The Best and Worst Super Bowl Foods

Here's your guide to the Best and Worst Beers for gameday and beyond!
Worst Pregame Snack
6 Chicken Wings
592 calories
40 g fat (11 g saturated)
167 mg sodium
0 g carbohydrates

Going to a Super Bowl bash famished is like going to the supermarket on an empty stomach: It's a recipe for diet disaster. Your game day options will most likely include seemingly innocent chicken wings—which, in reality, contain more than a quarter of your daily recommended calories. And that’s before you dunk them in blue cheese! The better option: Eat a bowl of chili at kickoff—you'll save yourself 300 calories. Plus, it's the snack that pays you back. The protein and the fiber will fill your belly and prevent the mindless munching that football (and high-budget commercials) encourage.

Eat This Instead!
Bowl of Chili
287 calories
14 g fat (6 g saturated)
1,336 mg sodium
30 g carbohydrates
Bonus Tip: Make sure this is the last time you’re surprised by how unhealthy chicken can be—don’t miss our slideshow of the Worst Chicken Dishes in America.

Worst Veggie Snack
Spinach Artichoke Dip (1/4 cup dip and 8 chips)
325 calories
19 g fat (9 g saturated)
625 mg sodium

Spinach ... good. Artichokes ... good. But most of what’s in that bowl is processed cream-based gunk, the kind that can make your arteries harder to work through than the Steelers’ linebackers. Remember, just because a snack contains vegetables doesn’t make it healthy. Swap it out for tomato bruschetta to cut more than 100 calories and nearly 80 percent of the fat.

Eat This Instead!
Tomato Bruschetta (2 pieces)
200 calories
4 g fat (1 g saturated)
230 mg sodium
Bonus Tip: Staying thin would be easy if the Super Bowl were the only day of the year filled with hidden gut-bomb foods—but unfortunately, it isn’t. Check out our slideshow of the 20 Worst Foods in America for meals to skip on every occasion.

Worst Cheesy Snack
Nachos (40 chips and 4 oz cheese)
1,101 calories
59 g fat (18 g saturated)
1,580 mg sodium

When it comes to fitness, there are two types of people: The Haves, and the Have Nachos. These little chips are nothing more than a delivery system for saturated fat, and offer nothing by way of redeeming nutrients. For your cheesy fix, take a dip in good old Goldfish, a healthy-snack standby for good reason: You can eat a whole school of them before getting anywhere close to the calories in nachos.

Eat This Instead!
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Cheddar Crackers (55 pieces)
140 calories
5 g fat (1 g saturated)
250 mg sodium

Worst Chip Dip
Lay's Smooth Ranch Dip (2 Tbsp)
60 calories
5 g fat
210 mg sodium

Think laying a hand on Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is tricky? Try walking into the supermarket and laying your hands on a healthy dip. Every time you take a dip at this ranch, you're scooping up a few grams of fat. Go with Ortega's Thick & Chunky salsa instead. Just as big-screen TVs were made for football, chips were made for munching in large numbers. With no fat and only a sixth of the calories, this salsa is delicious, filling, and guilt-free.

Eat This Instead!
Ortega Thick & Chunky Salsa (2 Tbsp)
10 calories
0 g fat
170 mg sodium
Bonus Tip: Chips and dips can be as dangerous as a helmet-to-helmet tackle: Know what to avoid with our slideshow of the Worst Chips and Dips.

Worst Popcorn
Smart Food White Cheddar Popcorn (1¾ cups)
160 calories
10 g fat (2 g saturated)
290 mg sodium

Smart food? I don't think so. This popcorn is coated in powdered cheese and covered with salt. The smart food choice here is to go with hot and freshly popped microwave popcorn, like the one from America's Best.
Eat This Instead!
American's Best Microwave Butter Popcorn (2 cups popped)
40 calories
0 g fat
80 mg sodium

Worst Potato Chips
Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream (about 11 chips)
160 calories
11 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
230 mg sodium

More than one handful of this fattening finger food will really chip away at your diet. Swap for Baked Lays Original for 40 fewer calories and 90 percent less fat. You’ll even get to enjoy more chips per serving.

Eat This Instead!
Baked Lay's Original (~15 chips)
120 calories
2 g fat (0 g saturated)
180 mg sodium

Worst Sandwiches In America

#7: Panera Full Italian Combo on Ciabatta1,040 calories
45 g fat (17 g saturated, 1 g trans)
3,080 mg sodium
95 g carbohydrates

Panera is a classic example of a restaurant where it’s crucial to do your homework. Decently healthy options exist, but you’d better know what you’re looking for. Here's a shortcut: Stick to the “Café” category of the menu. If you swap the very reasonable Tuna Salad sandwich for the Italian Combo, you'll cut the calories nearly in half and the sodium by almost two-thirds. Eat This Instead!
Full Tuna Salad on Honey Wheat
590 calories
28 g fat (5 g saturated, 0 g trans)
1,160 mg sodium
67 g carbohydrates
Bonus Tip: I'm on a mission to find the very best places for you to eat, and the often surprising places where hidden calories lurk. Get instant weight-loss, health and fitness secrets every day by following me right here on Twitter or by signing up for the FREE Eat This, Not That! newsletter.

#6: Blimpie BLT 12” Super Stacked
1,270 calories
82 g fat (18 g saturated fat)
2,870 mg sodium
84 g carbohydrates
BLT, indeed! Eat this and you'll be Bigger, Larger, and Tubbier. You’ll ingest more sodium in one sandwich than you should eat in an entire 24-hour period, not to mention a day's worth of saturated fat--the equivalent of 18 strips of bacon! Swap in the smaller BLT and drop the “Super,” and you’ve got a sandwich your belly will thank you for. There's another lesson here: Don't assume that if you double the size of a meal, you're doubling the nutritional qualities (or lack thereof). In this case, the 12-incher is overstuffed, so you're actually tripling the calorie, fat, and sodium counts! Yikes!

Eat This Instead!
BLT 6”
430 calories
22 g fat (5 g saturated)
960 mg sodium
43 g carbohydrates

#5: Red Robin All-American Patty Melt
1,315 calories
98 g fat
2,064 mg sodium
60 g carbohydrates

Ominously enough, Red Robin doesn’t report saturated fat levels—and this is an extremely fatty concoction, with a full day and a half’s worth of total fat. The only thing American about this sandwich is, sadly, the reality of our nation’s obesity epidemic. Avoid this caloric calamity and try the Natural Burger instead: You’ll cut the calories, fat, and sodium by more than half.
Eat This Instead!
Natural Burger
569 calories
24 g fat
989 mg sodium
51 g carbohydrates
Bonus Tip: Want to hear a secret? You'll eat 35 percent less if you keep the serving dishes off your dinner table! Amazing, right? You'll discover more awesome tips just like this one in our must-have list of the 25 Best Nutrition Secrets!

#4: Quizno’s Double Cheese Cheesesteak (Large)
1,450 calories
89 g fat (11 g saturated, 2 g trans)
2,890 mg sodium
93 g carbohydrates

Double Cheese? That’s your first clue that this nutritional nightmare is better fit for two people. Sneakily, Quiznos’s nutritional table lists the cheese and dressing for its sandwiches separately from the rest of the sandwich itself—despite the fact that, when you order, you’ll get all of it squished between the bread. Do the math, though, and this gut-busting cheesesteak will make you want to avoid Philadelphia entirely, with more than a day’s worth of sodium and fat and the caloric equivalent of more than seven Krispie Kreme glazed donuts. Switch to the Honey Bourbon Chicken for a third of the calories and a tenth of the fat. (Make an Eat This, Not That! smart swap like this one every other day to lose nearly a pound of belly fat a week!)
Eat This Instead!
Honey Bourbon Chicken (Regular)
520 calories
8 g fat (3 g saturated)
1,470 mg sodium
76 g carbohydrates

#3: Applebee’s Stuffed Meatball Sandwich
1,490 calories
77 g fat (31 g saturated fat, 2 g trans fat)
4,380 mg sodium
141 g carbohydrates

Meatballs can be a simple treat. Applebee’s doesn’t do simple: These meatballs are stuffed with provolone cheese before they're stuffed between the bun. If you think that’s crazy, consider the stats above. With more than a day and a half’s worth of both saturated fat and sodium, these meatball monstrosities should come with a defibrillator. Swap them for the Bacon Cheese Chicken Grill for less than half the calories, fat, sodium, and carbohydrates.

Eat This Instead!
Bacon Cheese Chicken Grill
740 calories
33 g fat (11 g saturated, 0 g trans)
1,830 mg sodium
50 g carbohydrates

#2: Chili’s Jalepeno Smokehouse Burger with Ranch
1,780 calories
125 g fat (40 g saturated)
5,240 mg sodium
71 g carbohydrates
Chili’s burgers are like serial killers: Every one is evil in its own twisted way. This Ranch-drenched rascal will cost you almost two days’ worth of fat and sodium. In fact, this burger alone is the caloric equivalent of a dozen White Castle sliders! Finding a decent sandwich on the Chili’s menu is a needle/haystack affair, and it's hard to recommend a single Chili’s burger. Instead, go with the Grilled Chicken Sandwich for less than half the calories and a tenth of the fat.
Eat This Instead!Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/ Veggies
610 calories
12 g fat (5 g saturated)
1,270 mg sodium
78 g carbohydrates

THE #1 WORST SANDWICH IN AMERICA: Cheesecake Factory Grilled Shrimp & Bacon Club
1,890 calories
24 g saturated fat
2,964 mg sodium
125 g carbohydrates

The last time we checked on the Grilled Shrimp & Bacon Club, it clocked in at 1,930 calories. So the good news—if you can call it that—is that Cheesecake Factor has figured out how to lop off 40 calories. It's a start. Unfortunately, this sandwich is still the caloric equivalent of seven McDonald’s hamburgers. The truth is, this entire list could easily consist of Cheesecake Factory sandwiches. To make matters worse, the chain repeats a mistake of Chili’s—neither reports trans fat levels. But here’s the crazy thing about the Cheesecake Factory: Despite the all-star lineup of the worst foods in America, it's also home to one of the best sit-down burgers in the country. Choose the Factory Burger and cut your calories and sodium by more than half!
(Better yet, whip up a delicious 350-calorie cheeseburger yourself, in minutes, with the new Cook This, Not That! Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals book. You'll save time, cash AND calories!)

Eat This Instead!
Factory Burger
730 calories
15 g saturated fat
1,016 mg sodium
52 g carbohydrates

7 Desserts that Fight Fat

Best Scoop-Shop DessertCold Stone Creamery Tart and Tangy Plain Yogurt (Like It size with walnuts)
270 calories
13 g fat (1 g saturated)
24 g sugars

On its own, the Like It Size Tart and Tangy Yogurt has a mere 140 calories, making it the ideal base for a healthy topping of your choice. Fruit works fine, but walnuts usher in fiber and healthy fats, both of which work to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range as you indulge your sweet tooth.

Not That!
Oreo Crème Ice Cream (Like It Size)
440 calories
31 g fat (14 g saturated)
38 g sugars

Best Classic Dessert
Sonic Junior Banana Split
200 calories
6 g fat (4.5 g saturated)
22 g sugars

Whoever decided that banana splits should have three scoops of ice cream obviously wasn’t worried about body fat. So let’s agree right now: The only banana split worth eating is a single-scoop banana split. Thank you, Sonic, for giving us what we want.

Not That!
Banana Cream
Pie Shake (14 oz)
408 calories
29 g fat (20 g saturated)
77 g sugars

Bonus Tip: You know what’s more threatening than dessert? The soda you drink alongside dinner. But maybe you already knew that—check out the 20 Worst Drinks in America for some truly shocking waistline offenders.

Best Dessert Parfait
Ruby Tuesday Berry Good Yogurt Parfait
162 calories
3 g fat
26 g carbohydrates

The parfait is an entirely underutilized dessert. Ideally it should be a little sweeter than a breakfast parfait (this one is), yet still offer significant hits of fresh fruit, protein, and fiber (this one does). Order this in place of Ruby’s Italian Cream Cake and consider yourself 828 calories thinner.

Not That!
Italian Cream Cake
990 calories
56 g fat
108 g carbohydrates

Best Chocolate Bar
Chocolove Strong Dark Chocolate Bar, 70% Cocoa (1/3 bar, 30 g)
157 calories
12 g fat (7 g saturated)
8 g sugars

It’s time to swear off milk chocolate. The dark stuff is a far richer source of epicatechin, an antioxidant that helps blood vessels relax, and studies show it migh reduce your odds of developing diabetes. After years of taste-testing dark chocolates, Chocolove’s Strong Dark still wins out—dark enough to corral cocoa’s benefits, yet sweet enough to taste like dessert. Discover more perfect foods like this when you sign up for the Eat This, Not That! newsletter. It's completely free. And if you subscribe today, you'll also receive our most popular download ever: Shop Once, Eat for a Week!
Not That!
Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar (49 g)
250 calories
17 g fat (7 g saturated)
23 g sugars

Best Shake
Wendy’s Jr. Original Chocolate Frosty
150 calories
4 g fat (2.5 g saturated)
22 g sugars

It seems like every year Wendy’s comes out with some new, tricked-out Frosty. There are now Frosty Floats, Frosty Shakes, and Frosty-cinos, and every one is worse than the original Frosty. Stick to the classic, and make it a “junior.” Up-sizing to the small will more than double the calories in your cup. Want to see what other restaurants have transformed your favorite foods into your belly’s worst enemy? Check this out: The Craziest Food Creations of 2010.

Not That!
Oreo Twisted Frosty
440 calories
14 g fat (7 g saturated)
55 g sugars

Best Yogurt
Chobani Strawberry Nonfat Greek Yogurt
140 calories
0 g fat
19 g sugars

With other flavored yogurts, “strawberry” amounts to little more than corn sweeteners and red dye, but on Chobani’s ingredient statement, fruit is second only to Greek yogurt—just as it should be. That fills your dessert out with more natural sugar and good stuff like vitamins C and A, which bolster your immune system while mopping up free radicals in your body. (While you're at it, strengthen your heart, fortify your bones, and boost your metabolism with our list of the 40 Foods with Superpowers.)

Not That!
Yoplait Original 99% Fat Free Strawberry
170 calories
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
27 g sugars

Best Caffeinated Dessert
P.F. Chang’s Mini Tiramisu
100 calories
11 g fat (5 g saturated)
10 g carbohydrates

Thanks to the arms race of oversized foods currently underway in America’s kitchens, proper dessert portions now come with qualifying terms like “mini.” So be it. Chang’s Tiramisu consists of multiple decadent layers, just enough to hit your sweet tooth and reward a good day of eating. Eat this instead of a slice of New York-Style Cheesecake and you’ll save 820 calories. Make a dessert swap like that three times a week and you’ll shed nearly 3 pounds every month.

Not That!
New York-Style Cheesecake
920 calories
56 g fat (36 g saturated)
92 g carbohydrates

5 Foods That Help You Sleep

Should you let yourself have that midnight snack if you're having trouble sleeping and you think hunger might be part of the problem? Here are five foods that can actually help you drift off:
Can't Get a Good Night's Sleep? 5 Surprising Reasons
1. Cherries. Fresh and dried cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body's internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.
2. Bananas. Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which gets converted to 5-HTP in the brain. The 5-HTP in turn is converted to serotonin (a relaxing neurotransmitter) and melatonin.
3. Toast. Carbohydrate-rich foods trigger insulin production, which induces sleep by speeding up the release of tryptophan and serotonin, two brain chemicals that relax you and send you to sleep..
4. Oatmeal. Like toast, a bowl of oatmeal triggers a rise in blood sugar, which in turn triggers insulin production and the release of sleep-inducing brain chemicals. Oats are also rich in melatonin, which many people take as a sleep aid..
5. Warm milk. Like bananas, milk contains the amino acid L-tryptophan, which turns to 5-HTP and releases relaxing serotonin. It's also high in calcium, which promotes sleep.