Thanksgiving Meal Stuffed With Thousands Of Calories

BETHESDA, Md. -- It's the side of Thanksgiving most people don't want to face: The holiday comes with a heaping helping of as many as 3,000 calories for dinner alone.

Dr. Pamela Peeke of the University of Maryland said it's easy to gobble down that many calories. It only takes a couple slices of pie and good-sized servings of stuffing, potatoes, turkey, gravy and other foods.

On average, she said people eat about 2,000 calories at dinner, leading many folks to add on a pound on Thanksgiving.

How can you fight that? Peeke said it's fine to eat all the trimmings: just in much smaller portions. And she said some kind of exercise, even a short walk, is critical.

Finally, Peeke recommends eating more slowly so the brain has time to register that the body is filling up. She said many people approach the dinner like a "Hoover vaccuum," eating way too much and too fast.

Health Management Resources, a national weight loss company, offers these tips for trimming down the Thanksgiving calories:

White Means Light: The dark meat of the turkey contains more fat and calories than the white meat.

Skimmer Makes It Skinnier: Gravy contains 60 to 70 calories per tablespoon. However, by putting gravy through a skimmer, you can cut the calories by 80 percent.

Thinking Outside The Bird: Stuffing baked outside the turkey has half the calories of stuffing cooked inside the bird.

Less Weight With Baked: Baked potatoes have fewer calories than mashed and much less than candied sweet potatoes. Sour cream has one-half the calories of butter.

Pies That Don't Lie: Pumpkin and apple pies have half the calories of pecan pie.