How to avoid putting on holiday weight

Thanksgiving Day usually means eating delicious, but also high calorie meals. According to the Calorie Control Council, the average American consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving Day.

Courtney Moore, the General Manager at Olympia Fitness Clubs says folks can tend to put on weight because of the leftovers from these large meals.

“I know a lot of people don’t like to hear this but maybe throw the leftovers away…get them out the house,” says Moore.

Moore tells us the one way folks can avoid putting on those holiday pounds is by doing cardio.

“You want to get your heart rate up, it takes effort to burn calories,” says Moore.

So how much exercise does it really take to burn off those thanksgiving favorites?

Moore put 47 ABC to the test, starting with a serving of turkey. Moore tells us 3 ounces of turkey is roughly 153 calories, and in order to burn it off Moore says, “You want to do a nice brisk walk for about 3 miles an hour for about 40 minutes.”

And up next, a serving of mashed potatoes.

“The average half cup is about 110 calories or so.You probably want to do a cardio interval circuit so that can be air squats, jogging in place, jumping jacks, anything that’s gong to get your heart rate up, you want to maintain that for 20 minutes,” says Moore.

To finish up, time to burn off dessert,  a slice of pumpkin pie. Moore tells us a slice can be about 300 calories. She says moderate to somewhat intense cardio can do that.

“So you can do that for about 40 minute and do several circuits in a row and that would bring you close to 300 calories,” says Moore.

Moore tells us these are just averages of how many calories a person can burn, and this could vary by a person’s weight and the effort they put in. The biggest tip folks from Olympia Fitness Clubs want to people to remember is moderation as we continue into the holiday season.