Most likely, the last time you went to the movies, you bought something from the concession stand.  You thought you were doing the right thing, opting for small popcorn rather than getting lured by the special for a large popcorn and large soda.  You may have felt righteous ordering the small popcorn without the butter or a bag of fat-free Twizzlers.  Despite your best intentions, these seemingly harmless movie theater snacks can still be sabotaging your best efforts to eat well.

Here’s the low-down on your favorite movie theater treats and tips on how to make an evening at the movies more diet friendly.

Tanya’s Tips:

1) Pop your own.  Your best bet is to make your own popcorn at home and bring it to the movies with you.  Stick it in your purse or under a jacket and they won’t even know you’re bringing in outside food.  Microwave popcorn such as Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop mini bags or Jolly Time Healthy Pop minis are about 100 calories for the entire bag, 2 grams of fat and 5 grams of fiber.  That is a savings of almost 400 calories from getting a small bag of movie theater popcorn.

2) Bring along other healthy snacks.  If popcorn isn’t your thing, there are plenty of other healthy snacks that are great to munch on at the movies.  Make your own trail mix with nuts, dried fruit and high-fiber cereal or bring along some grapes and cut up apples if you want a bit of crunch.  Fruits will satisfy a sweet tooth without adding all the calories in gummy bears or Starbursts.

3) Choose diet soda.  A small cup of soda, generally about 18-20 oz., has about 200 calories compared to diet sodas that have zero calories.  Stick with diet drinks or water to save on excess calories that won’t even help fill you up.

*F-Factor Best Bets

Popcorn:

Candy:

Beverages:

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and founder of Skinnyandthecity.com.    She is also the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

A mother has defended feeding her 18-month-old daughter a diet of French fries – even though the child weighs as much as a four-year-old.

Angela Boswell, 33, from Manchester, England, insisted Courtney, who weighs 30 pounds, will grow up to be healthy.

The youngster occasionally extends her diet to take in chocolate, crisps, cereal and Coca-Cola – but steers clear of her greens.