Diet Detective: Healthy Super Bowl Swaps

Bubba Gump Jambalaya = 375 Minutes of Preparing, Cooking, Serving, and Cleaning up After the Super Bowl Party

That's more than six hours of cooking, preparing and cleaning. Yes, Bubba Gump is a chain, and the Jambalaya has 1,100 calories. Jambalaya is typically made with chicken, shrimp and andouille sausage sautéed with peppers, onions, rice and spicy sauce.

Diet Pro: I just made a healthy jambalaya with boneless chicken breast and brown rice. That’s the way to go.

Outback Baby Back Ribs, Full Order = 123 Minutes of Team Practice and Conditioning

Ribs are tasty, but they’re packed with calories—as if you didn’t know. They’re fatty, and the sauce is sugary.

Diet Pro: Try making them yourself. Trim all visible fat before and after cooking, and instead of coating your ribs with an excessive amount of sauce beforehand, partially cook them loaded with seasonings, brush them lightly with the sauce, and then finish cooking.

Four Bacon-Wrapped-Smokies = 156 Minutes Being the Team Mascot

Little sausages wrapped in bacon—popping just four in your mouth will cost you 156 minutes of jumping around and acting a bit foolish (the good news is you’ll be wearing a costume.)

Diet Pro: If you need to eat some type of bacon-wrapped hors d’oeuvres, go with Applegate Farms Organic Hickory Smoked Uncured Turkey Bacon. It’s only 35 calories per slice. Hebrew National Beef Franks in a Blanket are 60 calories each.

Three Pepsis = 57 Minutes of Dancing to Beyonce During the Halftime Show

Each 12-ounce can is 100 calories. So to burn off just three Pepsis you need to dance for more than an hour to a Beyonce song. Have you heard her music? Have you danced for an hour straight?

Diet Pro: Water, flavored seltzer, unsweetened ice tea. There are so many low or no-calorie drinks. Find one that works for you.

More: 5 Tasty Soda Alternatives

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The Diet Detective's Bio » The Diet DetectiveActive.com Expert
Charles Stuart Platkin is an Active Expert, nutrition and public health advocate, author of the best seller Breaking the Pattern (Plume, 2005), Breaking the FAT Pattern (Plume, 2006) and Lighten Up (Penguin USA/Razorbill, 2006) and founder of Integrated Wellness Solutions and DietDetective.com. Sign up for The Diet Detective newsletter free at www.dietdetective.com.

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