Being an actress usually means taking the weekly trip to the movies for the love of our craft, and well just because it's fun. But when you’re an actress who has long associated the pleasures of movie going with the big box of buttery popcorn topped with peanut M&M’s, a new healthier eating lifestyle, presents a challenge.
There really is nothing I love more than the smell of popcorn at the movies and I’m confident that that is quite a shared adoration, the world over. But when you have changed over to only nourishing your body with real whole foods, although a wonderful undertaking, in the beginning, it presents problems in the social aspects of our lives. What can we eat at restaurants? What can we eat at the movies? What can we drink on a night out? What can we eat at our friend’s dinner party? Etc. We don’t want to lose the pleasures often derived from the combination of friends and food, and jeopardize the social aspects of our lives that are so often closely tied to the consumption of yummy things. That would be a boring, dull life and would probably cause your body more stress and damage than a lifetimes worth of all the fast food you can think of. So what is the solution?
Luckily there are many. But to start, today I want to focus on trips to the movies, as it’s something everyone likes to do pretty frequently and can be a very tempting time to gorge on bad foods which we know will bring you no closer to the health and body you desire.
So for example, I went to the movies this weekend and brought a long my own bag of treats I had concocted earlier in the day. I had made Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Bites, (see recipe below) that were, in the words of Ned Flanders “Scrum-diddily-upmtious”. And I brought a can of Knudsen Sparkling Essence (An all natural, refreshing drink my brother-in-law found in Whole Foods the other day, made with sparkling water and fruit essence.) And I enjoyed my movie experience just as much as any other time. And the bonus was, I left the theatre completely guilt free as opposed to my past feelings of “oh crap , I can’t believe I ate that whole large popcorn, bag of M&M’s and medium coke all to myself!”
So in the case of snack items, bringing along your own healthy treats to things like the movies is a step in the right direction and doesn’t eliminate any of the pleasures involved with the activity. Heck you can even pop your own popcorn at home (the natural kind) and pour some delicious real butter on top and bring it along in a food bag, (which is what my Mom would give my sisters and I when we were young as she didn’t want to pay the price for the expensive movie popcorn! I don’t blame her.) Making your own treats is better for your health and your pocket! Why spend almost $15 on unhealthy, processed, nutrient-less food that will just add to the unwanted pounds around your belly and booty? No thanks!
Here is a list of some examples of yummy treats you can easily hide and bring along in your purse to the movies, saving you pounds on your body and pounds in your pocket!
• Homemade desserts like the Chocolate Coconut Peanut Butter Bites
• Trail mix (made with a mix of almonds, cashews, peanuts, whatever you like, some carob chips and dried fruit)
• Apple slices and natural peanut butter (you’ll want a little container for the peanut butter)
• Cheese cubes and cut up fruit like grapes or strawberries or pineapple.
• Some Greek Yoghurt with nuts and fruit already mixed in.
• A smoothie you made at home with any one combination of delicious ingredients (Peanut Butter ‘n’ Banana, Strawberry ‘n’ Banana, Very Berry smoothie etc.) that you can bring along in your chilled stainless steel flask.
• Natural sparkling drinks like the one I mentioned, Knudsen’s Sparkling Essence, which you can sweeten with a little pack of Stevia if you like you’re drinks sweeter.
• Coconut water (there are many awesome tasting coconut water drinks available at Whole foods and other health stores that contain just the yummy juice of the coconut)
The options are endless, you just have to be creative and seek out the healthy options. It may take a bit more work than handing over a crisp $20 bill to the kid behind the counter at the movie concession stand but it’s worth everything to your health and looks. You’ll be that much closer to looking as good as, or better than, the super hot actress in the movie you’re about to see!
So here to start you on your way to delicious healthy movie snacks is one of my own recipes
Chocolate, Coconut Peanut Butter Bites
(Makes 2 dozen bite size balls)
Ingredients
2 squares Ghirardelli’s 100%unsweetened dark chocolate
1 tbsp natural creamy or chunky peanut butter
1 large handful of unsweetened coconut flakes
1 tbsp Virgin Coconut oil (melted)
6 dates (pits removed)
1 packet French Vanilla Stevia
Splash of Almond Milk (or regular milk or water for moisture)
Directions
MELT chocolate and stir in melted coconut oil and peanut butter, stirring until smooth and creamy.
STIR in Packet of French Vanilla Stevia to chocolate mixture.
PUT dates and coconut flakes in blender and POUR chocolate mixture over.
ADD in splash of Almond Milk.
BLEND ingredients together on high until sticky and paste like.
SCOOP out of blender and ROLL into small bite sized balls. (Mixture will be rather sticky upon removing them from blender)
You can put them in mini cupcake cases or just leave them on a plate.
REFRIGERATE for 30 minutes until hardened.
Delish!!
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