By: Paige Valentik

T Swift called me and told me I had to write an article about what she should eat while watching Jason Kelce’s brother play in the Super Bowl. So, here I am…

I do want to provide some specific food ideas, but first, let’s start with the important stuff. Have you heard of intuitive eating? Let me give you a quick explanation about this loaded topic. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the definition of intuitive eating is as follows: Intuitive eating is an approach to nutrition and eating that encourages individuals to listen to their body’s cues and respond to internal signals of hunger and fullness. I’m going to highlight just a few of the key principles of intuitive eating:

1. Honor your hunger: Learn to recognize and respond to your body’s signals of hunger in a timely and satisfying manner.
2. Make peace with food: Allow yourself to enjoy all types of food without guilt or moral judgment, and avoid categorizing foods as “good” or “bad.”
3. Discover the satisfaction factor: Pay attention to the sensory aspects of eating, including taste, texture, and satisfaction, to make meals and snacks more enjoyable.
4. Honor your health: Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds, while also recognizing that there is no “perfect” way to eat.

Take a different approach and challenge yourself next week to eat intuitively with your game spread. Don’t make yourself feel bad for eating “bad” foods, instead make peace with food and just enjoy them! Don’t overeat because you’ve been “on it” all week and deserve to splurge a little, instead honor your hunger by eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re pleasantly full. Here are some of my own strategies I think you should try…

1. Don’t avoid eating all day because you know you’re going to overeat during the game. That’s a recipe for disaster because you will be going into a high calorie meal ravenous. You will also keep telling yourself it’s okay to overeat because you haven’t eaten all day, so you saved up the calories for this. 
2. Try a simple strategy of only eating food off a plate. Might seem silly, but how often do you walk by a table full of food and grab a mini hot dog, a handful of chips or a cookie. Those little grabs done multiple times can add up much quicker than you think.
3. MOVE! Exercise, go for a walk, do anything to get your metabolism revved up and burn some calories. You know you’re going to consume more calories than you probably should, so why not get ahead of it and start to burn some off?

Here comes the part everyone likes: the food ideas. As a kid, we enjoyed what my parents called “Snack Supper” for events such as New Years Eve, Penn State sporting events, the Super Bowl, etc. It’s just like what it sounds…a supper of snacks. So, I’m going to give you a handful of different ideas as if you’re eating at the Whitmire Family Snack Supper.

• Grilled chicken: Instead of the fried chicken bites and fingers, get a platter of grilled chicken from Chic-Fil-A and pair it with your favorite dipping sauce.
• Shrimp and cocktail sauce: It’s a high protein food that will help you feel satisfied while limiting calories and fat.
• Charcuterie: Instead of bologna, big chunks of cheese and high calorie crackers try turkey pepperoni, small cubes of cheese and reduced fat crackers. Would you rather have 5 crackers for 80 calories and 4.5 grams of fat (Ritz) or 11 crackers for 85 calories and 2 grams of fat (reduced fat Wheat Thins)? I’m definitely voting for the crackers that give me a bigger portion size.
• Dip modifications: Make healthy modifications to your most popular dip. If you’re a buffalo chicken family (like mine), increase the chicken and use low fat ranch, cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Make your own onion or ranch dip with light sour cream or plain Greek yogurt mixed with dry seasoning packets.
• Fruit and Cool Whip: Eat a cookie, please, I’m begging you. And eat a brownie too. But, please don’t eat 10 cookies and brownies. Enjoy your favorite desserts, but pair it with fruit and cool whip: a sweet, low calorie choice.

I hope everyone enjoys their Super Bowl Sunday and doesn’t get wrapped up in food guilt. Oh, and Go Birds!