Super Bowl Food Tips

Super Bowl weekend is upon us!!  For most people that means……. FOOOOOD.

Besides Thanksgiving, Superbowl weekend, according to research, is the day of the year people eat the most food.  Let me throw out some numbers for you…. On Super Bowl Sunday in the United States roughly 28million pounds of chips will be consumed, 8million pounds of guacamole will be ingested, and a whopping 1.25 BILLION chicken wings will be eaten.  Not to mention all of the dips and junk food plus the liquor that goes along with it. That is crazy!! Now, for people trying to lose weight or watch their nutrition, Super Bowl Sunday can be a living nightmare. I believe that we should enjoy our weight loss journeys and not have to restrict ourselves too much, so I put together some tips for eating during the SuperBowl.  This way you can still eat pretty clean without missing out on too much fun.

1. Chicken Wings:  If you are a guest and someone will be bringing wings to the party, a good idea would be to ask if they could order a few wings without sauce.  This will save you on calories and all of the fat in those wing sauces. Or, even better, bring your own naked wings, and instead of deep frying them, bake them.  This way you can still enjoy eating wings with your friends, but in a healthier way.

2. Bring a dish to share:  If you are going to a party or even better hosting, make sure you whip something up that you know you will be “safe to eat”.  For example, homemade hummus, dip with greek yogurt instead of sourcream, maybe some sweet potato skins instead of regular potatoes, a veggie tray is always good too.

3. Chips:  Avoid the chips.  If you just have to have your guacamole or salsa, maybe bring a healthier version of chips.  A lot of the stores these days have cauliflower chips, low sodium chips, low carb tortilla chips.  Not only do you want to avoid the extra carbs and fat, but chips are loaded with sodium and are not ideal for someone watching their weight.

4. Alcohol:  If you want to throw down with the guys or have fun with your friends drinking go ahead, but try to limit what you consume.  Alcohol not only has carbs, but can also lead to you binging when you start drinking too much. They have so many different kinds of low calorie options now like Tuly’s, White Claws, Low-cal beer, etc.  If you want to avoid alcohol altogether, great! To avoid a million questions or feeling left out try drinking out of a solo cup so you don’t feel excluded in the festivities.

5. Workout:  If you can, try to get a small sweat session in during the day; it is better than not burning any calories at all and will ease your mind while enjoying your favorite foods.

6. Eat off the plate:  Enjoy yourself!  Go ahead and have some plates of appetizers and food.  Just make a game plan ahead of time. If I say ok, I am going to limit myself to three plates of food, then stick with it.  Maybe on the first plate you try a small bit of everything. Then when you go back for the second plate, be sure to ONLY get the food you truly enjoy and want seconds of, limit yourself, but still indulge in some goodies.  Whatever you do, don’t eat food off the table; when people do this they eat more than intended and easily go overboard in the amount of calories consumed, so put all food on your plate! Also, be sure to throw some veggies in there and make sure to get protein in.

7. Protein:  Be sure to hit your protein numbers.  If that means having a few protein shakes before the party, then that’s what you need to do.  On that note, also try to limit carbs and fat before the big game, so you can save your calories or macronutrients for the delicious food or drinks instead.

8. Don’t go hungry:  Try to have a protein shake or some light healthy food before the game.  When our bodies see food when we are hungry, we tend to get crazy with all the food right before our eyes.  If we aren’t hungry at the game, then chances are we will be more selective about the quality and quantity of the foods we eat.  

That is pretty much all I have.  It is nothing too crazy, but these tips are effective.  Like I said, whether you are on a weightloss journey or are counting macronutrients, food should still be enjoyable.  It is ok to enjoy the holidays or events like the Super Bowl once in a while; you just have to be smart about it. I hope some of these tips help you out and I hope everyone has a great Super Bowl weekend!