Are you ready for the holidays? As you prepare for the seasonal holiday indulgences let's prepare by reviewing some common "holiday foods" and their impact. You may be surprised how quickly these holiday meals add up! Let's start by reviewing the "typical" holiday menu.
Meat Group: Turkey & Ham are a couple of the most popular proteins that are served during the holidays. They tend to bring enough to serve a larger crowd of people. Some comparisons to keep in mind; the protein amounts per serving are very similar - almost identical in fact, but the sodium contents are vastly different - just over 100mg for the turkey and over 1,600mg for the ham, wow!
Roast Turkey (3.5 ounces)
Calories: 165
Fat: 7g
Fried Turkey (3.5 ounces - that's just under 1/2 cup)
Calories: 190
Fat: 11g
Roast Turkey - no skin (3.5 ounces)
Calories: 140
Fat: 3.5g
Ham (3 ounces)
Calories: 123
Fat: 4.7g
Sodium: 42% of daily value in ONE serving!
Sides: There are probably a million variations of family recipes for these traditional holiday side dishes so we are looking at generalizations for these. There are also ways to make each dish healthier; I am going to include my favorite variation of Sweet Potatoes at the end of this post!
Traditional Sweet Potato Casserole (4 ounces) this side
Calories: 270
Carbohydrates: 54g (sugar 42g)
Fat: 6g
Protein: 3g
Dressing (4 ounces)
Calories: 150
Carbohydrates: 20g (sugar 3g)
Fat: 6g
Protein: 4g
Mashed Potatoes (4 ounces)
Calories: 120
Carbohydrates: 19g (0g sugar)
Fat: 4g
Protein: 2g
Desserts: in each pie a serving is considered 1/8 of the pie
Pumpkin Pie
Calories: 230
Carbohydrates: 36g (24g sugar)
Fat: 8g
Protein: 5g
Pecan Pie
Calories: 492
Carbohydrates: 79g (51g sugar)
Fat: 19g
Protein: 5g
So let's consider a "sample" Thanksgiving dinner. One serving of each: Turkey (roast w/ skin), Ham, Dressing, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Casserole and Pumpkin Pie
Meal Total
Calories: 1,058
Carbohydrates: 129g (69g sugar)
Fat: 36g
Protein: 70g
This is not even a "typical" Thanksgiving meal; we did NOT include any green bean casserole, macaroni & cheese, cranberries, additional butter, rolls, whipped cream on the pie, gravy, cheese plate appetizers, deviled eggs, wine/spirits or ANYTHING else you may include on a typical Thanksgiving meal. ALL of these items will carry additional impact! Also, consider the serving size. Do you usually take a larger serving? Go back for seconds? This will also impact the nutritional value.
Now you can see how one meal - ONE meal - can really sabotage your efforts. But let's be honest here; we have multiple meals that may resemble this right? Office Thanksgiving (possibly more than one), "Friendsgiving", MULTIPLE Family Thanksgivings, Church Thanksgiving, kids' schools have Thanksgiving - we can end up with more than half a dozen Thanksgiving meals! And then we start all over again for Christmas!
Well, let's lighten things up a bit here. I told you I would share my favorite swap for sweet potatoes; truth is I don't even like traditional sweet potato casserole so this is a very easy swap for me! The other bonus - they are SO EASY TO MAKE!!!
You will need: 2 lbs sweet potatoes, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1 tablespoon thyme, salt & pepper to taste.
~ preheat oven to 450
~ Cut your sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes
~ toss together all ingredients with your sweet potatoes
~ spread out potatoes on baking sheet, bake for 20 minutes, flip potatoes and bake for an additional 15 minutes
Here's the best part - your serving size is LARGER and your impact is LOWER! You get to eat MORE with less impact on your health!
Sweet potatoes (5 ounces)
Calories: 194
Carbohydrates: 31g (6g sugar)
Fat: 7g
Protein: 2g
Have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season!
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| Michelle Peacock NSCA~CPT |
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