The Secret to Cutting Those Calories Without Hurting the Brain!

Do you know how many calories you are suppose to consume a day? Are you having trouble losing weight or keeping it off and think you are doing great by eating healthy and keeping yourself moving but are just not seeing any results? It is probably those hidden calories that are easily over looked that are creeping up on you!...Okay, okay, I know I sound like every other infomercial out there that think they have the next best thing next to diet and exercise to shed those unwanted pound, but here is the thing, I am not selling a thing or telling you to eat virtually nothing, just sharing some little tips that has helped me make the leap towards better health!

1. Sure we all like to indulge in a soda once in a while and think that if it is diet we are safe....beyond the aspartame epidemic, that could become a post in itself. Full Calorie soda will add 150 calories to your daily intake, for just a small can. That is 10% or more of your calories for the day and not only does it add calories, the 30 grams or more of sugar in there makes you think that you are hunger. This causes you to grab for more food, which in most cases is not the best food as now your body is in "starvation" mood and in search of something to keep your blood sugar at its peek, adding alas more unwanted and unneeded calories. So,  if you are looking for that pick me up; op for herbal teas, like green tea, this can give you the pick me up you are looking for, while being 15-20 calories with no sugar added and if you can not handle the taste of tea try a small cup of coffee (only 1 or 2 with no sugar added), some fresh pressed juice, again with no sugar added; all of which will fulfil your need for a soda and will be significantly lower on calories AND sugar with a heck of a lot more benefits to your body because soda has absolutely NO nutritional value!




While talking about soda I figured I would share a few quick little facts I have read on the amount of harm it does to our body. (please see above) I know you were all aware of the soda, to some extent, but I found that you are either an extreme soda drinker or not one at all. So I figured I would nip in the butt to begin with. The good thing is that there are a vast amount of people concerned about the amount of soda we are consuming and are trying to put a stop of these considerably large and extra large soda's that are being sold as low as a dollar on every corner of the country. see this article.... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/30/bloomberg-plans-a-ban-on-_n_1557851.html It may just be in New York right now but it is at least a start!

Alright, on to the real reason I wanted to post today! There are so many easy ways to cut out 100-200 calories a day, you just have to be willing to give up on some of the extras and find a healthy alternative. I will start by giving you a few ideas to get your mind rolling and once you start replacing some of the calorie rich foods that are not needed, before you know it, you will be doing it on every meal!

I will start with my favorite (warning a lot of these I did not only change out because of calories but because of the "nasty" toxic ingredients in them as well as fats)
        2. Skip the packaged popcorn and make your own...cooks faster, tastier and super easy! Just get a small lunch size paper bag, put a 1/2 a cup of fresh popcorn,  fold bag  twice over and put in microwave for around 3 minutes, depending on microwave. Then dump in bowl and add a little olive oil and whatever seasoning you would like! This is now the go to snack over anything else in my household. we don't even miss all the processed crap our cupboards use to be filled with anymore, one of many replacements!

This is all you need for some heavenly "movie theatre popcorn" and it all probably costs $3 for about 50 servings which makes me one happy mama!

         3. Get rid of that salad dressing! Not only is it an added 70-200 calories per serving it is made of pure CRAP! either switch it out for olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice or make your own. It doesn't take too long and you will cut your calories down by at least 50%, don't worry you will get use to it!
         4. No more Mayonnaise on that turkey sandwich or wrap! Believe it or not, there are a bunch of things that are way better than that. One of which is yellow mustard...did you know that this is 0 calories??? crazy huh? look on the back my friend. I couldn't believe it either! Or how about some good ole' Avocado, remember not only is that low on calories it is also a super food! another one of my favorite is hummus, again low on calories and super food! why eat something that doesn't have any benefits to the body right?
         5. Last but not least, get smaller plates! I know this sounds ridiculous or to some even a joke but in reality if you use small 6 inch round plates versus the regular size plate you will be amazed when you actually feel full after even the first plate. You may have to go back for more occasionally but that is okay. When you have a larger plate you pile it just as full and think you have to finish it and in most cases you are already to the point of full just don't realize it, go ahead and give it a try!


Yum! and when it is filled with energy reeving, tasteful food like this, there should be no time to complain about the size of the serving just make sure you enjoy every last bite, like it was your last because it soon will be :-)!

I could go on for hours but my intention was not to exhaust your mind it was to open it. So here are just a few of hundreds, give them a try and use them to begin the process of replacing other fatty favorites with foods that are filled with nutrients, vitamins and energy boosting components. I guarantee you won't feel deprived at all!