Good Choices Make For Healthy Holiday Eating

Here is some holiday trivia you might want to ponder before sitting down to dinner on Thursday: The typical holiday meal can easily add up to 5,000 calories.

Spectrum Health has some ideas that can help you pare down that number without sacrificing all your favorite holiday foods.

“People do tend to gain weight over the holidays, but studies show most people lose all but one pound of it each year,” said Jill Graybill, registered dietitian, Spectrum Health. “That one pound weight gain isn’t much, but over the course of time it adds up, just like the calories on your plate.”

Graybill understands that people look forward to their holiday favorites.

“Make sure to choose the special foods you can only get during the holidays, like the fabulous pie that your aunt makes,” she explained. “Leave the foods like brownies or M&M’s alone. Those are foods you can have anytime, if you really want them.”

Graybill also offers some ideas for making healthier holiday eating choices at the dinner table.

Eat this:
Pumpkin pie 1/8 pie = 316 calories and 15g fat

Instead of:
Pecan Pie 1/8 pie = 503 calories and 27g fat

Eat this:
Mashed potatoes 1 cup = 120 calories and 1.3g fat

Instead of:
Sweet potato casserole 1 cup = 460 calories and 17g fat

Eat this:
Fruit salad 1 cup = 74 calories and 0g fat

Instead of:
Pigs-in-a-Blanket 5 pieces = 470 calories and 29g fat

Eat this:
White meat turkey without skin 3 oz = 119 calories and 1g fat

Instead of:
Dark meat turkey with skin 3 oz = 155 calories and 6g fat

Eat this:
Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers broccoli and cheese sauce 1 cup = 45 calories and 1.5g fat

Instead of:
Green bean casserole 1 cup = 143 calories and 10g fat

Best Choice:
Valley Fresh Steamers without the sauce 1 cup = 20 calories and 0g fat

Finally, while enjoying that holiday meal, remember that portion size matters.

“Even when surrounded by high calorie foods, smaller portions will help you enjoy the taste of the food you love, while still managing to avoid the typical holiday weight gain,” said Graybill.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system in West Michigan that offers a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, a collection of seven hospitals and more than 140 service sites; the Spectrum Health Medical Group and mmpc, multispecialty physician groups with more than 400 providers; and Priority Health, a health plan with nearly 500,000 members. Spectrum Health’s 16,000 employees, 1,500 medical staff members and 2,000 volunteers are committed to delivering the highest quality care. The organization provided $111.1 million in community benefit during its 2008 fiscal year. As a system, Spectrum Health has earned more than 100 awards during the past 10 years.