Super Bowl Sunday Diet-Breaking GAME PLAN

Picture courtesy of Abigail Johanna Photography

As we all know... I’m the queen of all diet-breakers. If there’s something to be snitched, I’ll snitch it!  If you hand me a cookie... I won’t even think twice... I’ll eat it.  It will be gone in 3 seconds or less!  It’s not until after the cookie is meandering down my esophagus, and I can feel the inherent sugar rush, that it hits me...  I just cheated.  In all seriousness though... what would life be like if we couldn’t relax a little and enjoy some guilt-free cheating?

So, knowing that the Super Bowl is around the corner, along with Super Bowl parties and LOTS of yummy snacks and fun spreads, I thought this would be a PERFECT time to come up with some great “diet-breaking” rules.

RULE #1 - Give yourself a specific time period in which you will be allowed to cheat.

Kickoff is at 6:30pm EST. I think it’s important to build a little bit of pre-gaming into your time allotment. I mean... come on... it’s SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!  In order to do it right, you just have to do some tailgating.  Right?  Essentially, you need to figure out what kind time period is realistic for you.

Diet-breaker’s cheat time:  5:30pm until 1/2 hour after the game ends (about 5 1/2 to 6 hours).

RULE #2 - Rate the individual dishes in the spread from 1 - 10

Rating your food... who knew??  I’m so grateful for this advice from Sommer Tucker, an pretty cool lady in my BeachBody upline.   This is a first for me, but it makes so much sense, so you can bet your bottom dollar... I’ll be following it!  Sommer suggests that you look at all the foods on the spread and rate them from 1-10.  Ten being something to which it is nearly impossible to say no, and zero being something you’d gladly pass on, because you just wouldn’t eat it anyway.

Is it something you absolutely cannot resist?  Give it a 10!  So, if I see some buffalo wings and hot sauce on the table (Yeah... I can’t resist me some HOT WINGS!), hands down...  I’m giving it a 10.  If it’s potato salad, I enjoy it, but I don’t have to have it, so I’d probably give it a 5 or 6.

Point is... mentally rate your food, and ONLY allow yourself to have a portion of the items that are clearly listed as a 10. This will help you to restrict yourself a bit from piling your plate high with a variety of high calorie foods that you could easily say no to... but give you the lee-way to enjoy your favorite snacks!

RULE #3 - Pre-think your drinking game.

Drinking & the Super Bowl.  It’s kind of like mac & cheese or peanut butter & jelly... they usually go together.   As we all know, though... alcohol can be very ‘expensive’ when it comes to caloric intake.

So... what do we need to do?  We need to come up with a drinking plan!

A drinking plan needs to have two facets.

1. Game plan for the amount of alcohol you will consume.  (And you are all old enough to decide how much is enough, and when to stop drinking if you are the designated driver.  No drinking and driving please!!! :)


2. Knowledge of the calories contained in the drinks you choose to consume.  (And don’t forget.. when alcohol is digested... it breaks down into sugars.) 

Beer Drinkers:  If you enjoy a light beer, there are quite a few low calorie beer choices, such as Bud Select 55 or Miller Genuine Draft.  I’ll admit, I started drinking beer when I lived in Austria as a student, and as a result... I really can’t stand to drink the light stuff.  So... I would personally stick with a darker, higher calorie beer like Sam Adams or Guinness Black Lager, and just restrict myself to drinking less.

Wine Drinkers:  The more common wines are about 100-150 calories per 5oz. If you’re a Pinot Noir, Merlot or Cabernet type of person, you’re looking at about 150 calories per drink.   White wine lovers (Savognion Blanc, Pino Grigio, Moscato, etc...) can expect to consume between 100 and 125 calories per drink.  I would do a Google search on the wine you want to purchase to get more specific information on its caloric intake.

Liquor Lovers:  Most mixed drinks contain several shots, as well as a good amount of syrup-based sweetners.  Liquor itself doesn’t have a ton of calories per shot. Many basic liquors have between 60-70 calories in each shot.  So, if you want to go with a harder drink, you may consider going with something like vodka and seltzer water with a squeeze of lemon and lime. If you feel like you need some sweetener, purchase some agave nectar (the organic kind) and sweeten your drink with that, or you can also use a small amount of your favorite frozen juice (all juice) concentrate.

RULE #4 - Prepare some healthy snacks ahead of time, so you won’t be continually tempted to re-pile your plate with high-calorie items.

I have a terrible track record when it comes to planning my diet-breaking ahead of time.  Actually planning to cheat is a first for me.  I refuse to go into this weekend without preparing myself to enjoy my family, my friends and good food.  No complete restrictions here!  I’m going to break the diet-breaking trend and plan it ahead of time.  I’m saying good-bye to the days where I would say... “Well... I already broke the diet... might as well do it all the way!!!”

So... here are a few recipes to give you a some lower calorie snack items that you can add to your spread, and enjoy, fairly guilt-free :)


Low Calorie Veggie Dip (about 130 calories per cup)
Cut up some of your favorite veggies and enjoy this easy low-calorie veggie dip!

1c Greek Yogurt
Ranch dressing powdered dip mix

Add the ranch dressing mix to the greek yogurt to taste.


Low Calorie Fruit Dip (about 190 calories per cup)
Cut up some of your favorite fruits for dipping and enjoy this easy low-calorie fruit dip!

1c  Greek Yogurt
1T Honey or all fruit jam

Add the honey or all fruit jam to the greek yogurt to taste.


Low Calorie Boneless Buffalo Wings (about 129 calories per serving)

Check out this recipe as a healthier substitute for buffalo wings.   No, I haven’t made this particular recipe before, but I wanted to put a buffalo wing substitute option in this article.  I searched online for a good low-cal recipe, and thought this looked like a pretty great option for a Super Bowl Sunday spread.

Now, I’ll be honest... if I make this recipe, I’ll probably skip the breading, spice the chicken, and cook it as is.  Then, I’ll add a lot more of the buffalo sauce, because that’s my favorite part!

Low Calorie Boneless Buffalo Wings

Rule #5 - Remember that rules are made to be broken... well... guidelines... at least ;)

Now that you have a guide to create your game-day strategy, go and get your diet-breaking plan together.  On Super Bowl Sunday, remember that plan, pack your snacks, and ENJOY THE GAME!!

When you wake up on Monday morning, you won’t have that... “I ate too much” hangover, and you’ll be ready to face the week... GUILT-FREE!