It is possible to enjoy comfort foods for the Super Bowl, without destroying the progress that you’ve made throughout 2012! You are inundated during the game with Super Bowl commercials telling you that you have to eat Doritos, and drink Budweiser to have fun. It’s just not so!
Getting together with friends and enjoying comfort foods and laughs is so important to your long-term happiness and continued good-health, but that doesn’t have to happen with salt-laden chips, cream filled dips, and fried chicken. Clean eating concepts can be accomplished while enjoying ‘comfort foods’.
Having a plan gives you control of your experience. You have spent hours doing weight training and cardio, trying to manage your weight goals. Now, you need to extend that goal into your football party, while still having fun with the 'day-off' attitude. It can be done and still feel like a treat!
Drinks: Monitor how quickly beer adds calories to your total Super bowl calorie totals. Be creative with flavors of pomegranate juice, spritzer water, homemade lemonade, or lite beer that you limit the number of. Be sure to work the amount of drinks you consume into the accepted calorie total for your party that you want to work with.
Dips: You can lighten up many of your favorite dips by replacing full fat sour cream and cream cheese with non-fat varieties. Try something original such as Carrot/chickpea dip or flavored hummus with homemade baked chips. It’s super easy. Take a whole grain, low-carb tortilla. Spray with butter flavored cooking spray on both sides. You can dust before cooking with Cajun spices, garlic salt or a small amount of rough sea salt. Now YOU are in control of how much salt /no-salt is on your chips. Put under a broiler (stay and watch them because they cook quickly), or a 400 degree oven, turning during the cooking process. A rougher chip can be made with whole wheat pitas. Follow the same instructions.
A good dip for vegetables can be 0% Greek yogurt, 2 tbls. pure grated horseradish, paprika and garlic. Yum!
Vegetables: The sky is the limit! Par-boil asparagus and snap peas, add carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery, radishes, grill green onion, and zucchini. An important point in not making vegetables seem…healthy is the presentation. Get a tray and put different height clear or different shade colored glasses, add the asparagus to one, carrot strips to another and so on. The glasses add visual interest and you can put a healthy dip in different sized cups or rami cans. You can also use a pineapple or any solid fruit and use skewers to display the fruits in a fanning design around the base, to mimic a football shape. Have fun with it!
Chips: Make your own chips on Saturday by using purple potatoes or sweet fingerling potatoes. Carefully slice them with a mandolin or a knife to your desired thickness. Spray them with butter flavored Pam or olive oil spray (any grocery has this product now). Lay out on a baking sheet, not allowing them to over lap. Dust with salt, or Cajun spices, and bake on 400 for 12 minutes, checking periodically. Turn those chips over and cook for 6 minutes checking for the golden color that you desire. Allow to cool, and store in an air-tight container. You can make a low salt salsa, or look for a low salt/natural variety at the grocery. Read the labels because the calorie and salt content on salsa varies greatly.
Dessert: A good way to have that taste of chocolate without the calorie explosion is to dip the tops of strawberries, or pineapple in a quality dark chocolate. Melt in a double boiler, or use the microwave very slowly and carefully. Add a touch of fat free milk to increase the creaminess. Set them in the fridge to harden the chocolate. These can be made on Saturday and stored on wax paper.
Below are some recipes that have lower calories but taste decadent. Be safe at your parties and enjoy the game!
Cottage cheese eggs cups with salsa: (seen in Oxygen Magazine)
2 hard boiled eggs- Cut in half and discard the yellows
4 tsp salsa
2 tbls low-fat cottage cheese
Rosemary and ground pepper for garnish
-Peel shells of eggs, discard yellows and put cups on a tray. Fill each egg half with a cottage cheese and top with salsa. Sprinkle with herbs.
Crostini with Goat Chesse and Roasted Grapes: (as seen in Fitness Magazine)
1 ¼ cup seedless red grapes
1 tbls. Olive oil
1 tbls balsamic vinegar
1 fresh thyme sprig
½ whole wheat baguette
4 ounces goat cheese
Fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste
-Preheat oven to 450. In a small roasting pan mix grapes, olive oil, thyme and vinegar. Cook until grapes soften, about 30-35 minutes.
-Remove pan from oven when grapes are done. Remove thyme
-Put wheat bread pieces on a baking shett and lightly spray both sides of bread with olive oil spray. Bake 6-8 minutes. For extra crunchy bread, turn over and bake 2 minutes. Cool 10 minutes. Put a small layer of goat cheese spread over and drizzle the cooked mixture over. Sprinkle with the . Garnish platter with an herb sprig.
125 calories 5g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber.
Spiced Carrot Dip: (as seen in Prevention Magazine)
1 ½ lb carrots cut into 1” pieces
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp. mustard seeds
1 ½ tsp curry powder
¾ tsp cumin
1 cup Greek yogurt ( I prefer 0%)
½ cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
-Steam carrots until tender, about 20 minutes. Put in the food processor.
-Heat oil in small non stick skillet over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, curry powder, and cumin. Toast stirring until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
-Add to food processor with remaining ingredients and pulse until smooth. Season
-Serve with veggies, or home baked pita or tortilla chips
Serving=1/4 cup
44 cal., 5g carbs., 1 g sat. fat, 34 mg sodium
Friday 02/03/12 – Workout Diary:
Stretch tape- 30 minutes
strength train-shoulders/biceps
seated shoulder raise- 12lb
biceps curl- 12 lb
woodchop- 8lb ball
biceps curl- 1 tube
low cable biceps row- 1 tube
foam-roller-15 min
Friday 02/03/12- Food Diary:
Breakfast-
organic steel cut oatmeal (150 cal)
1 large banana, 1/4 cup blackberries (130 cal)
1 cup egg whites, spinach, onions, mushrooms (132 cal)
A.M. Snack-
15 almonds (120 cal)
grapefruit (40 cal)
Lunch-
salad - 4 oz orange Roughy , 1 1/2 cup spinach, 1/2 cup steamed broccoli/cauliflower, 1 tbls sunflower seed, 4 cherry tomato (220 cal)
3 oz. adamame, thawed from frozen (130 cal)
P.M. Snack-
Whey protein shake (125 cal)
Home made popcorn (90 cal)
Dinner-
3 oz pork chops with spicy peach salsa (150 cal)
1 cup cooked wild rice (180 cal)
beet/tomato salad (65 cal)
Dessert-
1/2 cup high protein cereal, 1/2 cup non-fat cottage cheese, sprinkle of cinnamon(140 cal)
TOTAL CALORIES- 1542
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