Popcorn or Potato Chips?

by Lisa P | More from this Blogger

12 Feb 2008 07:27 AM

I know. I know. Neither popcorn nor potato chips should have anything to do with a weight loss article. Bear with me. There is a method to my madness. Look deep into your soul. Look deep into that dark place that you don't mention to any of your dieting friends. You know the place. It is the place where you hide the knowledge that you have a guilty, starchy, greasy secret and I'm not talking about a baked potato. I'm talking about popcorn and potato chips.

When I was growing up, we rarely had potato chips around the house but we always had popcorn. It wasn't the microwave popcorn of today. It was a glass jar (courtesy of the folks at Tang) filled with popcorn seeds. Just plain popcorn seeds. Although plain popcorn seeds are nothing to freak out about, what we did to them raises eyebrows today. You see, we had a pot especially for popping popcorn. It was a 2-quart pot we used on the stove, blackened on the outside from the occasional dripping grease fire and seasoned on the inside from years of use as the one and only Popcorn Pot. It was a proud day when I was finally taught to make the popcorn, our nightly snack.

- Pour a layer of oil on the bottom of the pot.

- Pour a single layer of popcorn seeds and swirl them around until they were covered in the oil.

- Cover the pot and place it on the burner.

- Turn the burner on High.

- Once it started popping, shake it until it stops.

- Once you pour the popcorn out into the huge popcorn bowl, throw half a stick of butter in the still hot pot and melt it. Then pour it on the popcorn.

- Lastly, salt it all.

Yes, kids, that's how we popped popcorn Old School.

I may be dating myself here but I remember back in the late 1980s when "those that know" announced that if you must snack, you should snack on air popped popcorn instead of potato chips. That was when every Tom, Dick and Mary stopped popping their popcorn in a tired old pot on the stove, gave Jiffy Pop "the hand" and went out to buy a hot air popcorn popper.

Well, if you're still popping popcorn, thinking that you're doing yourself a favor by not eating potato chips, think again. Neither popcorn nor potato chips are doing you any favors at all.

3 Cups of Air Popped Popcorn have 90 calories (add in the salt and butter and you're looking at a whole lot more.)

3 Cups of Microwave popcorn have 110 calories (if you eat the whole bag of microwave popcorn, do the math!)

3 Cups of Light Microwave Popcorn only has 60 calories (but are you really happy with the flavor?)

3 Cups of Oil Popped Popcorn packs 165 calories (add the butter and salt and - WOW! Is it any wonder I developed a weight problem as a child?)

Popcorn is definitely less calorie dense than potato chips in that 10 Potato Chips pack a 75 calorie punch but, let's face it, neither is a good thing.

What's my point?

Trying to replace potato chips with popcorn doesn't do you or your family any favors. The fact of the matter is, you'll be instilling bad snacking habits in your children and likely you'll all be loading up on starchy carbs that will turn easily into stored fat while you sleep.

Do yourself a favor and bake a potato (65 calories) and break out the Molly McButter (5 calories). You'll be far more satisfied and have consumed far fewer calories and fat.

Have you heard about Body-for-Life?

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Learn more about Lisa P

Lisa used to be a freelance writer and Community Manager for Families.com, but she has finally made the jump to novelist.

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