4500 calories on Thanksgiving? Really? I disagree.

HealthyBodySickMind

Two separate Turkey Day celebrations from last year, and I didn't even bother logging on the actual family Thanksgiving on Thursday last year:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/HealthyBodySickMind?date=2012-11-23

TL;DR: 4160 for the day; 1118 and 1932 for "The Meals"

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/HealthyBodySickMind?date=2012-11-16

TL;DR: 3323 for the day; 2307 for "The Meal"


And at the time I weighed a whole 110 lbs. People that are bigger than me can eat a whole lot more than that. I don't think 4500 is unreasonable for the the day or for "the meal".

Cindyinpg

Wow, I'm English so we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but what exactly do you guys eat for it that adds up to so many calories?

I logged all my food on Christmas Day last year, just to see what it came to, and it was about 2500 calories. This year I won't be logging

To be fair I eat 1800-2000 calories daily. 500 more would literally be a slice of pie.

Yeah, I eat 1800-2000 per day too and lose weight consistently. I've pre-logged 3,000 calories for today, (just a treat/movies day, nothing to do with Thanksgiving, I'm Canadian) . At most, that's a 250-500 calorie surplus. Not much in the overall scheme of things. Christmas Day, I will probably eat double that and enjoy every bite without guilt. :drinker:

Pretty much. 1800-200 calories gets me about a pound of weight loss a week, so I could get to 2500 and just maintaining. Not that I'm going to eat only that much (all the things!) but I can't 'see' 2500 as a lot.

But for someone eating less I suppose I could imagine where it seems daunting.

Agree... With all the above.

1_JR_1

I plan on tracking my calories tomorrow..... the medic may need to know the proper dosage of drugs to bring me out of my carb coma!

runfatmanrun

I figure if you don't hit at least 4500 cals for the day then you weren't trying hard enough. Here's to seconds...and maybe thirds. As well as left overs.

Raider_fan217

I can limit the portion size on all of the tasty food pretty easily. It's the delicious seasonal beer that will kill me tomorrow! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

PhearlessPhreaks

But seriously.. 2 pieces of pie is happening.. in my world.. 1,000 calories blown right there.. I'm loving it.

LOL! If we were doing Turkey day with my side of the family, this would be me, because my mother makes killer pies. However, we're spending it with my in-laws, and they snack all day and then don't have room for dessert, so I'm baking sweet breads in lieu of aforementioned pie... although, I am bringing Hazelnut-Mocha tarts along, just in case...

For my part, the majority of my calories are going to come from alcohol. Because in-laws.

MrsSWW

I could do 4500 easily.

Serah87

I'm going to have to walk 20 miles. I will be walking the whole day of Thanksgiving.....hhhhmmmmmm....:laugh:

lilawolf

I can see that many calories for the whole day.

Breakfast: Big egg/bacon/cheese/mushroom scramble with toast: 670 cals (no hash browns or craziness here either!)
Snacks/lunch: 2 deviled eggs, 1 oz potato chips and random veggies with dip, and 2 small cookies: 604 cals
Dinner: Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans with butter, and a buttered roll: 1075 cals
Alcohol: 1 bottle red wine and 1 mimosa: 724 cals
Desert: slice of pumpkin pie, small scoop of ice cream, and some whipped topping: 425
Total: 3491 cals!

That is with only 1 roll, a relatively low cal pie choice, no sugary mixed drinks, no lunch, a reasonable serving of potato chips, no casseroles with dinner etc. See tomorrow's diary for more details. I logged the above menu just to see. This is close to what I will eat most likely.

SmartAlec03211988

I can eat 6,000 calories on a normal day... Thanksgiving is easy as hell.

Kyog

Yeaah, was going to agree with the post a bit further up - we don't have thanksgiving in England, it's just Xmas we all overindulge at!

But one day won't do much damage, I wouldn't worry too much x

She_Hulk

I'll be happy if I stay under 8,576.

^^^THIS^^^ :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Cre8veLifeR

I bet my mom's amazing buttermilk rolls have AT LEAST 350 calories per roll, and I plan on having 2 for sure (These things are like...GOD in your mouth -- if you're a bread lover like me anyway!). And stuffing. YUM. Count me in. With gravy. mmmmmm...And the yams my grandma makes have 2 sticks of butter in them, not to mention all the sugar...and I am making the pies...pumpkin and cherry this year. Another 600 calories probably in desserts!

Yep. I will definitely eat at least 4500 calories tomorrow! And I don't care. It's eating like that everyday that gets you in trouble. I also plan on hitting the gym in the morning and doing at least an hour of intense cardio. :laugh:

I am, however, definitely saying NO to taking home any leftovers!!

Otterluv

Here's an interesting Thanksgiving feast calculator http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blthanksgivingcalories.htm , I have no idea how accurate it is.

And here's one where there are pics of Thanksgiving plates full of food and you can guess the amount of calories.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/25/thanksgiving-calories_n_4298802.html

According to that calculator just turkey, stuffing. potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, 1 slice of pie with ice cream and a dinner roll with butter would put me at nearly 2000 calories. So throw in that mac and cheese, some greens, at least two more rolls and then seconds? 4500 is easy.

Yep. That little 5k I'm doing in the morning won't even come close to the calories that I'm going to be ingesting.

Thanksgiving is at my house. My cousin listed the desserts that she's made: pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate cream pie, and some sort of grape jelly tart thing. I will be trying some of each and every one. I mean, it would be rude not to, right?!

delicious_cocktail

Yeaah, was going to agree with the post a bit further up - we don't have thanksgiving in England, it's just Xmas we all overindulge at!

But one day won't do much damage, I wouldn't worry too much x

Wait is that why we have an obesity crisis? Would everything be cool if we dropped thanksgiving OR christmas?

quicklabs

Hah! 4500 is for amateurs; I could do that with breakfast, plenty of adult beverages, munchies throughout the day, and appetizers even before dinner is served.

uconnwinsnc

Hah! 4500 is for amateurs; I could do that with breakfast, plenty of adult beverages, munchies throughout the day, and appetizers even before dinner is served.

Back in my fat prime, I could drop 4500 calories a meal in a dining hall and still be hungry, no problem.

mustgetmuscles1

What?

Confuzzled4ever

I plan on tracking my calories tomorrow..... the medic may need to know the proper dosage of drugs to bring me out of my carb coma!

ha.. ditto.. actually I already tracked them.. lol

PeaceLoveTrees

I plan on staying at my calorie goal tomorrow. I'm starting my day by running a Turkey Trot 5k. My sister and I took over most of the side dishes and we are having lots of vegetables and make most of the dishes vegan. Believe it or not, this cuts a TON of calories when cooking! Even if I fail, I have Friday off and am going to try two new classes at my gym so hopefully that will make up for it. If you're really worried about it make some of the dishes yourself and make them healthful! I read an article yesterday about staying on track at holiday meals, here are the suggestions I can remember: 1. eat a salad before the meal 2. get one plate of food and do not go back for seconds 3. have one dessert, pick your favorite and don't try all the options 4. make a healthy side dish that you can fill your plate with, or bring a healthy dessert so you have something healthy to count on 5. go for a walk some time during the day

I totally agree that people should enjoy themselves but if I go into tomorrow thinking it's a wash I'm going to eat more horribly than if I at least try to be mindful. good luck to everyone attempting to stay focused tomorrow! :-)

ki4yxo

I'm not even going to bother logging. As long as it's
not everyday, it ain't going to hurt me. Besides, I'm
hosting, some of my wife's family is coming over, so
alcohol is a must!

cwolfman13

I used to eat between 4500 and 5000 calories on pretty much a daily basis before I started watching what I eat. For a single day, it's totally doable...especially if you're like me and you love craft beer. One good pint of craft beer is easily 300 calories right there.

vtmoon

If you think 4500 calories is a crazy amount, you either are a very small person who can't fit food in their belly ( Sonya Thomas begs to differ), or the most common case which is you tend to under estimate the actual calories in your food portions.

So let me tell you how in a span of 6 hours during Thanksgiving I will easily reach 4500 calories.

I normally drink water almost exclusively, on Thanksgiving I will not and rather drink wine (I like to get fancy) , I will go through 3 bottles of Quady's Electra Muscat wine white and red. Feel free to judge me on drinking the fruity wine, it is magically delicious!



at 900 a pop that is 2700 calories alone right there.

Let's move on to the main meal:-

Dinner Roll, 1 small: 87 , x 8 = 696
Cheesy Corn Bread: 96 x 2 = 192
Turkey, roasted white meat, 4 ounces: 180 x 4 = 720
Turkey, roasted dark meat, 4 ounces: 323 x 2 = 646
Turkey Gravy, 1/4 cup: 50 x 2 = 100
Stuffing, 1/2 cup: 190 x 3 = 570
Mashed Potatoes, 1 cup: 230 x 2 = 460
Green Bean Casserole, 1/2 cup: 110 x 2 = 220
Cranberry sauce, 1/2 cup: 110 = Just kidding, it is gross to me!

So main meal turned out to 3604.

DESSERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chocolate bourbon pecan pie! I make this bad boy from scratch, I normally make 3 of them because I'm upfront about one of them being totally mine and the family gets the other 2. Check Allrecipe they have a nice recipe for it.

Chocolate Bourbon pecan pie, 1/8 of a 9" pie: 650 x 3 = 1950
Vanilla ice cream, 1/2 cup: 140 x 1 = 140
Crème fraiche, 1 tbsp: 50 x 3 = 150
Apple Pie, 1/8 of a 9" pie: 450 x 1 = 450

Desert is 2690.



Total:
Wine = 2700
Meal = 3604
Desert= 2690
____________
Total = 8994

Double or nothing?
*Drops the Plate and walks away*

Mr_Knight

I found another that posts foods and their calories and came up with 2486, http://projects.nytimes.com/qa/events/thanksgiving-help-line/question/8134 which is still an insane amount for a meal...

Six ounces is not what I would call a "generous" portion of turkey, in this context. The calorie content of the stuffing they used means either a low-cal stuffing, or an unusually small portion size. A half a cup of mashed potatoes is the second-helping portion size.

Etc etc etc.

No problem at all seeing an extended thanksgiving meal clocking in at 4500 calories.

twl900

bump

VpinkLotus

I don't really know if 4,500 is average for turkey day or what (imagine it would matter how things are prepared and that is sometimes a factor you can't control on this one day)...but I am damn excited regardless

VpinkLotus

Hah! 4500 is for amateurs; I could do that with breakfast, plenty of adult beverages, munchies throughout the day, and appetizers even before dinner is served.

Ha! this made me Lol. I think you are awesome

Moosycakes

This all sounds crazy for someone who doesn't celebrate thanksgiving :P

PearlAng

Thanksgiving is what you make it. Really, eating isn't mandatory on thanksgiving. Of course, that doesn't make for a very good thanksgiving :laugh: Picking what you eat is good, eating as much or as little as you want is an okay thing to do. Of course you can restrict calories for thanksgiving, but I don't see a reason to do that. Its what you want.

CyberEd312

When I was 560 pounds I was eating over 10,000 calories a day and today I have spent the last year in maintenance at 4200 calories and I have no problems eating that daily..... I will easily surpass 4500 calories tomorrow without even trying....