The Secrets of Movie Theater Food

Diet to Go

I love going to the movies. According to this infographic, the average American goes to 4.8 movies a year, but within the last year I've definitely seen over twice that number. The great thing about going to the movies is just escaping from the mundane realities of life. I don't have to worry about school or my job or whether I'm going to get the right internships. 

There are a few problems with going to the movies, however. It can be expensive. If you go to a really nice movie theater at nighttime chances are you'll be paying ten to twelve dollars for your ticket alone. Add snacks and drinks to that and you easily have spent twenty-five dollars. The other problem is how high calorie the foods are!

I never get movie theater foods. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm super cheap and I'm just not going to spend four dollars for a soda and seven dollars for greasy popcorn. I also hate hearing people chew and fuss with popcorn bags during movies, but that's just one of my pet peeves. I intuitively knew popcorn had a lot of calories, but this infographic really surprised me! If you share a large popcorn with butter with three other people not only are you probably being noisy and annoying during the movie, but you're taking in 500 calories. So not worth it. I'm equally surprised that even a small bag of popcorn without butter is still 400 calories. That's 200 calories a person if shared with two people, acceptable for a snack food, but I'd rather snack on something that will fill me up more.

I get indulging once in awhile, but if you're a frequent movie-goer like I am it's definitely easier to bring a water bottle in your purse and a snack like a protein bar. If you'd like to see a bigger version of the graphic, click on the link below!