6 worst foods at the movies
 

Yet another news story from Yahoo....

Y'all know that movie popcorn has been the absolute one thing I never gave up during my weight loss phase... I just couldn't bear going to a show without my beloved popcorn.. And for the most part, since we don't do movies all THAT often, I've survived unscathed... BUT... In the past month or so, since there have been so many movies coming out that we've wanted to see, the diet has taken a bit of a beating.. A beating that's resulted in a bit of a gain on the scales... Please also keep in mind that the info on popcorn is for a large (think: TUB) of popcorn.. Sometimes we get one of these and split it 4 ways, so it's not AS bad.. But still....

So today I found this story on Yahoo, about the dangers of movie theatre food...

Ironically, Liz and I planned to take the kiddos to the movies tomorrow night before shipping them off to camp next week...

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6 Worst Things to Eat at the Movies
Posted Sun, Jun 08, 2008, 3:32 am PDT
79% of users found this article helpful.
Post a Comment View All 102 Comments At a movie theater, a lot of the stuff you carry away from the concession counter is a horror show in its own right. And it comes with a sequel: When you debut in your bathing suit this summer, everyone will know what you did last night at the movies — you overate, so now you overflow.

Not that I blame you, of course. I've been there, too. Engrossed by the big screen, too many of us fall victim to giant soda cups, popcorn buckets, and candy boxes, which are sneakily designed to keep the munchfest moving swiftly for the duration of the film.

One Cornell study showed just how thoughtless it can be. Researchers gave patrons different-sized popcorn buckets, and those with large buckets ate nearly twice as much as those with medium buckets. And get this: In some of the buckets, researchers traded out the fresh-popped corn for two-week-old kernels! Those moviegoers munched away so absentmindedly that they put away 34 percent more stale popcorn than those with medium buckets of fresh corn!

So before you plunk down your hard-earned cash for The Incredible Hulk, consider how you may come to resemble him if you mess up a lot at the concession stand. Here's where the real danger lies:

Large Popcorn
1,283 calories
78 g fat (49 g saturated)
1,850 mg sodium

Yes, yes, it’s the custom; everyone at the theatre is eating popcorn. In fact, each American consumes more than 200 cups of popcorn a year, and it’s no surprise considering a movie theatre’s large bucket is 20 cups in itself! But snub the butter soak and you’ll save yourself from two-and-a-half day’s worth of saturated fat.

Large Nachos with Cheese (40 chips, 4 oz.)
1,101 calories
59 g fat (18.5 g saturated)
1,580 mg sodium

This movie-time snack has more calories than two large orders of McDonald’s French fries. In fact, you’d still be saving fat and calories if you smuggled in two Quarter Pounders with Cheese instead!

Snickers Popables (5 oz., 46 pieces)
692 calories
33 g fat (14.6 g saturated)
73 g sugars

The name's cute, but think about this: your chewy-nougat body in a bathing suit. The Snickers will be following you in two ways. The combined fat-load of these little popables is equal to two-and-a-half full-sized Snickers bars. So even if you split the bag, you’d still do better to down a real candy bar.

Whoppers (5 oz. box)
676 calories
24 g fat (20.3 g saturated)
88 g sugars

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. This candy's a long-standing classic, but so are fat-guy comedians. You want to join that jowly double bill?


44 oz. Cherry Coke
572 calories
0 g fat
154 g sugars

The theater owners say it's all about convenience: They give you the super large size cup, so you won't have to come back if you want seconds. Oh, and they can charge you twice as much up front while they're at it.

That’s why movie-theatre cups (and everything else in the theatre) have grown to such mammoth proportions. This beverage, for instance, has 50 percent more calories than a half-pound of ground beef, and every bit of it comes from —yikes! — high fructose corn syrup. (For other drinks that will lay waste to your waistline, check out this eye-popping report on America's worst drinks!)


Large Soft Pretzel with 3 oz. Nacho Cheese
643 calories
14.5 g fat (3 g saturated, 4 g trans)
3,068 mg sodium

The pretzel weighs in at 5 ounces, and it holds nearly 100 calories in each ounce of soft bread. Top it with a massive load of warm, trans-fatty cheese sauce, and you’ve got the plot of a disease-of-the-week movie.

This "snack" packs more calories than a proper dinner, and well over a day’s worth of sodium. If you buy one of these salty dogs, don't eat it: Just throw it over your shoulder for good luck. (Do the same with these saltiest foods in America!)

Want to avoid other foods that are wrecking your waistline? Study up on the 20 Worst Foods in America. By maneuvering your way around these gut-bombing traps — or better yet, growing delicious food in your backyard — you’ll be well on your way to a lean, healthy and fit summer!

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I just had to accept there aren't any foods I can snack on at the movies - I might be able to budget the calories for the day, but there just isn't anything WORTH that many calories (to me). I usually bring in my own dried mango if I think I'm going to need a snack.

That doesn't mean I never eat treats, it just means that I really carefully choose it, it has to be something I really really love and would desperately miss if I lived my life without it - nothing at a movie theater qualifies for me.

I had a small chocolate dipped cone from DQ on Sunday though, 340 calories that were worth it to me as an occasional treat.

Wow.
So what are you going to get at the movies tomorrow? :)

Ummmm... Popcorn...:sssh::corn:

Here in Iceland, I always just pop my own air-popped pop corn at home, so it has absolutely no added fat and I just put it in my bag and take with me to the movies. I don´t know about the rules in America but noone has said anything to me about it:)

The rules in Canada say we can't bring in any outside food, but I can't bring myself to spend all that money after buying the tickets, so I sneak in Water ($3.00 per bottle), juice for DD ($3.50) fruit, nuts, anything low-calorie. (I used to go to the bulk store and buy CANDY by the pound, and eat it all up in the movie, and feel SICK!!)

Thanks for that Dan...Last time I went, I brought my LA lite, had a diet coke, smuggled in a water and had a kid's size popcorn.. no butter. I HAVE to have popcorn at the movies as I only go about 4x a year... LOL

Yes, I'm always thankful that they are not allowed to search purses at the theater! I sneak snacks all the time, candy for the kids, apples and water for me :)

Elizabeth - I only get to go about 4 times a year as well - its sooooo expensive with 3 kiddos!

<-------------is STUNNED about the popcorn

Here is the kicker, I know this lady in the fashion industry and she use to work the London fashion scene week and she told me that they have bowls of popcorn (without butter) all over for the models to eat! UGhhhhhhhhhhh and they are soooooooooooooooo skinnnnnnyyyyyy! Anyhow I have taken to ordering the kids popcorn that comes with a drink and a candy treat..the candy goes into my purse for my kids to split and I am satisfied with the popcorn and pop that I get and It isn't "HULK SIZE" so I don't feel like a stuffed pig when I leave!

Unbuttered popcorn is very low in calorie if it's not popped in loads of fat. Of course, that's not the kind of popcorn you get at the movies.

one word: NETFLIX

:D:D:D

Good point!

Glad to see another New Mexican around here!!!!

It is so hard to walk in and smell the popcorn. LOL i don't know what it is about that smell that just invites you in. I haven't been to the movies since I started on my plan and going for the gold. But I anticipate taking my trusty movie purse and making do.
Thanks for the info!

I was wonder who else would admit to owning a "Movie Purse"!!! I pop my own at home, put it in a zip top plastic bag and tuck in in my Movie Purse along with a bottle of water. I can fit 4 zip bags and 4 bottle of water/soda in my Movie Purse.

Yeah... The problem is for me that I have no movie purse..

Add to that, the fact that Liz doesn't carry a purse anymore either, so HAVE to buy the popcorn there.. :lol:

What's weird is that Liz, who has never been a big popcorn fan, has been really craving it lately, even threatening/toying with the idea of buying a bag of it from the movie theater in the mall we shop at... Now THAT's scary.. And no, she's not pregnant...

I think popcorn is a legal drug... I try to stash my own in too.. that is if I remember to pop it at home. The smell is intoxicating, maybe that is why Liz is craving it Dan???

You are absolutely right there is NOTHING worth the amount of densly packed calories that are at the movie theatres.

I never really thought about the large popcorn issue. I feel a bit queezy now thinking about it.

However one of the issues we have with our local AMC is they will not allow us to bring anything in to eat or drink. We are forced to purchase something form their concessions or drink water from the drinking fountains.

We've changed up our tactics a bit, I've resorted to taking treats in (usually light nuts or something) in a larger purse. It's the only way to get the stuff in. Did you know that legally they can look through a teenagers backpack and remove either them or the items from the movie plex? But they can't go into my purse without a warrant? So needless to say I don't use backpacks (even though it would be more convenient).

The whole process is stupid, so they got the hint (a little) and started selling bottled water (their push for a healthier movie goer) at $5.00 for 8oz...:mad:

There is a very strong reason my husband and I have avoided the theatres. The prices of the bad goodies, the arrogance, and the over priced tickets. For us to go to the theatre, it costs around 30 bucks just for the two of us (and that does NOT include a real meal). So we changed tactics again, we only go on Saturday or Sunday morning when the tickets are 5 bucks each. And we don't do snacks. (I'll hide a bottle of water in my purse).

I honestly do not believe that commercial industries want us healthy or even to give us the choice to do so.

But regardless, excellent post and thank you for providing it.:hug:

I went to Watch Sex/City last week. I brought in a 100 calorie pack of popcorn (that I had popped earlier) which counts as a starch and a LL.

I used to sell popcorn at a popcorn cart while in Univ and popcorn is popped in coconut oil then salted before the butter. For those on plan I would suggest avoiding even the unbuttered stuff. Many ppl who have severe eating disorders live off of air popped popcorn with no toppings because they can basically eat as much as they want,, low in calories and sugars and high in fiber.

Tan

Oh I definetly have a movie purse! My husband even knows what it's for. For christmas last year I purchased him a refillable bucket at our local movie theater and it's but for the grace of my movie purse that I'm not in worse shape than I already am.

I have a movie purse also. Initially (pre-weight loss) I bought it so we didn't have to pay the outrageous concession stand prices. DH and I don't do movie theater popcorn, but we are addicted to ICEEs. When they raised the price to $4.50 a pop, that's when I bought the movie purse. Soon after we started to get our ICEEs at the gas station before the movie. I'd stuff them in a ziplock bag in my purse. Now the purse has come in handy for all of my "healthy" alternatives. We bring air popped popcorn, nuts, laughing cow cheese, veggie sticks, and every once in a while I'll bring one of those 100 calorie 3 musketeer bars. Needless to say I love my movie purse. :D