Super Bowl Sunday Eat Healthy

The Super Bowl is an inch just waiting to be added to your waistline. But it doesn't have to be.

By the time the final whistle blows at Super Bowl XLII, they say, Americans will have downed 156 billion calories, mostly from greasy pizza, fried chicken wings and beer.

It's easy to mindlessly consume an entire day's worth of calories while glued to the TV for three to four hours of gridiron action and glitzy commercials.

The typical Super Bowl party-goer consumes 1,300 calories through food alone - not including beer, soda and wine. It may be as much as 2,500 calories depending on the person and the party.

That's not to say Super Bowlers should feast on carrots, salads and diet soda.

You can still eat something good and save yourself some calories so you don't have to wake up the next morning and work them off at the gym.


Pick up a Pizza

Super Bowl Sunday is the No. 1 day of the year for take-out pizza. You can still have pizza, but choose the crust and toppings wisely.

Trim 1,000 calories from your order by choosing crunchy, thin-crust pizza and a lower fat topping combination, such as ham and pineapple (also known as Hawaiian).

Two slices of Pizza Hut Thin'n Crispy Pizza with quartered ham and pineapple have 360 calories and 12 grams of fat, for example, while two slices of the restaurant's Supreme Pan pizza (pepperoni, beef, pork, green peppers, red onions and mushrooms) pack 620 calories and 32 grams of fat.

That's a savings of 260 calories and 20 fat grams for the thinner crust pizza with lower-fat toppings.

Just four pieces of pepperoni adds 108 calories per slice. Thin crust can save 60 to 80 calories per slice.

Choose a beer with less than 140 calories; 125 calories is ideal. Guinness draught is like a "beer milkshake: dark, thick and rich," which makes it more satisfying than other beers and could help keep party calories down.

A 12-ounce can of Guinness draught has 126 calories, while a 12-ounce Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has 200 calories. (Be careful not to choose Guinness Extra Stout, though: It has 176 calories and 2% higher alcohol content.)

Michelob Ultra, with 95 calories per 12-ounce bottle, and Beck's Premier Light, with 64 calories per 12-ounce bottle, are the top picks. Worst picks are Sam Adams Cream Stout, with 190 calories per bottle, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale with 200 calories.

Eat Chili to Start

Eat a bowl of rich, hearty chili in the first quarter of the game and save hundreds of calories by halftime.

Guests arrive hungry, and nothing facilitates mindless eating better than football and those infamous Super Bowl commercials. Eating a bowl of chili is like having something to eat before going to the supermarket to buy groceries. Your best bet is low-fat turkey chili. It's a protein boost, too.

Wingless Chicken

Save 500 calories while indulging your chicken-wing cravings. If you tend to knock back a dozen wings (which many men do during a big football game), you've just consumed 800 calories, especially if you're a heavy dipper with the blue cheese.

Make your own wings, but use boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken tenders. Toss 'em with your favorite barbecue sauce, skewer and grill or broil them 5 minutes per side. This option removes the fat, the skin and a substantial number of calories.