What are nutrition traps? They’re foods that appear healthy (or relatively healthy) but are actually loaded with sugar, salt, and saturated fat. Three things that, when combined, are not nice to your waistline.
Sports viewing parties can be pretty bad food offenders. Let’s face it — what’s more appealing than chicken wings, french fries, and a beer while you watch the winning field goal?
Okay, this isn’t to say you shouldn’t indulge in any unhealthy food during the party. But maybe you could focus on swapping out the really unhealthy stuff (the food offenders, we say) so you can have fun without the guilt.
Number 1: Creamy dips
Spinach-artichoke, french onion, ranch, queso — yum! Our mouths water and waistlines tremble just thinking about them. Yes, they’re delicious. And yes, they go with just about anything.
And yes — they’re also pretty unhealthy.
Why? The ingredient that makes creamy dips so delicious is cream. And dips with cream bases are loaded with saturated fat. Not only that, but many store-bought dips use a ton of salt.
What you can do: Make your dips at home and bring them to share. You can simply swap the cream for a Greek yogurt base. (Greek yogurt is high in protein and a much healthier option.)
Best of all, you’ll still get the satisfaction of dunking your veggies in something creamy and delicious.
Number 2: Beer
A can of beer contains anywhere from 100 to 200 calories. Multiply that by 2 or 3 and you’re hitting almost one-third of your daily recommended amount.
What you can do instead: alternate beers (or any other alcoholic beverage) with a glass of water. Drinking water between beers will help keep your consumption down while also preventing you from feeling not so great the next day. (Win-win!)
If water sounds totally boring to you, spice it up by drinking sparkling water or squeezing a bit of lime into it.
So there you have it, a couple tricks you need to avoid 2 party food traps — and impress your friends with a new dip!
