Super Bowl Healthy Eating Strategies

It's on a Sunday. It's filled with a big game and fun commercials and a big half-time show. It's friends and family and cheering on your team. It's just another Sunday afternoon football game, right?

Wrong. 

It's Super Bowl Sunday and it's all about the food.

At least that is what we are told. I wanted to write an article giving my clients a heads-up and a way to help them - recipes they could try, food to avoid, a what-to-eat-at-the-buffet-table kind of article. And then I realized, we are already bombarded with those articles. At least I am. Every health or fitness company I know has sent me "10 Best Healthy Eats for the Super Bowl" and "Top 10 Tips to Survive your Super Bowl Party" and it goes on and on. 7 recipes, 3 things to try, 9 things you won't believe. Blah, blah, blah.

What does this mean for the average American who just wants to not wake up on Monday morning hung over and bloated from a chip-fest or wants to be healthy and avoid the bad stuff?

It means you must be a freak.

A freak.

This came to mind when I met with a client this week who has done really well. We took her progress report [measurements, bodyfat%, BMI] and photos, and I sat down and asked her, "What have you done in the last four weeks?" She looked me straight in the eye [a very good sign] and said "Every single thing you told me to do" [another very good sign]. After a very good meeting, she told me about her next challenge, a girls weekend with her friends. Previously, this would have been a time to relax with her friends, eat and drink. But this time, she wanted to do things differently. One of their friends was what she called a "freak". This "freak" exercised every day while they were there. This "freak" brought her own food and ate well. This "freak" did not drink alcohol because she didn't want to "drink her calories".

"I want to be a freak" is the next statement out of my client's mouth. She told me of her plans to take her own food, to stay on her healthy nutrition plan, to exercise while she was there [took her weights in the car] and her desire to be a "freak".

A freak. 

• Someone who exercises daily.
• Someone who eats healthy. 
• Someone who drinks healthy. 

I'm a freak too. I'm a freak who goes to a Super Bowl Party and doesn't make it about the food. I don't have plate after plate of chips and dip and then complain the next morning because my jeans don't fit. I eat in moderation and I avoid the foods that are too fatty or are not right for me. I eat fruits and veggies and lean meats. I talk with people. I enjoy the game and the commercials and the half-time show.

I'm a freak. 

So, instead of giving you my top recipes that are going to "save" you from this football holiday, I will challenge you and ask you,  

"Are you willing to be a freak?"