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

[sprigatito]

I’m struggling to get my head around this! I’ve seen on MN several times lately that people eat half of a carton for a meal, and I know the calories are given that way on the packaging, so officially it’s a serving…but I’ve never met anyone in real life who doesn’t eat the whole carton! I’ve lost 4.5 stone this year and I eat soup most evenings for dinner. I don’t overeat generally. My soups are mostly homemade, but I do use fresh supermarket ones sometimes, and half a carton really would be a miserable little puddle in the bottom of the bowl! Is it really, honestly normal? And…why?

YABU: half a carton is ample. You’ve lost sight of what a normal bowl of soup looks like
YANBU: nobody actually does that. It’s soup, not golden syrup with extra chunks of pork fat.

I do as well. I don’t eat lunch, but can eat a whole can/carton of soup for dinner, with a wholemeal roll.

Depends - by itself, or for dinner, definitely a whole carton. With plenty of bread, for lunch, I can split a carton with DH.

Nothing wrong with having a whole carton though.

Big Sunday lunch at 2pm, then small bowl of soup and bread for dinner at 7pm.

I wouldn’t have a bowl of soup for my main meal of the day, but dinner isn’t always the main meal.

I'd have half a carton for lunch. Perhaps with a piece of bread, not always

Sometimes, DH, DS and I will share a carton between 3 of us, with bread

Sometimes we split one but only if having it with a baguette or sandwich each.

1/2 a morrison's/lidl one. But the carrot one is a bit weedy. It's the only time I eat bread, so i like a couple of nice rolls to go with it.

I’d have half - that would be a bowl full. And that’s a pretty standard sized bowl. I wouldn’t expect to eat more than one bowl full. Would have bread too.

Assuming soup is the smaller meal of the day (not the main meal) then I think half plus a bit of bread is reasonable.

As people have said, in the past people ate half a can of soup for lunch. Granted the cans have probably shrunk in size, but they were considered 2 portions. People didn’t need to fill a huge bowl and perhaps half to 3/4 of a standard bowl was considered enough with some bread.

Our sense of portion size is a bit distorted isn’t it. Most of us could eat more soup, but for a standard sort of lunch (not main meal) half is probably a standard portion.

Occasionally I’d only eat half (I get bored of eating it) but I’d eat it with a sandwich, fruit, yoghurt and probably some form of chocolate.

So nothing to do with portion or trying not to eat small portions 😂

I would probably eat a whole carton too. I don’t see an issue with that as long as you’re taking into account the calories in 2 portions.

In general I think people vastly underestimate the calories they consume. However, if you’re a healthy weight then it’s not an issue. It’s only really when people are overweight and in denial that it really matters.

Yes - I only ever eat half a pot of the fresh soup. I normally add half a tin of butter or other beans to up the protein plus add a dollop of cottage cheese on top, again for the protein.

I always have the full carton. But it IS a bit much. 450g would be the ideal I think.

However, 300g really isn’t. So. Full carton.

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

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 😊

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

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.

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 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.

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

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

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

None of my soups are blended, they all contain lots of fresh vegetables and a good whack of protein. My health has never been better, and I enjoy my food.

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

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.

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!