Is this another detox or diet plan?
There’s always this negative notion associated with dieting. It always conjures up ideas of eating less and skipping meals to achieve model-looking bodies. Like how women speak up about body image and encouraging self-love, I want to dispell all misconceptions and misconstrued ideas about dieting after gone through several types of diets and weight loss programmes. It is no longer just about skipping meals, eating proteins only, going on a juice fast or having six smaller meals throughout the day.
In medical terms, dieting actually means consuming food and drinks through a regulated system to lose, maintain or gain weight. A diet is called a diet because it is regulated or prescribed. And losing weight here could mean a couple of kilos to forty or fifty kilos. And because a diet is about eating or drinking particular foods in a regular manner, it usually occurs over a period of time. However, many people these days wants fast and effective results that enable to get a slim figure within days. That’s what crash dieting is all about and it gives dieting a bad name.
Dieting is not necessarily unhealthy. Sometimes, we need to go through these cycles of dieting at some point in our lives. There may be certain months where you gain a couple of kilos during festive occasions and thereafter, you wish to consume healthier or lesser food to offset this weight gain. It’s perfectly fine. And the best diet I can advocate is to stay off processed food and stick to fresh wholesome foods. If you want better results, replace solid meals with liquid food like soups or juices. Eat foods from all the different food groups but vary the portions that suit your lifestyle. Listen to your body as it often tells you exactly what nutrients you would need.
I’ve tried several diets out there to be able to make comparisons with and evaluate. Recently, I’ve tried out the Souper Diet Programme which I get to know more about it through The Soup Spoon event held last month. I was a little hesitant at first as I didn’t quite like the idea of drinking packet soups that are microwavable. The soups are freshly cooked to begin with and vegetables mixed in the soup itself is not fresh but cooked. Does it really work?
The Soup Spoon founder, Chef Anna was there to share her testimony on her weight loss success story through the Souper Diet programme. Man, she has lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw her last year at another Soup Spoon event! She talked about the 28-Day Souper Diet Programme where she would drink 2 packets of soups from The Soup Spoon for 28 days.
I thought we have to drink only soup for 28 days but she shared that she did consume other kinds of solid food through the day. So I thought, perhaps this diet is kind of flexible and not as strict as other forms of diets? Anyway, it did make perfect sense to complement this soup diet with some solid foods like fruits or salads for more complete and balanced meals.
I was intrigued by then and wanted to try it for myself so I went ahead with the 7-Day starter plan. It is good that they offer a short term plan for others to try out to see if it suits them. I took it as a form of trial and didn’t expect much out of it as it is just 7 days. I mean, how many kilos can I shed?
The 7-Day starter plan comes with 14 soup packs and a free microwavable bowl. It costs $218 which includes the delivery fees. You can select the soups from 14 different kinds of soup from their menu. That’s a lot of choices to choose from! I could have chosen all 14 different flavours and try a different soup for each meal but I decided to pick only vegetarian soups. I was once a vegetarian too and I just wanted to skip meat for a week and see how my body feels.
I chose all the soup online and arranged for the delivery to come. All 14 packets of soup were delivered on the same day and there were so many!
The soups lasted typically for a week or so before they become expired so it is recommended to finish all the soups within 7 days. I actually left about 5 packets of soup after the Souper Diet programme as I couldn’t finish consuming it all! So I actually shared it with my family members and encourage them to drink soups instead!
Each packet of soup weights 600g and I usually drink about two-thirds of a packet for each meal. I would then finish the other one-third for dinner or breakfast.
I’ve done up a video which documents my Souper Diet journey and it will be uploaded soon on YouTube!
The vegan chap chye soup is actually their latest soup creation. It’s very filling with so many ingredients in it.
My favourite out of all the soups! Although it is not recommended to consume soups with other condiments, I still went ahead to eat other solid foods if I crave for it but I try to pick a healthier alternative and limit the amount. I also like to add other condiments like chia seeds or sesame seeds to load up the fibre and nutrition value of this soup and add spices like black pepper and cayenne pepper to spice up the flavour of the spoon.
There were times where I crave for something starchy like bread but I stick to the wholemeal bread. It actually makes me feel more satisfied during my meals and it made me crave less for snacks. The soups are really filling and there were days where I can only finish on a packet of soup.
As days went by, I felt my tummy getting flatter and less bloated. In fact, I noticed it on the second day of the Souper Diet. I didn’t expect the effects kick in so quickly and I noticed that I get thirsty very often. Thus, I drank a lot of water during the programme which kept me hydrated.
I was worried about the sodium levels during the diet as I know that soups tend to contain alot of sodium to make it taste more savoury. However, I knew I didn’t have to worry much after studying the ingredient label of each soup. There was no added preservatives or MSG which explains why the soup can only last about 10 days or so. Natural and wholesome ingredients are used in each soup which is flavoured with natural herbs like garlic and onion. It is as fresh as it can get.
Also, The Soup Spoon team has carefully designed the programme and created soups in such a way to provide you with a balanced diet.
I added a spoonful of coconut milk and some fresh basil leaves, plucked from the garden, in my soup bowl.
On some days, I even mixed the soup up together. My favourite combination is mixing tangy tomato with roasted pumpkin. The sweetness from the pumpkin tones down the tanginess in the tomato soup. It is actually a perfect balance between both kinds of soup.
Tangy tomato-roasted pumpkin soup. Getting creative with the ingredients and soups!
I would say that I’ve enjoyed my Souper Diet journey and I’m convinced that the Souper Diet do bring about a positive impact to the body. The soup goes easy on the digestive system and I did not feel queasy or bloated right after the meal. After 30 minutes or so, I just felt like all my food has completely digested.
If you are starting on this diet, I recommend that you get your daily fruit and vegetable intake in the morning as your breakfast. I would complement this soup cleanse diet with smoothies or juices in the morning. It would be a perfect combination where you get best of both worlds.
I have thought of buying take-home soup packs from the store directly and try the Souper diet at home but it is a little inconvenient as you have to keep visiting the store to stock up on soups. It might work out to be slightly cheaper than purchasing the starter pack itself but again, it so much more convenient to purchase it online and have it delivered to your home straightaway.
I would definitely give this diet a try, especially the 28-Day Souper Diet Programme which will take place across 4 weeks. 7 days is easy peasy and maybe, 28 days would be quite alright too!
