The one bad habit I wish I could quit instantly without difficulty is eating that movie-going meal at the theatre. For me, that meal is a small bag of popcorn, a hot dog loaded with mustard/relish and a large coca-cola or root beer. I know most would say that is a normal combo for the movies and acceptable for the occasional theatre outing but I go to the theatre almost every weekend. This habit is wrecking my eating management plan and my attempt to transition to better healthier choices is falling short.
Now, there is a history surrounding eating this meal at the movies. In an earlier post, I mentioned how my mother was an avid movie buff when I was growing up. Within one mile of my childhood home was a drive-in movie. During the school year we would go on the weekends and in the summer we would go on Mondays for the $1 a carload special. My Mom would make us homemade hot dogs, pop our popcorn by the old-fashioned on-the-stove method in butter, and have cans of our favorite soft drinks iced down in a cooler. It really didn’t matter what was showing at the drive-in because we went every time they changed the movie. I have fond memories of those times and I think that is associated with my current theatre experiences. It makes it hard to give up. Today, my Mom and I still watch movies together.
So, on my quest to substitute and still enjoy my at-the-movies meal, I have tried many variations. The best healthy substitute was iced herbal raspberry tea and falafel chips but I had to sneak the food inside the movie in my large tote. Of course, there is no substitute for a hot dog. However, this only works when I plan to go to the theatre so that I can have the items on hand in my pantry. There are times like this past weekend when I decided at the spur of the moment to go the theatre to see the new Thor movie and I ended up eating my usual meal. I felt guilty so I skipped dinner that night.
