Super Bowl 2013: High Calorie Diet Disaster

You have your television, you have your friends, you have the game and you also have snacks that will probably ruin your diet plans. The Super Bowl is tomorrow, and associated with it are some of the most high calorie foods out there. But how many calories do those buffalo wings really have? Good question.

Obesity is a growing problem in America--literally. New York City has banned large sodas, while the U.S. Agriculture Department has recently announced its decision to eliminate the sale of all junk food in schools. Obesity can cause sore joints or muscles, skin problems and other health related issues.

If you eat one slice of cheese pizza, six chicken wings with dressing, several handfuls of tortilla chips with Buffalo dip, two beers and a brownie, you'll be scarfing down at least 2,000 calories during the game. This amount could skyrocket upward to 4,000 with the introduction of pepperoni pizza.

Pita chips contain about 13 calories each. With a tablespoon of artichoke dip, that goes up to about 80 calories. That adds up when you're dipping and snacking during the Super Bowl. A single sloppy Joe can amount to more than 500 calories with the bun, and macaroni and cheese boasts a whopping 850 calories in just one cup.

In fact, the average Super Bowl fan will eat 1,200 calories during the game, according to The Huffington Post. Americans will scarf down 11.2 million pounds of potato chips, 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips and 4.3 million pounds of pretzels, 1.23 billion chicken wings, 111 million gallons of beer, 4.4 million pizzas.

But never fear, there is still a way to have your Super Bowl and eat some snacks, too. Use salsa instead of artichoke dip, and use skim milk when making macaroni and cheese. Also try to include some healthier snacks such as apples with caramel dip instead of ice cream, or hummus instead of sour cream and onion dip.