I am a big fan of the Celtics and love to watch the games when I get home from work. My old habit was to sit down with a bag of chips! What I am going to do with my hands now?? I am a huge Twins fan too but by the time I started this weight loss program the baseball season was pretty much done for so I didn't have to worry about it.

Do any of you watch television or sports? What do you do with your hands while you do it so you don't keep dipping into a snack?

Some suggestions -

* Your heart tends to be revved during games anyway - why not do some Leslie Sansone WATP moves or other exercise during the games and get your work-out in at the same time?

* It's not a cardinal sin to eat while you watch TV. The danger is the mindless eating where you're not aware of your intake. Plan a snack for the game, measure it out, and go ahead and eat it while you watch!

* And this is my least favorite suggestion, but a practical one, I suppose. You could fold laundry or do some other chore while you watch.

Good for you for recognizing potential obstacles and planning for them!

I watch a lot of sports - rugby, cricket, you name it, I watch it. This is one of the things that I really struggle with even now, because there's something about settling down with a bag of chips to watch the game.

Some of the things I've done are:

* popcorn rather than chips
* vege sticks and hummus or salsa or a similar low-fat dip
* rice crackers or rice chips.

They're not quite chips, but at least they're healthier choices...

I asked my husband almost this exact question, except it was about the Sacramento Kings, and he said I could keep my hands busy by giving him a foot rub during games. So be careful, this question can backfire on you.

I told him I thought I would just try to sit and watch and see how that went for awhile.

I'm a HUGE baseball fan. I don't eat and watch television anymore...period...so all snack options are out. It lends itself (for me) to mindless eating and losing sight of how much is going into my mouth. So, during the baseball games I score them...just like if I was at a real game. I have an entire spiral notebook almost completely filled! It's a ton of fun. I don't know if scoring is something that is done during basketball games because I know nothing about the sport but some sort of stat keeping should keep your hands busy AND your mind off food!

Hey! I'm a football fan, and I've come up with a few strategies. One is like the other posters have mentioned--substitute snacks! Plan ahead, know what you're having and have it ready. It really does help.

For example, instead of a whole bag of chips, make up 1-serving bags using zipper bags. Allow yourself one of those (and count it in with your calories). Also, baby carrots are great for crunching on, and so is cut-up celery. You can even add some fat free cheese or low fat cream cheese (and count it in with your calories). Basically, it's plan, plan, and plan.

Another strategy is to drink lots of no-cal or low-cal liquids, like plain seltzer water with limes and lemons, or a diet soda diluted with seltzer water. Or, a drink mixture made with 2 oz. orange juice or white grape juice, 4 oz. Fresca or diet 7-up, and the rest seltzer water (up to 12 oz. total). Liquids help you feel full and give you something to do besides eat.

And watch the game!

Jay

Or plan a meal during of "munchables". Is it a great idea to always eat in front of the TV? Probably not. But making a 420 calorie lunch spread of little snackies might work well for you. I did this for Sunday TV the other night and it was so cute, and tasty, and I felt like I was munching away the whole time, but or a controlled number of calories.

My spread was open-faced turkey cheeseburger sliders, veggies with homemade yogurt and cucumber dip, and lettuce wraps with chicken and water chestnuts. It was so pretty I took a picture, thinking I'd post it here when superbowl time came around, but hey, I'll post it now. As pictured, this feeds 2 people for 420 calories each:

Hockey NIght in Canada has officially begun -- me & DH are die hard Toronto Maple Leaf fans and the games get me MENTAL, ugh so tense! LOL When he has "the boys" over, like last night, I made ooey gooey meatball subs -- except, they were 1/4 lean ground beef, 3/4 turkey lotsa spice and onions and a yummy tomatoey sauce on whole grain buns, with a sprinkle of skim milk mozarella -- they ate them up like there was no tomorrow -- and they were very healthy! yay! and i put out huge veggie and fruit trays expecting a grumble, but they ate every morsel

Wow Mandalinn that looks really good! Yum ^^