Thanksgiving Calories

Thanksgiving Day is a time to celebrate with family and a big meal. Unfortunately, the average typical Thanksgiving dinner has over 2000 calories. For most people that is a full day supply of calories at one sitting.

That does not mean you should stop plans for the typical Thanksgiving dinner. However, there are some approaches that will cut calories down without even realizing it.

The turkey is the centerpiece of dinner. A 3.5 ounce portion of white meat turkey with skin has 177 calories. Dark meat has more calories at 206. Skin has 50 calories. Thus, eating white meat without the skin will get you to about 127 calories.

Stuffing adds about 195 calories to the meal. However, the unhealthy part about stuffing is in the high sodium level. That is because most stuffing recipes include a broth with a lot of sodium. Getting a low sodium broth will make that portion of the meal healthier. In addition, adding lower calorie vegetables like carrots and celery to the stuffing can also reduce the calories.

A four ounce serving of candied sweet potatoes adds 187 calories. They are also nutritionally healthy. Some of the extra calories are due to the sugar used to make candied sweet potatoes. Using whole sweet potatoes instead of a casserole can cut the calories to about 100 per potato.

Green bean casserole is also popular. Plain green beans have about 20 calories per serving. The casserole clocks in at about 225 calories per serving. Serving plain green beans is less appetizing. The best recommendation for this dish is to limit the portion size.

Mashed potatoes are usually done with whole milk, butter and salt. That takes the level to 235 calories. Lower fat milk can reduce that. So can making the mix include some low sodium chicken broth instead of milk.

Gravy is good. It is also low calorie at about 25 calories per serving. Unfortunately, it is another item high in sodium when it is store bought. Making your own gravy from turkey drippings and trimming the fat from it is a healthier option.

Cranberries are tart to the taste. So most people will create a mix of cranberries and sugar. The sugar takes the serving up to 100 calories. Cinnamon, cloves and orange rind can create more sweetness to the mix. That will allow less sugar.

Cornbread is high in calories for its size. It runs about 200 calories for a 3 inch square. It certainly does not need butter added to make the calorie count even higher.

The good news is that people can pick and choose among these recommendations and improve the healthiness of the dinner. The bad news is that the dinner is not the only thing eaten on Thanksgiving day.

Some of us (like me) have a birthday on Thanksgiving this year. It means a helping of birthday cake. That means even more time on the treadmill the day after Thanksgiving.