Hopefully you had a great Thanksgiving holiday full of lots of laughs and plenty of wonderful food. Thanksgiving is always a nice time to reconnect with family members over a delicious meal, but all that great food can take a toll on your waistline and your overall health.
We’re not here to make you feel guilty about yesterday’s food choices, but maybe this blog will be the push you need get off the couch and get your daily workout completed.
Thanksgiving Calories
Here’s a quick look at the calorie count of some of the more popular Thanksgiving menu items. Each item is listed per serving or cup. So let’s take a look at how many calories are in the average Thanksgiving meal. All the caloric counts are estimates, and actual numbers vary by brand, ingredients, etc.
Turkey – 200 calories
Stuffing – 320 calories
Mashed Potatoes – 210 calories
Gravy – 25 calories per 1/10 cup
Yam – 180 calories
Ham – 200 calories
Green Bean Casserole – 150 calories
Cranberry Sauce – 100 calories
Biscuit – 50 calories
Cornbread – 100 calories
Apple Snickers Salad – 220 calories
Pumpkin Pie – 320 calories
Light Beer – 150 calories
Red Wine – 120 calories
2% Milk – 140 calories
Thanksgiving Meal Calories
So let’s run through a very real scenario and see just how many calories you might have consumed during your Thanksgiving dinner.
Let’s say you started up by filling your plate with two helpings of turkey, a side of ham, a big scoop of potatoes and gravy, some green bean casserole, a slice of cranberry sauce and a piece of cornbread. You wash it down with a glass of milk before heading up for seconds. This time, you grab some more turkey, grab a helping of yams and another round of potatoes and gravy before throwing a scoop of that Snickers Apple Salad on your plate. You wash it down with a light beer, and although you’re hurting, you can’t turn down a slice of Grandma’s pumpkin pie. You gobble that down and grab a glass of red wine before heading into the living room to catch up with family. How many calories do you think you consumed?
2,750 calories! And that’s just one meal! Hopefully you didn’t eat as much as the person in the above story, but if you overindulged, it might not be a bad idea to go to the gym today. Your body will thank you for it.