much cauliflower in a day--but then, you know how I feel about veggies. I do, however, currently have some raw cauliflower and broccoli cut up in a bag in my fridge and use hummus as a dip (I would yack eating them plain :o ), so I'm at least trying to make an effort :dizzy: