Healthy Football Snack Alternatives

It is easy to pack on pounds while watching the big game and surrounded by loads of temptation and unhealthy snacks.  The good news is that you can still enjoy football snacks without the guilt.  Beware of the classic snacks – they can pack the most brutal punch in terms of health! 

Chicken Wings

Football fans have been known to down handfuls of these bad boys during parties.  In fact billions of wings will be consumed during football season, so you may want to be mindful of this temptation (your waistline is begging you).

Approximately ONE chicken wing will cost you 55 calories and 6 to 11 grams of fat and that’s before you slather on the Buffalo Sauce and the blue cheese dressing!

Now multiply that by the amount of chicken wings you’ll most likely down in one sitting and you’ll start to realize why these classic snacks should raise a red flag.

Healthy Alternatives: 

If you don’t want to give up chicken wings just make them healthier – baking or grilling chicken wings covered in loads of savory seasoning will lower the calories and fat, as will your dipping choices – opt for a fat free ranch or a yogurt based dip.

You can also pick up snacks like Morning Star Chicken wings – these look and taste very much like the real thing and one serving of five wings has only 200 calories and 9 grams of fat!  HELLO!

Chicken Wings

Nachos & Guacamole:

These classic game day treats are often slathered in cheese, guacamole and are at arm’s length the entire game.  That also means every mouthful is taking you further away from a healthy body inside and out.

 Guacamole Dip can pack around 100 calories per serving (and we all have more than one serving), nearly 10 grams of fat and truth be told, several of these dips are made with less than 2% actual guacamole!

Healthy Alternative #1:

You don’t have to give up the crunch and you can keep some of the cheese here (great for calcium and protein), but instead of the greasy chips try opting for  Pita Chips, Pretzel Crisps  (the same salty crunch as your fave potato chips) or  Pop Chips  (which come in all sorts of classic game day flavors).  If you really want to get healthy and still give your mouth that crunch you crave try cucumbers or carrots instead. 

Another Healthy Alternative – Kale Chips – don’t let the name fool you – these are so good they are addictive, they will satisfy your savory/crunchy cravings and can be purchased at the store but are so simple you can make them at home.  Simply tear up kale, toss with olive oil and your favorite seasonings and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes!  Easy and so good!

Healthy Alternative For Dip :

To save boatloads of calories try subbing in salsa, non-fat yogurt based dips and hummus for loads of guacamole and cheese.

Kale chips are easy to make!

For more healthy snack makeovers feel free to tweet me @NadiaMurdockFit and make sure to hashtag it #AskNadia