I love the movies so Coach Mike and I look forward to watching the Oscars each year. I’ll give you my picks at the end, but first – how to enjoy your favorite films without derailing your diet. When going to the movies, or streaming Oscar-nominated films from your couch, it’s easy to mindlessly binge eat foods filled with salt, fat, and LOTS of sugar. So here’s a few of my tips to still enjoy your cinema experience:

Skip the soda & drink lots of water. First and foremost, don’t opt for those theater-sized sodas! At 32-ounces, a large soda is nearly 7 cups, 500 calories, and 33 teaspoons of sugar.
You can still enjoy the popcorn. It’s hard to pass up such a staple part of the movie-going experience. If at the theater, opt for a small popcorn, no butter. Instead of adding additional salt, sprinkle on some nutritional yeast. Watching at home? Choose air-popped popcorn, divvy up portion sizes into individual bowls vs. digging into a bottomless bucket of popcorn.
Pass on the humongous candy boxes & bring your own dark chocolate. Sorry, there’s no way to sugarcoat this one (pun intended) - there is no healthy candy at the concession stand. Try a few squares of dark chocolate to satisfy your sweet tooth. However, if you just can’t say no to candy, less damage will be done by choosing an option with less calories, like Twizzlers or Sour Patch Kids. Share the box with a friend so you’re guaranteed not to eat the whole thing.

And now for the big moment - the Oscar goes to…

Best Picture - although my personal favorite is Black Panther, it’s unlikely a superhero film will win, so my pick goes to The Favourite.

Black Panther

BlacKkKlansman

Bohemian Rhapsody

The Favourite

Green Book

Roma

A Star Is Born

Vice

Actor in a Leading Role - hands down my pick goes to Rami Malek for his role as Queen front man Freddie Mercury.

Christian Bale, Vice

Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born

Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate

Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody

Viggo Mortensen, Green Book

Actress in a Leading Role - this category promises to be one of the night’s most suspenseful races and I’m giving it to Glenn Close.

Yalitza Aparicio, Roma

Glenn Close, The Wife

Olivia Colman, The Favourite

Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born

Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Actress in a Supporting Role - I’m surprised If Beale Street Could Talk didn’t receive more nominations, so my pick is for Regina King’s amazing performance in this film.

Amy Adams, Vice

Marina de Tavira, Roma

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Emma Stone, The Favourite

Rachel Weisz, The Favourite

Actor in a Supporting Role - even though he won this category two years ago for Moonlight, my pick is for Mahershala Ali, who would become the second black actor (after Denzel Washington) to win more than one Oscar for acting.

Mahershala Ali, Green Book

Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Sam Rockwell, Vice

Best Director - with 10 nominations, I have to choose Roma for something!

Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)

Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)

Adam McKay (Vice)

Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)

-Coach C