All-You-Can-Eat Ballparks!

Have you read the recent article on the Sports Illustrated website about the relatively new trend in ballparks?  It appears that despite the fact that two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, ballparks have been opening all-you-can-eat sections in order to boost sales, and it is working.

According to this article, this trend started off with the development of premium all-inclusive packages, but has progressed to include other stadium sections.  In fact, many of these all-you-can-eat sections are sections of stadiums that typically do not sell out. By selling seats that include all the food and drink that you can consume, ballparks have now been selling out sections that were nearly empty before including the all-you-can-eat promotion.  For sports fans it's a great deal.  One park is selling seats in its all-you-can-eat section for $40 per person.  Most sports fans would end up spending quite a bit more than $40 for tickets, food, and drink if they had to pay for the items separately.  Because ticket sales have increased, so has the number of teams using similar promotions.  Currently, over half of the major league baseball teams have all-you-can-eat seats, up from only a handful of teams in 2007.

It is clear that these all-you-can-eat promotions are helping the ballparks and also helping the wallets and pocketbooks of customers who choose to attend a game, but is it helping these customers' waistlines?  Most likely not!  While some ballparks apparently offer salads, fruits and other healthy options, the majority of foods offered are what we consider typical ballpark fare... hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, soda, ice cream, and more.  Not exactly the healthiest of choices.  Even when healthy options are offered, customers reportedly opt for the less healthy choices because it is part of the ballpark culture.  In addition to being offered less than healthy food choices in most cases, the all-you-can-eat ballpark atmosphere leads to some serious overeating.  One customer mentioned in the article apparently eats double or triple what he would normally eat in another section of the stadium, stating "I figure I might as well take advantage of it".  This is the same attitude many of us take at any buffet, whether at a ballpark or our favorite restaurant.

Eating healthy is a challenge for most of us in the best of situations.  Putting ourselves in all-you-can-eat situations makes it even more difficult to eat healthy.  While I would never tell anyone to stay away from a ballpark, I would suggest that you practice restraint if do you have the opportunity to watch a game from an all-you-can-eat section.  Some of the tips below might help:

• Eat a healthy snack of fruits and/or vegetables before going to the game.  This will curb your appetite so that you can resist the buffet longer and decrease your chances of overeating.
• Try to avoid repeated trips to the all-you-can-eat buffet.
• If you order nachos, only get one and share it with a friend.
• If they offer grilled chicken, choose it over less healthy options.
• If a salad bar is available, include a salad as part of your meal.  It is a healthier option and will reduce the amount you eat of less healthy options.  
• Choose healthier dessert options if available (e.g. frozen yogurt over ice cream)
• Choose calorie-free drinks when possible.

My protein bars, shakes, and chips make great options to either consume before going to the ballpark in an effort to reduce your risk of overeating or to take with you to the game (where allowed of course!).   Visit us at www.drtabor.com to learn more about my delicious foods and easy diet plan.