Food & Football: Tips for Staying on Track During Game Day

~ Coach Kasha, Registered Dietitian

Well, it’s about that time again… Football season is upon us!

Whether you’re a football fan or not, you likely have friends or family who love football. That means you’ve likely spent a Sunday or two (and the occasional Monday night) hanging around certain “football foods” like pizza, wings, and all sorts of yummy, not so calorie-friendly foods.

As we know we definitely do not have to avoid these foods all together. Sometimes you can (and should) eat the pizza! However, if this is becoming every Sunday thing you may find it difficult to hit your goals and stay on plan.
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Perhaps you can try doing football season a little differently this year.

Here are some healthy swaps that may help you stay on plan:

• Swap pizza for homemade pizza or pizza bites (using lavash bread, pita bread, high-fiber English muffins, low-fat cheeses, a mixture of different lean proteins like chicken or chicken sausage, all the veggies).
• Swap fried chicken wings for baked wings (toss with sauces like G-Hughes sugar-free BBQ sauce, honey mustard, or hot sauce. Dip with low-fat ranch dressing, plain Greek yogurt mixed with ranch seasoning, low-fat blue cheese dressing, cottage cheese).
• Swap chips and dip with veggies and dip (celery, colored peppers, carrots, cucumber, zucchini, broccoli, sugar-snap peas. Dip with plain Greek yogurt, low-fat ranch or seasoned ranch mixed with Greek yogurt).
• Prepare buffalo chicken dip with low-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt and cottage cheese instead of the typical full fat cheese, ranch, blue cheese dressing, and cream cheese. Serve with multi-grain crackers or veggies.
• Prepare spinach and artichoke dip with low-fat or fat-free Greek yogurt instead of mayo & serve with multi-grain crackers or veggies.

​Here are a few more fun and healthy ideas to try:

• Taco station with proteins like lean ground turkey or lean ground beef and tons of different veggie options
• Mini chicken burgers
• Chicken skewers with peppers, onions, zucchini
• Turkey meatballs
• Cowboy caviar
• Homemade guacamole
  
  

As always, having a plan heading into game day will always work out in your favor. Choosing a healthy alternative to help you stay on plan will have you waking up Monday morning feeling fantastic!

Happy football season and may the odds forever be in your team's favor!