It’s that time of the year once again! December is filled with family, love, presents, and most importantly, food. Holidays seem to revolve around food and it’s easy to forget to make mindful choices. While no family’s Christmas is the same, there’s plenty of food involved on this magical day.
A study by Dr. Wayne Osborne of Treated.com (an online consultation and private prescription service) found that Americans consume the most calories on Christmas day compared to our friends around the world. Let’s just say, stockings aren’t the only things getting stuffed on the merriest day of the year.
Breakfast: The Works
Christmas morning usually involves opening gifts and emptying stockings, so it’s typical to have a special breakfast to accompany all the excitement. Some families may go all out and cook a huge breakfast or maybe just have one special food that’s only eaten on this morning.
For calculation purposes, let’s say a traditional American family’s Christmas breakfast includes all the works. A huge breakfast may include, two eggs, two pieces of bacon, two pancakes with syrup, a serving of breakfast potatoes, and a special treat like a frosted cinnamon roll.
Approximate calorie count: 909
Lunch (or Snack Time)
A huge breakfast will leave most people full until dinner time. Instead of eating a full meal for lunch, snacks are essential between breakfast and dinner. Some sort of dip would be a typical snack between breakfast and dinner such as hot spinach artichoke dip (and don’t forget the chips).
Approximate calorie count (one serving): 508
Dinner: The Feast
Now for the big event: dinner. According to Mary Hartley, a registered dietician in residence at Dietsinreview.com, who spoke with ABC News, the main course of a traditional Christmas meal will most likely be turkey and/or cured ham with sides such as mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, corn, green beans, and dinner rolls with butter.
Approximate calorie count: 1,351
Drinks
Eggnog
Eggnog is the ultimate Christmas drink. It’s milky, creamy, sometimes a bit heavy, but always delicious. I myself tried it for the first time this year. Since it’s a special holiday, you’re probably not just going to have one cup of eggnog. Actually, you’ll probably have a glass with every meal excluding dinner (glass of wine with the main course, duh). Mary Hartley presumes this as well.
Wine
Since it’s a special occasion, maybe your family will let you have one glass of wine with dinner. Hartley told ABC News that dinner “usually includes several glasses of wine or beer.”
Approximate calorie count (for all drinks): 1,152
Dessert: Christmas Cookies
What’s better than baking and decorating festive frosted sugar cookies with the fam after your huge Christmas dinner? Nothing, obviously. Homemade cookies are the best and Santa loves them. Cookies are like potato chips, you can’t just have one, so let’s say you have four cookies.
Approximate calorie count: 132
Total
That’s a total approximate amount of a whopping 4,052 calories. This approximation is significantly lower than that of registered dietician Mary Hartley and a bit higher than Dr. Osborne’s study. However, like I said before, no family is one in the same and everyone has different Christmas traditions.
This is just an average approximation of how many calories the typical American eats on this joyous day. Keep in mind calories aren’t everything, and anything is OK in moderation. And most of all, remember to enjoy yourself!