That's a great spread, Mike, but where are we going to put the battle mat? Image courtesy of kweezy mcg

There’s a video out there by a group of comedians known as the Dead Alewives that wonderfully captures my early memories of playing Dungeons and Dragons with my friends in my teen years. You probably know the video I’m talking about.  It’s the one that has the line about casting Magic Missile at the darkness. A line that makes my friends and I giggle and repeat the phrase in that voice every time we hear the words “Magic Missile.” ( So much so that Krystalle almost refused to use that spell entirely unless we let her rename it for her character – but I digress.) If you’ve ever played a tabletop RPG you’re likely to find something in that sketch that resonates with your memories of game night, up to and including the iconic “Where are the Cheetos?’ and “Can I have a Mountain Dew?”

Snacking and gaming go hand-in-hand. So much so that the 4th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide mentions the importance of snacks in several places (and stresses that one of the benefits of being the DM is that YOU shouldn’t have to pay for them). The problem is that, as a general rule, the snacks that we commonly associate with game night aren’t really the kind of things you want to eat if you’re trying to be healthy. I love Doritos and Jolt Cola as much as the next gamer, but the hundreds of all night sessions that were fueled by those kind of foods when I was a kid were contributors to the fact that I was over 400 pounds by the time I was 28 years old.

It’s easy to see why food is such an essential component in an entertaining evening of gaming. While there are many who will claim that it falls into the “demented and sad” category, the fact of the matter is that role-playing games are a social event, and one of the key ingredients to any successful social event is food. Human beings like to eat, which is borne out by the fact that throughout history food has played an integral role in many famous gatherings. (A certain dinner party in Gethsemane comes to mind.)  Game night doesn’t have to be “ruin my week night,” though.  It’s entirely possible to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to snacks at the gaming table, and we’ve come up with five tips to help you do just that.

1. Serve fruit instead of candy – Instead of popping open a bag of Hershey’s Miniatures, spring for a bag of seedless grapes.  One of the appeals of candy bowls is the fact that you can pretty much reach in and mindlessly keep eating while you’re paying attention to other activities, and grapes fulfill that purpose nicely.  You can eat a whole bowl of grapes and consume the same calories as only a few pieces of candy. Additionally, grapes have the added side benefit of being a very filling food due to the amount of water in them.  Pro tip, though – Make sure you get the seedless variety.  Seeded grapes are just as delicious but can be a real pain in the butt to eat, not to mention the potential for being incredibly messy.

2. Say cheese! – While not necessarily a low calorie option, a tray of cheese with crackers is certainly a better option than something with a “cheese flavored” coating on it.  If you’re going the cheese route make sure you pick up a variety of different cheeses, too.  Don’t just stick with cheddar!  If you really want to be health conscious there are some fantastic reduced fat varieties from companies like Cabot Creamery (I’m a big fan of the 50% Fat Pepper Jack and Jalapeno varieties myself).

3. Get a veggie tray – Much like the grapes in our first item, a vegetable tray can help to fill the “mindless munching” void that exists at the gaming table (and is usually filled by some variety of chip).   Many grocery stores offer a form of pre-sliced vegetable tray that includes carrots, celery, broccoli, tomatoes, and cauliflower with individual containers of some kind of salad dressing (usually ranch and/or blue cheese).  Those trays aren’t cheap, though, so if you’re on a budget you can pick and choose your own vegetables from a farmer’s market and slice them up yourself.  If you get really bored while chopping, pretend they’re kobolds. There always seem to be plenty of those little buggers around, waiting to be sliced up.

4. Don’t put all the food on the table – This tip in and of itself can save you a lot of calories in the long run.  If you’ve thrown caution to the wind and gone the chips and cookie route, serve the food up in small bowls or on a smaller dinner plate instead of dumping all the containers in the middle of the table.  Not only will your gaming table look nicer, it will make you less likely to continue eating after you’re full since there won’t be as much food there to go through.  If you have to get up and go to the kitchen in order to refill the bowl of tortilla chips you may very well hold off on doing so out of sheer laziness.

5. Make eating part of the game – Ok, so this one requires a lot more preparation and really only works if your group is heavy into the role-playing aspect of tabletop gaming. If you meet those criteria it can be a LOT of fun, though. Instead of just throwing the food out in the middle of the gaming table, prepare a meal for your guests and use that meal as part of the game itself.  We’ve all seen the “you’re in a tavern” trope in our games at one point or other, so why not actually include the meal your characters are eating as part of the introduction?  With a little bit of modification, this can work with pretty much any game world – except maybe Vampire : The Requiem. (I suppose you could all sit around drinking V8 juice, if so inclined!)

As with most things in life, it isn’t impossible to be healthy when you’re gaming – but it does require a little planning.  If the end result is that you still have a good time but don’t torpedo your weight loss efforts, though, it is worth it in the end.