How to Eat Healthy on Super Bowl Sunday

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA, Super Bowl Sunday is only second to Thanksgiving as the highest food consumption day by Americans. Isn’t that crazy? I had no idea, but I suppose it does kind of make sense!

If you think about it, Super Bowl parties usually consist of a meat for the main course, such as burgers, brats or steaks along with a buffet containing endless amounts of chips, dips, desserts and salads. Oh and don’t forget about the refrigerator and nearby coolers filled with soda pop and beer. 

While it’s okay to indulge every now and then and still maintain a healthy weight, with all of this kind of food laying around from kickoff to final touchdown, an enormous amount of calories are likely to be consumed. This will usually result in feelings of guilt and regret later on.

Here are some healthy alternatives to enjoy come Super Bowl Sunday:

• Fresh fruit from EdibleArrangements.com. If you don’t have the money to spend on these edible floral arrangments, you can easily make your own and use the photos on their site as a guide. All you need are fresh fruits like grapes, apples, bananas, pineapples, strawberries and melon to create an awesome display of food that tastes great (AND is good for you). Some melted almond bark or chocolate chips would be a great choice to make chocolate covered strawberries.
• Tortilla chips and salsa. These two items go great together and it’s the healthiest choice to make when it comes to chips and dip.
• Light beer. I personally think that beer and football go great together, as does beer with most other sports as well. Light beer varieties have less calories than regular beer, although this doesn’t mean you should pound a 6 pack.
• Sandwiches. A Subway party sub would make a healthy meal choice that is low in fat. Subway will allow you to get protein, carbohydrates and fats which are the macronutrients (the 3 main components of food) that we all need to survive. Subway can easily be mimicked at home by making sandwiches with lean meat varieties.

There are plenty of healthy food choices available to pick from before sitting down to watch the big game. If your host isn’t going to be offering healthy meal choices, then eat at home before you leave to fuel your body. This way, you’ll be more likely to eat less when you get there because you’re stomach won’t be empty.

Always remember that it’s okay to indulge in “bad” foods, just eat them in moderation. That’s key!