The Football Fan’s Diet

By Nicole Sebula
For The FFD

PITTSBURGH – Hello fellow football fans. Here we are, in the most exciting time of the season, the playoffs. We also find ourselves in the New Year and many of us have decided eat healthier this year. But how can that be possible when all of the best football foods are high fat, high carb and down right scrumptious.
There is no way we will be able to give up the nacho supreme or the grilled meat delicacies, or is there?
It doesn’t matter if you are going to watch the game from your personal command center (you know where you have your favorite recliner and large screen HDTV) or if you will be donning the layers and going to the game. These tasty and healthy alternatives will work in either setting.

Instead of the double cheeseburger filled with all of the fixings, try pulled pork sandwiches on whole wheat bread. I know that there is actually a good healthy recipe on the Food Networks website. The good thing about this recipe too, you can control the heat. That is you can make these pork sandwiches as hot or mild as you and your friends like them.

Now, I will be the first to admit that I love potato chips and dip with my pulled pork sandwiches, something about the salty and spicy I guess. But how about we sideline the chips and try tortilla chips with a zesty bean dip. Definitely a lot less calories and tastes better too, not to mention, no greasy hands from the chips.

Another good, healthy side dish is broccoli slaw. Not only is broccoli beneficial to your diet, it tastes delicious too. If you are not into broccoli though, you can make several other salads for your meal. Something like mixed greens with a mustard vinaigrette would be good or a healthy version of coleslaw would work. By healthy I mean substitute vinegar and olive oil for the traditional slaw dressings.
I hope you liked the suggestions I have come up. The idea is to make for a healthier football game, without losing the taste, just the extra calories. Enjoy the playoffs.

PITTSBURGH – I will have to say totally revamping one’s lifestyle is not an easy thing to do. I have been irritable as hell the past couple days. Case in point, since last week my wife and I have been deliberating on whether to watch the “Other Boleyn” flick or save it for another time (Yes, I know it is a period check flick and all, but she sat down and watched the Colts lose in OT with me last week. She deserves her time with the remote too).

Anyway, we have a boob tube in nearly everyone room but the living room. The HDTV is in the basement game room. Here also is my bar/desk, Football Fan’s Diet Studio and my work-from-home-office (Note to IRS: this room is solely used for work-related purposes. As you can plainly see, Audit Man, I have a football dieting web site. Therefore I must watch football on HDTV in my office to bring home the low-fat Canadian bacon). Needless to say, I spend a lot of time down there. When I clean it up, perhaps, I will share a tour on the FFD. But, I digress.

The point is that I keep delaying watching this chick flick upstairs by stating that this movie looks “far too good to watch here on this old TV” in our bedroom. Let’s “save it for watching it on the HDTV” in the game room. For days she agreed that we could wait until we were all gathered in the game room.

However, last night we were down in the game room clicking through channels and she called me on my promise. She said, “Hey, why not watch The Other Boleyn?”

With a sour look on my face I said, “If you really want to, how about we watch it upstairs so we can lay down?”

That is when she asked me if I was undergoing menopause or something! I had to laugh at this.

“No,” I said. “Just The Football Fan’s Diet!”

We haven’t watched The Other Boleyn yet, but we’ll probably do so in the next day or so. May as well get it over with.

My theory is that a happy marriage is series of punting to your spouse. Moreover, Marriage is a field position game. Give a little. Expect a little. There is one caveat though – you best make sure you married a franchise spouse and I happy to say I believe I am set in that regards. I have heard that drafting over again is highly expensive.”

By the way, I chalked up another TD and FG yesterday. I may skip the Y today as I am beat. Beer is haunting me. I may have to have one soon. Beer. Beer. Beer. Must have Beer.