The movie theatre is the best date spot, and it’s so nice to unwind and “escape reality” for a couple of hours. The whole experience of the movies and the nostalgia is the popcorn, the candy, pop, pretzels, hot dogs, nachos. Now the VIP sections are making it almost impossible to stay on track with a wider menu and drink options…oh the temptation!! But let’s face it, it simply isn’t the ultimate movie experience without food and drinks by your side.

 

How to order without totally blowing it:

 

#1. Drink or eat protein on the way to the movies or before you go:

On the way to the movies, drink 1 scoop isolate protein with cinnamon. Protein not only digests slow which makes you feel more full for longer, but doing this will help curve cravings and reduce the “feast with your eyes”, mentality. You will not be as tempted at the concession stand, and are more likely to stay in bounds. Do not try to starve yourself all day because you think you might cheat at night, this is the wrong mentality to have and the wrong way to go about a cheat. You will show up to the movies starving, your brain thirsty for glucose making your eyes dart to all the goodies forcing your mouth to water. You may unintentionally go overboard, since you’ve been so restrictive all day and your blood sugars are now low. Change your mind set, you should be killing your routine daily so a movie night out shouldn’t devastate your results. It’s a treat, not a death sentence to your progress.

 

#2. Share a medium popcorn:

There is already quite a bit of artificial butter baked into the popcorn already, don’t add extra butter on top and save the calories. Add seasonings on top of the popcorn instead of extra butter.

 

#3. Order a water bottle or bring water with you:

This will also help you feel more full, as well as “busy” while watching the movie, as in you at least have something to drink while watching the movie and it’s no cal. The water will also help with the sodium influx from the popcorn.

 

#4. Share a pack of candy and a diet pop:

Diet pop is not an everyday thing, I used to be an avid diet pop drinker way back and have since cut it out. When I do go to the movies however, there is nothing better for me then a medium coke zero with 1/4C strawberry Fruitopia…try it next time, ask them to do it for you at the concession stand. In no way do I endorse this type of drink as an everyday staple, but it’s a treat. If you are more a candy person vs. popcorn, buy your favourite bag of candy and share it with someone while sipping on water and your diet pop.

 

#5. Bring a protein bar:

Not the absolute best option for a protein bar, but for a movie night the new Bounty or Snickers Protein Bar would be awesome. Look for them on shelves because Bounty is my favourite chocolate bar and now as a protein bar…I’m losing it! The other protein bar I like is the Daryl’s All Natural Performance Line bar. If you choose this option, I would stick to only this and don’t have any of the other suggestions…other than water. Always drink water!!

 

Tony Horton Says, “Win the Week”:

 

Sharing a medium popcorn and a bag of candy for a movie night with your friend or partner will not/should not harm your overall goals. Tony Horton, the creator of P90X loves to say “Win the Week”, which is a simple but effective philosophy to follow. If you are bang on with your program 5/7 days, (Monday to Friday for example), and over the weekend are following the plan 50% without going too hard on the cheats,  you should see results. It’s a nice way to think of a long term health and fitness plan. However, most people are not organized Monday-Friday and that’s the majority of the problem. I believe if you are organized and planned with your food and workouts during your working days/week, then random cheats and dinners out here and there should not be enough to wreck your body goals. If you are not planning on competing in a show where you need to be at a certain body fat % by a specific date, and other women you are competing against are showing up the same way, then that’s a completely different story. Most fitness accounts on IG are those who compete or have competed, don’t feel the rigidity of a bikini girls fitness plan is the way  you must go to get to your goals. Understand competitors are time restricted in certain ways, what they need to do is sometimes extreme in a short amount of time depending on where they started or need to be. They may not be able to afford dinners out, or cheats here and there on their program. If you do not plan to be shredded and competing with other shredded people on a stage ready to be judged, then don’t worry about a movie night or a dinner out. Get the rest of the week down pat.  If you are eating 5 small meals per day, 7 days per week = 35 meals. If you happen to miss 4-5 meals (or have a small cheat like share a medium popcorn), this should not affect your overall results if you are doing the other 30 meals excellent as well as destroying your workouts. If you are doing 85-90% of your week right, you should never run into any problems with a moderate cheat while enjoying a movie or a dinner out. Don’t look at your food and lifestyle as something short term, or something you need to “endure” and punish yourself with for a short window of time. If you are not organized with workouts and diet Monday-Friday, start there and keep it up for 6 weeks and you will see results.