Hey guys-

Just a little food for thought. I was looking online and I read that, on average, an american consumes 7,100 calories at a thanksgiving meal... we all know that equates to 2 whole pounds... all in a single day. Is anyone else grossed out?

Now, I have a question...

If I cut my calories in half both the day before and the day after Thanksgiving... would that basically nullify the extra calories consumed on Turkey Day? Is that safe, or unhealthy? Cutting my calories in half would mean eating about 600-700 calories a day for those two days. Just wondering... How are the rest of you making sure to stay on plan this week? Will you at least splurge a little? This day is a dieter's nightmare... but a food lover's dream come true. I'm torn...

This is a good question. I wouldn't recommend cutting your calories to 600 - I know that I would get too hungry by doing this and would probably overeat even more on Thanksgiving. I think you could, however, cut your calories by about 200 or so every day this week instead or even exercise a little more - if you know you will be eating more on Thanksgiving. This probably doesn't compensate for overeating but I think it can help.

That being said, I think you should still monitor what you eat in terms of portion sizes, etc. and stop when you've had enough. Maybe make a plan to try anything that you want but don't normally have - but forgo those things (like corn, mashed potatoes) that you may already be incorporating into your normal diet. Good luck!

I just signed up to run a 10k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. An extra 600 calories will go a long way toward making my Thanksgiving meal fit my daily caloric limits!

Also, I know the general advice is to eat regular meals that morning so that you aren't ravenous by dinnertime. However, when I've tried that technique in the past, I've still eaten way too much at dinner. So I plan to have a bowl of cereal with milk before my race (~200 cals), a banana after (70 cals), and then maybe just some raw veggies (carrots, celery, etc) to munch on until dinner.

At dinner, I want to make sure I have normal-sized (not heaping) portions of turkey and mashed potatoes. I will probably have a lot of stuffing, but that's my absolute favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal). Other than that, I want to fill up on veggies, and have 1/2 piece of apple pie at the end. And only water to drink! I'm sure everyone else will have wine, but I won't miss it that much, and having water will probably save me about 150 calories.

Goal for the day is not to go over 2000 calories (net after exercise). That way it's about at my maintenance weight, which is fine. I can take a day off from losing weight - I just don't want to add a day of gaining!

I know I won't stick to my 1600 calories on Thanksgiving for sure, but I'm not going to go overboard. I'm going to eat a light breakfast, eat a little bit of all of my favorite foods, and just track the calories that I eat to know what the total damage is. I'm not going to beat myself up if I eat 2500 calories on Thanksgiving day!

I calculated the calories in my favorite Thanksgiving recipes, and posted them on my blog if anyone is curious or needs Thanksgiving recipes with calorie counts.

Constance

Scenestealer, that idea about 10k trot sounds really good! I'm planning on making most of everything the day before Thanksgiving, so that way all that is left is just to do the Turkey on that day. Will definitely go out for a walk while it's cooking!

I think that it would be better to just *SLIGHTLY* cut your calories the day before and after-having 1400 a day if you normally have 1500, etc.

The day OF Thanksgiving, then just add the 200 calories that you took from the day before and after, and maybe add an extra 100 for the holiday. So if you normally eat 1500 a day, that day would be 1800.

It would only be 100 calories more than you would normally take in over the course of the week.

Also, have a slightly lower calorie breakfast, so you have a tad more to play with at lunch/dinner. Just small switches during breakfast, like having a 45 calorie or so cup of berries instead of a 100 calorie banana, etc. can do quite a bit.

Just watch portion size, and I don't remember where I read it-but advice that I follow is to look over the food, and spend the calories on only what you REALLY want. Mashed potatoes are great, but are often out there year round, so why use the calories on them-when your Aunt Betty's pie/dressing is only around once a year? That sort of thing...

Also, look online for lower calorie desserts, and make one for the occasion. You can reduce the fat and calories in pumpkin pie by using the fat free condensed milk instead of the regular version, and it doesn't affect the flavor. Eat pie that only has a bottom crust-double crust pies are more caloric in general, etc.

I for one, am going to two different places on Thanksgiving. I am planning on having roast turkey, a vegetable, and one small portion of "must have" food while I am there....and at the second place, I am having one small portion of the dessert that I like best. That's it. I am not eating dinner twice. I am not eating 3 different desserts.

Lots of great advice here!

Another idea: Thanksgiving might be a good day to practice maintaining rather than trying to lose weight. It's a special day and it's a special day built around food. You don't want to overdo it, and you want to make healthy and moderate choices, but there would be no harm in eating to your maintenance calories rather than your losing calories. If you focus on maintenance calories you'll get to eat more than you usually would, but without giving yourself carte blanche to eat 7000 calories.

Also I made this dish for a dinner party last night, and it was fabulous. It would be an excellent, healthy and low-cal addition to the Thanksgiving table!

Honey Roasted Root Vegetables

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/re...ipe_id=1108240

(The recipe portion of the Cooking Light site is down right now, but presumably it will be back up later.)

I find 7000 hard to believe. I mean, I ate A LOT last year and still only was around 3000. How does one EAT 7000?

No I would not cut your calories in half, at most I would go to the lower end of your normal range for a few days before and or after and like baffled, look at this as a maintenance, not lose day.

Personally I do nothing special, I eat the way I always eat on the day before and the day after and on T-day I eat what I WANT to eat. Which does not mean 7000, it means probably around 3000 again. I dont completely gorge, but I dont deny either, I eat some of everything including both kinds of pie and probably seconds of turkey and stuffing.

I see Thanksgiving as special. It would probably be different if I was cooking at home with my immediate family (I'd make traditional style dishes, but lighter), but we go to my Aunt's house every year and I see people that I only get to see once a year. And we usually end up taking shots of something (last year it was an italian liquor...mmm) My dad has 4 sisters, and this is the one time of year they are all together, along with all of the cousins, nieces and nephews, etc. Eating a reasonable portion of all of the "once a year" foods is part of what makes the day special, to me...foods I don't normally eat, people I don't normally see, and a slightly raucous, tipsy good time.

The day before and days following are on plan. But the day of, I don't really worry about it. I'm at a point in my journey where I can't eat TOO much of anything without making myself ill, and I eat slowly and don't make myself uncomfortably full, but I don't count.

A few people have mentioned on here that mashed potatoes are a food they can eat all the time so they will avoid them on the day...not me! I eat them maybe 1-2 times a year, one of which is on Thanksgiving. And I enjoy them and get right back on plan the next day.

I haven't had mashed potatoes in a long, long time. Potatoes are a huge trigger food for me, so I limit them in any form. I may have a scoop or I may not. I'll have some turkey, stuffing, gravy, small portions of the veggie/cream/cheesy casseroles, and a small piece of pie. We are bringing cranberry sauce and deviled eggs (which is awesome for me, cause I can graze on one or two eggs and be satisfied). I'll skip the rolls/breads, drink water, and go for a run that day. Seconds will be limited to a little turkey and cranberry sauce if I want it.

My plan is moderation.

I'm already planning my day. I know what is on the menu already, and I'm making sure there are at least two veggie dishes that I can eat heartily from. I've got that and my turkey to fill up on. And for a treat, I've got my aunt's cornbread dressing. I plan to have a nice serving of that. For desert, I will have some homemade german chocolate cake (5 layers!) with all of that wonderful coconut pecan icing. It is very much a splurge, but it is rare that I get to do that.

I plan to be a little low (1200 - 1300 calories) for the next few days to hopefully balance it out some.

I'll eat great the rest of the day then sit down and enjoy every bite of my thanksgiving dinner, then I'll enjoy dessert and then maybe some flag football with the gang.

You'd have to consume a LOT of food to take in 7000 calories in one meal. It's possible into that equation, they also figured in wine and/or eggnog, butter, gravy, rolls, and maybe seconds on dessert. I'd really like to know where they got the 7000 calories from.

As for answering the original question (editing because I forgot!) I don't go crazy with butter and gravy, stay far away from the eggnog (don't like the stuff anyway, thankfully) and only have one dessert. But the meal itself, I go ahead and eat and enjoy myself and not worry about the blasted calories.

Give yourself one day to just relax and enjoy yourself.

Here's what I found, which sounds a little more reasonable.

Urp! Typical Thanksgiving meal packed with more than 3,000 calories
Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal.

Here's something to do on your Thanksgiving Day holiday: Instead of being a couch potato watching the parades and football games, go for a four-hour run.

That's what the American Council on Exercise, of San Diego, a nonprofit fitness association, says is needed to work off the calories and fat consumed in a typical Thanksgiving meal.

"To burn off a 3,000 calorie Thanksgiving Day meal, a 160 pound person would have to run at a moderate pace for four hours, swim for five hours or walk for 30 miles," says Cedric Bryant, ACE chief exercise physiologist.

That's the good news.

"Many people don't just stop at the meal," he says. "Snacking throughout the day can lead up to a total caloric intake of 4,500."

Total of 4500 I can handle.

I look at it this way, if I gain a pound for Thanksgiving, I'm sure I'll take it back off eventually. And, to me, it'll be worth it just to eat and enjoy myself. But then I'm currently maintaining, too, and I'm used to gaining and losing the same 2 or 3 pounds all over again.

I'm on year 3 of losing my weight and keeping it off and every year at Thanksgiving I do the same thing - I enjoy it.

If you know what to do to get back on track, you're fine. One meal isn't going to ruin everything. Now, it's eating like this on a consistent basis that puts on the weight. But we all know better than to do that

I plan to keep it a simple meal... a serving or two of tofuturkey (I'm a vegan), with a serving or two of sweet mashed potatoes, some green beans, and for dessert, one slice of pumpkin pie. I figure I'll just have one great meal on "turkey day" since that seems to be the trend on Thanksgiving