University Times

According to UPMC nutritionists, an adult consumes an average of 1,800 calories during the Thanksgiving feast, which is only a few hundred calories shy of the recommended daily allowance for an entire day for an adult woman.

Here is the traditional dinner with a few alternatives by the numbers:

-Turkey: 400 calories for 6 oz. (the size of 2 decks of cards) with white and dark meat. Dark meat has about 15 – 20 more calories per ounce that white meat.

-Stuffing: 200 calories per 1/2 cup serving made with butter.

-Mashed potatoes: 160 calories per serving when made with butter or cream, then 80 calories a serving when made from skim milk.

-Sweet potatoes, candied yams: 205 calories for 1/2 cup serving. Sweet potatoes whipped with orange juice cuts the calories in half.

-Tablespoon of butter: 135 calories.

-2 tablespoons of gravy: 125 calories.

-Broccoli with cheese sauce: 110 calories for 1/2 cup serving.

-Pumpkin pie: 325 calories for typical serving, about 1/6 of a whole pie. If modified with sugar substitute and low-fat evaporated milk, calories are cut in half.

-Dinner rolls: 90 calories alone, but a tablespoon of light margarine adds 50 calories.

-Macaroni and cheese: 160 calories for 1/2 cup serving.

-Ham: 450 calories for six ounces.

-Greens: 50 calories for 1/2 cup steamed and served with light margarine. But greens cook with meat yields 125 calories for same size serving.

-One six-ounce glass of dry white wine: 110 calories; sweet wine, 150 calories.

-Cranberry sauce: 120 calories for 1/4 cup; a 1/2 cup of fresh fruit is 60 calories.

Source: UPMC

Perhaps it’s the way the minced onion and celery soak up the melted butter, or how the mixture blends so smoothly with stale, sage-coated bread, Or maybe it’s the skill of the cook, honed for decades? Whatever the reason, turkey stuffing is among the most popular and fattening foods on the Thanksgiving table.

UPMC nutritionists advise holiday eaters to choose their fat wisely, enjoy and then, move on – meaning, don’t eat another 1,800-calorie meal for a while.

“After a big meal, you should go back to your normal eating habits,” said Melinda Parker, a nutritionist for 30 years who works at the Center for Weight Management at UPMC. “People shouldn’t plow through the leftovers, making the Thanksgiving meal last from Thursday to Sunday,” she said.

Most people will let themselves stray from healthy eating habits during the holidays, especially when plied with good company and fabulous food, but indulgences can be managed. Parker’s advice: Eat only three big meals (Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day); exercise more or just move around for at least 30 minutes after eating to aid digestion; cut back food intake on non-holidays and realize that “it’s just a meal,” she said.

Other strategies: Even though a vegetable may be sprinkled with a fattening sauce or cheese, a larger portion might prevent you from eating something more fattening. Skip the cranberry sauce and eat fruit. Take a smaller piece of pumpkin pie. A second helping of turkey white meat with a little gravy packs less of a caloric punch than a similar serving of stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy.

And what does one eat for Thanksgiving after spending 30 years as a nutritionist? “I cook the way most people cook, I don’t really modify much. But I try to modify portions,” Parker said. “Dressing is my favorite food,” she admits. And Parker said she still uses meat in her stuffing, but moistens the dressing with broth instead butter – hence, choosing her fats well.

-Mary Ann Thomas