Gaaaaah! Soup.. Friend or foe? I'm seriously having a love/hate relationship with it right now.

I LOVE soup - love it, love it, love it! It's usually really low in fat and calories, nice and hot in this cold weather and my under-heated office and tastes delish! However.. Unless I make it (which I'm not always inclined to do), it's chock full of SALT..

Salt = water retention - BIG TIME.

Water retention = extra pounds

Extra pounds at weigh-in = discouragement

I feel like it makes me hold extra POUNDS, sometimes for days, then all of a sudden I'll wake up in the morning and pee like there's no tomorrow, like I didn't know all that liquid could even fit in my bladder. Of course, that's always after the weigh-in.

I wish these numbers would go down a heck of a lot faster.. In five weeks I've only lost about 10lbs.. Given that I haven't really started exercising yet, I suppose that's pretty good, probably would be better if I gave up on the soup but.. Gah! I LOVE it!

Anyone else have the same love/hate experience?

I hear ya! Your doing better in the loss department than me, so cheer up!

I made some the other day with low sodium broth. gawd it was awful. A+ for trying, but E for yuck.

I do have love/hate relationship with it.

I'd have thought my weight would have come off a lot easier than it has.. I eat MUCH less and MUCH better, go to my WW meetings, eat more slowly.. They always say the more you have to lose the faster it comes off, but I see people a LOT smaller than my 200+ size losing 4lbs a week and I have to struggle to lose one or two. I guess that 'the more you've got, the faster it goes' saying is a whole lotta' bunk.. Unfortunately! (or maybe I'm just spoiled because back in 2000, I lost 70lbs in about 3-4 months taking diet pills and it just melted off like no one's business. About 0.5lbs a day.. Doing it the "right" way seems so slooooooooooow in comparison, but this way I hopefully won't pile it back on and then some) :: sigh ::

LittleMiss - I feel your pain - I love soup as well...but I decided to make the sacrifice and only eat soup that I make myself. I actually bought a huge stock pot since I didn't have one....and I found some great recipes on cookinglight.com that are low sodium...some are higher, but I just keep a look out for the low ones. I actually just bought the ingredients tonight for the low sodium chicken noodle that I made a few weeks back...its delish and low in sodium.

Also 10lbs in 5 weeks is great weight loss - 5 weeks X 2lbs/week =10lbs...you are right on track....but I understand your pain of wanting it to fly away...but you'll be much happier in the next few months when it is gone for good....oh...and start getting those workouts in...your body shape will change tremendously and that is fabulous!

Good luck...and try to make your soups!

I love soup and have been having it every day lately! Do you make your own soup? You can DRASTICALLY lower the salt content by making your own soup. Normally when I make my own, I only put a pinch of salt in the whole batch.

Also don't forget that a 1-2 pound loss each week is a healthy weight loss. Everyone is different. The goal is to be able to lose the weight and keep it off. The first time I lost weight, I was not able to keep it off. I lost it more quickly than this time, and I was also PERFECT with my eating every day, never messing up. This time around it has taken me more than twice as long, but I am keeping it off and I really think it is because I went slowly and allowed myself to not be so perfect all the time

I understand this love/hate. In all honesty, I'm one of the people who just puts up with the salt & retention. *shrug* So no good advice there!

Please please please do not be disappointed with 2 lbs a week!!!! This is how YOUR body is working. There are people out there who are larger and only lose 1 (or less) a week. And perhaps seeing how much work this is will help you to keep it off once you get to where you want (who wants to do this all over again!). As an example, I'm losing about 2 lbs a week on average, but I've found that once a month I see a slight gain (say .4 - .8), and then the following week I plunge down 4-5 lbs. The other two weeks are normal weight losses. I've discovered that this is the way my body works. And that may change in the future as well. Enjoy the ride! Enjoy those 2 lbs a week! You've WORKED for them

If you're not eating soup everyday, maybe you could adjust so that your "peeing" day comes before WI rather than after. Also, maybe try having your store-bought soup as a reward after WI, I always use WI day as "treat" night. Sometimes I need to know I can have something I shouldn't once in awhile. Sometimes, I have it sometimes just knowing I can have it makes me not want it as much.

Also, try drinking an extra glass of water soup day. Good luck!!

I understand where you're coming from in regard to fluid retention. I can tell right away when I wake up in the morning because my fingers are puffy. It's amazing how your weight can fluctuate by a pound or two because of it.

Susan

I make the cabbage soup, and if you limit it to one cup per meal, you will not feel bloated. I also use a lot more pepper than is called for to make up for the little bit of salt called for. I like the peppery taste, not everyone does.

I know it's a pain to make, but I make 4 batches at once and freeze it, which lasts me almost two weeks. I am cooking a lot more since I started on Jan. 9, but it makes me appreciate what I'm eating more -- I'm not just gobbling up food to fill a space.

I could eat soup every day! Although I do eat some of the canned varieties, I prefer to make it myself. Usually I leave out the salt until I serve it, and then I salt to taste. I've started using sea salt in a grinder and find I use much less and it really does taste better. I was a skeptic for years and just chalked it up to another way to make you buy another expensive gadget. And no matter what kind of soup you eat, but sure to get all your water in each day.

Pattie, why not make your own soup? I also love Progresso but not always on hand and it gets expensive compared to homeade. Fresh veggies can include anything you like! I make enought to freeze and eat for maybe 2 weeks.