Simple snack swaps to save your waistline while watching England game – from chicken kebabs to paprika popcorn
FOOTBALLERS can burn around 2,000 calories whilst playing a match - but sadly, watching from your sofa is not quite as good for your waistline.
Brits are set to consume hundreds of extra calories while watching England play in tonight's semi-finals match against Denmark.
"Put a snack in front of us and research has shown that we will eat more if we are watching the television," says nutritionist Amanda Ursell."
Scientists say this is because we pay less attention to what we put in our mouths but also because we tend to eat more in other people's company.
"Add a few beers into the equation and the stress of a tense football match and the control we have around crisps, dips, take-outs and nibbles crashes around our ears.
"Wolfing down a thousand calories plus during a 90-minute match is easy to do."
Here Amanda shares her top snack swaps for tonight's match with LYNSEY HOPE.
SWAP Tortilla Chips and Sour Cream Dip For Pop Chips and Salsa
Just 50g tortilla chips and 25g sour cream dip racks up 435 calories and 32g of fat.
SWAP: A bag of Pop Chips with 80g tomato salsa dip with 109 calories and 3.4g of fat.
SAVES: 326 calories and 28.6g fat.
ADDS: One of your five a day in the salsa dip.
SWAP Houmous and Pitta for Carrot and Cucumber with Tzatziki
100g of houmous with a sliced-up pitta packs in 371 calories and 17g of fat.
SWAP: Carrot and cucumber sticks with 100g tzatziki with 80 calories and 6g of fat.
SAVES: 291 calories and 11g fat.
ADDS: A serving of vegetables plus extra bone-strengthening calcium in the tzatziki. The veg-based snack is more filling and takes longer to eat, which helps you to feel fuller and puts the brakes on over-snacking.
SWAP Salted Peanuts for Paprika Popcorn
Tuck into 100g of salted peanuts and you are up to 615 calories, 51g of fat and 1.4g salt before you know it.
SWAP: Paprika Popcorn. Pop your own popcorn and sprinkle with paprika or just eat it plain. A 50g prepared portion looks three times the size of the 100g of peanuts and takes longer to eat, so you can get away with eating less. In 50g of this snack, you get 241 calories, 12 of fat and 0.1g salt.
SAVES: 374 calories and 39g fat plus 1.3g salt.
ADDS: A serving of wholegrains to your day.
SWAP Mini Sausage Rolls for a Sausage and Ketchup Sandwich
A mini sausage roll seems harmless enough with just 33 calories each. The problem is, it’s way too easy to polish off half a 200g pack with a viewing mate without a second thought. Do this and you are up to 333 calories, 18g of fat and a third of your saturated fat for the day.
SWAP: Sausage Sandwich. Grill a Richmond meat-free sausage, put it on a slice of bread, add some ketchup up, fold it up and tuck in. That’s 155 calories, 2.8g of fat and less than 2g of saturated fat. Plus, it throws in 2.5g of your daily 30g goal for fibre.
SAVES: 178 calories, 15.2g of fat.
ADDS: Extra fibre, even when using white sliced bread.
SWAP Dough Balls with Garlic Dip for Cucumber Sticks and Red Pepper Dip
Split the pack of Pizza Express Dough Balls with Garlic Dip and you notch up 380 calories, 14.2g fat, 7.8g saturated fat and 1.3g of salt.
SWAP: A good chunk of cucumber sliced into batons served with a smoky red pepper dip for 40 calories, 1.4g fat and virtually zero saturated fats.
SAVES: 340 calories, 12.8g fat, 7.6g of saturated fat. You also save a gram of salt.
ADDS: One of your five a day with the cucumber and antioxidants in the red pigments of the pepper.
SWAP KFC Original Chicken Drumsticks for Sainsbury’s Teriyaki Style Chicken Fillet Kebabs
Four KFC drumsticks pack in 680 calories, over 40g of fat and almost 7g of saturated fat, along with over half your salt for the day.
SWAP: Four Teriyaki Style Chicken Fillet Kebabs with 220 calories, 8.4g fat and 2.2g saturated fat. Salt comes in at 0.7g for the four kebabs.
SAVES: 460 calories, 31.6g fat, 4.8g saturated fat, 2.3g salt.
ADDS: A high protein hit and as a result will leave you feeling satisfied, which helps put the brakes on further snacking.
SWAP Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream Tub for a Wall’s Solero
Share a 465ml tub of Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice cream and you are up to 548 calories, 30g fat, 19g of saturated fat and a whacking 52g of sugars – that’s 22g more than the 30g daily maximum.
SWAP: A Wall’s Exotic Solero Ice Cream, for which you need to allow 98 calories, just 2g of fat, 1.9g saturated fats and 17g sugars.
SAVES: A whacking 450 calories, 12.9g fat, 17.1g saturated fat and a total of 35g of sugars in one fail swoop.
ADDS: The Solero does not add much nutritionally to your daily diet, but it works brilliantly when it comes to damage limitation in the ice cream department of football television snacking.
SWAP M&M’s for Chocolate raisins
Open a 125g pouch of Peanut Chocolate M&M’s and you will finish them in five minutes, devouring as you do so, 640 calories, 32.5g fat, 12.5g saturated fat and 67.5g of sugars.
SWAP: Half a bag of chocolate raisins. These aren't sin-free but they will satisfy a sweet tooth and you'll save on both fat and sugars.
SAVES: 239 calories, 16.5g saturated fat, 2.5g saturated fat and 10.5g sugars.
ADDS: Raisins can aid digestion, boost iron levels and keep bones strong.
SWAP 1 X 300ml bottle of Budweiser for a 330ml bottle of Skinny Brands Lager
While they contain zero fat and just 0.2g sugar, just one 300ml bottle of Bud will cost you 116 calories - and let's face it, who is going to stop at one?
SWAP: One bottle of Skinny Brands Lager, now widely available at supermarkets including Asda.
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SAVES: 27 calories and 0.2g sugar for every bottle.
ADDS: Not a lot of nutrition and the alcohol content is higher at 5.1 ABV compared to 4.5, so stick to Government guidelines whilst drinking.
