Super slimming summer soups
LOSING 3 st each in 2012 probably saved their lives. Now, as statistics reveal a higher mortality rate from coronavirus for those who are obese or have type 2 diabetes, Hairy Bikers Si King and Dave Myers reveal how their new cookbook may help save yours . . .
TEN years ago we were, to put it bluntly, fat. We both had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Dave was pre-diabetic.
But with great advice and support from healthy eating experts, we turned our health around, shedding 6 st between us.
Dave even got his blood sugar under control, greatly reducing his risk of diabetes, which feels especially important at the moment. The average person looking to lose weight at roughly a kilo a week needs to cut their intake to around 1,500 calories a day.
That’s about 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch and 600 for your evening meal, plus two snacks of around 100 calories.
As we discovered when we set out to lose weight ourselves, when you cook your meals from scratch, meaning you know exactly what’s gone into everything you eat, those calories really do stretch — especially when it comes to delicious soups, which are comforting and nutritious and help
you feel fuller for longer, yet often add up to less than 200 calories a serving.
You can make a big batch at the start of the week — or when you have time on your hands — so you know you’ve always got an easy lunch in the fridge. We keep plenty of single portions in the freezer, too, which will soon defrost if you want something in a hurry.
Dave is a big fan of our creamy, homemade tomato soup, which is so comforting. My favourite is red lentil and harissa.
He’s been batch cooking vats of soup to portion up and give to people in his local community who he collects prescriptions for while they can’t leave home. They’re going down a storm.
We’ve both always found a bowl of soup for lunch, with a big plateful of crunchy salad on the side, is perfect for keeping hunger pangs at bay. We find a small portion can make a great gap-bridger before supper, too, stopping us from snacking if our tummies are rumbling but the evening meal isn’t ready yet.
Hearty suppers play another important role in any weight-loss journey, so we’ve included plenty that are healthy yet sumptuous. Fish is a great source of protein, as are chicken and turkey — both lowfat as long as you remove the skin.
We view red meat as an occasional treat. By choosing lean cuts and removing excess fat, you can enjoy delicious meals featuring beef, lamb and pork, but ideally no more than once a week.
Our main-meal recipes are meant to be filling and delicious. In fact, they’re so tasty you might feel like a second helping.
We’ve trained ourselves to wait 20 minutes whenever the urge to eat more strikes. That’s because it takes about that long for the message that you’re full to get to your brain. Waiting it out often results in you deciding you don’t need more food after all.
People often ask about booze — should you ditch it altogether if you’re dieting? When we first set out to lose weight, we didn’t touch a drop for the first month, which helped boost how much we lost and kept us motivated.
If you do want the odd glass of wine or beer — as long as your doctor hasn’t put you on medication that will interact with alcohol or told you to steer clear of it because of your particular health circumstances — that’s fine. But make sure you factor in the calorie count when it comes to your daily total.
It might mean forgoing your snacks for the day; something you can also play around with if, say, you fancy a bigger breakfast or a bigger portion at lunch or supper.
The main thing is that you stick at it — especially at the start. We know from personal experience that it’s those losses you achieve in the first month, as your clothes start to feel looser and you feel that bit lighter, that motivate you to keep going.
Our recipes can help you with that. Each is carefully calorie-counted for you and incredibly tasty, too. Here are some of our favourites . . .