Do people REALLY only eat half a carton of fresh soup?

Its a stupid phrase that people think they're really clever and funny using

In the same way people would never tolerate people being made fun of for perceived or apparent 'overeating', its offensive which of course is why people say it, they sound like arseholes of course.

The soup is 300 calories, up to 50% of your salt for the day. If you just had the soup fine, but if you add a cheese sandwich that’s 350 calories maybe? 6-700 calories is a decent dinner and to me a large lunch. It adds up quickly and for most people 700 calories for a lunch is too much.

You think a full carton of soup is excessive calories? It’s about 300 calories, depending on the type of soup. Far from excessive. Soup is mostly water. The cheese could add a lot if portions are excessive but a normal portion would still be fine if it’s dinner.

“In the past”?

when in the past? And why is the inference that “the past” was somehow better.

30-40 years ago in the 80’s and early 90’s when thin was the ideal, maybe. But it wasn’t healthy.

my lunch then would be a small tin of weight watchers chicken noodle soup for 51 calories. Half the size of a normal tin.

no it wasn’t enough. Yes I did have an eating disorder.

so no, I don’t think half a tin of soup is a normal portion size. I don’t think portions sizes should be based on mls/g anyway, it should be calories. Yes calories is a clumsy measure, but a healthy lunch will be around 400-600 calories, how it’s made up is irrelevant. My lunch is a 300 calorie full carton of fresh soup. That’s one portion. Half a tin at 150 calories is not a big enough portion to provide enough energy for the rest of the afternoon.

People saying they eat a normal size meal is NOT being a 'competitive under eater'.

I'm sitting here munching Quality Street whilst drinking a hot chocolate with cream. I've never calorie counted in my life. I've never been on a diet in my life. So I don't think anyone would call me a 'competitive under eater'. But a full carton of soup, alongside bread and cheese, is an excessive amount of food for a typical person (so I'm ruling our a power lifter in peak training or a swimmer in training for the Olympics).

Cauliflower sausages? Were they nice? I've had mushroom sausages from M&S via Ocado, and they've been fine.

in the past people ate half a can of soup for lunch. Not in our house they didn't. Back in the 60s and 70s my Mum would probably have made one tin of condensed soup stretch to four small servings but that would have been to serve as a first course at a main meal, with a substantial main course and pudding to follow, and there would have been bread on the table to have with the soup. If we'd had soup for lunch it would have been her home-made broth or lentil soup, both of which were so thick you could stand the spoon up in it, and there would also have been bread available, and probably the fixings to turn the bread or roll into a sandwich (cheese, cold meat).

I love soup. The only soups I would even consider eating without bread are the ones that are full of very filling starchy things like rice, barley, pasta, potatoes and beans. However, a large part of the joy of eating soup for me is dunking good bread in the bowl, so soup is not a slimming option for me. I made minestrone with the stock from the turkey carcas and it was excellent. Beans, celery, carrot, onion, courgette, cabbage, tin of tomatoes, tomato puree, turkey stock, orzo, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, bayleaf, sage, thyme, pesto, olive oil, garlic. Several tubs in the freezer. They are not small portions.

Serving sizes are often skewed to fit with the traffic light system and recommended amounts of sugar / salt / fat. You pick something up that’s mostly green and don’t realise that’s for a potion for an anorexic gnome.

I'm frequently amazed at how many servings that foods say they provide. Last night I opened a pack of 6 cauliflower sausages,it said on the pack 'Serves 6'. I ate 3 last night (with chips and veg) and will have the other 3 tonight. I cannot imagine serving anyone just one of these sausages! And I certainly wouldn't eat only half a carton of soup. And I say this as someone who doesn't have a massive appetite.

I’m definitely no undereater, I am trying to avoid eating too much bread though so soup would be a bread avoiding lunch.

Allegedly a tin of Heinz soup of serving two. Nope.

To be fair my fave soups are not very light so there is a massive difference between liquid soups or the ones with proper meat amd potatoes and other vegetables

I would share a carton with my DH. We would also have some bread with it for lunch.

I haven't bought one for years though as I can make much better soup at home with very little effort just using a big pan and a stick blender.

I’d have a full carton for lunch with bread and cheese. I like a proper sized meal. Mn has a lot of competitive under eaters!

Half isn’t enough for me, whole is too much (and also too boring). So I have half with some croutons or crackers or half a sandwich. I’m a small and short person though, restaurant portions these days are almost always too big for me.

In a lab, in comparison yes, there is a slight difference in absorption

But in real life, in a working realistic calorie deficit (250-500 a day), it really isnt going to make a difference if you blend your soup or eat it as is in the broth.

We're not lab rats

It’s not something I buy often, but I have half with 2 slices of bread.

A carton of soup with no bread is a main evening meal

Half a carton for lunch with a slice of bread and a knob of cheese

I usually have the whole carton/ tub/ tin for lunch, but just that. Most people (I admit I haven’t read all posts) who are saying half are also having bread, cheese, crackers, baguette, sandwich with their half so a similar portion.
I’d have half if it was a starter and I wouldn’t have soup as a main meal.

Well yes, precisely, it changes the whole premise of the proposition in the opening post.

I could probably eat 400g of soup on its own. I would only eat 200g if it were with bread and butter.

It’s not bloody rocket science, and I’m with @soupyspoon on this that different people have different capacities.

I only want half a carton at a time (the big carton, not the tin) but then there's an annoying amount left that I always worry about wasting, so I don't really buy ready made soup.

1/2 for me but I usually add extra protein such as cooked chicken or ham as I don’t eat bread

That sounds dreadful to me 🤣

Did you say in your first post that this was also partly to do with weight loss? I assume you’re aware that blended food/soups are worse for weight loss as you’re allowing your body to easily absorb sugars etc. you’re much better with whole food that you chew 😊

Half a carton for me, but I do prefer soups with lentils rather than the carrot or mushroom ones.