Lowest calorie Thanksgiving choices?
Trish1c
Posts: 549 Member
I know the mashed potatoes are out -- too much cream & butter. I'm going to try to limit myself to a tablespoon because I know I'll feel deprived if I don't have any. Stuffing is probably bad too, all those carb calories.
Steamed broccoli, lean turkey, green beans (unless they are smothered in mushroom soup & crispy onion strips), baked sweet potato & corn should all be OK, right?
Of course portion control will be key.
So what are the best / healthiest / lowest calorie choices for the traditional holiday meal?
Steamed broccoli, lean turkey, green beans (unless they are smothered in mushroom soup & crispy onion strips), baked sweet potato & corn should all be OK, right?
Of course portion control will be key.
So what are the best / healthiest / lowest calorie choices for the traditional holiday meal?
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Replies
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Why don't you just enjoy the day and eat a reasonable amount of food...even if you overdo it, it's just a day and pretty irrelevant to the big picture.6
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Lowest would probably be fill up on Turkey (lean proteins are filling and low calorie, pending you don't had a crap ton of gravy). Then stuff like veggies. But also remember, it's 1 day and you should enjoy yourself on occasion. My goal is to eat an entire lamb.3
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I fill up my plate mainly with turkey breast, collard greens, and roasted/steamed veggies. Everything else I grab in small portions.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Why don't you just enjoy the day and eat a reasonable amount of food...even if you overdo it, it's just a day and pretty irrelevant to the big picture.
Eating is rarely my problem although I'm bound to over do the stuffing. I know ALL of my empty calories are going to come from liquids. That's where my control fails. I posted the Q more as a general discussion because Thanksgiving is such a gluttonous food holiday.
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Why don't you just enjoy the day and eat a reasonable amount of food...even if you overdo it, it's just a day and pretty irrelevant to the big picture.
Eating is rarely my problem although I'm bound to over do the stuffing. I know ALL of my empty calories are going to come from liquids. That's where my control fails. I posted the Q more as a general discussion because Thanksgiving is such a gluttonous food holiday.
I never really eat much at all on Thanksgiving, but I can tear up quite a few bottles of champagne!2 -
I'm on a hard cut right now, so I'll be limited to turkey breast and dumping the guts out of deviled eggs to eat the whites. I wouldn't recommend this to most, as it absolutely makes me look like a food Nazi, but I'd rather that than to look like the rest of my family again.0
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cwolfman13 wrote: »Why don't you just enjoy the day and eat a reasonable amount of food...even if you overdo it, it's just a day and pretty irrelevant to the big picture.
Eating is rarely my problem although I'm bound to over do the stuffing. I know ALL of my empty calories are going to come from liquids. That's where my control fails. I posted the Q more as a general discussion because Thanksgiving is such a gluttonous food holiday.
I just have a plate of food...some drinks...some desert, etc...it is a gluttonous food holiday...but it's just a singular day.
It's usually my only real meal of the day...we traditionally do a turkey trot first thing in the morning and then I have a very small breakfast...people will start coming over around 1 and we will eat around 3...I will have plenty of food and lots of beer...no biggie, it's just a day.
Turkey is pretty low calorie though...0 -
I know the mashed potatoes are out -- too much cream & butter. I'm going to try to limit myself to a tablespoon because I know I'll feel deprived if I don't have any. Stuffing is probably bad too, all those carb calories.
Steamed broccoli, lean turkey, green beans (unless they are smothered in mushroom soup & crispy onion strips), baked sweet potato & corn should all be OK, right?
Of course portion control will be key.
So what are the best / healthiest / lowest calorie choices for the traditional holiday meal?
Log it and see what it looks like. Everything is okay but maybe not all at once if you are wanting low calorie.
Lowest calorie would be turkey breast, salad with vinaigrette dressing, vegetables without added dips, sauces, oils or butter, and drinking water.
I've logged what I am going to have. I'm not skipping anything. However, I'm going to have mashed potatoes for lunch and stuffing for dinner instead of both at the same meal.0 -
I know the mashed potatoes are out -- too much cream & butter. I'm going to try to limit myself to a tablespoon because I know I'll feel deprived if I don't have any. Stuffing is probably bad too, all those carb calories.
Steamed broccoli, lean turkey, green beans (unless they are smothered in mushroom soup & crispy onion strips), baked sweet potato & corn should all be OK, right?
Of course portion control will be key.
So what are the best / healthiest / lowest calorie choices for the traditional holiday meal?
Some contradictory statements here - stuffing is probably bad too, all those carb calories and baked sweet potato & corn should all be OK...........these are ALL carby things.
Just have small portions of your favorites. Example; I skipped mashed potatoes because I can have those all year round. I put a modest amount of gravy on my turkey. Corn usually isn't special either. If I want to limit carbs I can have stuffing instead of corn and sweet potatoes instead of regular potatoes. Just make choices - or have small portions.1 -
No logging on Thanksgiving. Gonna eat ALL the FOODZ! Then back at it on Friday. Even if I eat over TDEE by 5000 calories (which would be about a 7200 calorie day for me), that's about 1.4 pounds. I can get that back off pretty easily. Totally worth it to me!1
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What you said.
My mashed potatoes are typically fine though, I only use a bit of butter and some 1% milk. Sure, not as decadent as the 'full of cream and sugar' type, but at least you really taste the potatoes, lol.
My 'empty' calories typically come from dessert here, lol.0 -
I know the mashed potatoes are out -- too much cream & butter. I'm going to try to limit myself to a tablespoon because I know I'll feel deprived if I don't have any. Stuffing is probably bad too, all those carb calories.
Steamed broccoli, lean turkey, green beans (unless they are smothered in mushroom soup & crispy onion strips), baked sweet potato & corn should all be OK, right?
Of course portion control will be key.
So what are the best / healthiest / lowest calorie choices for the traditional holiday meal?
This is so sad.
This is a time for family and friends.
You plan on letting one day bother you?
Eat and be merry!1 -
I am usually under 25 carbs and I figured tomorrow at 137. I know that 1 meal will not hurt me so I am having my mashed tatos, stuffing, corn and roll with my turkey. There is also a pasta dish that is family tradition but I am having a cup of that and 1/2 cup of the other sides and we don't do dessert so sugar isn't an issue. I think I figured out my plate will be 880 calories so even with another small meal I will still be well within my calories.
Enjoy your day...just watch your portions.0 -
I plan on exercising in the am, eating what I enjoy which would include my homemade apple pie (which is da bomb, fresh apples, pie crust made with real butter, hmmmm) and moving on Friday.
My dressing is incredible too, I dried artisan breads into crumbs and will use herbs from kitchen garden.
The week of Christmas is the hardest for me, we have kid birthdays the 21st and the 27th. That's a whole lot of specialty foods and my kids request things I don't normally make like homemade mac and cheese. Calorie BOMBS. Oy!1 -
Queenmunchy wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »Why don't you just enjoy the day and eat a reasonable amount of food...even if you overdo it, it's just a day and pretty irrelevant to the big picture.
Eating is rarely my problem although I'm bound to over do the stuffing. I know ALL of my empty calories are going to come from liquids. That's where my control fails. I posted the Q more as a general discussion because Thanksgiving is such a gluttonous food holiday.
I never really eat much at all on Thanksgiving, but I can tear up quite a few bottles of champagne!
Lol that'd be me1 -
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I'm working all morning. I'll enjoy all the food with an early dinner. And unless I decide to eat something earlier I may still wind up in a deficit for the day (figuring about 1500 for the meal).0
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I'm gonna do 5k on the treadmill, eat what I want, and then log my food as "Thanksgiving" at my calorie allowance and call it a day.0
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I considered skipping Thanksgiving because I'm dealing with some pretty intense food issues and recent weight gain. In the end, I told myself it's about family and that I can go and be strong, or I can go and fail miserably. Either way I'll be okay.
For those of you saying "it's one day a year". Yes, a lot of us know and understand that. Some of us aren't on the moderation train though.0
This discussion has been closed.
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