Thanksgiving Cheat Sheet

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fauxfox66
fauxfox66 Posts: 8 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been doing so well for the past several months and I KNOW I'm going to lose it at Thanksgiving. I wanted to know beforehand exactly how much everything was, so I could be prepared and know what to avoid and what to enjoy. I got a little overexcited and compiled a list of the most common thanksgiving foods and their calories per 1/2 cup... and so I figured I'd share it. I'm sure I'm not the only one stressing about this holiday.

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  • fauxfox66
    fauxfox66 Posts: 8 Member
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    I highlighted everything under 100 calories in green, and everything over 160 calories in red. For the desserts, I just picked the worst three and the best three.

    I was surprised at the gravy- I thought those would be AWFUL. (However, as a vegetarian, those aren't on my menu anyways.) And I was amazed at how many calories are in cranberry sauce. The pies... the pies are nightmares.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    Way to go on the preparing! Cranberry sauce -- as you found out -- has a ton of sugar. Try not to think of things as nightmares.
    Everything is a choice that can be fit into our plans (for the day or the week).
  • MoHousdon
    MoHousdon Posts: 8,722 Member
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    I'm not going to log my calories on Thursday, but I am going to be more aware of how much I'm eating, which I usually am anyway. It's just nice to know WHAT I'm eating, not just what I'm eating. :smile: Whatever you choose to do, enjoy the day and be thankful you have food to eat.

    Happy Thanksgiving!
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    edited November 2014
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    How do you measure half a cup of turkey breast? How big is one lemon square or one slice of pie?
  • MoHousdon
    MoHousdon Posts: 8,722 Member
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    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    How do you measure half a cup of turkey breast? How big is one lemon square or one slice of pie?
    I wondered the same thing. I know my husbands slice of pie is quite different than my slice of pie. :wink:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    why are you stressing over an occasion? It's one day...there are 365 of them in a year...I personally don't stress about one day or even a handful of occasions during the year.

    Nobody got fat because of an occasion...people get fat when they treat every day like an occasion.

    I'm going to do what I usually do...I'm going to do our traditional Turkey Trot 5K with my kids and then hit the gym (because it's Thursday and I lift on Thursdays) and then I'm going to eat all the Turkey and potatoes and drink all of the wine and whiskey...and everything will be ok because it's just one day.
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    Lol. I have a recipe for mini pecan pies that are nearly 1,000 calories per individual pie.

    All foods can be made more or less healthy with a little butter. It's one day. Eat, enjoy, move on.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    Wow too much stress over one day. Exactly what cwolfman13 said.

    I have a bike ride planned for Thursday because that's what I do on Thursdays after that I will finish cooking and eat all the food, have a few drinks and all will be fine. I prelogged some of what I'm planning and without drinks I'm just under 3000 calories.
  • MoHousdon
    MoHousdon Posts: 8,722 Member
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    Before dinner, we're going to go to the movies and I'm going to have popcorn with butter and a soda. I'm not going to feel bad about it either. I just hope I'm hungry enough to enjoy all the different foods at dinner.
  • fauxfox66
    fauxfox66 Posts: 8 Member
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    The pie slices are all 1/8th of the pie. And 1/2 cup = 4oz... I just like to use cups because I can eyeball that fairly easily. I know what a cup of food looks like. It was the best consistent portion size I could find.

    I know it might seem like excessive stressing, but it's just a comfort thing. I hate it when I don't realize how many calories are in things until AFTER I've eaten them. I know I'm going to eat a lot, but I just don't want to end up with over 5000 calories in a day. (I've done that, and I know it doesn't 'ruin everything' but I can literally put on a pound in one day, and it makes me feel bad about myself.) Plus there's always leftovers for several days after- so it's not just one day, it's about four.

    It's just a mental thing. I'm probably being neurotic, but it'll nag on my mind if I don't know how many calories I've eaten. It makes me more comfortable to know what I'm putting in my body.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    fauxfox66 wrote: »
    The pie slices are all 1/8th of the pie. And 1/2 cup = 4oz... .

    Just so you know, these are completely arbitrary. What's the diameter of said pie? And rarely does 1/2 cup = 4 oz.

  • fauxfox66
    fauxfox66 Posts: 8 Member
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    Holy goose guys does anyone appreciate this at all or should I remove it?! Thought I was being helpful....

    Pies are average of 9in diameter, 1in deep. There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, so 4 fl oz in half a cup. I understand this doesn't apply to everything due to disparity in density, but I thought it was a safe assumption.
  • CM9178
    CM9178 Posts: 1,265 Member
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    I'm not really that focused on how many calories I consume on Thanksgiving - I just plan to keep everything in moderation and contrl what I eat BEFORE Thursday and AFTER Thursday. As long as the overall week isn't bad, it won't be a problem.
  • GothyFaery
    GothyFaery Posts: 762 Member
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    fauxfox66 wrote: »
    Holy goose guys does anyone appreciate this at all or should I remove it?! Thought I was being helpful....

    Pies are average of 9in diameter, 1in deep. There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, so 4 fl oz in half a cup. I understand this doesn't apply to everything due to disparity in density, but I thought it was a safe assumption.

    I'm with you on the pies but assuming 1/2 cup will also equal 4oz is not a good idea unless you're talking about water. Even 1/2 cup of fat free milk weighs less than 4oz (I've measured it).

    But at the end of the day, it's one day. It's awesome you want to make better choices though. Just make sure you enjoy yourself as well!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    fauxfox66 wrote: »
    There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, so 4 fl oz in half a cup. I understand this doesn't apply to everything due to disparity in density, but I thought it was a safe assumption.

    Fluid ounces /= weight ounces. Just saying.
  • JenAndSome
    JenAndSome Posts: 1,908 Member
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    fauxfox66 wrote: »
    Holy goose guys does anyone appreciate this at all or should I remove it?! Thought I was being helpful....

    Pies are average of 9in diameter, 1in deep. There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, so 4 fl oz in half a cup. I understand this doesn't apply to everything due to disparity in density, but I thought it was a safe assumption.

    It's a very useful tool for those who are choosing to attempt logging on Thanksgiving. Thank you for your effort.

    With that being said; half a cup of turkey leg...can't we just eat the whole thing?

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    my main level of 'stress' is if I am going to exceed 6000 calories, or not...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,139 Member
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    fauxfox66 wrote: »
    Holy goose guys does anyone appreciate this at all or should I remove it?! Thought I was being helpful....

    Pies are average of 9in diameter, 1in deep. There are 8 fluid ounces in a cup, so 4 fl oz in half a cup. I understand this doesn't apply to everything due to disparity in density, but I thought it was a safe assumption.

    I guess it is informative, but at the end of the day it is just one day and who cares? It just sounds like you are stressing yourself out for no reason.

    I mean are you really going to weight out a half cup of turkey leg and a half cup of gravy???

    I usually just go turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, butternut squash, and then cover the plate in gravy with some crusty bread....

  • fauxfox66
    fauxfox66 Posts: 8 Member
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    Oh, I think I'm seeing why this might seem neurotic- I'm not actually going to carry around a scale or a cup measure! I'm just going to eyeball stuff, I'm not going to have a calculator out, I'm not THAT neurotic. I just want to know what's on my plate so I can sort of balance stuff out- if I want a piece of pecan pie, I'll skip out on the cranberry sauce or only have a teeny bit, or if I eat a lot of carrots instead of stuffing then I've earned two lemon squares instead of just one.

    I'm definitely not going to be actually using a cup measure or scale when I'm loading up my plate. I'm definitely not going to eat like a bird on thanksgiving. I'm just going to be aware of what I'm putting in my body.

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