football food

Super Bowl and Food: What Will You Be Eating?

January 29, 2016 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Super Bowl and Food

It’s amazing how food has become associated with football — from tailgating to Super Bowl parties to the selection of food sold in stadiums. Where there’s football there also seems to be many opportunities to eat, often mindlessly.

Even when you’re surrounded by a smorgasbord of highly caloric, fatty, salty, and sweet foods there are plenty of opportunities for eating deliciously well if you are a bit more mindful about your choices.

Some common Super Bowl food

Tostada with guacamole: 2 pieces (9.3 oz), 360 calories, 23g fat, 32g carbs, 12g protein
Salsa: 1 tablespoon 4 calories, .04g fat, 1g carbs, .2g protein
Nacho flavored tortilla chips, reduced fat: 1 oz, 126 calories, 4g fat, 20g carbs, 2g protein
Regular Nacho flavored tortilla chips: 1oz, 141 calories, 7g fat, 18g carbs, 1g protein
Potato chips: 1oz, 152 calories, 10g fat, 15g carbs, 2g protein
Potato chips, reduced fat: 1 oz, 134 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 2g protein
Raw baby carrots: 1 medium, 4 calories, 0 fat, .8g carbs, 0 protein
Pizza with cheese: 1 slice (1/8 of a 12” pie), 140 calories, 3g fat, 20g carbs, 8g protein
Pizza, pepperoni: 1 slice (1/8 12” pie), 181 calories, 7g fat, 20g carbs, 10g protein
Grilled chicken breast: one 4.2 oz breast, 180 calories, 4g fat, 0 carbs, 35g protein
KFC Fiery hot Buffalo wing: one 1oz wing, 80 calories, 5g fat, g carbs, 4g protein
KFC extra crispy drumstick: one 2oz piece, 150 calories, 6g carbs, 11g protein
Chili (Wendy’s, with saltine crackers): 8 oz, 187 calories, 6g fat, 19g carbs, 14g protein
Wheat bread: 1 slice, .9 oz., 65 calories, 1g fat,, 12g carbs, 2g protein
Italian combo on ciabatta (Panera): 1 sandwich, 1lb. 7 oz, 1050 calories, 47g fat, 94g carbs, 61g protein
Subway 6g of fat or less turkey breast & ham on wheat sandwich: 8.3oz, 296 calories, 4g fat, 48g carbs, 19g protein
Chocolate chip cookie: 2-1/4” from refrigerated dough. 59 calories, 3g fat, 8g carbs, .6g protein
Chocolate ice cream, Cold Stone Creamery: 5oz (like it), 326 calories, 20g fat, 33g carbs, 5g protein
Apple: medium, 95 calories, .4g fat, 25g carbs, .5g protein

If You Want To Save Some Calories …

Stick with grilled meat, veggies, or baked chips rather than fried. Turkey, baked ham, and grilled chicken are better choices than wings and fried chicken.
Plain bread, pitas, or wraps are less caloric than biscuits or cornbread.
Go for salsa and skip the guacamole. Guacamole is made with healthy avocados, but is quite high in calories. You can always alternate guacamole and salsa, too.
Minimize calories by dipping chicken wings into hot sauce instead of Buffalo or Blue Cheese sauce.
Try using celery for crunch and as a dipper instead of chips.
Go for thin crust rather than thick doughy crust pizza. Choose the slices with vegetables, not pepperoni or meatballs. If you’re not embarrassed, try blotting up the free-floating oil that sits on top of a greasy slice (soak up even a teaspoon of oil saves you 40 calories and 5 grams of fat).
Cut your slice of pizza in half. When you go back for seconds, eat the second half. You’ll feel like you’re eating two slices, but you’re eating only one.
Try fruit for dessert – or have just one cookie or a small piece of pie – leave some of the crust on your plate. Home made pie crust has around 150 calories (single crust pie), so leaving some pie crust on your plate can save you some significant calories.
Alcohol adds calories and dulls your mindful eating. Try alternating water or diet soda with beer or alcohol. That can decrease your alcohol calories (alcohol has 7 calories/gram) by 50%.
Put your food on a plate rather than constantly picking, it’s a form of portion control. And step back from the buffet. If you can’t reach out and grab it and you can’t see it, you won’t eat it.

Football, Food, and Beer

September 18, 2015 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

It’s football season. With it comes fun, excitement, joy, angst, wringing of the hands, a whole new spin on vocabulary, and tons of food and drinks.

It seems that football is associated with nine main food groups: beer, wings, pizza, chips and dip, barbecued ribs, burgers, chili, sausage (especially bratwurst), and pulled pork. It’s a calorie bonanza.

When fans were asked in a national survey if game day calories count, 46% said their diet goes out the window when they’re tailgating or watching their team play. thirty-nine percent said calories count but that they still indulge in a few favorites on game day. No big surprise there.

7 Tips To Keep You Happy . . .

or at least your stomach and waistline happy — your favorite football team is responsible for your mental happiness (or anguish).

1. Be aware of what and how much you’re eating. Mindless munching is a calorie disaster. You’re shoving hundreds of calories into your mouth and it’s probably not even registering that you’re eating. Put a portion on a plate and eat it rather than a constant hand to mouth action off of a platter or open bowl. It’ll save you hundreds of calories.

2. Learn approximately how many calories are in a portion of your favorite game day food so you can make intelligent choices. That way you’re not denying yourself what you love, but if pulled pork has hundreds more calories than a grilled sausage and you love them both, would you choose one over the other?

3. Save your calories for what you love and pass on the other stuff. You don’t have to eat something just because it’s there and it’s traditional football food. If you really don’t love guacamole why would you eat it? Salsa has a lot fewer calories.

4. Don’t be starving at game time (or for the pre-game tailgate). Have a healthy protein based snack (about 150 calories) before the game. Just don’t have a snack and then eat the same amount out of habit – then you’re just adding the snack calories to all of the others.

5. Cut it down a little. Can you have 4 or 5 wings instead of 6 or 7? How about a slider instead of a burger, 2 pieces of pizza instead of 3, or ½ a grinder instead of a whole one? Put only 1 or 2 toppings on your chili instead of sour cream, cheese, guacamole, and a never-ending supply of chips or nachos.

6. If you’re doing some shopping or cooking (or bringing food) for a tailgate or party, try making a slightly healthier version of your favorite food.

Fried chicken: Use crushed cornflakes for the breading and bake instead of fry
Nachos: Use low-fat cheese and salsa
Creamy dips: Use 2% yogurt instead of sour cream
Chips: Buy baked, not fried
Chili: Go beans only or use extra-lean ground beef or extra-lean ground turkey instead of ground chuck
Pizza: order thin crust instead of deep dish and stick with veggie toppings or plain cheese instead of pepperoni or meatball toppings

7. Beer. There’s huge variation between brands and types of beer. On average:

12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol

Different types of beer and malt liquor can have very different alcohol content. Light beer can have almost as much alcohol as regular beer – about 85% as much. Put another way, on average:

Regular beer: 5% alcohol
Some light beers: 4.2% alcohol
Malt liquor: 7% alcohol

For an extensive list of the calories in many popular brands of beer, click HERE.

Do you know someone who’s off to college?

Get my book for some easy, doable tips on how to eat well in dining halls and dorm rooms. Available in print and as an ebook from Amazon and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Football, Food, and Beer: 7 Tips

September 17, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

It’s football time. With it comes fun, excitement, joy, angst, wringing of the hands, a whole new spin on vocabulary, and tons of food and drinks.

Fans were asked in a national survey if game day calories count. 46% said their diet goes out the window when they’re tailgating or watching their team play and 39% said calories count but they still indulge in a few favorites on game day. No big surprise there.

7 Tips To Keep You Happy . . .

or at least your stomach and waistline happy — your favorite football team is responsible for your mental happiness (or anguish).

6. If you’re doing some shopping or cooking (or bringing food) for a tailgate or party, try making a slightly healthier version of your favorite food.

Fried chicken: Use crushed cornflakes for the breading and bake instead of fry
Nachos: Use low-fat cheese and salsa
Creamy dips: Use 2% yogurt instead of sour cream
Chips: Buy baked, not fried
Chili: Go beans only or use extra-lean ground beef or extra-lean ground turkey instead of ground chuck
Pizza: order thin crust instead of deep dish and stick with veggie toppings or plain cheese instead of pepperoni or meatball toppings

7. Beer. There’s huge variation between brands and types of beer. On average:

12 ounces of beer has 153 calories and 13.9 grams of alcohol
12 ounces of lite beer has 103 calories and 11 grams of alcohol

Different types of beer and malt liquor can have very different alcohol content. Light beer can have almost as much alcohol as regular beer – about 85% as much. Put another way, on average:

Regular beer: 5% alcohol
Some light beers: 4.2% alcohol
Malt liquor: 7% alcohol

For an extensive list of the calories in many popular brands of beer, click HERE.

Do you know someone who’s off to college?

Get my book for some easy, doable tips on how to eat well in dining halls and dorm rooms. Available in print and as an ebook from Amazon and as an ebook from Barnes & Noble.

Why Are Your Pants A Bit Snug The Day After Your Favorite Football Team Loses?

September 10, 2014 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Are you a football fan?

If you are – or perhaps live and/or work with one — you’d better be prepared to wear your loosest pants the day after your (or their) favorite team loses. Put another way, you better hope your football team won (for more reasons than one) or chances are you’ll be joining your fellow fans rummaging around the kitchen later that day — or have the pizza place on speed dial.

No joke! According to a study published in Psychological Science, on the Monday after a big football game fans of the losing team like to load up on sugar and saturated fat. Fans of the winning team go for healthier foods.

How Much Fat? How Many Calories?

Researchers looked at the typical Monday food consumption habits for people living in over two dozen cities. They compared that data to people’s food consumption on Mondays after NFL games in cities with NFL teams who had played games over the weekend.

They found that people living in cities where the football team lost ate about 16% more saturated fat and 10% more calories compared to how much they typically ate on Mondays.

People in cities where the football team won ate about 9% less saturated fat and 5% fewer calories compared to their usual Monday food.

These changes happened even when non-football fans were included in the study sample. In comparison, they didn’t find these results in cities without a team or in cities with a team that didn’t play that particular weekend.

The after effects were even greater in the most football crazed cities — In the 8 cities with the most devoted fans, people gobbled up 28% more saturated fat after a loss and 16% less after a win.

Down To The Wire Games Amped Up The Food Effects

These trends were especially noticeable when a game came down to the wire. When their team lost, especially if the loss was unexpected or the team lost by a narrow margin to an equally ranked team, the effects were the most noticeable. The researchers think that people perceive the loss, perhaps unknowingly, as an identity threat and use eating as a coping mechanism. A winning team wins seems to give a boost to people’s self-control.

To further test their findings, researchers asked French participants to write about a memory they had when their favorite soccer team either won or lost a game. Then they asked them to choose either chips and candy or grapes and tomatoes as a snack. The people who wrote about their favorite team winning were more likely to pick the healthier snacks.

Something You Can Do

Previous studies have shown how sports can influence — among other things — reckless driving, heart attacks, and domestic violence. But, according to the researchers, no one had ever looked at how sports results can also influence eating.

The researchers suggest a technique to use tp help keep your fat intake and calories under control if you root for a team that doesn’t have a winning record — or even if you just live in a city with a team that tends to lose.

After a loss, write down what’s really important in your life.
They found that this technique, called “self affirmation,” eliminated the eating effects that occurred after football losses.

A Losing Team Means Lots Of Sugar, Fat, And Calories. No Kidding!

September 15, 2013 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

How did your team do this weekend? Did they win or lose?

If you’re being careful about what and how much you eat, you better hope they won (for more reasons than one) or chances are you’ll be joining your fellow fans who will be rummaging around the kitchen or who have the pizza place on speed dial.

That’s not hearsay. According to a study published in Psychological Science, on the Monday after a big football game fans of the losing team like to load up on sugar and saturated fat. Fans of the winning team go for healthier foods.

How Much Fat? How Many Calories?

Researchers looked at food consumption habits on typical Mondays for people living in over two dozen cities. They compared that data to people’s food consumption on Mondays after NFL games in cities with NFL teams who had played games over the weekend.

They found that people living in cities where the football team lost ate about 16% more saturated fat and 10% more calories compared to how much they typically ate on Mondays.

People in cities where the football team won ate about 9% less saturated fat and 5% fewer calories compared to their usual Monday food.

These changes happened even when non-football fans were included in the study sample. And, they didn’t find these results in cities without a team or in cities with a team that didn’t play that particular weekend.

The after effects were even greater in the most football crazed cities; the 8 cities with the most devoted fans, people gobbled up 28% more saturated fat after a loss and 16% less after a win.

A Down To The Wire Game Turned Up The Food Effects

The trends were especially noticeable when a game came down to the wire. When their team lost, especially if the loss was unexpected, or by a narrow margin, or to an equally ranked team — the effects were the most noticeable. The researchers think that people perceive the loss, perhaps unknowingly, as an identity threat and use eating as a coping mechanism. A winning team team wins seems to give a boost to people’s self control.

To further test their findings, in an experimental setting the researchers asked French participants to write about a memory they had when their favorite soccer team either won or lost a game. Then they asked them to choose either chips and candy or grapes and tomatoes as a snack. The people who wrote about their favorite team winning were more likely to pick the healthier snacks.

What You Can Do

After a loss, write down what’s really important in your life.
They found that this technique, called “self affirmation,” eliminated the eating effects that occurred after football losses.

Want more tips — especially if you eat in dining halls of any kind? Get my new book, now available on Amazon — 30 Ways to Survive Dining Hall and Dorm Room Food: Tips to Avoid the Freshman 15.