Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Tips for Avoiding the 3500 Calorie Thanksgiving Day Meal

I have been doing personal training with Monique Hollowell, CEO of Lafemme Mobile Gym and I recently learned that the average Thanksgiving Day meal comes in at 3500 calories and you have to do 7 -9 workouts to burn that off. Yuck. I am honestly not going to be following the tips below and will probably opt-in for the workouts, but I want to share the information she passed on to me. According to fitness expert Monique Hollowell, there are seven easy tips you can follow to cut down on the calorie mass and still enjoy your holiday meal without tearing your hair out over what your scale is telling you the next morning.

1. Turkey Stuffing = Calorie No-No. Stuff the turkey with a great mix of quinoa and vegetables vs. dressing.

2. Natural = Naturally better for you. Enjoy the sweet potatoes natural flavor w/o the butter and brown sugar, add a fresh squeeze of orange or tangerine for extra flavor.

3. Lighten up your holiday beverages. Drink your holiday mochas w/o the whip cream, this will save you 80 kcals.

4. Cut down on the crust. Make a fantastic fresh fruit pie with top crust only. Leave out the bottom crust for less calories or vice versa.

5. Leave the fruit cakes and pecan pies alone! Choose a fantastic piece of pumpkin or sweet potato pie instead... its 250kcal less.

6. Kick the ice cream to the curb. Use a great holiday frozen yogurt or sorbet instead or have the fresh fruit and skip altogether.

7. Creamy = High Calorie … vegetables not exempt. Creaming your vegetables (i.e. creamed spinach) can end up contributing to 75% of your saturated fat for the day. Use low fat milk or cream cheese options as a substitute.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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