6 Healthy Snacks for the Super Bowl

So you want to eat snacks? Cool. Who doesn’t? Snacks are awesome. Especially when watching the big game. But to stay consistent with your training and avoid any setbacks, healthy snacks for the Super Bowl are in order.

Just realize the average person ingests 6,000 calories watching the Super Bowl. Yes, it’s worse than Thanksgiving. And those 6,000 calories are usually the biggest bite-size trainwrecks of calorically-dense, yet nutrient-vacant, processed garbage. These are not healthy snacks. It's a bad scene. A moment on the lips, but all of February it's on your hips (or gut). 

Related: 5 Steps to Preventing Chronic Inflammation

Yeah, not so cool considering you are fresh on a New Year's resolution and just started training for the races you signed up for this year.

What to do? There’s no reason to totally abstain if you keep two things in mind. #1. Don’t eat like a complete a**hole. Have a modicum of self control when everyone around you is losing their minds. #2. Set yourself up for some damage control when you fail at #1.

How? Plan on preparing some nutrient dense and minimally-processed Spartan healthy snacks that will keep you straight on your diet no matter how deep you go into overeating.

Healthy Snacks for the Super Bowl

1. Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Cauliflower’s nutrition profile also includes calcium for strong bones, iron for red blood cell formation, B vitamins for energy production, and potassium for improved blood pressure.

2. Sweet Potato Chips

Surprisingly lower in calories than you would think, a medium sweet potato baked with the skin on has only about 100 calories.

3. Mango Salsa

Mangos are an easy and healthy way to throw some variety into your cooking, along with hefty amounts of vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium. They are a good source of fiber, too.

Related: 5 Secrets to a Spartan-Approved Taco Night

4. Elk Chili

Elk offers the leanness of venison with the taste of beef. It's an amazing alternative to beef or bison when you are craving a bit of red meat.

5. Kale Chips

Kale’s low-carb profile provides essential minerals like potassium for improved blood pressure and manganese for fat and protein metabolism. And it doesn’t stop there. Kale is also a source of vitamins A, C, K, and other phytonutrients.

Related: 5 New Superfoods You’ve Never Heard Of (+ How to Eat Them)

6. Guacamole

Though often criticized for their high fat content, the fat in avocados contain primarily monounsaturated fat, the same type of heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. These monounsaturated fats help to lower the unfavorable LDL cholesterol, while maintaining or increasing the "good" HDL cholesterol, both beneficial effects to help prevent heart disease.

This recipe below takes 5 minutes, serves 4, and is vegan and gluten-free.

Ingredients

• 4 avocados
• 1 small lemon
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• Optional: 1/2 canned corn and 1/4 chopped red onion

Directions

1. Cut avocados in half, remove pits.
2. Scoop avocados out from peel and into a bowl.
3. Cut lemon in half and squeeze juice from both halves into the bowl of avocados. Add cilantro.
4. Season with salt and cayenne pepper.
5. Mash and mix well.

Guacamole Alternative Tips

• For a smooth, tasty, and healthy sandwich spread, try this guacamole.
• Leave an avocado pit in your bowl of guacamole to help preserve it longer.
• Other raw ingredients to use include tomato, jalapeño peppers, and even mango.