CHAPTER 7

The New Abs Diet Soups, Salads, and Side

Dishes

THE BEST DEFENSE, as the saying goes, is a good offense, not only on the

football field, the battlefield, or in personal finance, but especially at the

supper table.

For example, let's say you're quarterbacking tonight's meal and the

menu is showing blitz. You've got three meatballs the size of linebackers

inching toward you behind a mountain of your favorite spaghetti with

sauce. And to your blindside is a monstrous defensive end, a loaf of

garlic bread named Carb Overload.

They're coming for you. What are you going to do?

Your first thought: portion control. Even the healthiest meal can

get sacked by second helpings and tackled by thirds. But how do you

stay in control, especially when the food's so darn good?

Fortunately, you have the best offensive linemen in the league up

front—your soup and salad—skilled blockers to defend against the rush

of hunger. By preparing for the food blitz with high-volume, low-calorie

appetizers and a smattering of protein, you can avoid being trampled by

your main course. Consider:

A Penn State study found that people who ate soup before an entrée

reduced their total calorie intake by 20 percent compared with people

who did not eat soup before the meal. Low-calorie, broth-based soups

fill your belly quickly, triggering signals to your brain that say, “Hey,

everything's cool; we're not starving anymore.”