Registered Dietitian, Melanie Douglass, gives us a game plan to enjoy food at sporting events without having our diet sacked.
_____________________________________________________________
The ideal situation is to eat a light meal before you go to the game. Then you can enjoy one snack of choice during the game. Be sure to order/bring a sensible portion size for whatever snacks you decide to enjoy during a game; having a huge back of popcorn or treats sitting in front of you during a game is a recipe for disaster—you’re likely to mindlessly eat due to distraction. And mindless eating is the worst because we end up eating more calories than anticipated and we likely don’t even enjoy it because we’re not paying attention to what goes into out mouth at sporting events.
The second ideal situation is to compromise a bit; here’s what I mean:
– if you want a hot dog, skip any dessert-type item (keeps fat intake from going through the roof)
– if you want to eat popcorn, share it and only eat 2 – 3 kernels at a time
– if you want an cold beverage that has sugar (like regular soda pop, fruit drinks, shaved ice, etc), then skip out on eating a dessert-type item
– Overall: slowly eat small portions of any food you purchase
– If you bring treats from home, like a bag of mini-candybars or licorice, only bring enough to fill a small ziploc sandwich bag; don’t bring the whole giant package. This will force portion control.
Review the table below to see the information for the most popular game foods. The table is sorted from lowest to highest for calories. But even the lowest-calorie options can be too high in fat, sodium, or sugar. It all depends on what is most important to you.
| Calories | Fat (g) | Sat Fat (g) | Sugar (tsp) | Sodium (mg) | |
| Recommended “snack” Allowance = <250 Calories |
Recommended Intake =<65 g/day |
Recommended Intake = <20 g/day |
Recommended Intake = <10 teaspoons/day |
Recommended Intake = 1500 mg/day |
|
| 20 oz. Soda |
250 | 0 | 0 | 17 tsp. |
85 |
| Hot Dog | 315 | 19 | 7 | 2 tsp. |
1000 |
| Churro | 336 | 15 | 3 | 4.5 tsp |
300 |
| Hot Chocolate |
365 | 6 | 5 | 16 tsp. |
75 |
| 32 oz. Soda |
400 | 4 | 1 | 7.5 TSP |
500 |
| Soft Pretzel |
450 | 4 | 1 | 22 tsp. |
15 |
| Plus-size Candy |
450 | 5 | 5 | 22 tsp. |
15 |
| Funnel Cake |
600 | 32 | 6 | 3 tsp. |
150 |
| Popcorn (11 cups) |
630 | 38 | 12 | not available |
not available |
| Funnel Cake w/whipped cream |
750 | 45 | 14 | 4 tsp. |
250 |
Have a health question for Melanie? Click here to submit your question www.tipadayguide.com/blog and Melanie will answer your question on an upcoming Studio 5 segment!
HEALTHY LIVING TIP OF THE DAY
By Melanie Douglass, R.D., NASM
Author: Tip-a-Day Guide to Healthy Living
(Deseret Book, 2007)
www.tipadayguide.com
© 2007 Melanie Douglass, Deseret Book
Add comment