Ninja Fitness Calorie Slashers (guest post)

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MizFit note:  You know how you *think* you will like someone and then you meet them in person and they EXCEED your expectations?  That’s Josie.  I’d anticipated the kind & funny.  I was blown away by her wisdom, strength & the way she was able to quietly command the attention of an entire room.  I immediately pleaded with her to do another guest post.


I’m like a healthy-fitness Ninja, slashing calories in my life.

Are you from the Ninja clan too?

I am of the philosophy that the delectable goodness you adore does not have to be completely evicted from your Food Trap in order to kill the calories. You can improvise. You can alter. You can eat less. Heck, you can even go uber-happy and eat MORE every once in a while. (yup, I said it)

I can’t stand the ugly rules of deprivation, like: “You should not eat late at night” and “Don’t eat that! You’ll be 50 calories over your limit” and “Yeah, it’s a birthday party, but no cake for you!”

These are guilt-ridden traps that set you up for misery. It’s time to eat outside the box. It is the Ninja-fitness way of life.

If I’m hungry, I’m going eat. I don’t care what time of day it is. To sit there with beastly stomach growls because the calorie tracker told me I’m a wee bit over my limit is not cool. And I refuse to agonize (complete with nervous sweat droplets on brow) over whether or not to indulge in a slice of cake while at a happy celebration. I eat the slice, because cake events don’t happen every day.

This is the way my brain works. This is what I think about food. This is how I lost almost 40 pounds after having four children (I included exercise, of course), and I haven’t gained it back.

Your healthy lifestyle journey should NOT make you miserable and should NOT foster guilt. I urge you to go Ninja.

Here are some simple examples of how I Ninja-slash the normal foods that I love:

Oatmeal

I will not let go of my lovely brown sugar (but after writing this post I went Sugarless for 7 Days with awesome results), so I smather it on extra good. But instead of cooking my oats in 110 calories of milk, I use water; and I gave up that glob of buttery goodness altogether. This is my calorie-squashed compromise to keep a tasty dose of brown sugar in my oats.

Burger Buns

I refuse to go completely bun-less to save on calories, so it helps to substitute a piece of iceberg lettuce as the top “bun” while keeping the bread part on the bottom.

Banana Bread

Yes, it’s swarming with sugar, and I choose to NOT substitute, but does it have to inflate the numbers on your scale due to white flour body bloat? Slip in the wheat flour instead or do a 50/50 mix. You can even fool your friends. They won’t know the difference and the potential for body bloat may be avoided. (insert sinister laugh here)

I realize these personal examples of mine may not be your cup of tea (put Stevia in that instead of sugar), but my point is to start thinking outside the confines of normal dieting rules so you are free to achieve your fitness goals while enjoying the foods you love.

Please tip off everyone to your Ninja-slashing ways. Or do you find that keeping yourself within the confines of traditional dieting law works for you?

P.S. After the writing of this post, Josie was about to enjoy freshly baked cookies, warm and soft out of the oven….but they got burnt.

I’m like a healthy-fitness Ninja, slashing calories in my life. Are you from the Ninja clan too?

I am of the philosophy that the delectable goodness you adore does not have to be completely evicted from your Food Trap in order to kill the calories. You can improvise. You can alter. You can eat less. Heck, you can even go uber-happy and eat MORE every once in a while. (yup, I said it)

I can’t stand the ugly rules of deprivation, like: “You should not eat late at night” and “Don’t eat that! You’ll be 50 calories over your limit” and “Yeah, it’s a birthday party, but no cake for you!”

These are guilt-ridden traps that set you up for misery. It’s time to eat outside the box. It is the Ninja-fitness way of life.

If I’m hungry, I’m going eat. I don’t care what time of day it is. To sit there with beastly stomach growls because the calorie tracker told me I’m a wee bit over my limit is not cool. And I refuse to agonize (complete with nervous sweat droplets on brow) over whether or not to indulge in a slice of cake while at a happy celebration. I eat the slice, because cake events don’t happen every day.

This is the way my brain works. This is what I think about food. This is how I lost almost 40 pounds after having four children (I included exercise, of course), and I haven’t gained it back.

Your healthy lifestyle journey should NOT make you miserable and should NOT foster guilt. I urge you to go Ninja.

Here are some simple examples of how I Ninja-slash the normal foods that I love:

Oatmeal

I will not let go of my lovely brown sugar, so I smather it on extra good. But instead of cooking my oats in 110 calories of milk, I use water; and I gave up that glob of buttery goodness altogether. This is my calorie-squashed compromise to keep a tasty dose of brown sugar in my oats.

Burger Buns

I refuse to go completely bun-less to save on calories, so it helps to substitute a piece of iceberg lettuce as the top “bun” while keeping the bread part on the bottom.

Banana Bread

Yes, it’s swarming with sugar, and I choose to NOT substitute, but does it have to inflate the numbers on your scale due to white flour body bloat? Slip in the wheat flour instead or do a 50/50 mix. You can even fool your friends. They won’t know the difference and the potential for body bloat may be avoided. (insert sinister laugh here)

I realize these personal examples of mine may not be your cup of tea (put Stevia in that instead of sugar), but my point is to start thinking outside the confines of normal dieting rules so you are free to achieve your fitness goals while enjoying the foods you love.

Please tip off everyone to your Ninja-slashing ways. Or do you find that keeping yourself within the confines of traditional dieting law works for you?

P.S. After the writing of this post, Josie was about to enjoy freshly baked cookies, warm and soft out of the oven….but they got burnt.

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Comments

  2. I like this way of thinking. Pretty much how I lost my weight too. But you always can keep thinking about it, and developing new food combos or new recipes for old favorites.

  3. Go girl! Once Sam comes and I can eat like normal I may try this diet, it’s basically the no carb one lol.

    Your starting to scare me. Now I have to let a ninja into my home GULP lol. Just ring the bell instead of slashing the door down.

  5. Great post! I love the fact that you eat when you body is hungry instead of holding your hunger hostage!

    I can’t go substitute lettuce for a burger bun, but I like all the lighter bread options available today. Arnold’s Sandwich Thins or light wheat buns by Village Hearth make for a good substitute.

    Rock on with your Ninja-self!

  7. I found that when I started to listen to my body and eat when I was hungry the weight started to come off. I try to avoid artificial sweeteners and too much sugar, so I sweeten up my morning oatmeal by adding fruit like blueberries, strawberries, or a chopped baked apple.

  8. i like to use the “no sugar added” applesauce for a variety of purposes. I especially like Motts Strawberry and I put it on my toast instead of jam.

    Just be sure you do the conversions for calorie comparison that you compare a tablespoon of jam to a tablespoon of applesauce. Because a serving of applesauce is more like 1/2 a CUP.

    We had a good laugh when my mom did that very thing. She had pregnancy induced diabetes and was trying to cut back on sugar. She is a firm believer in NOT counting calories so she had a hard time for a few months. 😉

  9. We’ve been using whole wheat flour in almost everything for probably close to 2 years now, and nobody seems to notice a difference 🙂

  11. I love to use just a dash of the good stuff instead of a ton of bad stuff. So when I make my own pizza I use whole wheat dough, a bit of good flavorful cheese like feta and lots of roasted veggies. It’s about flavor.

  13. LOVE the post Josie!! And I loved meeting you at FibBloggin!! I will try to keep the Ninja in mind 😉 Like you, I’ve learned that deprivation gets me nowhere!

  14. Loved this guest post! Also loved your post about your sugar fast. You rock, Ninja Fitness Calorie Slasher Josie!

    – I go for lots of spices; I love curry powder on my veggies, for example. (Oh, and a little olive oil drizzle instead of butter, to help make the spices stick.) I also make a little bouillon, and add vinegar and tabasco, to make a hot-and-sour soup.

    – If I’m going to eat something sweet, it’s gotta be worthy, either flavor or nutrition-wise, preferably both. I might spend a little more on good quality fruit or 70% dark chocolate.

    – If someone makes me a baked goodie from scratch (which is a rare thing in my life), I’m going to have some, even if I have to eat it at a rate of a teaspoon per day. Love the homemade goodies.

    – On the theme of flavor, I love herbal tea. I drink my coffee with a mix of 1/2-and-1/2 (can’t stand the fake stuff) and unsweetened almond milk, but after cup #2, I switch to tea. Good Earth original has a nice cinnamon flavor, but I also like jasmine green tea or chai.

    – I learned to love sugar-free syrup and jam, because life without them would have been kind of sad for me, and even the natural/fruit sweetened spike my blood sugar too much. The sugar-free maple-favor syrup goes great on oatmeal, by the way. 😉

  16. Another great post Josie!

    -I only use brown foods in my house: brown rice, ww flour, ww pasta, sweet potatoes, ww bread.

    -If I buy something sweet, I split it among all of us, rather than just eating it all myself. This way I am only eating 1/3 of the calories.

    -I’ve also begun eating less meat and adding more veggies to my meals.

  20. I use 1/2 oz. of cheese on my sandwiches instead of an ounce. I still get the cheesy goodness, but cut 50 calories or so.

    I also only order desserts when accompanied by my sons, ages 11 and 7. Those two are human calorie sinks. I get enough to satisfy whatever the craving du jour is, and they get to go nuts 🙂

    Great article 😀

  21. I think applesauce for oil is one of the biggest substitutes that helps cut calories. It’s surprisingly effective.

    Lately, I’ve been also making baked oatmeal and you can make great on the go breakfasts with lower calorie counts than eating a bowl of oatmeal. Part of the reason for this is that you use less milk per serving, and part is that you may simply eat less. So far, my best experiment has been a really moist maple baked oatmeal (sugar-free and very low fat):

    http://carlskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/05/maple-baked-oatmeal-sugar-free.html

  22. Josie, I love your attitude and strength!

    While I’m one that needs the discipline of logging my food and sticking with calorie counts I envy you.

    I wish I had the strength to be able to let go of the logging and calorie counting and trust that my fitness level and my choices are enough to keep me at goal.

    Kudos to you for being able to do it!

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