Thursday, June 12, 2008

6 Movie Theater Eating No-No's


Normally I pass over headline articles dealing with food issues. I know what's bad to eat and what's good. I know I need exercise and to drink plenty of water. Normally...but this time, an articles headline caught my eye that I had to read: 6 Worst Things to Eat at the Movies.

Now you have my attention. I love movies and I love having popcorn and pop even more when at the movies. To be specific, my "usual" is buttered popcorn with a large Cherry Coke and either Junior Mints or Twizzlers. Mmmm... I know that isn't good for me but I usually justify having it when it replaces a meal. (I know that's not good either).

Anyway, according to a recent article from Men's Health, here are the 6 Worst Things to Eat at the Movies:

  1. Large Popcorn - 1,283 calories • 78 g fat (49 g saturated) • 1,850 mg sodium
  2. Large Nachos with Cheese - 1,101 calories • 59 g fat (18.5 g saturated) • 1,580 mg sodium
  3. Snickers Popables - 692 calories • 33 g fat (14.6 g saturated) • 73 g sugars
  4. Whoppers - 676 calories • 24 g fat (20.3 g saturated) • 88 g sugars
  5. Large Cherry Coke - 572 calories • 0 g fat • 154 g sugars
  6. Large Soft Pretzel with Cheese - 643 calories • 14.5 g fat (3 g saturated, 4 g trans) • 3,068 mg sodium
Here are some facts also given in the article:
  1. Snub the butter soak on your popcorn and you’ll save yourself from two-and-a-half day’s worth of saturated fat.
  2. The nachos and cheese has more fat and calories that two Quarter Pounder's with Cheese from McDonald's.
  3. The combined fat-load of the popables is equal to two-and-a-half full-sized Snickers bars.
  4. How many malt balls does it take to run up a day’s worth of saturated fat? About 70, the number in a theatre-sized box of Whoppers.
  5. A large Cherry Coke has 50 percent more calories than a half-pound of ground beef. Yuk.
  6. The pretzel packs more calories than a proper dinner, and well over a day’s worth of sodium.
D'oh! D'oh! D'oh!

The article also has links to: The Unhealthiest Drinks in America, The Saltiest Foods in America, and The 20 Worst Foods in America. Seems kinda depressing doesn't it?

Well, next time I go to the movies, I'll skip out on my "usual". Well...I probably won't skip out on them but I will think twice. That counts right? ;)

—b

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's funny. When I saw your headline I thought you meant "worst" as in "grossest" and the first thing that came to mind for me was Sour Jacks (the knock-off Sour Patch Kids). Absolutely nasty. I can't even believe they allowed them to make it past the taste testing stage. Never, ever, eat them.

Unknown said...

Ha! Nice. I'll remember that. Although, now you have me intrigued as to how bad they really are.

—b

Anonymous said...

Thats funny, I ate nachos and cheese today. The calories are on the back of the bag maybe about 200calories for the whole bag and a little cup of cheese. How many nachos are considered a large portion?