The 3,000-calorie Thanksgiving dinner -- myth or reality?
Replies
-
I'd be full but it can be done without much effort.0
-
Butter. Butter. Butter.0
-
Every year about this time a diet industry group puts out a dire warning that we're all going to eat 3,000 calories (average, anyway) on Thanksgiving dinner alone (not counting snacks and other meals) and the media laps it up unquestioningly. Nowhere have I ever found how they tallied this.
For funsies, I put together what a 3,000-calorie dinner (2,965 per USDA Supertracker) might look like:
half pound turkey, dark and light meat, skin eaten
6 ounces ham
A full cup each mashed potatoes (made w/butter & cream cheese), dressing (with meat), corn, and green beans cooked with mushroom sauce
1/2 cup giblet gravy
A dinner roll with a full tablespoon of butter
Two cups of garden salad with avocado, topped with 3 tablespoons blue cheese dressing
A slice of cranberry sauce
A slice of pecan pie with 2 tablespoons heavy whipped cream
Granted, it IS easy to eat a lot more on Thanksgiving than intended, but I think saying the "average" holiday meal is 3,000 calories is exaggerating a bit. I'm a pretty healthy eater, and I'd be physically ill if I tried to eat that much in one sitting.
If anyone knows how the 3,000-calorie dinner was originally calculated, I'm all ears.
1 slice of pie? LOL
That's not nearly as funny as TWO tablespoons of whipped cream... she meant CUPS.0 -
Just for the record, the claim I've seen is not 3,000 for the day, which is more than doable. It's 3,000 for the single meal alone, plus 1,500 in snacks and drinks, plus two other meals, so more like 5,000 - 6,000 for the day.
Do most people eat two other meals on Thanksgiving? I might have a very light breakfast; but after that, it is one long, leisurely snack / appetizer / meal / dessert lasting from early afternoon until late afternoon / early evening. I would admittedly be hard-pressed to get 5k - 6k for the day without seriously hitting the booze hard.
I was thinking that too. I usually try to have something fairly small in the morning - maybe a piece of pumpkin bread, or just a baileys and coffee while I'm cooking... then the grazing begins about noon, meal at 2, dessert at 4, post family encounter wine b/w 7-10 then pass out...
OP you also failed to consider the calorie burn during Black Friday shopping....
0 -
Holy cow. 6 oz of ham...that sounds like a lot of ham haha. And so does a half pound of turkey. But come thanksgiving dinner time, I think our yes are definitely bigger than our tummies. I'd say it's plausible, especially considering the fat and sugar laden dishes we tend to eat at that time. Green bean casserole, candied yams, candied carrots, buttered corn, sweet rolls, Brussels in bacon fat, stuffing, cranberry relish, hello salad, cornbread pudding....everything is coated in fat, butter, and sugar. Without all those extra ingredients the dinner wouldn't be so bad, but there's a lot of hidden calories in the way we prepare the food.
That being said, if there's one time a year I'm gonna load up on too much food, it's an appropriate time to do so. Otherwise, nonono, not worth it.0 -
Eyes* Jello* typos...0
-
nuttynanners wrote: »Eyes* Jello* typos...
I was wondering what hello salad was. I didn't know if it was like, "HELLLOOO, SALAD"which didn't make sense in the context, or if it was called that because you eat it first, like when you are first saying hello...
Honestly the fact that it was a typo for jello never occurred to me, but we don't have jello salad at Thanksgiving!
0 -
I'm pretty sure I hit 2k in pie alone0
-
I can totally see 3,000 calories. Especially with the kind of stuff on our table for Thanksgiving. I tend to eat more dessert than usual on this particular holiday, which isn't hard to do since I'm not really a big dessert eater on a normal basis. However, I will probably be lucky to get away with only 3,000.0
-
> Only one serving of mashed taters
> Only one slice of pie
> Only one roll
> Only a half pound of turkey
> No sweet potato casserole covered in brown sugar and butter
Lol, your list is like an appetizer compared to what I'm used to. I don't know how they calculate it, but 3000 seems absolutely reasonable, maybe even too low.0 -
Myth. I do not believe intake on that day is only 3k.0
-
I don't like eating until I'm uncomfortable but I do like nibbling on appetizers before dinner and sweets after... and drinking some Kahlua. So, while I may not sit down and eat that much at Thanksgiving dinner, I'm sure the day adds up to 3000 calories no problem. My strategy will be MFP's "weight neutral" Thanksgiving and back to normal the next day.
Weight Neutral Holiday
0 -
I'm making it a goal to eat 15K this year.0
-
I bet I eat that much. Maybe more.
No way to know as I'm not making it, but between the GB casserole, apple dish, corn casserole, Mac n cheese, potatos, stuffing, gravy, rolls, butter and massive amounts of cranberry sauce, I'll do fine. Plus turkey, which is always the smallest part of my plate(s).
Then there is the cherry pie. And pumpkin bread. And fudge...I may skip the fudge, but I doubt it.
I'm glad I can't log it.
0 -
LOL! You said so much in so few words. Enjoy your Thanksgiving(s) or should I say Good Luck?!Need2Exerc1se wrote: »I would love it if I ate only 3000 calories on Thanksgiving.
Because both my parents and in-laws are crazy, we eat two full Thanksgiving dinners every year, and that includes dessert at both. And because they crazy, I usually finish the night off with a bottle of wine when we finally get home. So there is another 600 (or so) calories right there.
0 -
nuttynanners wrote: »Holy cow. 6 oz of ham...that sounds like a lot of ham haha. And so does a half pound of turkey.
it may sound like a lot, but it's really not.
'they' say 4oz of chicken is like the size of a deck of cards. 2 decks of turkey is pretty easy to destroy. it's a vehicle for gravy and potatoes, remnants get stuffed into biscuits and slathered with cranberry sauce...8oz of turkey is plate #1.0 -
I love thanksgiving food, especially pie. Its just one day (maybe two if we get leftovers this year) so I'm not worried.0
-
My thanksgiving plate will be heaped with "funeral potatoes", bread rolls, green bean casserole... and a beer to drink. Then I will go BACK and get pumpkin pie with cool whip, and apple pie with ice cream.
Thats like eleventy billion calories, surely.
0 -
Every year about this time a diet industry group puts out a dire warning that we're all going to eat 3,000 calories (average, anyway) on Thanksgiving dinner alone (not counting snacks and other meals) and the media laps it up unquestioningly. Nowhere have I ever found how they tallied this.
For funsies, I put together what a 3,000-calorie dinner (2,965 per USDA Supertracker) might look like:
half pound turkey, dark and light meat, skin eaten
6 ounces ham
A full cup each mashed potatoes (made w/butter & cream cheese), dressing (with meat), corn, and green beans cooked with mushroom sauce
1/2 cup giblet gravy
A dinner roll with a full tablespoon of butter
Two cups of garden salad with avocado, topped with 3 tablespoons blue cheese dressing
A slice of cranberry sauce
A slice of pecan pie with 2 tablespoons heavy whipped cream
Granted, it IS easy to eat a lot more on Thanksgiving than intended, but I think saying the "average" holiday meal is 3,000 calories is exaggerating a bit. I'm a pretty healthy eater, and I'd be physically ill if I tried to eat that much in one sitting.
If anyone knows how the 3,000-calorie dinner was originally calculated, I'm all ears.
1 slice of pie? LOL
Seriously, lol!
I'll probably have 1500 calories in dessert alone (the thing that's going to limit me is that we'll only have 5 desserts for 16 of us, but I hope I can have some of each). Then another 500 in cheese and crackers. Then another 800 in the meal itself (plus 200 from rolls probably!)...
So yeah... not a problem. And I don't even drink.
It will just take a couple weeks to lose the extra weight, and then it will be time for Christmas
Do most people eat two other meals on Thanksgiving? I might have a very light breakfast; but after that, it is one long, leisurely snack / appetizer / meal / dessert lasting from early afternoon until late afternoon / early evening. I would admittedly be hard-pressed to get 5k - 6k for the day without seriously hitting the booze hard.
Yeah breakfast and a snack.
Last year I was only 2100 calories but we didn't go anywhere.0 -
Granted, it IS easy to eat a lot more on Thanksgiving than intended, but I think saying the "average" holiday meal is 3,000 calories is exaggerating a bit. I'm a pretty healthy eater, and I'd be physically ill if I tried to eat that much in one sitting
I think it is perfectly possible that it is average to eat that much.
I have just eaten with my dh and dd the last few years on Thanksgiving and we scaled the amount of food back quite a bit. Turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, gravy, asparagus, one fruit dish, and one pumpkin pie, butter, whipped topping, no alcohol, drinking water. It looks like it will come in around 800 calories for lunch and we would probably have another 800 for the evening plus any snacks.
When we went to big family dinners- usually two in one day- you had to try appetizers, ham and turkey, 5 side dishes minimum, 2 desserts at least, sometimes wine or pop, and snacking as well. So full! We never ate breakfast. Starting at noon until bedtime we were just eating. I believe we were consuming a lot more than 3000 calories. No wonder people can't move that day!
0 -
It really depends I think. It's pretty hard for me to get over 3,000 for an entire day and that's a binge for me.0
-
I honestly thought I was part of the only family that made Mac and Cheese for a side on Thanksgiving. Then again, my aunt's Mac and Cheese is usually my main course. I logged what I thought I might eat for fun, and it actually came in under goal, but let's be real, when it actually gets to that day all bets are off.0
-
oh it is real, it is very real …I easily go for second and thirds..throw in some bread and then dessert …I probably hit about 6000 calories for the day ..
who cares anyway? it is one day out of 365 in a year...0 -
i went back and checked my diary and mine came in at 3000 …and my logging was probably not that accurate so I am guess I was over hat …I was actually 3600 for the day when you include breakfast0
-
Including pre-meal nibbles, wine and sweet tea, and dessert. I can see it hitting 3000.
My big southern family goes all out for Thanksgiving. We each bring a dish or two and there are usually around 40 people for lunch. My typical thanksgiving meal includes
Apps
Dill dip (half sour cream, half mayo plus seasoning) and pumpernickel bread
Beer cheese dip with crackers
Chips and salsa
Main meal
Turkey
Ham with Jezebel sauce
Cornbread dressing
Gravy
Rolls
Maw maw's sweet potatoes (includes so much sugar, eggs, and coconut and is topped with maraschino cherries, pineapple and pecans cooked down with sugar)
Southern Mac and cheese
Roasted veggies topped with goat cheese
Green Bean casserole
Mashed potatoes with more gravy
Cranberry relish
Strawberry pretzel salad
Now I usually only eat 4 or 5 bite of each thing, except the sweet potatoes. I love them and only get them once a year so I eat a lot.
Then comes dessert.
I'll eat at least a small piece of pumpkin and pecan pie, probably also chocolate chess pie and a bite or two of whatever else looks good.
I'll also drink sweet tea, so much sweet tea. I only allow myself to drink it with abandon on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll have a glass or two of wine as well. Yup that could easily be 3000 calories. Of course, I won't eat a whole lot else that day. Coffee and maybe some yogurt or fruit for breakfast and then graze on leftovers in evening for dinner.
0 -
I already did 3 days straight of Canadian Thanksgiving back in October. I must have had at least 4000-6000 each day judging by the counts (I didn't log though, I also ate breakfast and lunch too). I am so jealous I think I need to celebrate again.. wahh
I think 3000 seems very possible for a Thanksgiving dinner0 -
Mine's probably half of that, including pumpkin pie and date pudding0
-
Yeah but the 3000 calories they speak of are NOT all from good choices. You eat half a pound of turkey and 6 oz of ham you won't have room for much else. They mean the beer and the ballgame food, the pies, cookies, and chips and dips. Plus the turkey, stuffing, we don't do a ham too, and the cranberries and the mashed potatoes...oh definitely easily 3000+.0
-
Yeah, booze has a lot of calories and most people of age are drinking when they have to spend holidays with family, I can easily break 3k calories.0
-
Reality, and not even that shocking to me.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/The_Enginerd?date=2013-11-28
0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 426 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions