Authors: Lisa Lillien
Hungry Girl (85 page)
Eating at movie theaters can be bad news. There simply aren't very many good choices available there. Follow these easy steps to avoid becoming a DOUBLE FEATURE!
Theater Dos and Don'tsDO
sneak your own candy into the theater. It's as simple as throwing some long-lasting, low-cal candy in your purse (lollipops, chewy stuff, and hard candies will last you long into the plotline!).
DON'T
buy king-sized movie candy, even the fat-free kind, unless you're going to share it with a KING-SIZED group of friends! That 8-ounce bag of Reese's Pieces tips the scales with close to 1,200 calories and 60 grams of fat, and even that 6-ounce Twizzlers pack contains more than 550 calories. YEESH!
DO
smuggle in a pre-popped mini bag of 94% fat-free microwave popcorn. Just pop it up right before you leave the house!
DON'T,
under any circumstances, indulge in movie theater popcorn! A small container has about 400 calories and 25 grams of fat . . . WITHOUT BUTTER! A large container
with
butter packs in about 1,500 calories and 130 grams of fat. That's scarier than any horror flick to ever hit the silver screen.
DO
stick to diet soda or water and save yourself from the sugary, empty calories in regular soda—a 40-ounce soda contains more than 500 calories! If you crave flavored liquid, bring along sugar-free powdered drink mix packets to toss into your water bottle.
DON'T
think you have to forgo carb-y goodness altogether if you didn't pre-pop your own corn. Go for a warm and doughy soft pretzel (a medium one has about 350 calories and only 3.5 grams of fat) and share it with a pal. Just be sure your twisted treat isn't drenched in butter, cheese, cinnamon and sugar, chocolate, or any other crazy toppings.
Two Thumbs Up!
Sour Patch Kids and Lemonheads are fat-free and satisfying, yet not quite as addictive as other candies 'cuz of their sourness. HG Tip: Give away the green and yellow Sour Patch Kids (or whatever your least fave flavors are!) to pals sitting near you—that way, you won't eat those once all the good flavors are gone. |
Pop To It! Enjoying a movie-thon at home? With so many awesome options, you can really go to town! (Not literally. You can stay home and eat them.)
|
Jolly Time, Orville Redenbacher's, and Pop Secret all make 94% fat-free microwave popcorn in single-serving bags that contain only about 110 calories and about 2 grams of fat. Plus, each bag pops up a generous 5 to 6 cups of the stuff !
Coffee was originally used for medicinal purposes, treating everything from heart disease to fevers and coughs. It wasn't until people started craving the caffeine-buzz "side effect" that coffee took on the hot beverage form we know and love today. But coffee isn't just COFFEE anymore. It's often buried beneath sugar, syrups, milk, and whipped cream. Here's how to have a fun coffee break without downing a gazillion calories.
TOP ATE Ways to Survive a Trip to Starbucks1. Always order your drinks "Nonfat" and "No Whip."
2. Tempted by those Frappuccino Blended Coffee drinks that come in a zillion crazy-delicious flavor combinations? They're ALL available as Frappuccino Lights, most with just about 150 calories and hardly any fat for a 16-ounce Grande.
3. If you order a flavored coffee, make sure the flavor comes from the actual coffee grounds as opposed to added sugary syrups.
4. Remember that "reduced-fat" pastries aren't necessarily low in calories or fat. (You're better off avoiding cake-y items altogether.)
5. Lose the idea that anything with "tea" in its name is diet-friendly. It's not.
6. Order a "Short" size drink (it's not on the menu, but your friendly neighborhood barista will happily accommodate you) if you want to indulge without going overboard.
7. Skip regular syrups, full-fat milk and cream, and sugar. Always opt for sugar-free syrups, fat-free milk, and no-calorie sweetener.
8. For guilt-free tea, order a plain unsweetened iced tea, then ask for a shot of sugar-free syrup and use no-calorie sweetener to flavor it.
Chew the Right Thing!How well do you know the creamer crew?
BITE IT!
If liquid Coffee-mate (or liquid creamer, in general) is your thing, stick with Coffee-mate's Original Fat Free (1 tablespoon has just 10 calories). When looking for flavored coffee-enhancers, hit up the powders, in either Fat Free or Sugar Free. While they often SEEM to have more calories than the liquid, it takes FAR less of the powder to make your drink taste good (typically a teaspoon is all it takes). And a teaspoon of the stuff only adds about 10 calories or so to your beverage.
FIGHT IT!
Avoiding regular flavored creamers (ones that aren't fat-free or sugar-free) is pretty much a given. But know that even the fat-free flavored liquid Coffee-mates have TWICE the calories of the Original Fat Free. Each tablespoon of the flavored liquids has about 25 calories. The sugar-free ones are no bargain either, with 15 to 30 calories and at least 1 gram of fat per tablespoon. That may not sound like a lot, but liquid creamers aren't nearly as potent as powdered ones. So it's way too easy to add 100 calories and even several grams of fat to your drink without even thinking!