Going to the Movies? Watch your Waist-Line!

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A lot of people keep watching their nutrition program throughout the whole year in a meticulous manner, calculating almost every calorie ingested to stay in shape and/or in order not to lose focus on their long aspired dream physique.

At home or even at work, it is quite feasible and easy to follow a healthy nutrition regimen, if there is a flexible plan at hand. Even at restaurants, there are usually healthy options, where one can easily prevent piling up unnecessary weight, while at the same time not denying oneself to go out with friends.

Unfortunately, all these plans come to a standstill, when a clique decides to go the cinema and enjoy food there, all their health conscious strategies and plans come to a sudden stop.

It has almost become a ritual that the entertainment experience at the cinema is not complete if no popcorn and snacks are eaten at the movies. The slogan “certain foods go with certain places” can easily rule the mind of cinema goers. Unfortunately, a medium buttered popcorn, box of chocolate candy, and sugary soft drink can add up to 1,000 calories, which easily turns into fat when one remains in the seat for 120 minutes watching a film.

So what shall be done, when one decides to go to the movies? Take a lunch box? Definitely a big No-No! But there are however a couple of bullet-prove tips, which will help save both money in times where recession has converted almost everyone to an involuntary penny-pincher, and prevent the addition of unnecessary inches to the hard-earned, long awaited and honed physique.

One should never head to the cinema when hungry. The results are usually horrendous, and the person in question gets easily converted from a mind-oriented living organism into a machine-like hoover that sucks in whatever is available. The twinge of the conscience follows usually later, after one realizes the large quantities of meal ingested.  Therefore, it is always better to have a healthy balanced meal at home before heading to the cinema. Nothing beats the quality and nutrition content of a meal prepared at home.

If the cinema outing is following regular working hours, then I would suggest all participants to head to the food court of the mall or shopping center, where the cinema is located and have a healthy meal there, before entering the movie. In general, the food court has a more diverse assortment of healthy food menu alternatives, when compared to the limited ones offered at the cinema cafeteria, as the latter appeals more to the taste buds than to the sound mind. To sum up this point, one should never enter the cinema, when hungry.

Keeping a Granola bar or cereal bar in the handbag or at hand, is also one of the secret healthy filling weapons. Drinking plenty of water before having a Granola bar, just before entering a movie has two positive effects. First, it will give one the sense of fullness, thus preventing any unnecessary munching inside the cinema. When a person fills full, the possibility of overeating is drastically diminished. Second, it will prevent the absorption of fat of any food ingested after this healthy snack.

One should grab bottled water and a fruit from the cinema cafeteria, if available, and in the absence of an appropriate time span to visit the food court. If the popcorn compulsion becomes unbeatable, one should order a child-sized portion without butter. An even better solution is to split this small portion with someone else. The motto should be how to minimize damage, whenever possible.

If the cinema visitor plans to take children with him/her, then one has to make sure to feed the kids first so they will not be hungry. One should also make sure to take children to age-appropriate films only. The less bored they are, the less they will want to eat to overcome the feeling of boredom.

People going to the cinema at matinees tend to eat less, as they directly come from their homes and are therefore less prone to fall victims to the popcorn/fast food pitfall.

Now you can enjoy your next movie experience to the fullest without compromising your healthy life-style!

 

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