We all like to eat, drink and be merry during the holiday’s right? Well, according to the National Institute of Health, the average American gains around 5-10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years because this time of year is typically filled with parties, holiday gatherings and even yummy treats at the office. The worst part is that people don’t always take those pounds off after the holidays either, they just keep adding to it!
Well, you shouldn’t deprive yourself from having some of your favorite holiday goodies. Just try to choose wisely, don’t have
too much of a good thing and more importantly... enjoy yourself!
Here’s a really short quiz to test your knowledge on a few common holiday treats... Who Knew??
Which warm winter drink do you think has the least calories?- 1 cup of Hot Cocoa
- 1 cup of Hot Buttered Rum
- 1 cup of Mulled Cider
If you guessed the Mulled Cider... you got it right, having only around 100 calories! Anything with the word "Butter" in it has got to be higher in calories... so the Hot Buttered Rum comes in with about 200 calories while the Hot Cocoa (with low-fat milk) comes out to about 150 calories!
One cup of Eggnog has as many calories as:- 1 Dunkin Donuts Cake donut
- 1 Small bag of M&M’s
- 1 McDonald’s Quarter Pounder
Hmmm... I know what you're thinking! Nope it isn’t the Dunkin Donuts Cake Donut... guess again!! It’s the Quarter Pounder! The Eggnog which has about 400 calories is actually closer to the McDonalds Quarter that has a whopping 410 calories! Believe it or not, the Cake Donut only has about 280 calories and the M&M’s have only around 243 calories for a 1.67 oz bag!
Which dessert will do the “Least” damage to your waistline?- 1 slice (1/8 of a pie) of Pecan Pie
- 1 slice (1/8 of a pie) of Apple Pie
- 1 slice (1/8 of a pie) of Pumpkin Pie
You may think the answer to this one would be the Apple Pie because apples are typically low in calories but, the right answer here is the Pumpkin Pie! A slice of Libby’s Famous Pumpkin Pie has only 260 calories... and you can cut off nearly another 100 calories by just eating the filling and not the crust! The Apple Pie would typically have around 400 calories and for the most part the culprit here is again the "double" crust! The Pecan Pie has around 470 calories because pecans are typically higher in fat and calories.
A regular candy cane has how many calories?- 40
- 60
- 80
You guessed right if you chose 60 calories! A standard candy cane, the size that you normally put on a Christmas tree, has only 60 calories and zero fat and its best to have it after dinner because the peppermint aids in the digestion of that yummy meal you just ate!
So go ahead… eat, drink and be merry and have a wonderful holiday!
