I don’t know about your Thanksgiving meal, but mine usually includes turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, a glass of wine, and then of course – pie. Lots of pie!
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How many calories does that typical meal include? Pigeon 605 got together with Avera Health to count those calories, and this was their breakdown:
- 8 ounces of turkey – 480 calories.
- 1 cup serving of mashed potatoes and gravy – 257 calories.
- 1 cup of stuffing – 350 calories.
- 1 cup of cranberry sauce – 257 calories.
- 1 slice of pumpkin pie – 350 calories.
- 6-ounce glass of wine –120 calories.
That is 1,814 calories for just one meal, and you’d have to work out for an hour to burn that many calories. I don’t know, but somehow on Thanksgiving, I don’t count calories; unfortunately and honestly, I don’t even think about them.
But if you’d like to be a bit more health-conscious, there are things you can do.
For instance:
- Remove the skin from the turkey; eat the white meat.
- Whip mashed potatoes with skim milk and roasted garlic instead of butter and whole milk or cream.
- Oven-bake stuffing with sauteed onions and celery.
- Skip the green bean casserole and enjoy fresh, steamed green beans, topped with slivered almonds.
- Instead of brown sugar and marshmallows, flavor sweet potatoes with honey, apple juice, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
- Lighter whipped toppings can have full flavor with less than half the calories.
- Use whole cranberry sauce rather than jellied cranberry sauce.
- Choose whole-wheat, high-fiber breads and rolls.
Or…you could go calorie-crazy like I’m going to do, and contemplate the error of your ways while you’re slipping into a turkey-induced nap…