Average Calories from Thanksgiving - NY Times
melsinct
Posts: 3,512 Member
I apologize if this was posted already but I didn't see it in my search...
The NY Times Well Blog has been answering questions about Thanksgiving this week. I thought this one was interesting (copied and pasted below or follow the link)
http://projects.nytimes.com/qa/events/thanksgiving-help-line/question/8134
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WHAT IS THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF CALORIES A PERSON CONSUMES AT THANKSGIVING DINNER?
The commonly cited statistic is that the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day alone. That’s according to the Calorie Control Council, which represents the people who bring you diet foods. After thinking about how much 4,500 calories really is, I was skeptical of the claim. I decided to create a gluttonous Thanksgiving feast of traditional foods and count the calories along the way (with the help of several online calorie counters). Here’s what I found.
Let’s start piling our plate with a generous 6-ounce serving of turkey, with the skin of course. Since dark meat has more calories, we’ll go with 4 ounces of dark meat (206 calories) and 2 ounces of white meat (93 calories). Did I mention we’re eating the crispy skin? Don’t forget the stuffing. I picked a not-so-healthy sausage stuffing (310 calories). Since it’s a holiday, let’s throw caution to the wind and eat lots of starchy, buttery foods. A dinner roll with butter (310 calories) plus two kinds of potatoes – a big serving of mashed sweet-potato casserole made with butter, brown sugar and topped with marshmallows (divide your casserole dish into 8 servings and it will be 300 calories each) plus a half-cup of mashed potatoes with butter and gravy (140 calories).
You’re not getting full are you? Let’s add 2/3 cup green bean casserole (110 calories), a dollop of cranberry sauce (about 15 calories), and roasted brussels sprouts because our mother made us eat them (83 calories). And since we don’t want to hurt anybody's feelings, we’ll take one slice each of pumpkin pie (316 calories) and pecan pie (503 calories) with generous dollops of homemade whipped cream on each slice (100 calories).
O.K., now I feel sick. How much have I eaten? The grand total is: 2,486 calories.
The point is I had to work pretty hard to finding enough servings of fat-laden, sugary foods to get to about 2,500 calories. Throw in a few glasses of wine, breakfast and some snacks and it’s certainly possible to binge your way to 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day, but I’m not convinced it’s as common as the diet food companies would like us to believe.
For one thing most people would have a hard time eating that much. After about 1,500 calories in one sitting, the gut releases a hormone that causes nausea. Average stomach capacity is about 8 cups, although it can range from 4 to 12.
The average meal takes 1 to 3 hours to leave the stomach. But a large meal can take 8 to 12 hours, depending on the quantity and fat content. Eating too much can lead to indigestion (painful) and flatulence (you probably won’t be invited back). Another reason to pace yourself and avoid a gluttonous binge is that big meals can raise the risk for heart attack, blood clots and gallbladder problems and make you a dangerous, drowsy driver on the way home. Bon Appetit!
The NY Times Well Blog has been answering questions about Thanksgiving this week. I thought this one was interesting (copied and pasted below or follow the link)
http://projects.nytimes.com/qa/events/thanksgiving-help-line/question/8134
*****
WHAT IS THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF CALORIES A PERSON CONSUMES AT THANKSGIVING DINNER?
The commonly cited statistic is that the average American will consume more than 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day alone. That’s according to the Calorie Control Council, which represents the people who bring you diet foods. After thinking about how much 4,500 calories really is, I was skeptical of the claim. I decided to create a gluttonous Thanksgiving feast of traditional foods and count the calories along the way (with the help of several online calorie counters). Here’s what I found.
Let’s start piling our plate with a generous 6-ounce serving of turkey, with the skin of course. Since dark meat has more calories, we’ll go with 4 ounces of dark meat (206 calories) and 2 ounces of white meat (93 calories). Did I mention we’re eating the crispy skin? Don’t forget the stuffing. I picked a not-so-healthy sausage stuffing (310 calories). Since it’s a holiday, let’s throw caution to the wind and eat lots of starchy, buttery foods. A dinner roll with butter (310 calories) plus two kinds of potatoes – a big serving of mashed sweet-potato casserole made with butter, brown sugar and topped with marshmallows (divide your casserole dish into 8 servings and it will be 300 calories each) plus a half-cup of mashed potatoes with butter and gravy (140 calories).
You’re not getting full are you? Let’s add 2/3 cup green bean casserole (110 calories), a dollop of cranberry sauce (about 15 calories), and roasted brussels sprouts because our mother made us eat them (83 calories). And since we don’t want to hurt anybody's feelings, we’ll take one slice each of pumpkin pie (316 calories) and pecan pie (503 calories) with generous dollops of homemade whipped cream on each slice (100 calories).
O.K., now I feel sick. How much have I eaten? The grand total is: 2,486 calories.
The point is I had to work pretty hard to finding enough servings of fat-laden, sugary foods to get to about 2,500 calories. Throw in a few glasses of wine, breakfast and some snacks and it’s certainly possible to binge your way to 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day, but I’m not convinced it’s as common as the diet food companies would like us to believe.
For one thing most people would have a hard time eating that much. After about 1,500 calories in one sitting, the gut releases a hormone that causes nausea. Average stomach capacity is about 8 cups, although it can range from 4 to 12.
The average meal takes 1 to 3 hours to leave the stomach. But a large meal can take 8 to 12 hours, depending on the quantity and fat content. Eating too much can lead to indigestion (painful) and flatulence (you probably won’t be invited back). Another reason to pace yourself and avoid a gluttonous binge is that big meals can raise the risk for heart attack, blood clots and gallbladder problems and make you a dangerous, drowsy driver on the way home. Bon Appetit!
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Other points to consider: Thanksgiving is a big drinking holiday. My family will down several beers and some junk food as they watch the Lions lose. Also, not many of us only enjoy one Thanksgiving. I can have up to 4 (my mom's family, my dad's family, husband's mom, husband's dad). Also, do you not eat breakfast that day? How about lunch?0
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Other points to consider: Thanksgiving is a big drinking holiday. My family will down several beers and some junk food as they watch the Lions lose. Also, not many of us only enjoy one Thanksgiving. I can have up to 4 (my mom's family, my dad's family, husband's mom, husband's dad). Also, do you not eat breakfast that day? How about lunch?
"as they watch the Lions lose..." :laugh:
Me, I usually have two dinners (bf's family, my family) and at least one "dessert" stop (bf's aunt and uncle). But lucky me, I'm not a big "thanksgiving food" person. My favorite is white turkey, so I'm good! And I limit myself to one VERY small piece of pumpkin pie.
I'm not worried :drinker:
Now if it were the Steelers who played every Thanksgiving, then we'd have to add about a half case of Miller Lite to that equation...0 -
I can beat that easy0
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I can have 5000 kcals on any day... just few extra snacks buzz and pizza for dinner and ups I'm in 3000-5000 kcal range
2000 kcal in one meal is just slightly bigger lunch at the restaurant.0 -
They did forget to factor in the fact that many of us eat Thanksgiving 'dinner' early in the day, so therefore the propensity for leftovers later in the day/evening is higher and I question the serving sizes on a lot of the calculations. Half a cup of mashed potatoes? One dinner roll? Plus, the author didn't give calories or add in for the skin of the turkey mentioned.
The one term used by the author too states "Average American", isn't the new 'average' overweight considering the statistics on weight in our country? I think that 4,500 calories is not that much of a stretch given alchohol and snacking on holidays.0 -
I can beat that easy
Thats what she said0 -
One engorged meal a year isn't going to cause anyone to have a heart attack.
Usually, I skip breakfast on Thanksgiving and eat a light dinner if I get hungry, but this year, we will be having Thanksgiving at dinnertime so I may just have to nibble my way through breakfast and lunch. Planned to be cooking the whole day though so some calories should burn off there and a nice long walk in the evening. I think I'll be alright, but I probably should start checking my recipe section now and making certain I have selections created for this stuff. It will be quite a feast at my house!0 -
I'll eat a bunch. I don't really care because it's not something I ever do. How's that for a lazy attitude? :drinker:
Edited to add that I am running a 5k that morning, so I'll at least burn off a slice of pie.
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I can well believe it, I'm in the UK so no thanksgiving but at Christmas I'll have cream and Baileys in my coffee all day, breakfast is english muffins, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs made with cream. All the stuffing and sauces with Christmas dinner, everything made with butter and cream, dessert. Then of course in the evening there's leftover turkey and stuffing sandwiches, cheese board, nuts, crisps, chocolate, more alcohol. I'm tempted to log what I'd normally eat on MFP to see what I'd usually consume!0
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It's gonna be GUH-REAT0
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4500? **** i probably ate 10 x that last thanksgiving.0
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I can beat that easy
Bwahahaha...a Thanksgiving challenge! I like it. Everyone log their Thanksgiving Day food and drink and see who can consume the most calories by day's end. :drinker:0 -
Good to know!
...I'm still gonna eat it.
:happy:0 -
4500? **** i probably ate 10 x that last thanksgiving.
:flowerforyou:0 -
i wonder how my thanksgiving is going to work out for calories because we're also doing my youngest sons birthday that day.....0
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Uhh I bet 4500 cals is easy. In the OP you say 6oz turkey. Who in the hell only eats that little? Let's face it, everyone goes back for seconds.
This is the second year in a row my family is not doing anything because everyone is out of town. So I'm not concerned.0 -
This is when I'm glad I am not overly fond of Thanksgiving food! I will mostly eat what I will bring, and I plan on using healthy recipes! My one indulgance will be a piece of ham(I don't like turkey) and one of my grandmothers homemade rolls! I don't like pies, so I'm good there!!
However the way I see it, Thanksgiving comes once a year! Enjoy it and eat to your hearts content!!! :drinker:0 -
4500? **** i probably ate 10 x that last thanksgiving.
that would be 12.8 pounds of food
possible I suppose but kind of proves the point of the OP.....that everyone exaggerates0 -
I hit 4,000 calories last Saturday consuming oatmeal, a bagel with cream cheese, a protein shake, peanut butter, chocolate, mussels, braised pork shoulder, flat bread, tuna tartare, baked calamari, mango salsa and chips, an assortment of cheese, wine, gelato and frozen yogurt. That's pretty typical for a Friday or Saturday.0
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I usually skip breakfast and just eat one delicious big meal that day. Also I usually go hiking that day to burn off some calories
To put things in my perspective if you were to eat 4500 and your TDEE for the day was 2000 and 3500 calories equal a pound you would actually gain less than a pound (2500 surplus for the day). I am not saying you should go all out and not be concious about what you are eating but most people will freak out about one day. Of course the scale is a lying **tch and will probably show more than a pound gain because of all that water weight from the insane sodium, but the good news is it won't stick around.0 -
Nice informational post. I am going to try to get exercise that day and not pig out.0
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idgaf
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Luckily for me I hate dark meat, stuffing, green bean casserole au gratin potatoes etc. Rolls and Broccoli cheddar and rice casserole will by my only temptation at Thanksgiving. Even if I did like that food there's no way I could stuff that much in my face in one day, especially now. I think they've overexaggerated it a bit.0
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I am going to walk six miles in the morning and try to stay below 4,000
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I can beat that easy
I don't doubt that I have in years past! Three platefuls of mostly starchy carbs, plus three pieces of pie adds up real fast! :laugh:0 -
Uhh I bet 4500 cals is easy. In the OP you say 6oz turkey. Who in the hell only eats that little? Let's face it, everyone goes back for seconds.
Not me! I save my seconds for mashed potatoes loaded with gravy, home made bread, and an extra slice of pie because who can choose between pumpkin and apple?? :laugh:
I do think I'll log it this year just to see what I eat. I'm not going to freak out over any number, I hit 3500 calories on Halloween and lost weight the next weigh in. One bad day doesn't undo 29 good ones.0 -
Ok, I was curious so just entered a typical Christmas day and I hit over 10,000 cals and that was without adding in cheese and crackers and pate that I usually have too.0
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Ok, I was curious so just entered a typical Christmas day and I hit over 10,000 cals
ya but Christmas doesn't count because of all that baby Jesus stuff0 -
Ok, I was curious so just entered a typical Christmas day and I hit over 10,000 cals
ya but Christmas doesn't count because of all that baby Jesus stuff
Yeah, that Figgy Pudding is a killer.
I am running a 5K on Thanksgiving morning. If I overeat, I will make up for it in the days to follow. My alcohol tolerance is laughable these days and I can only eat so much at a time. I should be fine, and again if I'm not, I will make it back in the days to follow.0 -
Quote: For one thing most people would have a hard time eating that much. After about 1,500 calories in one sitting, the gut releases a hormone that causes nausea. Average stomach capacity is about 8 cups, although it can range from 4 to 12.
Unfortunately that has never been a problem for me. I also must be lacking the "nausea hormone" because I have never felt sick after a 1500 calorie meal (angry, disappointed, disgusted at myself, maybe, but never nauseated.) Also I think my stomach must be made of rubber because the amount of food plus fluids (I would frequently drink 4 or more glasses of iced tea with a big meal) that I could consume without feeling full probably could break records. This Thanksgiving I am eating turkey--white meat no skin-- and steamed carrots. There will be other Thanksgivings after I reach goal weight.0
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