Movie Theater Experience
Beware: The 6 Worst Things to Eat at the Movies
Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 12, 2008
One of my newly acquired obsessions, aside from watching movies of course, is watching what I eat. In conjunction with the Biggest Reject Loser challenge, I have also come to the realization that if I am going to be a rich and famous cinematic pundit, I will have to look like more than just another web geek (no offense to the standard web geeks in the room, you are all hot to me).
With this new obsession, I have begun researching what to eat and what not to eat. Appropriately, I have become an avid reader of the Mens Health blog Eat This, Not That by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding. I have even gone as far as to pick up the book by the same name. A recent article on the blog though, titled 6 Worst Things to Eat at the Movies, stuck out to me, tapping into my two favored interests: movies and eating. As you will see from the list below, they have identified some really interesting facts about the foods that we all over-pay for and scarf down as we take in our cinematic adventures:
Large Soft Pretzel with 3 oz. Nacho Cheese
643 calories
14.5 g fat (3 g saturated, 4 g trans)
3,068 mg sodium
44 oz. Cherry Coke
572 calories
0 g fat
154 g sugars
Whoppers (5 oz. box)
676 calories
24 g fat (20.3 g saturated)
88 g sugars
Snickers Popables (5 oz., 46 pieces)
692 calories
33 g fat (14.6 g saturated)
73 g sugars
Large Nachos with Cheese (40 chips, 4 oz.)
1,101 calories
59 g fat (18.5 g saturated)
1,580 mg sodium
Large Popcorn
1,283 calories
78 g fat (49 g saturated)
1,850 mg sodium
Yikes! That large popcorn is almost as bad as a Big Mac. Based on these stats, it is almost enough to say that the “it’s only a quarter more” upgrade strategy engaged upon by just about every theater chain is grounds for murder charges — they are aggressively upgrading you to obesity. Then again, we can’t blame the theaters, they are just trying to get theirs by giving you the calories. And we take it, America, we take it all and shovel it in, often finishing our highly caloric snacks before the seven trailers are over. That prompts a second run to the concession stand, forcing you to miss the opening moments of You Don’t Mess With the Zohan – which, now that I think about it, isn’t much of a loss.
So if you are one of those people who spends $35 dollars on yourself at the movie theater concession stand, you may want to take note — this is why you are fat. As well, if you are one of those people who likes to crunch your wrapper through the entire movie or chew with your big horse-faced mouth open the whole time, you may also want to take note — because I am going to snap one of these days.
As for the rest of you, get out there this weekend and take in a flick. I would recommend seeing The Incredible Hulk, just don’t eat like him.
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5 Comments
June 12th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Isn’t it depressing how something that tastes so good, can be oh so bad for you? On my way into the movie theatre, I look at the Ben & Jerry’s counter and yearn, I see the pick and mix sweets and hunger, I stare longingly at the hot dogs revolving away in their little oven world, and then I walk away. Why? Because it takes too bloody long to lose the weight that that little (oh so little) lot would cost you.
If you think about the fact that walking briskly for an hour doesn’t even burn off the calories of a mars bar, can you imagine how long you’d be walking to make a dent on that pretzel? Or the tub of popcorn, WITHOUT butter? I’d say I’d have probably walked the length and breadth of Ireland before I’d manage it. That’s not saying much though, we are a pretty small country.
June 12th, 2008 at 9:47 am
dear calorie guru,
Do you have any knowledge into the calorie count of a child/small size popcorn?
I need popcorn … seeing if I can still indulge with a smaller portion
June 12th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Big Mac - 540calories, 29 grams of fat. You’re better off with the Big Mac!
@Bill
Popcorn can be a healthy snack - what’s killing the calorie count is the amount of butter on it. If you got a small popcorn without the extra butter added to it, you’d probably be looking at something like 300 calories. The stuff you can pop at home can be as low as 120 calories per serving.
June 12th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I don’t think its so bad. Who goes to the theater every day? On the other hand, this is a movie site so maybe this is the crowd who does.
June 12th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Yeah I’m sure there are a few of us going to the theater like 6-12 times a month.