Super Bowl Snacking: Pay Attention to What You Eat! at He's Fit

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Super Bowl Snacking: Pay Attention to What You Eat!

Posted February 3, 2008 at 02:30 PM by Megan Hueter

Section: In The News, His Health, Physical Health, Lifestyle Health, His Nutrition, Healthy Eating, Diets, Recipes

super bowl snacks Today, as the Giants battle the Patriots in Arizona, millions of Americans will be crowded around television sets snacking on junk food. According to the Calorie Control Council and the Snack Food Association, Americans will eat 30 million pounds of snacks on the big game day.

That breaks down to 11.3 million pounds of potato chips, 8.5 million pounds of tortilla chips, 4.1 million pounds of pretzels, 3.8 million pounds of popcorn and 2.7 million pounds of nuts. The average television viewer in America will consume 1200 calories and 50 grams of fat from snacking – and that doesn’t even count the meal. (Just to give you an idea – it would take 4 hours of walking around a football field or 2 hours of touch football (or 1 hour and 45 minutes of running) to burn off the 1200 calories you would consume during the Super Bowl.)

The Council’s research reveals that potato chips, the snacking favorite, will account for 27 billion calories and 1.8 billion fat grams. These 1.8 billion fat grams nationwide are the same as 4 million pounds of fat. The 4 million pounds of fat is equal to the weight of 13,000 NFL offensive linemen at 300 pounds each.

The Calorie Control Council recommends that you should plan your food that day. Pay attention to what goes into your mouth. Try and eat no-fat and low-fat dips and chips (choosing fat free chips could save 300 calories per person).

When you prepare the dips, they recommend you make your own, so you know what’s going into the dip. Try to keep it light but keep the flavor. Try salsa (fat-free) or substitute reduced-fat or fat-free sour cream, light mayonnaise or yogurt in the dip. Use fresh herbs and spices, parsley, cilantro and hot peppers to add great flavor. Also, try to put out oils and veggies for some snacking.

As an eater, try only dipping your chip once. Going back for that second dip (besides being a sanitary concern) adds quite a few calories to your consumption. A “pre-super bowl workout” is not such a bad idea.

Hopefully this information will enable you to make better decisions during the big game. Pay attention to what you’re snacking on. It can quickly add up to a lot of calories.

Research sources and for more information: [Calorie Control Council]; [picture]