But for too many of us, it's catching up with us and our bodies are paying the price. We fit right in with the U.S. trends in obesity, and that's not good news.

Usually discussions like this begin with a hardheaded instruction: "Turn off the TV and get off the couch." That instruction goes through our ears translated to mean, "You can't watch hockey anymore." And we all know how we respond to an instruction like that: "Over my dead body."

Of course, the bad part is, it is way too close to being over our dead bodies. But we can strike a balance between enjoying some quality rink-viewing time and staying alive long enough to watch the games with our grandkids, or at least being healthy enough to negotiate the steps at an actual game.

Here are a few ideas on getting your body weight down to a level somewhere below a Zamboni.

Play It After You Watch It

With your stomach full from the snacks and your brain wired from either defeat or victory, it can be easy to remain crashed on the couch for an hour or two after the game--or the season--comes to an end. If you can resist that temptation and instead head outside for some physical activity, you'll be calories ahead. Exercising immediately after eating is more beneficial than waiting, not just in terms of metabolism but also because the waiting ends up being permanent.

So get moving after the post-game reports. While the pool is an unlikely option for much of the country during hockey season, the sport itself is cold-natured. Gather up some equipment for street hockey and go pretend you're in the league now. Make a flashback to your glory days. Get outside with your kids and friends and re-enact the game. Just go easy on the body checks, and remember that your penalty box is just the front porch.

Fix Smaller Batches

You gotta snack when you watch the game. It might be a law somewhere. But the verb "snack" is a pretty sad imposter for what most people do during games, which is usually more like "gorge", "chow down", or "pig out".

There is a lot of research that indicates we are regulated in our eating more by our eyes than our stomachs. We tend to focus on an empty plate instead of a full stomach. Some of us have Depression-era or immigrant ancestors who ingrained in us the importance of not wasting food. Shaking this mentality is huge. Cut back your smorgasbord by 10% and see if you truly feel any different an hour after the game. Most likely, you'll feel better because you haven't overeaten.

If You Don't Try It, How Do You Know?

Apart from the amount of food we eat, we also have to be alert to the type of food we eat. Sometimes small changes can save you a whole lot of calories, sodium, and fat.

Suspend disbelief for a few minutes and buy just one bag of baked chips. Eat them. Eat them all. If you don't like them, buy another flavor and give them a whirl.

People make the mistake of thinking that all healthy food is terrible just because one low-calorie food item doesn't thrill their taste buds. That's like writing off all seafood just because you think calamari tastes awful. This is especially true of diet soda. Certain ones are salty, miserable imposters of their high-calorie inspirations. Others are surprisingly good. Low-cal dressings and sauces like Ranch and bleu cheese taste almost exactly the same as the original.

Preparation methods can vary too. When the weather lets you, grill your chicken tenders instead of frying them. Lay off the salt during cooking.

There's a lot of excitement headed our way in hockey games of the future. It is well worth the effort to make a few changes and give ourselves a good chance to be healthy enough to enjoy them.