SATURDAY, Sept. 27 (HealthDayNews) -- It's football season, and your buddies are coming over for eight hours of televised games, potato chips and your famous cheesy chili.

Before you grab the remote control and plant yourself on your couch, consider a little advice about how to survive the sports marathon and still stay healthy and fit.

"Number one, you don't have to sit on the couch the entire time," says Randi Konikoff, a dietitian at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.

"You can get up and change the channel. And while you're up, take a walk around the house. The football players get a break, how about you?" she says.

Konikoff recommends people use common sense when approaching a Sunday sports feast.

"If you are going to engage in a party with heavy foods, remember that it should be only one meal in the week. Try to work around it by eating lighter meals other days or exercising," she says.

Hosts should also consider altering their recipes to make them less fattening. For example, instead of serving nachos, offer pretzels. Or try lean beef hamburgers and low-fat hot dogs.

"Don't make meals that are so big it takes all four hours of a game to eat them," Konikoff says.

Most of all, Konikoff recommends people avoid the habit of eating big meals on a day when they intend to sit still.

"The challenge is that it's not just that one day, it's the whole lifestyle that we usually embrace a little more in the winter when it's not sunny," she says.

More information

For some healthy recipes, go to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.